Screen Cast=Google Maps!

For my screen cast assignment I decided to show people how to use Google Maps. I really enjoyed the Maps project we had for class so I decided to put into my own words how to do it. Although it is not quite as detailed as Professor Fryer's I do think that I got the basics covered and it can be a quick tutorial for those who like to experiment with different things on the internet!

Week 15 Scribe Blog Post

In Week 15 we basically reviewed. Professor Fyer reviewed with us how to upload our unit plans to eportfolio. We also talked about our assignments and when they were all due. In addition we talked some more about our Pecha Kucha assignments and further how to accomplish those and get them done. It was a wrap up of the whole semester and making sure we were ready to finish everything we needed to. After all of that instruction we went on to view two Pecha Kutcha presentations by our classmates. The first one was about sharks and had beautiful pictures. Her information was amazing and I really learned something when listening to this presentation. The next one was about farmers in America and why they are so important to us. This presentation was very touching as the presenter brought in some of her own personal feelings on the matter since her father is a farmer. Her pictures were also very good and it was very well put together. Both presenters did a fabulous job and I only hope my presentation is half as good.

Pecha Kucha

This is my Pecha Kucha presentation. I did is over the history of soccer since soccer is a passion of mine and I wanted to let others in on how it was started and developed.

Second Life

This video "Orientation in Second Life" showed various aspects of second life as well as how new users are introduced. The biggest thing that I took away from this video was that there are in fact so many ways that certain things can be explained and how people respond differently to these. Not all people understand certain explanations and this video goes through the many ways that they explain how to use second life. Everyone learns differently and thus there need to be many ways available to people as instructions to use things. Second Life does this and provides instructions varying from a manual to a video instruction. I think this is beneficial to people and is a must with a product like this.

The way I relate to this is in my life is in a very big way. Sometimes reading instructions does not necessarily sink in from me. I really saw this when I bought my eportfolio for school. Reading the instructions for this product, I just did not get. I thought I was reading it right and I wasn't. I finally asked for help and with the walk through I was able to finally understand. Also in my technology for teachers class, the way professor Fryer includes video tutorials with the lessons is very beneficial to me. I find myself more of a visual learner and being able to see him go through it step by step specifically really helps me. With second life, they are really appealing to the masses as providing more than just one way to be able to learn how to use their product.

With this video it became really apparent how differently people learn. I can use this in my teaching style by being aware of this. Not everyone can just read directions and know what to do some people have to be shown or to be told out loud. Second life really realized that and put it into action. They also made their user interface easy to use. It really is about simplifying things so that they are accessible to people and they can get the most out of them. As a teacher I can use that too. I don't want to make things too difficult so that no one understands and I spend all my time explaining. No one gains from that, but if I simplify then everyone is able to get the most out of it and feel successful for it.

Google Survey

I did my google survey on vacations. My goal in this was to find out what people liked to do best on vacations. Oddly enough I have not received any feedback on my survey. Or I cannot see if anyone has been able to take it. As such I have no results or feed back.

W.o.W

The biggest thing that I took away from this video about Sam was the inter-activeness of technology. Sam really exemplified how a regular student uses technology in a regular day. She uses technology to help her in activities in her everyday life. She downloaded an audio book to have it read to her because she didn't understand it the first time around. She also used technology when practicing the piano. She is finding practical ways to use what is available to her. She also uses technology for recreation. Sam really shows us a typical teen of today. They are becoming more and more adept with finding and using things on the internet and getting creative with that.

How I relate to this video is Sam's use of World of Warcraft. I have many friends that play that game and the way it was presented in this video I have never thought of before. It really is a social network and people are interacting in a healthy way in this enviroment. They play together and are able to learn team work this way. Also Sam speaks of how much she texts and I agree with that completely. No one really talks on the phone anymore. Everyone texts, its easier and faster and it is really taking over the world. I also relate to the mention of social networking sites because of course I have a facebook.

I can relate this to my own teaching practices because I can learn from Sam how the kids in my classroom are going to be. Most kids I'm going to teach are going to text all the time and always be on their phone. I have to realize that and deal with it so that it doesn't interfere with their learning. Also they are going to be very active on the internet and very active with technology. Knowing this I can apply this to my lesson plans and intergrate technology projects. Knowing the kids you teach is a very important aspect of teaching. If you don't know your audience how can you appeal to them? This video was very informative as to that information and will help me in the future.

WiKi's

What I saw as the biggest takeaway from this video is how kids can see things in different ways and thus can learn things better. This video talks about wikis and kids that create them and are learning at the same time. Wikis provided these kids to express their passions and then other kids can go look at them and then maybe understand that subject from the point of view of their peers. It is always more effective learning from your peer than anyone else. It is like they are on your level and they can better explain it to you. The kids can also collaborate and add to their peer's work. Using these techniques in school help kids learn and also learn how to work together.

This connects with my real life because this video informed me of a new way to share information. Wikis are really a foreign subject to me. I see its uses and how effective it can be I just never really knew about it. There are so many ways that you can use this internet function its really amazing because I usually use the internet for searching or emailing. I don't really venture out of my comfort zone or go out looking for new things that I could potentially use. This video just really opened my eyes to what I can do with the resources available to me.

This connects with me because as a future teacher I can use wikis in my classroom. I could create a wiki for my class where they would be able to view class content and homework and the class would be able to collaborate on there as well. I could also use wikis as a class project where kids can pick a topic they are passionate about and make a wiki around that and having their classmates collaborate on it. I just think that this would more engage my students and make the class more interesting. When the class is more interesting then students get more out of the class and learn better. Also anything with a computer these days kids automatically jump at because the internet is exciting and fun to them.

Do They Have an App for That?

The video by Joyce Valenza was extremely informative. I think the thing I took away from this most is all of the different things avaliable to a student out there on the internet. It is just mind boggleing how many resources are avaliable out there for students. Also the value of a digital footprint and safety was a big part of the video. I found it valuable how we need to be careful what we do on the internet and the sources that we look at. All of the interactive things on the internet such as wikis I also found interesting. It was just kind of overwhelming to me and a lot to take in, but at the same time I did take alot away from it.

The way this video really connected to my own life is really when she was talking about research and citations. I have been in a class this semester where the whole class was based on a research paper. I have been doing so much research and have even utilized one of the sites that she talked about in the video. However I really felt a connection when she was speaking about wikipedia and how checking your sources was important. Also when the scarecrow spoke about how overwhelmed he felt with information, I have felt the exact same way. In the end I organized it the old fashioned way, but it could have been easier organizing it in another way that she presented.

This video relates with me as a future educator because just like Joyce I want to make sure that my students know all of the resources avaliable. Especially when I'm a history teacher and research is a big part of history. I can use this video and the research apps that she described on it. That way my students will know all of their resources and not be stressed or overwhelmed. Because as an educator I want my students to feel comfortable with assignments and know all of the ways that they can get it done. I just want to be avaliable to my students and make things avaliable for them when I'm not there. This video is very informative as to how I can do that for them.

I went and visited Bibme.com and found it a really cool website. I visited this website because it has the most relvance to me. This is a website that I could use on an actual basis. I typed in one of my sources for my resource paper and got a citation and I found it easy and helpful. I would reccommend this website to my classmates and future college students that need to write a research paper. I'm glad I watched this video and learned of this website.