Goodbye To EDM 310

I would like to say goodbye to everyone in the EDM 310 class for the fall semester. This semester has flashed before my eyes!! I wished everyone the best of luck in the future and in the career path that you may chose. Hopefully, I will have more classes with you guys and gals!! Thank you also Mr.Wakeman for helping me throughout the semester!!

Personal Learning Network

A Personal Learning Network is were people can interact with other people. With this interaction over the computer, people can learn and ask questions to one another. Some PLN's that I visited were Alice Barr's, Candance Folli's, and Crista Anderson's.

Alice Barr's PLN has many videos, blogs, and websites one may could reference. Some of the different groups were Third Grade.....the most important grade, and Online Educators. Candace Follis's PLN is also one I visited and tried to get in touch with. She is an high school English teacher. Even though we have different majors, I thought it would be neat to look into her PLN. Crista Anderson's was new to the PLN. She was just added in October.

The people that I emailed did not get back to me. I do feel that they will in the future. After looking into the PLN of these people, I realized that this network reminds me a lot of Facebook. Facebook is a really simple network system to use and I can see where the PLN has many of the same characteristics.

What I Learned in EDM 310

My EDM 310 class has benefited me as I will be a future educator. There were times that I felt what we were learning was great, however I just do not see where the school systems in lower Alabama have money to implement these programs. I can see where the future of the school systems can be improved by the use of technology.Google docs and Google spreadsheets are a great tool to use if you do not have Office on your computer. I feel that a blog could help me as a teacher to communicate with students as well as parents. Learning about wiki was neat but at the same time I do not feel that I will use this information as much in the future knowing that the information can be edited. With the podcast and the videocast, I would not want to make another one of those. It made me very nervous. In the posts and YouTube videos, I was able to learn a lot. Twitter and iTunes are good to use but, I do not see myself using them in the future. It was very helped to learn about ALEX and ACCESS. It has useful information that will help me as I am a teacher.

At this time there is nothing that I feel I did not get in this class. I would like to take a refresher course in the future like this EDM 310 class. This will keep me stay up to date on what is going on in the world of technology.

I do not feel that I will use Twitter in the future. I have a Facebook account and do not have a chance to use anything else. The Skype is a neat network to use but I do not see myself using that much in the future also. Other than those two, everything else seems to be useful for me.

This class did not excite me. I feel that it would have been more exciting if I would have taken this class during the day instead of night.

Everything that we went over in the class was self explanatory. It did not take a rocket scientist by no means. There were actually times when I would get bored because other people did not understand what was going on in the class.

I would have not been so bored in the class if there would have been something to do during the entire class time. I think it would have been better if there was a dead time during the class that we work on classwork. I like to get in a classroom and do what I have to do and get out.

I enjoyed the course, however I do feel like more topics could have been covered at a time. This would help with the extra time in the classroom.

I feel that I am technological literate at this time. I would rate myself as being good. I feel comfortable on a computer but do realize that computers and technology is always changing.

To maintain my status of being technological literate, I will try to stay up to date on technology. If there is something new that comes out, I will read about it and see if that can help me. I feel as long as you get on the computer every day then you will always be technological literate.

7 Stupid Mistakes, & Brilliant Things Teacher Do With Technology and New Classroom Rules

It was very interesting to see what the good and bad were of technology. The facts that stood out to me were ones that I believe in and will carry out in my classroom. From the stupid list, I chose not supervising students using computers and thinking online communication is ever private. The brilliant things I like with technology are making conferencing real-time and it puts kids in touch with the world. For the new classroom rules the ones appeared to me were know what you are suppose to be learning and also do not cheat.

With the stupid list it is always important to monitor what students are doing on the computer. Even if a child does not try to go to a bad site, sometimes they are just easy to find. Someone should never think that online communication is ever private. I feel that people air to much of their information on the computer. People need to think before they put information online. The brilliant thing of making conferencing real time is perfect for teachers and parents busy lives. Parents can know what is going on in the classroom with their child with a simple email. The other brilliant thing is putting the kids in touch with the world. Students can know what is going on in the whole and how other students of different countries live. I loved the new classroom rules. It is important for us to know what we are suppose to learn and to know why, and what you will do with this knowledge. It helps us have a goal and know how to obtain that goal. The other new rule of not to cheat but do use information while giving credit is great. This is what being a teacher is all about.
7 Stupid Things and 7 Brilliant Things of Technology

At the Teacher's Desk

What is the importance of a collaborative professional blog? To me, this question can be answered with many different responses. A professional blog allows people to connect with each other and also learn from each other. In At the Teacher's Desk there is a question posted that states some suggestions on a website for students to do probability games. Within minutes many people commented and gave websites that they had used in the past themselves. This gave the teacher websites yet at the same time the teacher had good websites that had worked for other teachers in the past.

Within At the Teacher's Desk ,I looked over many blogs. Some that really got my attention were Pencils & Crayons Banned at School, Facebook as a Teacher, and Skype to Connect Foreign Language Students. While I was reading these blogs, I observed to myself what really gets my attention. Some things that stand out to me are the pictures on the website, the length of the post, and the title of the post. These factors can really bring attention for me or it can turn me away. To me, a post should not be to very long. The person needs to express what they are saying and support what they are saying, without having many paragraphs.

Toward A New Future of Whatever

In the video Toward A New Future of Whatever by Michael Wesch, the video addresses how children and adults deal with technology and television. He states that Neil Postman in 1926 stated conversations center around television. How much has this changed, not at all!!

Being on that I am 22 years old, whatever is all around me and a phrase I use daily in my life. To me, it is crazy how a simple word can be used so often and how the meaning can change from the 1960's until today. In the 1960's people would say whatever to express what they meant but today whatever means we are not dealing with a situation. Teachers see this type of attitude often in students. The student may not know what is going on in an activity and just say whatever.

Another point the video made was the influence of reality TV and YouTube. Michael Wesch stated, new media creates new ways of knowing ourselves. This is so true. We may find an interest in something just by watching a YouTube video. In my option, reality shows and YouTube are great in opening new doors for people where at the same time, gives not so good outcomes for people looking for trouble. These trouble makers are able to connect with other people like them and dominate.

Why is important for students to post their work to blogs (or in other ways)?

There are so many important reasons students should post blogs. It allows the student to think in a different way and express how that student feels. By a student making a blog post, there is not really a right or wrong answer. The student needs to make certain that he/she reads or watches the material and thinks out what he/she is writing.

Landslide by the PS22 Chorus in New York City was a great YouTube video to watch. The children were so passionate about the song and seemed to really connect to the song. I am sure that many adults as well as students can watch this video and respond in many different ways. The video may could also help someone think out a matter that is going on within their life. By posting a comment, other people can see how that person feels and see how the video effects that person.

In this class, there has been many different videos that I enjoyed watching and also commenting on my blog. My favorite would have to be the
Achieving Your Childhood Dreams by Randy Pausch. One could post so much information on this video because there are many different approaches one may can take. Another favorite of mine was
Dear Kaia. The other favorite video of mine was
A Vision of Students Today. It helped me to connect with other college students on there experiences. One really had to pay attention during this video because the information was not spoken, one had to read the facts on handwritten notebook paper.