Assigned Reading

1. Teachers act as designers when they merge content and technology to produce high quality teaching. Teachers focus on a difficulty and search for ways to resolve problems with the use of technology. The chapter gives us many examples and one I liked very much was the creation of a catapult (trebuchet) by a science class. Instead of recurring to the established way where they built with wood, and spend long days rebuilding every time they experiment, this class created a catapult with a simulation program.
2. It is possible to learn from television when students assume an active role instead of just sitting to be entertained for hours. When watching educational television adults should ensure that the programs are appropriate for the age and skill level of the child.
3. The use of word processing programs to prepare book response journals is an opportunity for the students to express their personal reactions. Here students are encouraged to communicate everything they read and demonstrate their understanding. A teacher can provide feedback to each student by sharing ideas, or making suggestions about the material studied. In addition, the teacher can assess the student’s writing mechanics and literacy skills. Another assessment opportunity for the teacher is through students’ presentations prepared with power point. These presentations transform ideas into something concrete and observable through visual, audio, movement, and/or music. Here the teacher has another opportunity to assess the student’s ability to communicate what she/he learned.
Resources:
Jonassen, David, Howland, Jane, Marra, Rose, & Crismond, David. (2008). Meaningful learning with technology. Prentice Hall.

Copy Right-Fair Use and Cyber Safety

Copyright laws protect original works from not being duplicated, and claimed by others as theirs. Fair use allows the public to use materials for some time, and for specific purposes. I learned President Washington first organized these laws into a system in 1790. Since then copyright act have expanded in accordance to the demands of progress to what we have today. In my classroom, I would emphasize the importance to create original work. I have seen how insecurity plays a big role in a student coping another person’s work. I have seen this happening in the classes where I assist, and the best way to help is ascertain the student of the value of his/her work.
Cyber-safety is the protection from anonymous predators who display photos, negative or degrading e-mails about another person. This site offers tips for parents and kids in how to prevent cyber bullying: Http://www.cyberbullyhelp.com/Cyber%20Bullying%20Guide%20for%20Parents.pdf
To protect my students I would begin getting familiar with the type of protection software or filters my school provides to prevent exposure to harmful sites. Before using the computers, a lesson would be done where students learn the rules when using the internet and what activities are permissible and those that are not. Still constant supervision is necessary to assure the safety of every student.
I really enjoyed the lesson we had for this week, particularly cyber safety. I did not do well in the quiz-68%, so this tells me to learn more about copyright laws. It is clear that the use of technology will increase, and the use of it in the classroom must be so the student has more tools to produce better work. While reading about copyright laws and cyber safety I understood the importance to transfer this knowledge to my students and promised to myself that I need to teach my students about these issues.
References:
http://www.techlearnig.com/techlerning/pdf/db_area/archive/TL/2002/10/copyright_chart.pdf
http://www.netsmartz.org/
Http://www.cyberbullyhelp.com/Cyber%20Bullying%20Guide%20for%20Parents.pdf

How could I use a Blog, Bookmarking, and Voice Thread in a classroom?

In a blog I could introduce my class, have my students tell personal comments from the material learned in class, and inform what will be taught during the year. In addition, classrooms news, homework, and anything else important that should be share could be included in a blog.
I have seen teachers sharing ideas that later get lost. Social Bookmarking could be use in a grade team to share sites with others. We could all input helpful sites that can be accessible to others in the team to help us plan lessons. The students could benefit by accessing bookmarking where they can find information about a particular theme the class is researching. One of my professors used Voice Thread for lectures in his online class, (I think that was Voice Thread) and it was the most enjoyable online class I ever had. While having a class on site-lecture type-I do not know how else I could use it in that class.
I loved this week’s activities because they introduced me to new things that I have only heard of, but never tried until now