Blog Post #5

Dr Scott McLeod, who is he you ask? Well he is an Associate Professor, Educational Administration, Director, CASTLE at Iowa State University. CASTLE is the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. It is used to help school administrators with their technology needs, they also help the educational leadership in university to help prepare administrators, teachers and faculty to become familiar with technology. Dr. Scott McLeod is also a blogger for DangerouslyIrrelevant where you can find the blog post Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

I really enjoyed Dr. Scott McLeod's blog post,Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?. The way he approached it, and writing with sarcasm really captures you. It really makes you think about what he is saying. I agree that students need a "leg up" on technology. Technology is becoming more and more demanding in our everyday life. The upcoming generations of students need to know how to use the technology that is being developed, because they are going to have to rely on it when they get older and have a career. Even though I think it is a good idea that this technology is used in the classroom, I do think that it needs to be closely monitored.

Travis Allen was just a senior in high school when he posted a video titled: The iSchool Initiative. The iSchool Initiative proposes that schools will no longer have to count on books, and paper and pencils. That just an iTouch product is all that will be needed. Travis Allen proposes that this device will save everyone from the school, to the students money. It is stated that just by the use of simple Apps teachers and parents will be able to keep up with the students grades and events. This device allows the storage of textbooks, workbooks, calendars, even the ability to record lectures and take notes. The recorded lectures and notes are also able to be sent to other students.

I will have to say that my thoughts have changed over the past few weeks, from viewing all of these videos and blog posts. The idea of more and more technology in the classroom is growing on me. I really do enjoy the old-fashion classroom, but my mind is being slowly changed. I think that this idea that Travis Allen has is a really good idea. I think students would enjoy class more since they would able to interact with their textbooks. For example, the science lesson that was shown in the video allowed you to be able to search through outer space. I think with a hands on tool such as this, students will be able to learn more and become more engaged in their lessons. Not to mention, the teachers would have direct access to their students grades and school work from anywhere. Something that was not mentioned in the video, but I think is great is the fact that students would no longer have to carry around HEAVY backpacks. I think this will help decrease the cases of bad backs in students.

I have never seen a virtual choir before, and I search music on YouTube all the time, until I saw Jennifer Chamber's post: Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir. I find it amazing that this people never met, and never once performed together. I know, from experience, that when you stick people together who have never sang together before can take a turn for the good or the worst. In high school my chorus teacher had 2-3 different chorus classes. And, because of the school schedule there was never anyway to get all the classes together before we performed out end of the semester concert. (Keeping 60+ students after-school would have been a big hassle, and no guarantee that all the students would be able to stay). So we were always put on stage together with never performing together, and the outcome of the concert varied. So, this virtual performance definitely blew my mind on the quality of the voices and the video!

Cell phones,Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Blogging... what do these things have in common? A faster way to communicate with our peers. These things allow us to work around one another's schedules. Many students have a problem with trying to meet up for group projects that are assigned. But that does not have to be the case anymore. Email, Skype, Facebook, texting, all these things have made it easier to do group projects. You can send ideas, and information through email. You can discuss the project via Skype or phone call. All this technology is being used by students, now. Kevin Roberts discusses the importance of this technology is his presentation Teaching in the 21st Century. He compares the difference between students being entertained and being engaged, and how the two are not the same. He states "entertainment is for enjoyment, and engagement is for learning." This presentation is a very good way to make teachers stop and think about how they will go about using technology to teach in their classrooms.

From the Reading Rockets page I chose to look through Reading 101. Reading 101 gives you different links to click on, for things you need to know when working with students who are learning to read. It informs you that students are different, and that they are going to learn differently. Under the link The Sounds of Speech, it tells you that the majority English speaking children could hear the difference between words that sound similar, but for some students it could be quiet confusing.

I have had experience with working with a child in learning how to read. I have a friend who has 4 boys and I was able to help her youngest with his reading. He was not getting good grades in reading, and he was a little slower when reading out loud. So I told my friend that I would work with him. In working with him, I found that helping him break down the words and sounding them out really helped him a lot. It took time and practice on his part, and patience on my part. But together he and I got through it. On his next reading test he brought home an "A" and he was extremely excited for that. I think these links under Reading 101 will be a major help to many teachers, and even parents. I know that I will be using these ideas in my classroom one day!

Project #9a TimeToast Timeline

Blog Post #4

I found in the Langwitches blog post, 1st graders create their Own Read-Along audio book, very interesting. I think that the idea of the students recording their own voices to create an audio book for them to use in class is a great idea! It allows something new for students to engage in. It gives a whole new perspective to reading for students, especially first graders. I think that letting students experiment with this kind of technology is very rewarding. Not only are the students doing something new and interesting to them, they are learning how to use technology, and learning how to read all at them same time. I think that using podcasts in the classroom is a great way to make reading more fun and interesting for students!

Langwitches blog post, Podcasting with First Graders, made me want to do a podcast myself. Just the way they students were described in how they acted when doing this project made things seem like so much fun. In my High School drama class, I was able to work with a group do something like this, except we used tape recorders. We had to incorporate music, and script into ours as well, but we did not have the technology the students have today. We had to pause the tape player get our music ready, press record and then inject our dialogue. You had to be really good to not have any paused in your tape. These students can actually take clips and piece them together and make their podcast sound a whole lot better. I noticed in the section of the post titled "recording" that it is made mention that students confidence levels rose. I think this kind of project is a good way to get students who are shy to interact more. In listening to their podcast, I can tell they enjoyed doing this project. They done a very good job!

I really enjoyed Langwitches blog post on,
Listening- Comprehension-Podcasting. It shows how a tool such as "Garageband" and/or the SMARTboard can be used to help students learn but have fun at the same time. The project they did with the story Purim, was a very good example of how to get students involved and allowing them the opportunity to learn. This project turned something that would normally be boring into something that was intriguing to the students. They not only were able to create a podcast, or use the SMARTboard, but they were able to manipulate sounds, they were able to develop listening skills to they could listen and comprehend just what was being spoken. They worked on their writing skills because they had to write a script.
In listening to the students podcast that they done for the project, I was very much impressed. These second graders spoke with such clarity, and excitement. I could really tell that they enjoyed this project. Even though I was not there when they were able to manipulate the sounds on the SMARTboards, or for the script writing, I think the students favorite part was probably speaking in Hebrew and doing this podcast! It sounds like they had a lot of fun! Queen Esther is one of my favorite women from the Bible, and hearing the story of her done in a short podcast in Hebrew was very exciting!

Project #6- "My Sentence"

C4T#1

I was assigned to Mrs. Angela Rand. In the first blog post I commented on, Mrs. Rand discussed her experiences with #PhdChat sessions. In her post she mentions that a lot of people who have their doctoral degrees and even those who are working on these degrees come to this forum to discuss different issues. The conversations and topics may vary throughout the month. Mrs. Rand made the statement, “Sometimes I find myself carrying on two or more conversations at once while keeping an eye on the main thematic conversation. It's fast-paced and sort of exhilarating to participate.”
As her blog post continues she goes on to talk about how she was conducting a study on the social media. She made mention that there are pros and cons to this kind of study. She discusses how in a personal meeting (face to face) attitudes and such can be determined through body language and such, but whereas body language cannot be determined through an online conversation. But one thing she mentions you can look at, to make sure of the things you may need to steer away from, is clues of things being left out, such as certain topics.

My response to Mrs. Rand’s post was this:
Hello! My name is Kasey Mooney and I am currently enrolled in EDM 310. I am still trying to get use to Twitter, and I have not really had an actual conversation on it. I also, have found that in any kind of online conversation whether it be Facebook, Twitter, forums or whatever, it is hard to analyze someone intentions and attitudes like you stated! I really enjoyed your blog post!


Mrs. Rand has not updated her blog in a while, so I had to go back and find another post to comment on. The second post I commented on, Mrs. Rand discussed a program she uses on the MAC. It is a program used to make concept maps and diagrams. His program is called Diagrammix. Here is here blog post:

“I made this concept map/diagram using Diagrammix. Charts like these help me to learn some basic verbal information and the playful display motivates me to look at the diagram. I also like making these kinds of charts and making the charts is a form of engaging actively with the content.
Diagrammix is a pretty powerful little program for MAC. Hopefully the next upgrade will include some more symbol templates but even now there are plenty of options and the colors and functions of the symbols are easy to change. The finished charts can be exported as pdf, jpg, or the proprietary format.”




My response to Mrs. Rand’s post was this:
My name is Kasey Mooney, I am an EDM310 student at the University of South Alabama.
I really like this program you have shown. I think this would be a really good tool to use to help demonstrate to students how to go about making a concept map, or a diagram. But, I do not own a MAC, do you know of any other programs like this one that can be used on other computers?

Project #5 Google Presentation

Blog Post #3

The videos that were assigned to us to watch about peer editing, has helped me evaluate myself in the way that I go about editing my peers work. I think I have been a combination, at times, of the different kind of editors identified in the video: Writing Peer Review TOP 10 Mistakes. As a teacher I want to be able to encourage my students to do their best. I will make sure that I give plenty of positive feedback, but not to the point where they will not take my corrections. A balance of both encouragement and corrections are needed for students to do well. As for public and private corrections, I think it just depends on the errors and the person/student receiving the critique.


Technology in Special Education was a very enlightening video, on how technology can assist students with special needs. Many students learn different ways whether it be hands on activities, visual learning, or a mixture of both, and students with special needs are no different. They also need to find a way that helps them learn effectively. I feel that this video gives a little insight on how to help those students with special needs. This video shows that it can help students who have problems communicating, communicate better, along with helping others read better or even become excited about learning!
I really enjoyed seeing the excitement in the students in this video. Though others may see them as different because they learn differently, or need help with learning they are still people. And the technology that we are using today only helps them to accomplish things on their own, that people 10 years ago may not have been able to accomplish without the help of an aid. The excitement that I saw in their eyes really has inspired me to try and incorporate whatever I may need into my classroom in the future to help my students learn.

How the iPad works with Academics for Autism was a very encouraging video! It showed how the iPad can help a child with Autism be excited about learning, along with actually being engaged in the process. The parents of this child showed full support and encouragement as the child began counting, and reading the words, and writing. They made sure to give positive feedback to their son. I feel that the iPad can be a positive tool to use in the classrooms of special needs students.

In searching the education apps at Apple Store I found an app that I feel would help students with learning new words. The game is called Futaba (which is Japanese for “seedling”). It is a four player game in which the students sit around the iPad, and a picture is shown on the screen, the first student to match the picture to the correct word scores a point. I feel that this game will help allow students to interact with one another as well as learn to put words with a picture.


Gary Hayes Social Media Count was very interesting. It astonished me to see just how many people actually use social media. I knew that many people used it, but to see just how much society has grown to rely on it was shocking. We now use social media for everything, from texting, to email, to looking up information we need for a research paper. I know that I am a Google user; my friends call me the “Google Queen”. When I do not know something, I simply pull out my phone and “google it” like most people would. Technology has developed so much that we now have the internet at our fingertips, literally. It is almost accessible on just about every phone on the market, not to mention iPads, iPods, and laptops, all which are portable devices. We stay connected where ever we go.

I know I am guilty of constantly staying connected, whether through texting or using Facebook on my phone. I no longer have to write a letter and send it in the mail and have to wait for days for a response, I can just email someone and it reaches their computer in less than a minute. I no longer have to stay at home to wait on an important phone call because I cannot miss it, I can go about my day and have my phone with me at all times. Social media has become an important part of our lives as we know it, whether we realize it or not, and Gary Hayes chart shows just how much we use it.

As a student I can relate to this video: A Vision of Students Today. I know I have spent hundreds of dollars on books that I never even opened, to then sell back and not even get half of what I paid for it. I have also been guilty of texting on my phone, or looking at Facebook during a lecture. Going to a lecture class 3 days a week gets pretty boring after a while. Especially when there is over a hundred students in one classroom, and there is no personal interaction with the teacher or your peers. I like being able to interact with my teachers and them actually know my name.

I am not a fan of full blown classes being online, but I have found that I enjoy hybrid classes. I like being able to go to class and listen to a lecture and making sure I am on the right page, then going home and working at my own pace to get my work done. It takes a lot of stress off me when I am able to work at my own pace.

Blog Post #2

Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version is very informative on the numbers of those using technology. It cuts out every excuse of why a child does not have computer access when he states that “2 years ago 93% of 8-18 year olds in the United states had computers in their homes.”  There is a definite demand for technology in today’s society, and it is only growing. With the increase in statistics, based on the statistics given in this video, there is definitely no telling how much more advanced technology will be in 10 years.  As an educator, I know that I will need to be as prepared as possible.  It is crazy to know that over a million searches are going on a minute on Google, and that over eleven million text messages are being sent out a minute. This society is becoming more and more dependent on technology,

Mr. Winkle Wakes is a video about a man who has been asleep for 100 years, to wake up and find that everything around him has changed. He finds that in an office there are now things that have been developed where you can communicate with people all over the world, and see them on a screen which would be the computer. He travels to a hospital to find that people’s lives are being saved by machines. He then travels to a classroom, where he finds that nothing has changed. In the video the comment is made that he likes school because it has not changed.

 With technology increasing, and the latest gadgets in high demand, I feel that a good old fashion classroom is needed at times. It is a good asset to learning. I am all for technology, and using it to learn, but I feel that it makes things a little too easy now. When I was in Elementary School we did not have the smart boards like we do today, but I was still capable of learning. Yes, these things are great, but I still feel like lectures, and dry erase boards/chalk boards are also a good way of teaching! So I am with Mr. Winkle on this one for the most part!

The Importance of Creativityis a lecture video by Sir Ken Robinson. In this lecture he discusses the importance for creativity in the schools. He mentions that many find it important for at the core subjects such as math, science, history, but that the arts are found near the very bottom. As a lover of the arts, especially music, I find that it is important to have these areas of education available for students to take. In doing research for a speech last semester, I found that students in music classes are more likely to do better on their tests and in school than those who are no enrolled in music classes. The arts are a big way of allowing children to express themselves, and build confidence. I really do feel that creativity is an important factor for a child’s learning process.

A Vision for 21st Century Learning this is a video discussing how classes are today, and how they feel that they should be. The group that done this video is stating that they no longer want students to just memorize and have to listen to lectures; they want them to actually learn and experience things hands own.  Like stated above in another comment on one of the other videos, I feel that the way things are being taught now are great, but I am not totally against technology. Yes, with technology being in high demand students are going to want to use it to learn. So, as an educator, I will do my best to have a balance of both in my classroom.

Harness Your Students’ Digital Smart is a video about a teacher who takes technology and teaches it to students. She teaches them how to use the technology correctly. It is a good idea to teach students this just because it will help them as they grow in the future. Just as discussed earlier, technology is growing. I like the statement she made about not knowing everything but learning as she went. I think this is something we all need to keep in mind.

Project #2 Wordle