Journal 6: Software Review

Inspiration Review

Here is a documment that I created using Inspiration

1. I thought that this was a very neat program to use. Creating an idea map can be boring and uncreative many times (although they are useful as representation of ideas). This program had lots of ways to make an idea map more fun and a better resource for learners of all types since it allowed for the incorporation of colors and pictures and words. I think that students would prefer using this rather than just making a concept map.
2. I hope to teach a high school math class and I think that this would be a neat way to create a representation of math in real world situations and occupations. You could start with math as the center/ main idea. The first set of branches could be different types of math and the branches from there could be careers that use those types of math. It could be an ongoing project that the entire class participates in and adds to.
3. I did not use the Atomic Learning program to learn how to use Inspiration. The way the program is set up is very easy to learn to use and it is very intuitive (although I did ask Annie at least one question). I feel that give a little bit of time to play around with the program anyone would be able to figure out how it works.
   

iMovie Review

1. This was a very fun program to use. It was a really neat way to combine several sources to create one unique final project. There were so many different things that you could do that it was just really fun. I think that students would love this program since it is a way for them to show their creativity and create something that is uniquely their own.
2. During my classroom observations I visited a classroom where students preformed skits they called "calc it up". These were short (30 second) skits involving a few students and some topic in calculus. The students who were performing the skits had a lot of fun and the other students enjoyed watching them. I plan to have a course webpage and I think that it would be really fun to have every student present a skit (in groups) and then to post them to the webpage so that they would be able to see them again. iMovie could be used to edit the skit before it was presented to the class and posted online (To be able to do this there are privacy issues that would have to be taken into consideration since they would show the students).
3. I did not use Atomic Learning to navigate this program. During class Dr. Heil gave us a demonstration of how to use the program. This was all the instruction I needed. I think that if students were expected to use this program they would need a tutorial and then they would be able to figure it out just by playing with it.

Journal 7: Wikis

I choose to look into wikis. A wiki is a webpage that is designed to allow anyone (or a group who is allowed access through a password) to edit or contribute information without having to know a programming language.
While reading in classroom 2.0 I found out some interesting things about wikis and their use in the classroom. There were several sources that talked about different places where teachers could get free wikis with no advertisements.
Teachers also left interesting comments about the experiences they have had with wikis in their classrooms. Some of these comments follow:

• One teacher talked about students’ sense of ownership of what they had written. While the ability for peers to edit work can be a very helpful tool it could also be a potential problem. Students might not always like the way that another student comes and changes his or her work. The teacher leaving the comment talked about the need to have guidelines set out for students so that they would know what they should be allowed to change on another students pages and what they should leave comments about so that the author could change them at his or her discretion.
  
• Another teacher talked about a wiki site she had set up for her students. She said that her site was set up so that only students in her class could edit the page and students in her school could view the page but not edit it. This is a helpful comment for people who have never used a wiki and might be concerned about who can see and edit their page.

While there were many interesting things that teachers had to say about wikis in the classroom I thought that the above comments were very helpful for someone who might be looking to incorporate wikis into their classroom. If anyone is looking for more information or comments I encourage them to visit http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=wikis.

Journal 8

A "Fantastic Super" Use of Technology: Closing the Digital Divide
By Diane Curtis

Curtis, Diane (2002, November 1). A "fantastic super" use of technology: Closing the digital divide. Retrieved October 11, 2008, from Edutopia Web site: http://www.edutopia.org/ fantastic-super-use-technology

How can technology be incorporated in the classroom in a manner that includes and challenges all? This seems to be one of the questions that was seriously considered when Mary Scroggs Elementary School was planned. Technology has been incorporated into every classroom in this school, from Kindergarten all the way up to the fifth grade classrooms. Each classroom has four to five computers and there are laptops that can be borrowed if all of the students need to have access to computers at the same time.
One of the longstanding challenges that has stood in the way of the use of technology in the classroom is equal access. Through grants not only do all students have access to computers while they are in school, but the school was able to offer "Internet access devices" to families that cannot afford a computer of their own.
With the obstacle of financing and equal access addressed the teachers have had very positive experiences incorporating technology into their classrooms.
Parents have been very happy with the use of technology in the classroom. The idea of being able to email the teacher with questions and comments has been something that the parents have been very happy with. They also like being able to find out what their students are doing in school and what homework they have.

Question: How can I include technology in my classroom?

I would like to have course webpage that keeps students and parents up to date on what is going on in the classroom. Some things that I would include on this page are assignments, class announcements, and links that the students might find helpful if they were struggling with a topic. It would also have a direct link to my email.


Question: What hesitations do you have about incorporating technology in the classroom?

I think that technology is a great resource and that it should be taken advantage of. That being said, there are some reasons that I would hesitate to incorporate it in my classroom. My first hesitation would be equal access. While Mary Scroggs school was able to find a way around this obstacle all schools might not be so lucky and I would not want to give any students advantages over their classmates. I would also hesitate because students can sometimes be immature and while this would probably not be enough of a reason for me not to incorporate it I would

Cal State San Marcos Video