I had used other photo editing software before so I thought that I would try one that I never had heard of. I found it to be a lot like the other ones. It had many of the same features of other photo editing software. A few things that I liked were the ability to combine photos to make a collage, also it was fun to try to put the faces in other bodies.
Another feature that I thought was really nice for the classroom setting was that they let you use the program without having to log in at all or start an account. I like this feature for a couple of reasons first I have run into issues with parents not wanting to have their kids open accounts of any kind. With this all kids can get on and play around. The second thing that i liked about this is there is will be very little work before you get to the program, a kid can just get on go to the website and get started. It takes a lot of the would be problems for the teacher right out of the way.
What I did to play around with this program is i just took a picture of my wife and saw what I could do to mess around with it. It was a very easy interface to use, and I liked the the features. i also liked how easy it was to upload the photo to a certain thing for example facebook. It was just a click of a button and it was there. You could also personalize your photo on to t-shirts or coffee cups which was pretty cool, i didn't do it I don't think my wife would approve. Overall thought it was like must other photo editing software, but would use it in the classroom because of how easy it was to get going.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Google Docs Review
I was vaguely familiar with this program before I started playing around with it today. My wife's school used it this past year for multiple things but the main one was communication within the school. They mainly used it as a add-on to their e-mail and easily could attach and send documents.
As far what I think of the program I think that is seems like it would be a useful add-on to most schools computer uses. I really like the ability to share your documents with other co-workers. If I am ever sending anything home I like to have a colleague take a look first to make sure that it looks good; with google docs the transfer will be easy and the editing can be done right on the document. Another thing that I really like about it is that if I wanted to publish documents to my class website or to my schools website it can be done without a problem.
Another portion that seems like could be a great idea is with the sharing of presentations. If the principal wants to put together to show the students it just needs to be uploaded to Google docs and it can be shown in all the classrooms without much of an issue. Also the team that I teach with would love to use this to spend time editing our presentations that we make at parent meetings. Instead of one person doing it we could each take parts and them make one presentation out of it. Overall i think that it is a great program and will probably start using it with my class and colleagues.
As far what I think of the program I think that is seems like it would be a useful add-on to most schools computer uses. I really like the ability to share your documents with other co-workers. If I am ever sending anything home I like to have a colleague take a look first to make sure that it looks good; with google docs the transfer will be easy and the editing can be done right on the document. Another thing that I really like about it is that if I wanted to publish documents to my class website or to my schools website it can be done without a problem.
Another portion that seems like could be a great idea is with the sharing of presentations. If the principal wants to put together to show the students it just needs to be uploaded to Google docs and it can be shown in all the classrooms without much of an issue. Also the team that I teach with would love to use this to spend time editing our presentations that we make at parent meetings. Instead of one person doing it we could each take parts and them make one presentation out of it. Overall i think that it is a great program and will probably start using it with my class and colleagues.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
R/D13
The one thing in this chapter that really fascinates me is the advanced performance tracking. As a coach the example that they gave really got me thinking. I would love to have this technology at my finger tips to help some of my players. First if there was a kid who was having trouble with his jump shot there would be more to it then just looking at film and trying to diagnose a problem, this would actually tell you where you are off from what you are supposed to do. Pretty Sweet!! Then when you put on the the device with its "microhydralic capabilities " where it can take over your arm and help you get the muscle memory that you need to perform certain tasks.
Just made me think of my golf game, golf is a sport that is almost based solely on muscle memory. There can be many different swings, but if you have taught your body how to do it, then you can be a good golfer. This Advanced Performance tracking probably would revolutionize the game. it could help many people become better golfers, and make the game much more enjoyable. I don't think it is going to an average golfer as good is the people that play for living but it could make a frustrating game a little more fun for some.
I haven't really thought how this could incorporate into a classroom setting but I did think that it could be a big help to kids who have physical disabilities. It could help them learn the right way to do a task, not only by seeing and hearing, it but also feeling what it is like. That is why I think this technology is so cool it really gives you many different ways to learn something. I am sure that this technology is years from being mastered and would cost a lot of money to use, but after the way I played the other day, I just need about an hour with that machine and I would be good.
Just made me think of my golf game, golf is a sport that is almost based solely on muscle memory. There can be many different swings, but if you have taught your body how to do it, then you can be a good golfer. This Advanced Performance tracking probably would revolutionize the game. it could help many people become better golfers, and make the game much more enjoyable. I don't think it is going to an average golfer as good is the people that play for living but it could make a frustrating game a little more fun for some.
I haven't really thought how this could incorporate into a classroom setting but I did think that it could be a big help to kids who have physical disabilities. It could help them learn the right way to do a task, not only by seeing and hearing, it but also feeling what it is like. That is why I think this technology is so cool it really gives you many different ways to learn something. I am sure that this technology is years from being mastered and would cost a lot of money to use, but after the way I played the other day, I just need about an hour with that machine and I would be good.
R/D12
I wanted to start by talking with the cognitive processes of learning. I found this section very interesting, I have read a few different things about this and have taken a couple of classes that have talked about these things. It really wasn't until I got into the classroom that I really started looking and understanding these things. Going from my time in school to now a teacher I think that it is amazing the difference in importance these are with the different age of learners. When you are in college you really need things like activation of prior knowledge and encoding these are things that someone would really need, it is all about prior knowledge and being able to relate what you are currently learning. This still happens to a point in the classroom that I am currrently teaching but I don't think that it is the most important thing cognitively for the lower grade learner. The two that I think are the most important at the level I teach are attention and motivation. This is where I believe the use of technology and rich media come in. Kids need to be motivated to learn, unlike a college kid who is pretty much internally motivated younger grades may need a teachers help. Getting their attention will help with motivation, in the text they use the term edutainment which is using multimedia experiences to help keep attention and motivation. It is something that I have always said I wanted to do it takes time to set up but obviously from this text you can see how important it is.
The second part that I found interesting was a particular quote it says " a learners level of prior knowledge is the single most important individual difference variable involved in learning and is the most important characteristic to know to help you design appropriate training." This is true if designing training in the business sector or for any teacher in a classroom. It is also probably one of the single hardest things that i come across on daily basis, how do I make my lesson so that it reaches everyone. I think that use of rich media and technology would also have an issue with this. You can make the programs to use in your classroom but not everyone will have the knowledge to put it to use. This really is crux of education, you must reach all learners not matter where they are at.
The second part that I found interesting was a particular quote it says " a learners level of prior knowledge is the single most important individual difference variable involved in learning and is the most important characteristic to know to help you design appropriate training." This is true if designing training in the business sector or for any teacher in a classroom. It is also probably one of the single hardest things that i come across on daily basis, how do I make my lesson so that it reaches everyone. I think that use of rich media and technology would also have an issue with this. You can make the programs to use in your classroom but not everyone will have the knowledge to put it to use. This really is crux of education, you must reach all learners not matter where they are at.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
My Google Site
Since the school year is fast approaching I decided to make a website to introduce myself and get the kids ready for the school year. Right now it is just giving the basic facts, Who am I, important dates and events, and things they will need to bring. Normally I send out a letter to all the parents, but if they have questions they have a hard time getting a hold of me. This way they can just comment on the site and i can respond to their comments from home.
7th grade introduction
7th grade introduction
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Screencasting
This seems like such a great tool for anyone who needs to teach and use computers quite a bit. As I read through John Udell observations about what is screencasting, I was blown away by the different generes and things that you could do with this screencasting. The first thing that popped into my head was the How-to genre. A couple things quickly came to mind. First, last year my school bought an online learning system for extended learning and credit recovery. This program although not overly complicted was new to many students and caused quite a few problems for the students. If we have a screencast set up to show them the ropes this would be much easier. You would certainly have to break it down into different parts but that is possible and would make it easier. I would probably start with logging into the program, aftet that is mastered i would certainly go into the meat and potatoes of it and show what the program can do, this portion would be the most important and would have to go into great detail. i also had another idea in the how-to genre, it would be a how-to pass this class. It would certainly work best in a computer class of some kind but at the end of a year or trimester the kids in the class would make a screencast on how to pass the class that would be given to the kids next year. This would be a great review tool for the kids and will show them just how much they learned. For example maybe you did a unit on power point, they would then create a screencast showing all the stuff that learned on power point. Then the next year you have a tool to either get the kids excited about what they are going to learn or can be used as a pretest for what they already know.
Another genre that i thought was great was Animated whiteboard. I would use this for my basketball team as a study tool for them to learn plays. The play could be drawn on the whiteboard with my explanation behind the drawing, they then could listen to this to prepare for games. They probably don't want to hear my voice more then they already do, however it could be a great tool. They could even make there own plays and then present them to the team to see if we want to use them. It is a great interactive tool for learning.
The last genre that I like was the software demo, this would certainly need to be for very high level classes, but you could give them certain software to look over and learn about, they would then have to do the voice over of what they like and didn't like about the software. This could be a very powerful lesson because they would have to think critically about what they like and don't like about the software. If you put everyone on the same software, you could probably get some really great discussion going because there will be parts the some people think are great, and others think need improvements.
Another genre that i thought was great was Animated whiteboard. I would use this for my basketball team as a study tool for them to learn plays. The play could be drawn on the whiteboard with my explanation behind the drawing, they then could listen to this to prepare for games. They probably don't want to hear my voice more then they already do, however it could be a great tool. They could even make there own plays and then present them to the team to see if we want to use them. It is a great interactive tool for learning.
The last genre that I like was the software demo, this would certainly need to be for very high level classes, but you could give them certain software to look over and learn about, they would then have to do the voice over of what they like and didn't like about the software. This could be a very powerful lesson because they would have to think critically about what they like and don't like about the software. If you put everyone on the same software, you could probably get some really great discussion going because there will be parts the some people think are great, and others think need improvements.
R/D11
The thought of working in the field of educational technology has always interested me. It is an ever changing field that seems like it could be a constant challenge for someone in the field. It also seems to be on the leading edge of k-12 education, we have just scratched the surface of what we can do and develop in this field. With that said there are some competencies that I wonder about when it comes to my skill set. I have also zero experience in dealing with the fixing of hardware and creating of new soft wares. I know that this isn't something that everyone has to deal with when it comes to this field but, but with the way budgets are getting, I wouldn't be surprised if schools start to look for the jack of all trades candidate.
With all that being said, I think that some of the biggest things that you need to be in this field is a great leader,decisive with your decisions, and a good teacher. I really believe that anyone in the teaching profession already is a born leader. Being a leader or advocate for your colleagues can be different however. Being a leader is not something that is given to one person it is something that is earned. It is earned through hard work, respect for people, and a willingness to listen and take action. These are things that I try to bring to all aspects of my life, and what I think I would bring to the field of instructional design and technology. The part about being decisive is also key in any leadership position you need to be decisive ; especially in this field. There would be many important decisions to make, and they should be made in a timely matter. The last thing that I think I can do and what is important in this field is the teaching aspect. At some point you will have to teach new technologies to people. This goes right back to the question that was asked, a good teacher is competent and knowledgeable about their field. You need to know the program or idea that you are teaching like the back of your hand, if not then there could be holes in your teaching. It is because of this reason that I know that I have a long way to go before I ready to be a leader in this field, but with time hopefully I will be there.
With all that being said, I think that some of the biggest things that you need to be in this field is a great leader,decisive with your decisions, and a good teacher. I really believe that anyone in the teaching profession already is a born leader. Being a leader or advocate for your colleagues can be different however. Being a leader is not something that is given to one person it is something that is earned. It is earned through hard work, respect for people, and a willingness to listen and take action. These are things that I try to bring to all aspects of my life, and what I think I would bring to the field of instructional design and technology. The part about being decisive is also key in any leadership position you need to be decisive ; especially in this field. There would be many important decisions to make, and they should be made in a timely matter. The last thing that I think I can do and what is important in this field is the teaching aspect. At some point you will have to teach new technologies to people. This goes right back to the question that was asked, a good teacher is competent and knowledgeable about their field. You need to know the program or idea that you are teaching like the back of your hand, if not then there could be holes in your teaching. It is because of this reason that I know that I have a long way to go before I ready to be a leader in this field, but with time hopefully I will be there.
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