WEBQUESTS!

This week we learned about webquests, something that I had heard my other teachers say but wasn't quite sure what they were talking about. Webquests are created by teachers for the students to use the technology of today to help them learn. This is mainly a form of Inquiry learning and helps gives your students the chance to explore the "web" in a safe environment. You can make a webquest for any age student and there are endless topics you can choose from. Webquests include a student view and a teacher view, that way you know you are covering all the bases. Included in your webquest is a introduction, task, the process, a form of evaluation(rubric) and credits for anything you used while creating it, then a link to the teacher's page which allows other teachers to use webquests that have been created and then put on the web but know from a teachers perspective how it worked and who it is targeting. Think how great this is, it is online lesson plans that can be shared from classroom to classroom all over the globe.

So why is this important or something we are learning about? Well our world is growing and changing and technology is a huge part of that and we as teachers must see how important it is for our students to utilize their computer skills. By using webquests you are integrating a core content area with technology and also freeing up some of your time because you are allowing the students to teach themselves in a way, which will allow you to go around and help students one on one. The direct model of teaching is not the best way for all students to learn and giving them the freedom to explore and take on a character gives learning some excitement.

Now that I have learned about the amazing world of webquest and I will be creating my own, I know that this will be a very valuable tool for me in my teaching career. Yes setting up webquests do take time and there is no way that you would use them for everything in your classroom but it is a wonderful way to add variety into your teaching. I know that I would have loved to do things like this in my elementary and all through my education. Teachers don't always have time to do everything they want to and now there are so many ways through UEN and the webquest site Doc Waters showed us in class that we can share wonderful ideas and that again frees up time for more teaching and learning to occur in your classroom. I plan on having technology be a fun creative integration tool in my classroom. I want my students to feel free to explore the Internet but through a safe avenue that has been created by teachers, because there are so many sites and things that I don't feel students should be on.

Surface Computing

The video for the week blew me away! I didn't really realize how everything in our world is changing to touch screens. With the Iphone, TV's, computer screens, even the self checkouts at the super markets. In a way it makes the technology come alive and changes the way you use things. The new surface computer was so awesome, in fact I wish I had one. It does give you that feeling of using paper again. When they put the camera on the surface and it automatically uploaded the picture they had just taken I thought that was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Then with a flick of a finger you can then transfer that picture to your phone without any cords at all. Another thing that just blew me away was the fact that this technology is even available. I am not a very tech savvy person and I don't even know where you would begin to create something like this. Humans so amazing that they can continually change and grow and create new amazing things. I hope that someday I can have these surface computers in my classroom, how amazing would that be to for our students to use. It could ultimately change the world of teaching, if every student had a surface computer for a desk think of how that would transform teaching and learning. You could keep track of their progress and still be very hands on and sure save a lot of tress.

Vidcasts and Podcasts!

I was introduced to a wonderful new world of Podcasts and Vidcasts! I had no idea what they were or how to make them. That has been how I have felt about everything I have been learning in EDEL 3250. VCasts and PCasts are wonderful ways to get information to a lot of people online. Vidcasts are small movie clips that explain something, my team decided to create a Vidcast of Earthquake Safety that we could show to our students so they knew what to expect when they hear the alarm. Then we decided to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, to introduce out unit on the life cycle of animals in a Podcast. With our worlds growing technology it is our job as teachers to understand it and use it to benefit our classrooms.

Why is this important? How can we use this these new skills in our future classroom? That is the purpose of the education program at UVU. We are hear to learn how to implement all the skills a teacher will need to run a well organized classroom. Have recordings of your lessons and homework, in your voice, or a video of what you the intended outcome is, makes it personal to your students and their families. If students miss class one day, they will be able to go online with their families and listen or watch what they missed. This is just another step to help keep your classroom organized and giving your students more help in their learning.

Now that I know how to create PCasts and VCasts, I plan on incorporating them into my future classrooms. Before I knew how simple it was to make them I was a little nervous. I wish that I would have had this help in my previous classes. Having Doc Waters Podcasts on her website really helps me be prepared for the class and I think that it would be great to create a simple Podcast every day after school that my students could listen to when they got home that recapped what we did that day and what we will be working on tomorrow, to further their education. This of course will take time on my part but isn't that my job as a teacher, to do everything I can to help my students learn. I am signing on for a career in education and I can't wait to get started.

Why we should let our students Blog?

The video this week talked about letting our classes Blog. I feel that this is a wonderful idea, that allows your students to be creative and collaborate as a class. They get to be individuals in their blogs but get to share their learning with their peers. It integrates technology in their learning and improves their writing/typing skills and gives them freedom to journal online.

The Amazing World of Technology

OK, Lets just say that iGoogle is my new best friend! In school you have to take so many classes and you think, How is this really gonna help me in my life? I sure don't feel that way when I leave ED EL 3250. A huge part of being a teacher is organization and everything that we are learning in Google does just that. I really can't believe that my team created our classroom rules PowerPoint in like 15 minutes on google docs. We were all collaborating at the same time, and it ended up being a really nice presentation. Every time I leave class my brain starts thinking how can I use this in my future classroom. Using Google Docs has also benefited me in my other 6 classes. We upload lesson plans and presentations and we can all work on them from our home. Even day in the El Ed. program our lives as students get a little more crazy, but I feel that through these new technologies, it takes a lot of stress of my time. I plan on using Google Docs for the rest of my life, and having my future students use them in our classroom, it is a fun simple way to work together simultaneously. The opportunities are endless, it is an effective way to integrate technology into the classroom and as long as you the teacher are a collaborator on their documents you can be aware of what they are working on but they have the freedom to create and work with their fellow peers. We are turning in our classroom websites this week, and I have really taken on this project and I am very proud of my site. Who knew that it would be so easy to make a website? In our changing world of technology, having everything readily available for your student's parents online will increase classroom participation and keep an open line of communication.

Video:

Mr. Deuy Fractions

At first I thought this video was incredibly funny. But as I watched I realized how you can actually use singing, and creative raps like that in your teaching. Especially in teaching math! There are many ways to teach children, and Direct instruction doesn't always work. Mr. Deuy took teaching fractions, which most would agree to be the hardest thing in math to teach and made it fun. He was correct in his teaching but did it in a non traditional way. You could use this in your classroom and then have your students get into groups and create their own raps and share them with the class!

Everything Google In the Classroom

I had no idea how amazing Google is! WOW, this week I have learned how to integrate so much technology into my learning. Looking back on my elementary education I feel like we never really used technology, it was just starting out and all my teacher's were old school. Since then I have been in many different classrooms and I have seen how as young as Kindergarten, technology plays a huge role in their learning. Google has so many components that will help me be organized as a teacher and help my students and their families know what is going on in our class room, with just a click of the mouse. By simply staring a GMail account, you open the doorway to so many new and fun tools that are free to use, which is huge for teachers. I never thought I would be making websites and blogging, but look at me go. This class has really shown me how user friendly computers are and that they will be a huge help to my teaching career. If I utilize the websites, calendars, Google Docs, and my blog, I will have more time to teach my students because I will be more organized and less stressed in my teaching. Not only will these tools benefit me they will also play a huge role in my students learning. Computers even though they didn't play a huge role in my elementary years, they will be to my future students. They are growing up in a more technological world, and I have to prepare them for that. Google Docs. is a great way for my students to collaborate and work together on stories and we can make a Calendar for everyone in the class and then put it all together and see how busy we are as a class and what we like to do after school, who is involved with what extra curricular activities and then we could even tie math into it and make a graph of our hobbies. As teachers you need to know how to share ideas and work with your cooperating teachers and Google Docs as we learned is a wonderful way to do that, and it is so simple. If you take the time to really learn what Doc Waters is saying you will see how it will help you with creativity in your teaching, increase your student/teacher time, and finally integrate technology into every aspect of learning.