Digital Story Telling Post

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

The Animoto program I used made this whole movie making process very easy. I feel that in the field of education, this might be a good tool to show students my personal life. If I take a trip somewhere over a school break, a digital movie is the greatest way of telling your story. Instead of boring people with stories and no visual stimulation, a digital story does it's job.

Learning Blog Entries Set 3, #4

In our class, we had a Professional Web Presence Project, in which we could create our own website on the Google Sites Program. It took me an incredibly long time to get the hang of the program, but after I got it it was smooth sailing. This project opened to my eyes of the professional component of open software programs. I realized the potential for a personal website, and I won't ever look back. A website that includes personal information along with professional credentials allows future employers to check out how people are along with the amount of skill they might have in a particular area.
I feel like a personal website, will help my future employers to see how I am as a person before they allow me to teach students. I think that if I go out there and really let them know what kind of a person I am and what I'm interested in along with my credentials, I might have a higher chance of getting hired. To have that alternative source of information, an employer for a school might see you as more professional, and more willing to be creative to get a job.

http://www.sws-wis.com/why.htm
This link I posted shows the advantages and reasons why to create and have your own personal, professional website.

Learning Blog Entries Set 3, #3

This week we learned about the use of gaming in the world of education. Games can promote academic values through puzzles and animations, and through programs like "Second Life", that allows students to create an artificial lives for themselves. Teachers may use the latter to engulf the students into a period of time in history where they can manipulate themselves within the assimilated reality. Students can walk around through a setting in history and interact with objects surrounding them. It is yet another way for technology to enter into the classroom. It allows the teachers to have material that is new and appreciated by students growing up in the vast, multi-tasking world of technology.
This relates completely to my major, and I think that it has good and bad effects. Combining games and education is a great tool for students to apply their knowledge and learn. They can relate directly to what their learning. I think that I would use games only after I taught the information; I would not substitute teaching for a game. I think that if I did the meaning of the material would get misconstrued. Gaming gives children an outlet to their regular textbooks and chalkboards. I think that the use of programs like "Second Life" is a terrible way to have students further learn material. I think as a teacher I would want to teach the idea to stay away from games like that, and go outside to experience the real life we are given. I hate that kids waste away in front of computers with no idea about the outside world, but have complete control over 3 different worlds on the internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_behavioral_effects
This website article shows the pyschological and sociological effects of video games. This proves why teachers should try to allow students to stray away from constant video gaming rather than conforming lesson plan to them.

Learning Blog Entries Set 3, #2

This week we got to know a little about open source software. Open source software is basically generic, free versions of expensive computer software programs. Open source software can be comparable to Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint to name a few. It is great for people who don't have the money but want professional computer projects. Anyone can write a resume, and really get themselves started with these free programs.
  I think this is great in terms of an education major. Now schools no longer have to spend countless amounts of money to have incredible computer software. I was thinking that Photoshop was great and was thinking of purchasing it, until I saw the outrageous prices. It's great that instead of tax payers paying for these programs, they don't have to be purchased at all. Schools can then use the money for other programs such as more textbooks and/or art supplies. I think that open source software is a great move forward in the world of technology.



This video shows the different options available to people with open source software. I was surprised to see that there is even music alternatives. It also impressed me that the Microsoft Office type of software was so much like the real, expensive thing.

Learning Blog Entries Set 3, #1

This week we learned about Distance Education. Distance education is basically the ways to teach through technology and instructional systems, where the student is not actually physically there. There are programs that have been developed like online classes and fast track degree programs that students can do over the internet. Distance education can also include the regular mail and even information passed through cellular devices. There are advantages and disadvantages to this type of education; the advantages being that it allows students to work at their own pace and have a flexible time zone to get work done. The disadvantages are that there is a lack of personal impact, it can be costly, and security issues can come up when using the internet.
This particular subjects effects the subject of education in many different ways. On one hand it gives me more opportunities to have teaching jobs if I need one. On the other, I just hate the idea of teaching through a computer. I think that in order to truly teach to my own potential I would have to physically be there in front of my students. I personally thinks that it benefits every one to physically have a teacher around, because it teaches sociological skills along with the information at hand. It kind of scares me to think of some students sitting at home in front of their computers all day instead of interacting with fellow students and teachers.
http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Distance_Education_-_Disadvantages


I chose this website because it shows the disadvantages of distance education, specifically how it effects the students. It entails how students can feel isolated, can procrastinate more, and lose the specific teacher and student interactions that have been worked for so long.

Learning Blogs Set 2 #4

This week we learned about Google Docs. It is an application of Google that actually allows you to create a document, and share it with whoever you allow. The movie showed in class was the descriptive portrayal on how the program works and it's various uses. The docs application really gets rid of the hassle of having an attachment to put in an e-mail. A lot of the time the e-mails don't go through or match up to the other person's computer. Google Docs allows for all versions of a document made on the program to be matched up and easily shared.

In the educational system, this is a great tool to use, and I had no idea that it even existed before this class. I realized that taking attendance, editing student's papers and even field trip forms could all sit in one program. This is could be scary if your computer crashes, but with Google Docs, it's all right there on the internet, available from any computer. I also feel that teachers can come together and share lesson plans to make sure they are all on the right track or at least have some idea. Google Docs seems great and I plan to use it a lot.

I chose this video because it is a tutorial for teachers in Google Docs. I plan on being a teacher and this video shows the organizing patterns you can pick up to be organized and have everything written down in the perfect file or folder.

Learning Blogs Set 2 #3

This week we found out some information about Podcasts. I never even knew what they really were, but after reading the articles, I found podcasts to be a great idea. Podcasts are simply audio files that can be attained by signing up for them. They provide people with music, stories, and any other audio file really. Podcasts can help college students for example, if they can get podcasts of lectures by their professors. This allows students to be able to listen to something not understood more than once, and keep up if they are absent. Music students can listen to their audio files and critique, and people who speak foreign languages can speed up the process of learning english.

Podcasts have a great impact on education, the field I am going to enter into. Students who get in terrible accidents or get sick have the chance to not fall completely behind. Students can go on the internet and hear what they did in class, if the teacher is willing to take the extra step. I would gladly take the time out to do that for my students. I also think that in my absence, I could provide a podcast for the things that substitute teachers might not understand. Also in my absence, the sound of my voice on a podcast could scare the students to act straight. I think they are an amazing invention.

http://www.northville.k12.mi.us/hillside-imc/podcasts/
This is a link to one of many podcasts for students. This example is one of "reading roundup" for middle schoolers to listen to. This is part of the virtual media center in hillside Middle School. This example is a prime case of podcasts being used in the classroom.

Webspiration Project

http://www.mywebspiration.com/go/620065

Learning Blogs Set 2 #2

This week we learned how digital technologies are transforming the faces of educational activities. The simple fact is is that there are so many new technologies being created everyday, that are transforming what we expect out of life. The idea of digital vs. analog is quite intriguing. Many people these days want the crisp, almost realistic photos when they use their camera. Others want to revert back to polaroids and other early forms of technology. It shows that although some people are ready for the world of the "new", many want to keep their fond memories of past times in tact; they don't want to lose that. The past is the link to who we are as a people these days. The past is also a great device in the classroom.
I believe that in the classroom, students must learn about the past in order to understand why society is the way it is now. It is important for children to know about propaganda tactics and about the technology of the times then. Knowledge of these helps round the students and look behind them instead of always looking ahead. Sometimes when it is hard to find the answer to something, it is much easier to look for it in the past.

This movie shows wartime propaganda in the 1950s. Many people were afraid of nuclear carnage, so the government made a bunch of propaganda movies to help the public out with saving themselves from one. As you see, it starts with a turtle hiding in it's own shell to escape dynamite. Humans though, do not have shells, but the "duck and cover" might work. Allowing kids to see htis can show them what not to believe when they watch the TV.

Learning Blog Set 2:#1

This week we learned about the Adobe Photoshop program while on the subject of Visual Literacy. Visual literacy is incredibly important because we are living in a very visual culture. It is "the ability to understand communications composed of visual images as well as being able to use visual imagery to communicate to others."(museumca.org) We learned that photography greatly influences how we think about history, the pictures really give a visual stimulus for what was going on at that time. This also gives light to the fact that photography is malleable, and can make any kind of image to appear within its context. In advertising for example, models in magazines are portrayed as flawless beings, which brings about a fallacy because programs like photoshop can make anyone beautiful.

Photoshop influences what I plan to do with my life in a lot of ways. I have to make sure that in an elementary school setting, the picture does not lie to the students. Children are incredibly susceptible to lies in the media, and it truly begins when they are young. On the bright side though, I can create more interesting learning materials to make the children more interested in the information they are receiving. Programs like photoshop can provide an interactive world of learning for students all over.


I chose this interactive article because it really portrays how fake the media can really be. The stars that woman idolize and men fantasize about are never really what they say they are. A simple computer program can make it look like your favorite movie star lost 10 pounds, and maybe so should you. This shows how unfair the media can be, and how we shouldn't ever pay attention to those people in the magazines. Children see these magazines in grocery stores, and start at a young age believing in the hype of beauty. It just isn't fair..
http://www.newsweek.com/feature/2010/unattainable-beauty.html

Learning blog #4

        I learned this week that a good teacher, when choosing what materials to help teach, has a lot to think about before choosing the right activity. A teacher has to take into account that children have many different learning styles that should be accommodated. There have been plenty of thoughts on how to incorporate these issues to scientific reasoning and methods. A learning theory can be developed to help understand the complex nature of learning. Students can be conditioned to learn a certain way through a behaviorist's eyes. The uses of consequences can especially effect the learning of a student. There are also theories that say the mind has three different memory storage units to help register, process, store, and retrieve the information taught to them. Some theories suggest that learning occurs when the student is able to learn their own unique knowledge of the materials at hand.
       In my major, and the career path I am taking, I need to know all of this information. I know that teaching requires quite a bit of knowledge on sociological and psychological principles. To know and understand all of these differences and similarities in learning can help me become a better teacher. A good teacher must understand that every child has their own version of retaining the information provided to them, and they must accommodate to them.

>>>>http://www.educationplanner.org/education_planner/discovering_article.asp?sponsor=2859&articleName=Learning_Styles_Quiz

I chose this link because I found it interesting. It is pretty extensive and asks about 20 questions that allows you to find you own personal learning style. I found out that I am more of an auditory learner, which makes perfect sense. It also gives you a comprehensive summary about your learning style, and tips on how to manage with it.

Learning blog #3

This blog is about what I learned about multimedia and hypermedia as a teaching and learning tool. Multimedia is any combination of audio, video, text, etc, and can promote flexibility in learning while stimulating other interests. Hypermedia is a program that contains media that are connected by links that allow a person to navigate through the lesson in their own way. This also can promote proactive learning and help learners choose their own way of learning. I found that there are also limitations in using this form of teaching. Sometimes there are not enough funds to get the technologies necessary, the lack of training necessary for the programs, along with the fact that a typical school day does not have enough time to start big hypermedia projects.
I think that using these particular programs and lectures filled with multimedia are great for students. I feel as though if I were teaching I would also need something other than a textbook and the sound of my own voice. I am pretty sure the students would enjoy a video or gag reel about a subject they are learning. It is fun to get creative as a teacher with the learning styles used and these materials allow for more flexibility in that.
http://home.iag.net/~ksking/mmedia.html
I chose this link because it is a helping tool with plenty of links for teachers. This website can help teachers integrate hypermedia into their lesson plans and classrooms. This website gives links from PBS, BBC, and Nick Jr. as some examples. It looks like the perfect place for teachers to see how including media in their lessons will stimulate the interests of the students.

A Video for Creative Commons

learning blog #2

   This week we had a copyrighting tutorial to glance over filled with information. I never knew how many stipulations there were in using published materials. The one thing that caught me off guard was that the copyright spans out in ever country that signs the copyright treaty. It's nice to know that so many people take creativity so sacred and secure. It intrigued me that the things that are not covered under copyright are things such as slogans, phrases, and lists of ingredients.. it makes me feel better that not everything is under some kind of control. Copyrights can also exist up to 70 years after the person who copyrighted their material is deceased.

   The idea of the copyright is something I am going to have to pay attention to being a teacher. I would like to have a wide span of other materials for my students that I find to be helpful, but now I know I am going to have to jump through some loops to do so. I will have to ask permission if I choose to teach the children something other than what the school can provide for materials. The organization listed Creative Commons sounds like it might be the place to look for for teaching materials. This non-profit organization does not seek out the use of their materials for commercial purposes, which works perfectly with my educational purposes.. :)

    I decided to choose this picture this week because I feel that with the Fair Use Act info I have found, that everyone has a right to written materials as long as they are used for learning purposes. I completely agree with this idea, and it allows students a wider range of materials to learn. This law can help me expand the knowledge of the children that I will teach. I just hope that our government allows this law to keep on going...

learning blog #1

In class this week, we watched a pretty frightening video on the advancement of technologies within the past few years. It was filled with info that I never knew beforehand. I had no idea that the 25 percent of people in India ith the highest IQs surpass the total population of the United States... it's incredible how advanced they are as a country. It is terrifying to know that 1 in 8 people actually found love over the internet.. creepy stuff, it's like we get the internet to do everything for us. The most controversial thing I found in that video was the fact that a computer is actually being made that can exceed the human brain.. I honestly believe technology is going to take over us all if we don't slow down.

     I am an elementary education major. This video showed me that computers may take over the job I want to have in the future. If a computer is smarter than a human being in a couple of years, why would students even need fellow humans teaching them? It's a scary thought. I am going to have to keep up in the world of technology with this major, so I can be on somewhat of the same level as my students. I want to be able to teach with hands-on activities and eye contact, not the glow of a computer monitor.

This video shows that in some of the more technologically advanced countries, teachers are going to be replaced. I can't believe that human contact is just dissipating into oblivion.