Personal Learning Network (PLN)

Classroom blogs can be very helpful for teachers, parents, and students! I have developed a Personal Learning Network to get ideas on different ways that teachers use blogs in their classroom.
Mr. William Chamberlain uses his class blog to model technology use to teachers and students. His students can post on the blog with video, text, and pictures. He has links to useful websites that students can use to help them with their classwork. He even has a link to where his students can call him for help via Google and Skype. I think that is really great that he has the link because a lot of times when I have a question for a teacher, I don't know how to type it in words that the teacher will understand. Skype can really help students because they can talk for free through computer using the Skype phone; allowing the students to contact Mr. Chamberlain in an easier way than email.

Mr. Jarrod Lamshed uses his class blog to communicate with his students. He posts announcements for both his students and the community to see. He posted a video of a performance that the class had at Festival Theatre. He even has a schedule of events coming up in the classroom. Mr. Lamshed encourages the use of blogs saying they are great because you can give and receive feedback from other students, parents, and the community! I agree with him.

Mrs. Candace Follis uses her class blog to inform students what they will be doing throughout the school year. She has tabs for each of her subjects so that her students can find their way around the blog easily. The studens can look at the blog to find out what they are getting into before even signing up for the class. Not only can Mrs. Follis' students use her blog, but also new teachers. She posts her lesson plans so that other teachers can get ideas on how to cover a certain story covered in the literature class. I think it is great of her to share her ideas and I know that if I were teaching High School Literature I would definitely visit her blog on a regular basis.

Mr. Michael Fawcett has a really organized class blog that is wonderful for his students. He posts his class newsletter in a tab at the top of his blog for easy student access. Not only does Mr. Fawcett have the newsletter for his students to access at the click of a button, but he also has addition and subtraction practice tests. He has the spelling words posted onto his blog and links for students to access helpful websites. I also really like his blog because he adds pictures from classroom assignments.

Mrs. Kelly Hines has a class blog, but I like her blog for teachers better. She gives new teachers really good tips on classroom procedures and even the unwritten rules for new teachers. I really appreciate her tips because they will be very helpful as I work on my Classroom Management portfolio. She gives teachers some really great ideas on how to incorporate technology in the classroom. I also like Mrs. Hines class blog for her students. I like how she tells about what her class has done outside of the classroom and posts pictures. She also posts questions for the students to think about and answer in a comment.

All the blogs that I have looked at are wonderful classroom blogs. It is hard for me to choose a favorite! The information on the blogs is helpful for anyone who looks at the blogs. The students look at the blogs for homework, classroom information, and anything else the teacher decides to post onto the blog. The parents look at the blogs to stay connected with their child and being involved in their education. Other teachers look at the blogs as a PLN to learn ways that they can change their classroom blogs to make it easy for the students to navigate, answer questions, and even communicate with the teacher.

New Media Skills

I agree with the video, New Media Skills, that the skills judgement, negotiation, appropriation, play, transmedia, navigation, simulation, collective intelligence, performance, distributed cognition, visualization, and multitasking are needed to survive in the 21st century. I possess the majority of these skills. Judgement is used to personally decide what is right or wrong. Negotiation is used to work out a conflict with someone. Appropriation is used to budget both my time and my money. Play is something I do for fun so that I can relax. Transmedia navigation is all the social networks that I have joined. Performance is the way that I used everything in order to succeed. Mulititasking is a skill that EVERY person (especially students) must master! I use all these skills every day, whether I realize it or not!

Why Do We Even Need Teachers??

I think that even the networked student needs a teacher. Teachers know what needs to be covered in a particular class or subject. Many classes are offered online, which I think is wonderful. Online classes allow college, and even high school, students to get credit for a class without actually having to show up in class. However, even online classes still have the idea of a teacher. The teacher posts the assignments onto the website and uploads everything that the student needs. Without the teacher, the students could learn the completely wrong thing and end up failing in their career.

Teachers also are there to teach students how to be more computer literate, especially in the elementary schools. Elementary School teachers can incorporate computers into their lessons to make learning more fun for the students. Children think that computers are extremely cool and would love to do the majority of their work on the computer. Children NEED to know how to use the computer in order to succeed in the 21st Century where computers are pretty much taking over society.

Students of all ages need a teacher in order to learn what they need to learn. Teachers are there to teach and to answer any questions. Yes, most questions can be answered in a youtube video, but sometimes it helps knowing that there is a teacher that you can ask for help. Teachers will still be needed as much in 10 years as they are today, they will just have to keep up with technology and not let technology completely take over.

This Is How We Dream

I think that I am prepared, as a teacher, for the improvements that are being made in technology. I think that it is wonderful that technology has improved so much. You don't have to go to a Library in order to find what you need. If you do go to the Library, they still have computers to help you find what you need, rather than card catalogs. Technology has improved so much over the years and I think it is for the better. Computers have made education so much easier both for teachers and for students.

I do not think that the students will have a problem adapting to the changes in technology because they have grown up with it. Most students can't even imagine a life without computers and cell phones. Using computers is part of every day life in the world today. If students do not know how to use them, they can typically learn very easily. I think that my students will not have any difficulty writing with multimedia! I think that improvements in technology will just get better and better for education.

Since most things are on the internet, the cost for education can be much cheaper. If all textbooks are posted online then college students will not have to waste $300 on textbooks that they typically don't even use! I know the internet is not completely reliable (especially at USA where wireless connections are terrible) but having computer based assignments is a lot cheaper. Computers can be used for everything in education... and I think it is a good thing.

iPods

How can iPods be used in education? The Hoover City School System, I know, has already incorporated iPods into education. Teachers in the third grade at Riverchase Elementary School use iPods to allow students to hear themselves read aloud. Each teacher was provided two iPods and a voice recorder to use in the classroom. The students can read aloud into the voice recorder and later go back and listen to what they read. It is a great way for teachers to listen to students read and notice progress in the students reading by listening to the first recording of the year and the last.

Not only can iPods be used for education in Elementary school but also in Universities across the nation. Duke University has incorporated iPods into the classroom. Duke News tells readers that the use of iPods in the classroom has quadrupled after one year in the classroom. The University even provided first year students in 2004 with a FREE iPod. Now they give undergraduate students who enroll in a course that requires an iPod a free iPod. I know that if I went to Duke, I would enroll in a class that uses the iPods because I think that educators and students can do so much with technology.

iTunes U

iTunes U is a wonderful resource for both students and teachers. It is a free program from iTunes that allows anyone to access educational resources. Teachers can use iTunes U in the classroom. They can pull up an interesting book or video and share it with the class. They can download any podcasts or videocasts that will help them to better teach a subject that they are trying to teach. Each University on iTunes U can use the program to get certain information out to the Faculty and Students of the university.

It is great for students because it is a free program! If a student is struggling with a certain topic in school, he or she can go to iTunes U and find a podcast that better explains the topic so that they can have a better understanding of the subject. Suffolk University uses iTunes U to communicate with their students about speakers and interesting research on campus. iTunes U can also be a tool used for Alumni and prospective students to know what the University has to offer. I think iTunes U is wonderful for teachers, students, or anyone who wants to learn something.

Google Earth

What is Google Earth and how can it be used for teaching? Dr. Alice Christie answers these questions on her web page. Google Earth is a program that allows users to view maps, buildings, and other geographical elements. It is FREE, so anyone with access to a computer can download the program. Google Earth is a wonderful program to use in the classroom because it allows the students to interact, thus making a boring subject more fun.

Dr. Christie gives a few good reasons telling why Google Earth should be used in the classroom. One of her reasons is that it turns geography into reality, making the topic more exciting for the students. The students can better understand the concepts by using Google Earth to visualize information about the world. Dr. Christie even gives a few Google Earth lesson examples to help teachers incorporate Google Earth into the lesson. The website also has Google Earth tutorials and other Google resources to help teachers. Dr. Christie has a great website to help teachers incorporate technology into an every day lesson.