What I learned from Thinkfinity

Last weeks class on the Thinkfinity website was enlightening. I was interested in Thinkfinity but was only somewhat familiar with it. The organization of the site was encouraging with it's ease of use in finding some very engaging and effective lessons in a short amount of time. I especially liked the effective ways of finding and narrowing the searches in order to get what you really want. The general categories of content areas are a great organizational tool. Overall there were some very effective lessons on the site.

In Time Video

The video that I watched was based on an integrated math' science, and language arts lesson called "show me" Missouri's temperatures. Sally Camden was the instructor as a support teacher for 4th grade students. She used several technologies in appropriate ways to better assist students learning of averages of temperatures in several cities around the state of Missouri. The research of temperatures was done in a very organized and proscribed way and used technology to assist these students in research. As for data gathering, she created a spreadsheet template to better assist students in note taking and data entry. Averages were then graphed and finally presented in a way that assisted in reinforcement of the concept.

Although she was a resource teacher for students with mild special needs, I was immediately drawn to this video. As a fourth grade teacher, I have several students who meet regularly with a resource teacher. I was impressed with Sally Camden's use of techniques to build prior knowledge. I particulary like having her students listen to Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" while watching animation from an online encyclopedia. The use of templates for spreadsheets is an extremely useful tool as most of my regular ed. students might have difficulty creating their own. The use of spread sheets is crucial in helping to see averages and begin to synthesize any data. Good lesson

Comments on objectives from Chapter 16

"Today and Tomorrow: What may lie ahead" is an appropriate final chapter title for a book on educational technology. I'd like first to compliment the group that presented chapter 16 in our class on Wednesday, December 5th. They certainly captured the essence of that chapter and had a highly engaging presentation.

The first objective that I would like to evaluate is the issue of trends in computer hardware that might continue. It seems self evident that computers and technology in general will continue to become quicker in their processing. This will of course make it easier to handle more complex software. This is where the potential really comes in for eduction in the future.

Next issue is the physical size of computers and technology. The farther in the future the lighter the mechanics and the smaller the physical computer itself. This trend will no doubt continue and has the potential to effect the way computers in a classroom are used as a tool.

The next trend that I see growing and developing is the issue of just how user friendly a computer can become. What will the future bring? Looking at past trends we can see the continued reduction of the use of the keyboard. Perhaps future computers will interface with their users using exclusively voice recognition technology. This of course still has a ways to go in its development. It seems most likely that ease of use is going to become even more important to consumers of computers in the future. Whatever that ease of use will look like it should be exciting.

Finally, I'd like to close with synthesizing my own information and experiences into my predictions for educational technology in the future. When this general question was posed during the final presentation on Wednesday, I came up with a simple question/prediction on my post it note. Essentially I see the classroom of the future including an exceptionally smaller more powerful, fully wireless system of computers for every student. I could see all these computers continually networked and sharing data. Now, the real result of this is that the teaching could much more easily become a "guide on the side" rationale and not the traditional lecture and "sit-and-get." With all this in place, it's easy to see that actual participation of students would increase, efficiency of teacher assessment (instantly and continuously) would also, and the potential for cooperative learning would go through the roof. Assignments could be continually updating and differentiation could be automatic. Using this image it's easy to see that this matches up completely with best practices in teaching. This is an exciting model for the future of education.

Final evaluation of information gleaned from CEDU 510:

I found this class to be very helpful for me as a teacher. I came into this class with a very basic understanding of most things covered in the class but was somewhat hesitant to use them in an educational setting. I didn't see their application or did not feel fully comfortable in my own knowledge of them. In the short time that I've taken this class I've utilized spreadsheets both with students and personally as for my own teaching purposes. I've now recorded scores and grades on them and have recorded students data in several science experiments. Kids love having their data presented on the smart board. I've utilized power point presentations in many lessons especially after receiving the Smartboard. What I'm very surprised with is that the power point presentations are generally not used by me as a "sit and get" lecture oriented tool. I've had more "get up out of your seat" lessons with powerpoint and my smartboard then I had before this class. An example is during my geometry chapter I set up my smart board and a slide is a prop for the entrance to a "dance club" where only certain shapes are allowed. Small groups took turns being "bouncers" where they only allowed students who had the right shape to come in. For example: a slide would read: "Club Rhombus - You must have four equal sides to enter."

Survey for use at Madison Elementary

The following is a hypothetical survey for distribution at Madison Elementary. I believe that many of the issues covered in this survey have already been addressed at my school. Many teachers at Madison have come a long way in adopting technology in the classroom. We've had several all staff in depth discussions about technology. Most of the staff seems to have adopted some technology into their daily routine but there are still those with varying degrees of "technophobia". So the question becomes "what are some of the issues that teachers in general have with technology implementation?." First and foremost I think it's exposure to the unfamiliar. If you don't understand something and don't see its modeled use in the day to day from either coworkers or administrators then you will not be keen to adopt it. I think it's that simple.

I must note that the dynamic and highly intelligent staff at Madison is always ready to learn and it would clearly be insightful to get the results of this survey. So here it goes. . . .


Please answer the following questions to the best of your ability on a 1 to 3 scale. A one is the worst or strongly disagree and a 3 is the best or strongly agree.

1. I feel comfortable using everyday technology in the classroom such as e-mail.
1 2 3

2. I believe that technology training and resources are always available to me as an employee.

1 2 3

3. I feel the administration of this building and the district is supportive of technology.

1 2 3

4. I know my role as a teacher in technology education and that of the technology coordinator.

1 2 3

5. I understand the availability of funding of technology in this district and building.

1 2 3

Databases

Overall I'm glad I got some familiarity with databases. I was a little shaky still when I was asked to create them. I'd like to continue working with them to get more familiarity with them. To be honest I'm not sure yet of their application in my particular classroom. I have a feeling that this would be an extension activity for a small handful of kids that are up for the challenge. I think that some of them would be able to follow an existing one that was pre-made by me and get some benefit from it as far as analysis. Others would benefit from exposure to the concept but would not yet be ready to handle it.

spreadsheets and their use in the classroom

This is a great website for an activity on spreadsheets in the classroom. It involves an existing spreadsheet that can be used to extrapolate data and use that for higher level thinking skills. It's also a great motivator for students around the forth grade as they seem to have an innate interest in trivial facts about the presidents.
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110054/Presidents.html

The next one is a consumer economic spreadsheet that also works on math skills. It involves a budget of imaginary money and a shopping spree. Columns are used for the items purchased, the cost and the quantity. There are two options for either an existing spreadsheet or one that the students create.

http://www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/techknowpark/FreeFall/ShoppingSpree.html

I've discovered a great spreadsheet for tabulating and synthesizing the data on weather patterns. Then there's graphing options also in connection with it

http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap5/5.5/index.html

All these spreadsheets can be used in the classroom with the right implementation. Clearly spreadsheets can be an outstanding teaching and learning tool.

Google Doc Writing Activity

The Google document that I created from the second session of CEDU 510 was meaningful generally. A little background: I consider myself to have somewhere between a basic and a proficient understanding of Google documents. As far as general word processing I would rank myself somewhat higher. Therefore, the value for me personally came from the fact that practice is always a benefit for someone of my skill level. Obviously, practice reenforces the skills that I already know and others that are new were also made clearer through the assignment.

There is a great value of Word processing in an academic setting.  Word processing can be applied to a multitude of activities in virtually any area of academics. First off, its potentially the "backbone" of a any writing curriculum. All the steps to the writing processing flow so well into a relationship with word processing that it's extremely beneficial in this arena. However, it is truly not limited to writing as a subject by itself.  Across the content area it has a benefit.

This weeks graphics lesson

This week I used the graphics lesson in my science curriculum. I used it in the computer lab and connected it to a graphic organizer they were doing in the vertebrates and invertebrates unit. 

Presentation Activity

I investigated all of the presentation products mentioned on the WIKI site. I found that each was valuable and seemed to flow somewhat differently than the others. I suppose, like any piece of technology, the individual may choose a particular product based on any number of personal preferences or intentional or subconscious biases. That said, there was one that seemed to me to be the most user friendly and conducive to making an effective presentation. Google documents.

There are several reasons this seems to be the most effective. One is the fact that it could be worked on and constructed by numerous people simultaneously. Second it could be viewed online during the presentation. Finally the save feature of continual chances to retrieve changes seems extremely user friendly.

The value in fourth grade could most easily be seen in the presentation from my end as a teacher. However, towards the end of the school year and after building their basic computer skills, it would definitely be appropriate to introduce my students to these presentation tools for their own presentations in any subject.

Graphics Assignment

I investigated all of the graphics activities and found most , on a personal level, to be very amusing. I did an activity on the Mr. Picasso Head web site. That one and most of the others had applications within the classroom for my students.

The value of several of the websites are potentially great. Several of the sites could be used as graphic organizers in the content areas. Given the correct prompt, the students could use them as journal entries. The Mr. Picasso Head could be used in a lesson or possibly as a performance assessment on symmetrical vs. asymmetrical objects in math. Through the proper manipulation of eyebrows, noses eyes, etc. a student could generate desired asymmetrical vs symmetrical faces.

My first thought of their application and value was not directly related to content but is something that I do in my class. I could use both the Mr. Picasso head and the Jackson Pollock in my classroom since I do an "Artist of the Month." My class investigates the art of one featured artist per month. We do a variety of activities connected with him or her. These two would lend themselves well to activities during that time.

I'm excited to be in this MEIT program. The first class: CEDU 523 - Introduction to using the internet was an excellent one. I believe that the most general thing that I picked up from the class was that the internet is an outstanding resource in teaching. More specifically, the application of the google calendar and WIKI sites in my classroom are numerous and beneficial.