My AHA's

Must I admit my true AHA moment? I came into this class thinking that I had a relatively decent understanding of technology and all that it encompasses. However, after the first couple of classes, I realized that my technological knowledge was "lacking." Being an individual that is relatively versed in the language of technology I would find myself, at times...... LOST. How can this be? I am the technology "helper" at my school. My AHA's: 1) you are not the technology guru that you once thought 2) there is a lot more to technology than Microsoft applications, Google, wireless Internet, laptops, and building web pages.

There is a good side to this story. I love technology. It is fun, interesting, and you are always learning something new. It satisfies my insatiable desire to learn. That is just what happened in this class. I have learned so much. There is so much more technology out there than I ever imagined. Not only did I get to learn about it, but I got to utilize it in my classroom. I was able to see first hand what students look like when then discover there is an animal called a tree octopus. Then I get to see their reaction when they find out it is not real. A couple of class periods later I tune into some group members saying "Now is that website credible? Where does it link to?"

I was raised in technology, but these kids are surrounded by it. They were born in it. This class has helped me to realize that technology changes fast and it keeps getting faster. I am going to have to keep up with the times if I plan on preparing my students for the future.

Blog Posting #9

It is amazing to me all of the resources that the internet provides. I’ve never heard of the NARA website until this chapter. I think that you can relate this web site to any curriculum, not just history. I would love for my students to go in and find information about scientific discoveries. I think that any research that provides actual archived information between historians, about historians, etc. are great for kids to use. My vision is to have students use this information, as well as any other information, as a resource. They will gain more meaning out of this content because they know that it is real, and they may have the opportunity to communicate with individuals that were involved in the event.

schubsa web page

Yet another web page....

http://schubsa.googlepages.com/

My First Digital Photostory

My Blog #5

I already use a program that is similar to movie maker, however I think it will be in the best interest of my district if I start to use movie maker. I currently post slide shows of my students community service work, participation in programs and projects in the classroom. I think that I would personally like to use movie maker to do my time line. I would like to empower my students by giving them the opportunity to create their own web pages for the clubs I sponsor and perhaps tell their personal journey through the service learning projects and project STEEM. Next year they will present their research to the university and it would be great if they used the software for that as well. Digital photostory would also be great to use for the same purposes stated above.

Worst Fears/ Best Hopes

Worst Fears

• Lack of resources
• lack of knowledge
• lack of support
• technological problems
• no teacher buy in
• students not doing what they are supposed to
• students fluent in technology and critical thinking but not able to pass taks test due to lack of paper work/test taking skills
• no communication between staff
• students using technology maliciously

Best hopes

• engaged students
• students that can think on higher levels
• students that are able to take skills to the working world and apply
• increased student creativity
• increased student learning
• parent involvement
• community involvement
• better communication between school staff, students, community, country and world.
• real life problems
• personalized learning
• reaching all student

I think for me the best way to get over a fear is to just do it. I need to continue to learn, empower and encourage my students, encourage and assist my coworkers, and provide my district with a successful program.

This class helped me realize that no matter how hard you try you will fail at some point, and that is ok. Technology is great, but it comes with a lot of complications. I can recall the beginning of this school year and being extrememly frustrated because people at my school were giving up on technology due to "technical"issues. In this class, there have been several times that I just wanted to give up because I could not get a program to act right or figure out how to operate some aspect of it. I persevered, but reflected on how frustrating it must have been for others that were seeking my aid with new technologies at the first of the year. This spring in this class, I have come to realize that I know very little compared to the vast array of technologies available to us. As someone who plans on being in some type of administrative position, I must be as patient with adults as I am with my students. I must also continue to learn new technologies every day to keep up with our evolving technological world.

I think we are all leary of giving students complete control because we have this desire to ensure our students are learning the guidelines the state has set forth for us (TEKS). However, it is extremely important to prepare our students for the "real world" not just the TAKS test. Therefore, we should take every step possible in our classrooms to cover both. I personally plan on continuously growing as a teacher and integrating technologies that support the TEKS. I hope that my web site will do just that and possibly be used as a resource by other teachers that are in pursuit of the same objective.

Ch 2 Blog 6&7

It is important for students to learn effective communication skills on the internet. I really like the idea of students communicating with other countries. I would like to see communication between my students and other countries in the near future.

Last week I was in Minnesota with two students for the NYLC National Service Learning Confrence. Desmond Tutu was a keynote speaker and greatly peaked their interest. I would love for them to speak with other students from South Africa so they can learn about the state their contries are in. Perhaps it will inspire their next service learning project.

Also my students had the opportunity to meet other kids from all over the country and began to establish important relationships. As their sponsor I can facilitate their communication with their new peers by using technology. We have internet classes in our library, so I plan on getting with my technology director to see if we can use it as means to keep in contact. They can also keep in touch by using email, or perhaps starting a blog that discusses some of the critical subjects they learned about at the conference.

I am sold on the idea of giving students the opportunity to improve on their critical thinking and communication skills. I personally would like to see a shift in the use of technology in our school. If students in my class begin to communicate with students in other countries, perhaps their learning will filter into other classes such as Geography or World History.

I liked the video and found it inspiring. However, I really enjoyed reading all of the comments on Youtube. It helped me to gain a larger perspective on the issue of integrating technology into the classroom. When I watched it, my thoughts revolved around making students think critically, analyze and apply data. The video obviously wants schools to integrate technology into the curriculum so that students are more engaged and are perhaps thinking at higher levels.

bhstigerscience Wiki

I created a wiki for my science classess to check out what they were all about and learn along with the kids. I called my tech director to get it approved and he was stoked about the whole concept of integrating web 2.o into my classroom. He was so impressed he came and spent a class with us.

I set the limits to the wiki so that only the class could read what was posted, not the public. I can change that later if I choose to. I must say that the students were pretty excited about the whole wiki concept. Not a single one knew what a wiki was and the closest they came to was wikipedia. They were so engaged!!

I created four pages for them to work on. Each page had a link to the fake science web sites that we used in ETEC. I had the students go in and find an interesting fact from each web site and post it on that page of the wiki. They were amazed at the tree octipi! Usually towards the end of class some student finally said "Miss Schubert, is this real?" So, not only did they gain the concept of using a wiki, they also learned a lesson on web site credibility.

I really enjoyed this activity, as did the students. They learned valuable concepts and all we have done this far is practice using the wiki. My next step is to have them use the library databases to do actual research. So many students didn't even know how to access the ebsco and gale databases, so I can imagine what their searching skills are like!

Just a note.

Check out www.shelbert.net to find the link to my science wiki, del.icio.us, and bloglines.

My Web Information OOPS

I think that we have probably all used information that was not credible at some point. I personally have used information from random web sites without using the verificaion process we utilized in class. I am definately amazed at the pseudo credibility that some web sites have. As an individual that is close to having a masters degree I was doubting what I have been teaching my kids for six years because the Dihydrogen Monoxide site looked so credible.

Our students are exposed to internet misinformation on a daily basis. When students use the internet it is important that they are taught the skills to properly obtain its information. I will definately take this into consideration when I am planning lesson activities.

Educational Technology Organizations

http://www.edutopia.org/index.php

The first educational technology organization that I chose was edutopia. The founder George Lucas tells his story about being frustrated and bored in school. He recalled having one teacher in school that engaged him all the time and wondered why all classes couldn’t be that way. Since then, he has created this organization to reform schools today so that our students will experience learning to its fullest by being engaged. I share this vision with the founder and think it is fabulous that they are committed to helping all students learn in a manner that will prepare them for society today.

“Traditional education can be extremely isolating – the curriculum is often abstract and not related to real life, teachers and students do not connect with resources and experts outside of the classroom, and schools operate as if they were separate from their communities.

Project based learning, student teams working cooperatively, students connecting with passionate experts, and broader forms of assessment can dramatically improve student learning. New digital multimedia and telecommunications can support these practices and engage our students. Well prepared educators are critical.

Our foundation documents and disseminates the most exciting classrooms where these innovations are taking place. By shining the spotlight on these inspiring teachers and students, we hope others will consider how their work can promote change in their own schools.”




http://www.cue.org/

Computer Using Educators (CUE)

I chose CUE as another organization because they emphasize student achievement by using methods that students learn best with. They are a completely non-profit organization with the sole purpose of helping our education system to be the best it can be.

“CUE provides leadership and support to advance student achievement in the educational technology community.

Computer-Using Educators, Inc. is a nonprofit California corporation founded in 1978. CUE's goal is to advance student achievement through technology in all disciplines from preschool through college. With an active current membership of thousands of educational professionals, CUE supports many regional affiliates and Special Interest Groups. CUE Conferences are California’s premier educational technology events. CUE is the largest organization of its type in the west and one of the largest in the United States.”

Educational Philosophy (Rough Draft)

The purpose of educating individuals is to facilitate their learning process in a manner that allows them to gain knowledge by building on experiences they can use in life. An educator understands the current learning patterns of students and uses methods that allow each student to learn to the best of their abilities.

My objective as an educator is to help students understand and use skills that will help them learn and think critically about situations. I will facilitate the learning process of students by being a life-long learner and provide students with the means needed to obtain information and skills to function successfully in society.

Introduction

Although I am getting my masters in EDAD, I have a great amount of interest in technology. I chose to get my degree in EDAD simply because it is the degree that I can do the most with in education. However, I am most interested in integrating technology with curriculum. I am excited about this class because all of the time I currently spend working with technology will actually be incorporated with this class and I get a credit!! In the future, I would like to be a curriculum technologist, a curriculum director, or a technology director.

I would like to gain more experience using Flash MX (I have the manual, just haven't had time to create "stuff" for my web site), learn more about building web pages (I am currently using Microsoft Front Page), buy a new web page and start a website that is a resource for educators (particularly science teachers), and learn about new innovative programs to use!!

Just Testing!

This blog has been designed for ETEC 524. I hope that you enjoy!!