Implentation itunes U Torress Henderson Blog

•Comment about your experience in doing these tasks and include a link to your blog post for this Implement tasks.

-Implementing the embedding of the video of Mr. Winkle on my blog was simple thanks to the You Tube video--great visual because it took a lot of the guesswork out of the how to.
-Finding the Torres Henderson file within itunes U was more challenging. The video was inspiring. I watched the whole thing even though only the first 17 minutes were the most relevant simply because I hoped that what they presented would be a springboard for ideas I could use in my classes.

•The iTunes video with Torres and Henderson distinguishes between doing things in a different way and doing different things. Give examples of where you have used technology to do things in a different way and to do different things.

-My first teaching experience lasted for one year about 9 years ago--back when technology in the classroom was unheard of outside of the occasional video. Now, I'm teaching again, after raising two babies, and I'm realizing how different the students are. For the past seven months, I have done what I had to daily just to keep my head above water and sometimes that included a power point presentation or playing a video or audio file, but that was the extent of it inside the classroom. During the last vacation, I started researching creative ideas to use in the classroom to make the subject material fun to learn and one of them was using a cell phone. Now, the ideas are really beginning to flow; students don't need video cameras to record interviews b/c they have web cams with microphones; skype is available for esl students to talk with native speakers; blogs could be used for journal entries all posted to the me and thus not use any paper or take time to print. I can't wait to learn how to use it all together; lack of knowledge is holding me back from using it tomorrow. I want to have it thought through and know how to deal with the kinks a little so I can keep the students excited and motivated.

•What benefit can you see in embedding a Youtube video in a web page, rather than linking to the same video in Youtube?

-It seems that an embedded video doesn't take as long to spool or load. I'm not really sure what the difference is between the two. Is embedding where the video is right there to watch and linking means that there is a link to click on and then a new browser window opens? If I defined this right, embedding the video would be more beneficial because people would be more likely to watch the video that moment than if they had to take the time to go to a different site. It is too easy to get distracted while waiting and if the end result isn't sweet enough to wait for, most people will never get there.

Embedding Mr. Winkle T21 Implementation Assignment

Mr. Winkle, a man who went to sleep one-hundred years ago, awakes expecting everything to be the same and finds himself shocked by all the differences. However, when he walked into a school, he immediately felt at home because what he saw was much like what he remembered school being like one-hundred years ago; it hadn't changed.

Comments on connecting to the 21st-century student

I read the article titled "Connecting to the 21st-Century Student" and thourghly enjoyed it.

I can personally relate to this article because I always take my laptop with me to any class, workshop, conference, and meeting because I never know when I'll need to take note (why get a hand cramp and then loose the piece of paper you took notes on), send an email message regarding meeting contents (why have a to-do list to do later?), or find an answer to a question during the meeting (instant answers are just waiting to be found on the World Wide Web). Typing allows me to write almost anything as fast as my thoughts come to me or about as fast as someone talks. A pen tends to cramp my hand, produce misspellings, and is so sloppy that no one could read it later anyway.

Recently, I was searching for games I could play in the classroom to reinforce what we are learning. This teacher pulled together four cell phones in the class room that had the same carrier (so they could text for free), divided the class into three groups, and proceeded to ask review questions for the test. Each group had to collaborate, come up with the correct answer and text it to the teacher. The first text to come through got the point. The best part is that the teacher doesn't have to make the judgement about who answered first.

This article spurred me to wondering how other items of technology could be used to help my students do even better. I am an English as a Second Language teacher; repetition and exposure to English are paramount in learning and remembering and thus being able to speak. Could Ipods or MP3 players have vocab put on and thus they review using these tech tools?

The World is Flat 3.0 Comments

It has always scared me to think that I couldn't get a job. I was always told I acheive anything if I worked hard enough. There is one catch to that logic: If someone else underbids you because they can afford to, then you are the one out of a job.

A flat world intimidates me in some ways because it levels the playing field too much. If I don't have as many skills as the next guy, I'm out in the cold or I have to have enough money to pay someone else to help me. For example, every new business should have a website before they even open for business. In this day and age, most people go to the Internet to get more information about a new business, service, or product. If they can't find any information, they might just forget about that new business, service, or product.

A flat world in the education world does not intimidate me. Instead, it broadens everyone's horizons. It allows for many opportunities faster that a round world could not have offered.

Whacky Kids response

This blog opened up my mind to the need for change in how we view teenager's technology and blend it with the idea of school. At one point during the presentation, I heard a quote worded similar to this: "If we don't change the venue for distributing and then applying information, witin four years, media will lessen even more than it already has, our effectiveness as teachers with our students.

I was surprised at the idea of students having a life outside of school that is filled with technology and then they walk into the four walls of school and we ask them to separate themselves from their identity outside of school because it threatens us--we don't know how to utilize it. What if we asked the students how their "tech tools" could be used for assignments? What would they say? I wonder if they know more of how to answer this than most adults 10-20 years older than them.

Ed Tech Mr. Winkle

It is a good thing for Mr. Winkle to finally feel comfortable when he walks into the school. We all yearn for comfortable spots because that is when we learn best. The beauty of schools is that we can, with a little knowledge of technology, and creativity on our parts as teachers modify the way we convey information or require homework to be done.