Digital Storytelling/Powering Up

I am excited to start learning how I can make a digital story and use this as a tool in my classroom.  So far I have had a little bit of experience with the different tools and apps that we went over in class that can be a part of our story making process.  The digital story that I have already made was nothing special.  I feel like it is very unoriginal and is almost just a version of a powerpoint that you don't have to click through.  I am hoping that my next one will be a lot better and something that I can be proud of.  From what I know already I think that my students would really enjoy making one.
Our group has started a discussion on the Ning page about our chapter in Powering Up.  We talked about some of the ideas in the first chapter, Flipping the Switch.  For myself one of the most interesting points that was raised was the idea of a well-rounded child and if this is really possible in today's society.  I don't think that it is as important to be well rounded now as it was ten years ago.  Now you can be a strong social studies student but not be good at math and get by fine.  If you don't know something in math you can look it up online.  In a job setting it is rare that you are working alone and can usually consult someone else on your team that has different strengths than you do to get the problem figured out.  The text also raises the idea that there is so much knowledge at your fingertips is it even possible to be truly well rounded.  I think that this is a very valid point.

~ Carissa

Classroom Website

Our next big task was to create a professional classroom website.  I decided to use Weebly and make a site geared towards my next student teaching placement.  Parts of it were hard to make or visualize because I had no real information to put due to lack of a real classroom.  I am happy with my overall product for the purpose of this assignment.  If it were a real classroom website I would want to have more student work or involvement on it somehow.  It is simple enough to navigate that almost any age could update or post reminders after some practice.  In looking for ideas on what to put on mine, I searched through a lot of other teacher's websites.  They were all a way to communicate what was going on in the classroom but they were all so different.  Seeing how they were all different made me feel more comfortable with mine.  After realizing how easy it is to make this is something that I definitely want to use in the future.  Once you have the basic site made it would not take much time to quickly update something or quickly post a reminder to parents.  

~ Carissa

ePortfolios EEEK!

The big new idea this week was ePortfolios.  Looking at a few examples in class I think that they look great but also like a lot of work.  There are a lot of things to think about when deciding what to include and what you want to put online.  So far it feels really overwhelming.  For myself I think that I will have to make a rough outline on paper first to organize my thoughts and figure out what I want to include.  I am still not entirely sure how I would want to share my portfolio for the purposes of a job interview.  We talked about the options of putting it online or giving out a memory stick.  I think that once I have the project completed it will be easier to decide what I feel most comfortable with.  I have chosen to make mine on weebly.  So far it is going okay.  The site is proving fairly easy to navigate so far.  I have not done anything fancy with it yet, but so far I think that this site does everything that I want it to do considering it is free.  It may take a while to make it look professional and at the same time personal but I think that in the end my final product will be worth the time.

~ Carissa

Back At Blogging

Once again this blog is up and running for another term at Brandon University.....my last term I might add!!  It is hard to believe how fast time has gone and that in the spring I will be applying for my first teaching position.   All of my courses are in full swing now including ICT, the reason for my blog.  This term I am looking forward to learning more about creating websites and practical applications and tools I can use in my final student teaching placement and my career.  With this being my second technology based course, I am hoping that I can build upon the skills I learned last year.  I already feel a lot more comfortable with technology as compared to last year.  This is definitely a good thing!  Here's hoping for a great term filled with lots of learning!  

~ Carissa 

Summative Project

Final from Carissaarmstrong00

Future of Education

Using the K-12 Horizon Report for background information I feel that education is going to change drastically in the next couple of years.  Today's graduating educators have had a unique schooling experience.  We have experienced the change from being a student in a traditional classroom to one infused with technology.  For this reason I feel that this generation of teachers can see the potential benefits of infusing technology into the classroom.  This technology change will no doubt change how education looks. 

The Horizon Report talked about 5 key trends that they are researching.  Some of the main trends were the abundance of resources the internet makes available, technology changes the way we communicate and collaborate and people expect to be able to work, learn and study wherever and whenever they want.  I agree with all of these statements and I think that these trends, if embraced correctly, will really be beneficial in the classroom.  The article also mentioned that the one size fits all model of teaching is no longer acceptable and that technology is a tool that can help solve this problem.  I could not agree more.  Technology allows assignments to be adapted and modified with a few clicks to accomodate for students with different learning needs.

Different predictions were made in the Horizon Report about both near and far term changes.  The near changes included cloud computing and mobile devices.  I think that this has already taken place or has definitely started to take place with the creation of BYOD schools.  The second adoption changes included game based learning and open content.  Using games in the classroom is something that is stressed that we as new educators should strive to do.  Making learning fun is important.  The far term goals included learning analytics and having personal learning environments in which the students will choose the tools that best match their learning style.  I feel that giving students that choice will greatly change how we view education.  Taking control away from the teacher and giving it to the student will take some time before it is common practice but I think there are many benefits in doing so.

~ Carissa

Web Based App

The first app that I am going to share is called Popplet.  It is sort of like wall wisher but you can put in images and videos right there.  It was really easy to use and I like the way that you are able to organize it more than wall wisher.  It allows you to network your posts and link them directly together which I thought was cool.  Popplet

 

The next app that I thought was cool to use in an early years classroom was Make Beliefs Comics.  It allows you to make a three block comic very easily and has a variety of characters, backgrounds and objects ready for you to insert.  It was really easy to use and you could email or print it right from the finished screen. Comix