Interesting Technology Advancement Videos

The creators of the “Did You Know” videos put out new videos every couple of years. I think they are very interesting and when my students have watched them they really enjoyed them. If nothing else, they really show how much technology is infiltrating our world and how important it is to keep our students (and ourselves) on top of technology.

 

Not to mention, I find it super interesting to see how much we have advanced and how quickly.  Sites like http://gcn.com/articles/2007/12/06/25-years–a-technology-timeline.aspx and http://inventors.about.com/od/timelines/a/twentieth.htm give a pretty good list of advancements, but the videos are more appealing to students. This might not be a bad idea to incorporate into an internet scavenger hunt for students or teachers to appreciate the need for forward movement.

 

Video Conferences

In my website of the week this week I feature the website http://projects.twice.cc/ or Collaborations Around the Planet.  I have used this site to conference with author Jim Stovall, and my students loved it! A big hang-up a lot of my peers have with video conferencing is a general fear of the equipment itself. Often times our tech department will drop off the equipment or expect you to come pick it up, but generally they do not plan on hooking it up.  If you have never used a Polycom unit or something like it, they are great! I have attached a short video on how to set up a unit before a conference.  It is really not that much harder than hooking up a DVD player. Like http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home, using a Polycom unit is just like making a phone call, but allows you to see the person on the other end. These units are great for whole-class conferences. This site http://www.d261.k12.id.us/VCing/ gives all kinds of pointers on how to successfully incorporate a conference into your classroom. I always tell my peers, if you do set it up wrong the worst thing that could happen is that you have to reschedule. In the future, I think a great professional development activity in our district would be to have teachers setup the equipment themselves and call another unit in our school for practice, just to help with comfort. Anyway, if you haven’t used a video conference, check them out!

In with the New… and the Old?

In looking for a topic to blog about this week, I came across this post http://www.ncte.org/press/21stcentwriting about teaching students to write in the digital age. This is especially interesting to me as an English teacher. I found that this article stresses to teach students the new ways of communicating, such as blogs, emails, social networking etc. I found myself wondering, “Does this mean old-school grammar and 5 paragraph essays are out?” The short answer is no. The more I read the more convinced I am that we need to be teaching both. I came across these sites, among many others, that stress the need to teach “old” grammar skills(even in the digital age):

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/636/01/
• http://www.jerryrlucado.com/make-money-blogging/misspelled-words-in-blogs/

What it all comes down to is teaching our students code-switching. Code-switching means being able to switch between language usage based on the situation at had. Students should not feel stifled by old grammar rules, but rather know when it is necessary to apply them and when they can use text lingo freely. Check out this video on code-switching:
 

Twitter: Another Look

Okay, so after reading Laura’s blog http://lking620masters.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/twitter/ and finding myself also not sure of how Twitter could be worthwhile, I decided to do some browsing to see how other educators are using it. I found this awesome website with a TON of information: http://edudemic.com/2010/06/the-ultimate-twitter-guidebook/ .

Some of the coolest ideas that caught my interest were using Twitter for things like:

• Collaborating with other teachers, since we all know a common planning time is non-existent
• Taking polls with students or for classroom contests
• Daily summaries for parents and students
• Homework help for students in my class
• “twittories” a way to create a giant story where each user adds a line

I would be lying if I said that I am rushing out today to post my Twitter link to my school website, but I am definitely considering ways it could be beneficial in my classroom.

 
http://blip.tv/play/AdPDSwI

Resisting Change

After reading the blog http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/94/open_change-or-die.html written by Alan Deutschman, I found some frightening similarities to the education world. One of the things he mentions is how hard it is to change a person’s behavior. He cited health issues, such as smoking and obesity as clearly preventable and yet people still have a hard time changing their behavior to give themselves a better future.

I think this is similar to the way in which teachers resist technology changes in the classroom. Some may jump to conclusions that it is the “older” teachers that refuse the change, but even newer teachers can find themselves stuck using what they are comfortable with or avoiding technology all together because it is too time-consuming or difficult.

While keeping up with technology in the classroom is time-consuming and often difficult, it is much easier if we move with the changes rather than resisting them. Sure, we may only use the newest trend (Twitter, Blogger, etc.) for a few years, but that does not mean our students will not benefit. Our job is to encourage students to be come life-long learners and if nothing else we are showing them that we practice what we preach. Also, if we continue to change with technology as it changes we tend to adapt better.  Similar to Deustchman’s idea that if eating less and exercising promotes better health and that is what we are striving for, then we had better do it. If our goal is to reach students with whatever curriculum it is we teach, and the best way to do it is to deliver it through technology, then that is what we must do.

How I Got to ED 620

My name is Renee Miller. I am a 7th grade English teacher at Franklin Area School District. I have taught for three years. My first two years at Franklin I was 75% rather than full-time. In an effort to supplement my career I took on the role of Technology Facilitator for two periods a day. In this role I assisted other teachers with the use of technology in their classrooms. I found myself helping with a wide range of things, such as email, SMARTBoards, video conferences, etc. I found that I really enjoyed helping others learn to love technology and have found some great value in its use in the public school classroom. This experience gave me appreciation for the ever-changing world of technology. As a result, when I decided to pursue my masters degree (in order to fulfill my Level II certification, I decided to specialize in technology. That is how I landed in ED 620.

I truly believe my students benefit from their use and exploration of technology in the classroom. I enjoy learning new ways to help them succeed and learn more, while staying on top of the latest technology. I really feel that if teachers do not move with their students and continue learning, we will lose touch with them. I have found that my own use of technology in my classroom has influenced my peers to incorporate more into their classrooms. As I enter my 4th year of teaching, I hope to continue to help others succeed.

Here is a link to my school website, it gives some insight to how I incorporate technology into my classroom: http://www.fasd.k12.pa.us/589220626102146567/site/default.asp