Wow, where to start? I learned so many new techniques and about so many new programs as a result of taking this course. Not only do I feel more knowledgeable about when students mention things like blogs in class, but I feel that I am much more open to the idea of using this new technology now.
I think by creating/updating my own blog for this class, I might want to add a blog feature to my website. I still need to think about how it would best serve students before implementing it.
Using del.icio.us could perhaps replace a bibliography of websites for a research project. It could also help students who aren’t as good at finding relevant websites during a research project to be able to use sites from other students, rather than trying to find them on their own, or depending on sites from me. I realize that del.icio.us isn’t always accessible from school, so I’d need to keep that into consideration.
I’m getting more accepting of the ideas of Wikis. I originally really hated the concept, but know that I’m less ignorant about them; it could be a pretty cool classroom tool.
Jul 16, 2007
School 2.0
What strikes you most about this vision of tomorrow's school?
I like the bubble where it tells students that their future job may not even exist yet and that being a continuous learner is important. Actually I’m surprised that this vision of tomorrow’s school is incorporating things that are currently available. I think that this plan will be archaic in a few years, as this is doable now. I can’t imagine what the real schools of the future will be like.
What would you definitely like to see kept from this map?
I don’t know about the online mentor. I think mentoring is a valuable face to face aid, rather than virtual. Also, the Parent’s Internet Café on campus seemed a bit far fetched and unnecessary. I think most likely parents will be at their own job, not just hanging out in a school yard.
What would you change?
“The data shows that students in your virtual classes are doing great.” I wonder how successful both special education students and maybe non-motivated students will be in such a self-directed environment.
I like the bubble where it tells students that their future job may not even exist yet and that being a continuous learner is important. Actually I’m surprised that this vision of tomorrow’s school is incorporating things that are currently available. I think that this plan will be archaic in a few years, as this is doable now. I can’t imagine what the real schools of the future will be like.
What would you definitely like to see kept from this map?
I don’t know about the online mentor. I think mentoring is a valuable face to face aid, rather than virtual. Also, the Parent’s Internet Café on campus seemed a bit far fetched and unnecessary. I think most likely parents will be at their own job, not just hanging out in a school yard.
What would you change?
“The data shows that students in your virtual classes are doing great.” I wonder how successful both special education students and maybe non-motivated students will be in such a self-directed environment.
21st Century Skills
I really enjoyed Dr. Yong Zhao’s podcasts. What amazing new ideas for the future! I think a lot of teachers might not like some of the ideas that he is presenting. That’s one of the problems in our national school framework—like Zhao mentioned, we are trying to hold on to an antiquated system. We are not evolving with the technology.
One of Zhao’s comments mentions that we are not preparing our students to live and compete in a globalized world. Our students one day will need to work with other people from other cultures. Our current reform (like NCLB) is not addressing digital, virtual, and global issues.
A very controversial statement that Zhao made was that the American educational system doesn’t empower the people: Our system is more communist (offering no viable competition) whereas China’s is more capitalistic.
I really liked his comment that the use of technology is limited by what adults think is appropriate, and is frequently without trust of younger students. Another great comment was that schools reduce the potential of laptops into the power of a pencil.
With the use of the Internet, students can engage in life inquiries. However most schools spend time and money blocking things like: myspace, Youtube, chat rooms---we’re ignoring the reality of the power. We’re acting as if technology is a cave-don’t let our children go into the space because we don’t know what is there.
The second podcast focused on how we are trying to make new tools fit into the existing system (with constraints and restrictions). Dr .Zhao asked the question: Do you have the vision; do you have the courage to use the new technology? We sometimes forget that students are powerful agents and can be active contributors. Dr. Zhao gave the example that a 10 year old can make art, video or a music file. We are depriving children of possibilities. We act as if the role of the student is just to receive knowledge, and their performance is evaluated by getting good grades.
One of my favorite lines from the podcast was: Education is life, not preparing students for life.
One of Zhao’s comments mentions that we are not preparing our students to live and compete in a globalized world. Our students one day will need to work with other people from other cultures. Our current reform (like NCLB) is not addressing digital, virtual, and global issues.
A very controversial statement that Zhao made was that the American educational system doesn’t empower the people: Our system is more communist (offering no viable competition) whereas China’s is more capitalistic.
I really liked his comment that the use of technology is limited by what adults think is appropriate, and is frequently without trust of younger students. Another great comment was that schools reduce the potential of laptops into the power of a pencil.
With the use of the Internet, students can engage in life inquiries. However most schools spend time and money blocking things like: myspace, Youtube, chat rooms---we’re ignoring the reality of the power. We’re acting as if technology is a cave-don’t let our children go into the space because we don’t know what is there.
The second podcast focused on how we are trying to make new tools fit into the existing system (with constraints and restrictions). Dr .Zhao asked the question: Do you have the vision; do you have the courage to use the new technology? We sometimes forget that students are powerful agents and can be active contributors. Dr. Zhao gave the example that a 10 year old can make art, video or a music file. We are depriving children of possibilities. We act as if the role of the student is just to receive knowledge, and their performance is evaluated by getting good grades.
One of my favorite lines from the podcast was: Education is life, not preparing students for life.
Jul 15, 2007
21st Century Students and Skills
The collaborative Model T project is very interesting in theory. I went to his website to read more about it. The site looks great and impressive; showing very well designed photos of what each class would do. When I actually clicked on the links for the blogs and photos, there was nothing there—no posts, no pictures. This was very disappointing.
As far as a collaborative class idea, I don’t have a specific idea. I think that it would be too big of an initial project to try to collaborate with a different school. However, I was thinking a project where my students could work with a different period, each having a separate task---like maybe a cultural project where one class would focus on the geographical location, another working on culture, and another working on history.
Another idea is working with other teachers on our team. Perhaps it could be similar to the project above, but my students would work on the culture of a country, social studies could work on history, English could work on writing a short poem/story. Perhaps we could even include students in art to do the graphics.
From all of the new technology I’ve learned, I think using Wiki would be the best medium to try this in.
As far as a collaborative class idea, I don’t have a specific idea. I think that it would be too big of an initial project to try to collaborate with a different school. However, I was thinking a project where my students could work with a different period, each having a separate task---like maybe a cultural project where one class would focus on the geographical location, another working on culture, and another working on history.
Another idea is working with other teachers on our team. Perhaps it could be similar to the project above, but my students would work on the culture of a country, social studies could work on history, English could work on writing a short poem/story. Perhaps we could even include students in art to do the graphics.
From all of the new technology I’ve learned, I think using Wiki would be the best medium to try this in.
Reflections 2, Lesson 8
I think the social bookmarking site: del.icio.us could be very advantageous for my personal use. I tend to have a lot of websites bookmarked and in folders. However, when I’m at a different computer, I can never remember what the sites are.
This tool offers a great way to stay organized and be able to access your favorites from any computer. I’m also interested in exploring the site more, so that I can see what other French teachers have bookmarked and have found useful for their students.
This tool offers a great way to stay organized and be able to access your favorites from any computer. I’m also interested in exploring the site more, so that I can see what other French teachers have bookmarked and have found useful for their students.
Wikis in the clasroom
Before this assignment, I really didn't know that much about Wikis. I actually was quite skeptical about them and was worried that it was too easy for anyone to post/manipulate information on the site. It made me question the validity and purpose for its existence.
Now however, I can see that Wikis could be a very useful tool in the classroom. I also know that there are ways to "protect" the Wiki and make it password protected. I didn't know that this option even existed.
I was really impressed with the Village Wiki, especially the Digital stories. This offered an amazing way to share with a greater audience, the work that the Village students clearly put a lot of time into.
I'll admit that I'm not sure that Wikis will be for me, but I'm much more open to the idea now that I've been exposed to them.
Now however, I can see that Wikis could be a very useful tool in the classroom. I also know that there are ways to "protect" the Wiki and make it password protected. I didn't know that this option even existed.
I was really impressed with the Village Wiki, especially the Digital stories. This offered an amazing way to share with a greater audience, the work that the Village students clearly put a lot of time into.
I'll admit that I'm not sure that Wikis will be for me, but I'm much more open to the idea now that I've been exposed to them.
May 25, 2007
Video sharing sites
I explored 4 video sharing sites:
Next Vista for Learning
Teacher Tube
You Tube
ClipBlast
I was initially excited about exploring Next Vista for Learning after listening to Wesley Freyer’s podcast. I liked the idea that this was a non-profit education site where information was created by users. The “rules” for the site are: 5 minutes or less, nothing inappropriate, factually accurate, and no copyrighted material.I liked his idea that if every teacher uploaded 3 minutes of something they were very knowledgeable in that the site could become a very powerful teaching tool. I thought this was a brilliant idea and I loved the global sharing concept of it.
I explored all 4 sites with LOTE as my focus. Unfortunately, at this point in time, there were not any LOTE videos yet on Next Vista. Overall, there weren’t very many French language learning materials on any of the sites yet.
On Teacher Tube, there currently was only 1 French language video and it wasn’t that useful. I checked out LOTE in general, and there were only a few videos total—though quite a few videos for Chinese. However, I recognize that this is a relatively new site and that more things could be uploaded in the future.
YouTube is pretty cool for finding French music videos of present and past. However, there is a lot of inappropriate material for school here. I think this site is very useful if you are searching for a specific singer/video versus a general search.
I thought that Clipblast had the best selection pop French culture. I liked that it also had videos related to politics/world events; and the overall best selection of videos—either music or movie trailers.
Next Vista for Learning
Teacher Tube
You Tube
ClipBlast
I was initially excited about exploring Next Vista for Learning after listening to Wesley Freyer’s podcast. I liked the idea that this was a non-profit education site where information was created by users. The “rules” for the site are: 5 minutes or less, nothing inappropriate, factually accurate, and no copyrighted material.I liked his idea that if every teacher uploaded 3 minutes of something they were very knowledgeable in that the site could become a very powerful teaching tool. I thought this was a brilliant idea and I loved the global sharing concept of it.
I explored all 4 sites with LOTE as my focus. Unfortunately, at this point in time, there were not any LOTE videos yet on Next Vista. Overall, there weren’t very many French language learning materials on any of the sites yet.
On Teacher Tube, there currently was only 1 French language video and it wasn’t that useful. I checked out LOTE in general, and there were only a few videos total—though quite a few videos for Chinese. However, I recognize that this is a relatively new site and that more things could be uploaded in the future.
YouTube is pretty cool for finding French music videos of present and past. However, there is a lot of inappropriate material for school here. I think this site is very useful if you are searching for a specific singer/video versus a general search.
I thought that Clipblast had the best selection pop French culture. I liked that it also had videos related to politics/world events; and the overall best selection of videos—either music or movie trailers.
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