Project 12

Blog Post 8

This is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2: Richard Miller
Dr. Richard Miller an English professor at Rutgers University paints a compelling change within the way of communication in this 2008 lecture. In his 2 part videos Mr. Miller is talking about how writing has changed. He believes we are in the greatest moment of communication changes, since we have the ability to communicate instantly and globally. He discusses the importance of literacy and how we write, research, and publishes information. Students no longer use encyclopedias as a source for information, or have to go to the library to gather information. Using a pencil and paper are not necessary tools in order to compose information. They are using laptops and word processors. This workspace allows researching information worldwide over the internet. Another important aspect Dr. Miller talks about is the possibility of collaborating using networking technology and how documents are compose with real time materials. Instead of using text only, multimedia tools allow us to compose with real time, up to date materials filled with images, film, sounds. The documents produced are both text and visual enhanced, making it much more interesting and engaging. Richard Miller believes the fundamental change is not technology itself, but what it makes possible; to change the underlying principal of how we work, write, research, and publish. As he states in the video these changes need to be beautiful and compelling so, it inspires curiosity, creativity, and collaboration.
We must be prepared to inspire and guide our students into these emerging technologies some of which have yet to be created.  Students are more likely to learn from an experience in which they are interested and actively engaged. Professor Miller makes it very clear that the restrictions we face are the ones that we place on ourselves. Today's student is not apprehensive of technology. They have already embraced it for years. The teacher and student can now operate as a creative team where each one has something to give and receive.

Carly Pugh Blog Post 12
I think Carly is a true inspiration to others. Her dedication and enthusiasm for education shines throughout the entire post. I loved the way she incorporated links throughout her post and didn't just include one near the end. Her playlist assignment is just what Richard Miller is talking about in his video. It allows students to use multimedia tools like YouTube for more than entertainment, it allows them to use it to learn and become multimedia writers. Miss Pugh has invested a lot of time during her semester researching and creating a playlist on YouTube what she considered to be the most interesting and relevant videos to share with her students and classmates. She used every opportunity she could to lead us to something elsewhere and in doing so, gave us more insight in to what she was writing about.

 The Chipper Series and EDM310 for Dummies

The Chipper Series  and EDM310 for Dummies are two movies made for EDM310 that deliver the not so subtle message that diligence, timeliness and hard work are the key to surviving the EDM310 course. I liked how Chipper's "do the bare minimum" characteristics came through in every scenario. This was a great way to show students that quitting and being lazy gets you absolutely nowhere. It doesn't take Chipper long to figure this out! There are plenty of  resources out there to help make EDM310 easier: assistants, classmates, and professionals we have followed on Twitter. So no matter how overloaded I may feel at times I am happy with the fact that I know am not going to have to go it alone.
 EDM310 for Dummies did an excellent job of portraying how I felt coming into Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class. It does feel overwhelming at first and seems like a lot of work, but what you come to realize is, it is actually teaching you to teach yourself, to be self sufficient, and accountable for yourself. It teaches you how to stay focused and how to use your time wisely. It is teaching use how to become lifelong learners so we can become not just teachers, but great teachers.  
 As I was thinking about creating my own video, I started thinking about the Magic School Bus books that I loved so much as a kid. A video where we are transported into the future where classrooms are virtual, and students used game based learning. What is great is that through the information I am learning in EDM310 I know that classrooms like this can be in our very near future. 


Learn to Change, Change to Learn
This video shows that our classrooms are falling behind on producing graduates that are suited for the real world. Today's employee needs to be collaborative, highly communicative, and creative. In the video, there are many individuals discussing the need for change in the classroom. One statement that stood out to me was “The kids are having a much more stimulated and rich environment outside of school than they are inside of schools". I think it is important for teachers to recognize the interest of today’s children, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, video games and learn how to incorporate them throughout the curriculum in order to create a rich learning environment. Every place I can think of right has a sign or sticker somewhere saying "like us on Facebook". So why are children not allowed to use these resources in school? Under a controlled environment, we can teach kids how to use these sites properly. I agree with the speaker who stated that change needed to start with the teachers being given the technology to connect with other teachers worldwide for collaborative purposes. Social networking can be as enriching and creative inside the classroom as outside. According to this video there are many organizations and individuals pushing for change and spearheading technology inclusion into the classroom. Where there is change there is hope for a brighter tomorrow.

 Scavenger Hunt 2.0
   The Discovery Education's WEB 20.12 site has some amazing technology available for students and teachers. There were do many options for different presentation tools, video tools, mobile tools and even a link for community tools.
1.) Locate a tool that is similar to Twitter/Facebook
Edmodo, like Facebook allows you to share and collaborate. This is a great tool to stay connected with both students and parents. I also like the fact that you can sync your Google Docs with the Edmodo Library so you can easily access and share Google Docs with the groups.
 2.) Find a video tool that you have never used
I liked Aminoto, this is a site that allows teachers to enhance their classroom with videos and presentations. They even have different options for images, music and sharing.
 3.) Find a tool to create a poll anywhere and at anytime
I used poll everywhere for my poll.

Get a free sms student response system at Poll Everywhere

Blog Post 7

The Networked Students by Wendy Drexler

This is a video about a student and his Personal Learning Network. In this video, student use  research  to spread and gain knowledge by utilizing social networking tools such as Twitter, Skype, and Wikis.They gather information and use internet blogs and search engines to gather information and build a network of people that can help them to understand and learn. The student will in return create their own personal blog and speak on their formed opinions.   

As we are learning right now in EDM310  creating a PLN takes time and work, but by putting forth the effort and making use of valuable resources, you can make lasting connections that will benefit you for life.

Project 10

Personal Learning Network progress report

Over the next few weeks I plan to expand my Personal Learning Network. What is a PNL? It is your personal connections that you use in your journey of knowledge and acquiring of skills. It can be classmates, teachers, and others that you collaborate with for assistance. It can also be tools like Symbaloo, Facebook, Twitter, and many others. Twitter is one of the ways I am expanded my PNL, I also think the C4T assignment for EDM310 is a great way to meet and connect with other educators. I hope to establish my PNL this semester, but I know that it will continue to grow as I continue my education and become a teacher.

Project 9b

C4T #2

I was assigned to read Amanda Ooten's blog, Science Teaching for the Future for my C4T #2. Both the posts I read were about The Flipped Classroom: Turning Traditional Education on its Head. What is a flipped classroom and why is everyone talking about it? The flipped classroom inverts traditional teaching methods, delivering instruction online outside of class, and moving "homework" into the classroom. Basically students watch lectures at home at their own pace, communicating in online. the the concepts engagement (or homework) takes place in the classroom with the teachers help.
In her post The Nuts and Bolts of Flipping she explains how to start flipping your classroom. She points out that you have to have the courage to give up some of the material (lectures, power points) and let the students take on the responsibility of learning through group work or other activities. The goal is to get more class time to dig deeper in to the material through activities, labs, and real world problem solving.
She advises to start small and use as much material that has already been produced by others as possible while you are just starting. She gives a list of the 25 best free online educational videos, and helpful links for making and editing your ohttp://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3028067091758161218#editor/target=post;postID=6736584170083141003wn screencast. She has some tips on keeping your students engaged with constant movement, writing, and examples or stories to highlight your point. You can also engage your students by assigning tasks to go over the next day in class. She talks about the time she sets aside for each screencast, a total of 3 hours to prepare, record, and edit each video. When she is finished she feels the product is well worth it, and that she will use the videos for a few years before she has to make new ones.

The second blog post I read by ms. Ooten was My Flipped Classroom, part 2 . It's 2 months into the school year and she is talking about how this new perspective has impacted her and and the students in her advanced placement biology class. She touches on some problems earlier in the year, that made her fell like the worst teacher in the world. She had been so focused on "flipping" her classroom that she moved way to quickly at first. She assigned chapters and videos for her students to complete on their own at night in order to have time in class to do discussion and in-depth activities that applied their “already learned” knowledge. She thought students were spending an hour each night with the material, it turned out they were spending twice that and still felt unable to keep pace with the material. This caused the students to become overwhelmed and she realized that they weren't really learning the material at all. After some consideration she decided to use the "flip' only half the time in her class. The students still watch video and participate in class discussions, but she realized there are some concepts that need direct instruction. By using the flip model in her class she no longer just gives this instruction through lecture. She is still in the front of the room, but she doesn't just give the information to them. She challenges  them  by asking probing questions, forcing  them to make connections to previous chapters, and frequently group them during this “lecture” time to repeat important concepts to one another. She talks about the energy this has added to her class, and about how her students enjoy themselves in her class. 
Her students have taken charge of their learning because she has forced them to, and they enjoy it. She has seen a huge increase in students emailing me with questions, coming in early, and staying late to get extra help. She allows students to retake quizzes and to correct their tests, something she has never done in the past. Students can come to class and meet with her, and then make the appropriate corrections. She's giving them a chance to realize their mistakes so they can learn from them. She talks about how you can still be a great teacher without 'flipping" your class, but that she is now the teacher she always wanted to be. 

I really enjoyed reading about how "flipping" has worked in her classroom. I like how she decided to only use it part of the time when her students seemed overwhelmed. One of the things that makes a great teacher great is being able to inspire and challenge students. I want them to think of it as their class, and I want to inspire them to want to learn.

Blog post 6

Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science and human computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pausch gave his last lecture about Achieving your childhood dreams just a year before he past away from pancreatic cancer in 2008. He started off with the things he didn't want to talk about which were his cancer, his wife and kids, and his religion and spirituality. The things he did talk about were his childhood dreams, enabling the dreams of others, and lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others.
Mr. Pausch was very entergetic and upbeat throughout the entire video. This video was very inspiring to me as future teacher. I really enjoyed his story about his football coach, Coach Graham. Coach Graham taught him the importance of fundamentals. That you have to get the fundamentals down in order for everything else you want to be possible.  He has a lot of inspiring quotes but the one he put the most emphasis on was the one about "Brick Walls". "Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who do not want them badly enough. They keep all the other people out." Whatever it is that is in the way, as long as you truly want it, you can achieve dreams and reach your goals. Pausch talks about how sometimes you have to take a different roads to get to your dreams but they are always reachable if you want it bad enough. He also said that "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." I really like this quote, it reminds me that you always have to be willing to keep working. If you hit a brick wall, then don't give up...keep trying. 
Randy Pausch taught me new ways of learning, and that I can achieve my dreams no matter what I encounter. I like that he said you should always try to be good at something so it makes you valuable. I believe he is an amazing teacher and individual. I want to be a dedicated teacher and hopefully motivate my future students.