From Fear to Freedom - OETS and Me!

WOW! I am so glad that this course was a requirement! I have never taken a computer class of any sort and up until now what I had learned was through trial and error. I have learned about so many helpful technological tools these last few months! I have thoroughly enjoyed the hands on experience the assignments provided and look forward to employing some of these tools in the classroom. I felt like this course was a "sink or swim" experience for me and I know now that although it might look like a "dog paddle" I can swim in the deep end of this technology world! Thanks to the professors and their tireless effort to help both in and out of class!
As a parent I have been very cautious about allowing my kids to use the internet. I now feel better educated about safety, useful tools, appropriate classroom use, digital citizenship, and so much more. This course has not only helped me be a better parent in this regard but also a teacher who is equip with the necessary tools to provide instruction to students in a way that will meet the Oregon Educational Technology Standards (OETS).
Beginning next school year the state wide technology standards for students will be enforced. These standards must be fulfilled at all grade levels and in any/all subject matter in order to prepare our students for graduation. There are six criteria in the OETS: Creativity & Innovation, Communication & Collaboration, Research & Information Fluency, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving & Decision Making, Digital Citizenship, and Technology Operations & Concepts. As I mentioned earlier the assignments have provided a great foundation of some hands on experience in some of these areas.
There are several ways I can visualize using technology in my classroom. To begin with I want to emphasize the importance of safety on line. To do so I will have a class web page with privacy. There the students will have opportunities to interact with each other and myself while learning about digital citizenship. Another example is using skype and tokbox to bring people into the class via the internet. I want to have internet pals with a peer class in Costa Rica and my students. There are several family members who are in education in Costa Rica and I want to utilize these communication tools to share language lessons, learn about different cultures, and incorporate social studies in a "real time" lesson. Also, if there is someone we would like to have as a guest in our room, no matter what time zone they are in we can communicate through video on tokbox. Doing so will provide hands on experiences for the students to communicate and collaborate with others using technology. I also am excited about having my students use great tools such as podcasting to present speeches. This will allow them to share their presentations even with family members that otherwise would not be able to see it. If there are any students who have a parent living elsewhere (i.e.:serving in the military) we can use tokbox and other web tools to share presentations online. Of course I will also model the importance of technology as I use it for assessments, incorporate it in lessons, personal use and more. This has been a real eye openner and I am excited to put these tools into practice!

Analyzing Student Data in a Speadsheet

In the graph above we see statistics of the students who fell below the overall average. It is evident that each student made consistent improvement with the exception of Katherine on test #8, after that test she made steady improvements once again.
This could be a very useful assessment tool in the classroom. It would be great for myself as well as to teach the student to record their own progress. Also, I can imagine using it to send reports to parents at their request or if they are unable to attend the conferences.

Multimedia project with Trish using TokBok

TokBox - Free Video Chat and Video Messaging
This was incredibly easy to do!  Simply go to TokBok, open an account, record a video and send!  No kidding, that simple!  The information we shared on the video is an actual use that I would like to put in practice in my classroom someday.  Not only could this enhance a cross-cultural experience without even needing to leave the country, but as we all know personal experience solidifies the learning taking place. Give it a try!

Skype connects families around the globe!

I recently had the experience of talking with my family in Costa Rica via Skype.  It was so much fun seeing and hearing family members in real time!  I found myself wanting to get and extension cord for our camera so I could give them a tour of the home, yard work, and other improvement jobs that were going on.  It was great to see the nieces and nephews and how much they have grown.  Everybody, young and old, had fun laughing and talking together.  It was as if we were there in their living room.  The only down fall is that it made me real home sick for a visit!
Although this is a personal use of Skype, there are several ways I can see using it in the classroom.  The following ar some ideas:
Share presentations live with family members that are not able to come to the school.
Communicate with "pen pal" friends.
Share lessons with another school. (ie: learning a foriegn language)
Send a class message to a student that has been absent for a prolonged amount of time. (ie: a get well to someone who is hospitalized).
Have class participate in a real time interview with an author, politition, or other person related to subject matter being taught at the time).
I look forward to using Skype again.

Web2.0 Presentation - Dropbox

Using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom

Web 2.0 tools are a group of different sites where one can access files on the internet anywhere, anytime. There is quite a lengthy list of free sites that are available and useful for teachers in the classroom.  There are a few that I have found to be useful in the classroom where I am currently. I am in a third through fifth grade special needs classroom with only two computers for the students to type their documents on.  However, only one of those is connected to the printer.  I would like to utilize dropbox.com to enable the students to access their documents that were typed on the computer that was not hooked up to the printer.  This would eliminate some frustration when they go to print their work.  Also, one of our students has many allergies, including white board markers.  Because of this I would see the importance of scribblar.com.  This would allow the students to interact even with the limitation that we currently have. I can also see how this would be helpful in classes that are under construction or don't have whiteboards in the class.  Yet another site that I would use is skype.com.  I want to capitalize on the ethnic diversity within the classroom.  Also, there are some students whose family are in other countries and this would be a great way to connect them and showcase what they are learning during the day.