OTEN

OTEN, the conference of champions! I really enjoyed the OTEN conference and feel like technology in the classroom is just starting to hit its stride. The keynote speaker was very interesting. Here is the screenr I created as I could not get yodio to recognize my phone.

OETS

This week for EDUC 520 we were presented the Oregon Educational Technology standards or OETS for short.  My first impression after reading the OETS was that Oregon is headed in the right direction when it comes to integrating technology in the classroom.  I think that integrating technology in the classroom is going to be extremely vital in the years to come because year-by-year technology becomes more integrated into our lives.  What I really like about the criteria is that the OETS is not necessarily enforcing a mastery of new technology, but a competence in technology.  I think that by building a compotence for technology in our students it will help them when it comes to adapting and learning new technology. 

           

            One of the first criteria’s that jumped out to me was creativity and innovation.  According to the OETS, “Students develop creative thinking and problem solving skills to develop innovative products and processes using technology.”  I think I could have my students teach a subject in social studies to their classmates utilizing a technology they have a background in such as PowerPoint or iMovie.

            Another criteria that I thought about was Communication and Collaboration.  I will mostly use this for group settings.  I did not know what a google doc was before my ED tech class but it will be one of the first things I show my students in order to help with group projects.

            Lastly Research and Information Fluency is so crucial when it comes to academic papers.  An activity I will likely give my students is just a research project.  They wont necessarily have to write a paper with the information they find, but they will have to complete a checklist of different ways to research on the internet such as databases or scholarly journals.

            Some of the challenges I will face when it comes to the OETS and my student teaching is based on demographics.  Since I am placed in a lower demographic area the percentage of students with computer and Internet access at home is considerably lower.  I have already been thinking about solutions to this problem during my observation and I think that the libraries may be the answer to the problem.  The school library has 25 computers with internet access however there is not a full time librarian so the students need an adult present to use the computers.  I also visited the public library and there are community computers there with internet access.  All the students need is a library card.

iMovie

        For my multimedia project I decided to utilize iMovie.  For the first time in this class this was a program I have used before.  I have used iMovie ever since i purchased my laptop in 2008.  In the past i have used iMovie to create personal movies from videos I have taken with my video camera.  The reason why I use iMovie is because it is very user friendly.  It is nice to clean up videos and combine them into a bigger movie.  While it not have as many editing features as a $800 movie program it has enough for the casual user to get by.  It connects to all of your apple accounts such as iTunes and is very easy to publish either on your computer or online.
         When it comes to the classroom iMovies abilities are only limited by your own personal creativety.  A teacher can make their own videos for classes.  You can put together and edit videos from group projects.  You can make video lectures that your students can view online.  If you can dream it you can do it with iMovie.

Here is the link to the movie on Youtube

Google Sheets

For EDUC 520 we were given a Google Spreadsheet with a bunch of student test scores.  We then had to do a variety of activities to get the information we needed from the raw data.  What I loved about this assignment was how realistic this activity will be.  This is an activity that will be extremely useful throughout my teaching career.  Knowing how to manipulate the raw data into information to draw conclusions from will be necessary in order to constantly reviewing myself as a teacher.  I have not used excel much in my college career however after referring back to the instructional videos a few time I was able to play around with the spreadsheet pretty easily.  I liked the idea of labeling different categories of numbers such as raw data or averages using different colors.  Not only does this clean my sheet up it also keep things organized for me the user.  I also liked using separate pages just in case you mess up something on one sheet your raw data should be intact.

            From the raw data we were presented with I found the following information when it comes to test averages, student averages, and overall average.  I then Isolated the students that fell below the class average of 192.  With those students I created a line graph so I can see the trend of those students that are struggling.   From the data I gathered for the most part scores have been rising.  What I don't know is if the tests are the same difficulty or if there is actual improvement.  I could ask Hepburn, " Hey I saw that from test 6 to test 7 you improved your score by 60 points.  Was there anything I did that I could do in the future?"  Mostly Knowing how to manipulate the data I will be able to see trends in my students as well as my teaching.    Here is the graph I ended up with.

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Screenr

I recently learned how to make my very own screen capture video using the website Screenr.com.  First off I would like to say out of all of the online tools I have learned thus far, Screenr is by far the most user friendly.  Right when you get to the website there is a one minute tutorial video that you can watch to learn the basics.  After watching the video I immediately began to record my own screen capture video with just the push of a button.  What I love is there is no download, sign up is as easy as creating a screen name, and no steep learning curve.  Once you push the button a window pops up that you can resize and then put wherever on your screen you want to record.  You can pause in the middle of the recording and can record up to five minutes.  After you record your video it is easy to embed or post on youtube.  There are so many ways that a teacher can use Screenr in the classroom.  For example the teacher can record their own study guides for students, or even have them use Screenr to make a presentation.  This was my first time using Screenr, but it definitely will not be the last!

my practice Screenr

Dropbox

For My personal productivity project I was assigned to research Dropbox, one of the utilities that can be considered as Web 2.0.  Dropbox is essentially an external hard drive that can be used to store files.  Dropbox must be downloaded on to either a computer or smart phone, but once it is downloaded it is very straight forward and easy to use.   There are couple of noteworthy advantages to using Dropbox.  First of all a teacher can essentially use Dropbox as their external hard drive.  Instead of carrying around a physical external hard drive they can go from computer to computer and have access to their files.  I don’t know how many times I have had problems opening a document on an external hard drive and with Dropbox I didn’t encounter any issues.  Dropbox can also be a safe place to store files as a backup in case your computer crashes. 

But this also leads to one of the worries I have of Dropbox.  I feel like you would still have to keep your files somewhere else besides Dropbox in case something happens with it.  Also there is the issue of having to download Dropbox to use it.  There are many applications that don’t require a download that can function as an external hard drive in the “cloud.”

In conclusion teachers can find a variety of uses for Dropbox, however personally I find myself more prone to using the Google Apps suit to basically accomplish the same purpose.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is not the newest ‘”version” of the Internet as its name would suggest.  Web 2.0 simply refers to the new way that society uses the Internet.  Originally the Internet was used for gathering information from higher sources such as CNN, library databases, encyclopedia Britannica, etc.  Web 2.0 is all about the “sharing” of information.  Web 2.0 encompasses all of the websites that allow normal everyday people to gather, share, and store information in a very user friendly way.  For example Wikipedia relies upon the masses to create user generated encyclopedia pages that can be edited by all.  Facebook is a way people can share information abut their life such as pictures, biography, day to day activities with friends and family.  Dropbox is a place where people can store documents and can then access them from any computer.  Web 2.0 may not be a new “internet” per say but it has revolutionized day-to-day life and I believe the Web 2.0 revolution has yet to reach its peak.