New Horizons Report

Might as well get this done before Thanksgiving...

There's an App for that: Mobile Devices in the Classroom

The biggest problem I see with the increased use of cell phones in the classroom is affordability. Perhaps as the years pass devices like the iPhone will become less expensive, but at the moment it's completely unrealistic. Even if they become significantly cheaper, not every student has a cell phone, though it may seem like it sometimes. In addition, there are other alternative technologies students can use to perform the same function. The article suggests students use phones to take pictures of the stages of an experiment when a flip camera will do just as well. Lastly, cell phones are primarily communication devices: we text, e-mail, and talk to one another with them. My concern is that increased use of mobile devices in the classroom will be a distraction. You may want your students to use an application for math review, but it will be difficult to monitor that they are actually playing an educational game and not a different one.

Online Communication Tools
This particular technology was my personal favorite. When I got my Mac in June, one of the first things I loved about it was video and audio chat, because it gave me an opportunity to hear and see my friends via IM. Programs like Skype, Twitter, and IM programs allow for direct and indirect (synchronous and asynchronous communication) between people all over the world. Students in a government class could have a video chat with an elected representative in either state or federal assemblies. For history, a class could collaborate with one in another city, state, or country and a discussion board could be set up for students, allowing them to share and hear diverse opinions on different topics in history. These technologies allow for trans global communication and has the potential to increase knowledge of the social studies and different cultures.

Technology integration

See comment attached... I couldn't get it to paste...

5 Lesson Plan Topics

For this assignment I will focus on the following topics, all chosen from SOL standards I will be responsible for teaching in the Spring:

5 Lesson Plan Topics for World History I

1.) The Rise of Islam
WHI.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of Islamic civilization from about 600 to 1000 A.D. (C.E.) by:
a) describing the origin, beliefs, traditions, customs, and spread of Islam

2.) Medieval Europe
WHI.9 The student will demonstrate knowledge of Western Europe during the Middle Ages from about 500 to 1000 A.D. (C.E.) in terms of its impact on Western civilization by
b) explaining the structure of feudal society and its economic, social, and political effects

3.) African Civilizations
WHI.10 The student will demonstrate knowledge of civilizations and empires of the Eastern
Hemisphere and their interactions through regional trade patterns by
d) describing east African kingdoms of Axum and Zimbabwe and west African civilizations
of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai in terms of geography, society, economy, and religion.

4.) The Golden Age of Islam
WHI.8 The student will demonstrate knowledge of Islamic civilization from about 600 to 1000 A.D.(C.E.) by:
d) citing cultural and scientific contributions and achievements of Islamic civilization

5.) Medieval Japan
The student will demonstrate knowledge of civilizations and empires of the Eastern
Hemisphere and their interactions through regional trade patterns by
c) describing Japan, with emphasis on the impact of Shinto and Buddhist traditions and the
influence of Chinese culture

Parent Communication

When communicating with parents, it is important to remember that they want to know that you care about their child and that you want their child to succeed. They will be more likely to become defensive if they receive a call late in the semester informing them that their child is not doing well. Teachers should try to communicate with parents early on in the semester and make sure to send parents positive messages about their children as well. Parents will respond well to teachers who communicate with them about their child sincerely. Also, while teachers are responsible for many students, parents are only thinking about one. Therefore, when meeting with parents make sure that you know the student's background and progress in the course. Make sure that you are comfortable with both your subject material and pedagogy so that you can answer questions quickly and confidently.

Technology can certainly facilitate communication. Rather than having to call possibly hundreds of parents at the beginning of the year to initiate a relationship, a welcome letter can be posted to the website that is easy to access. In addition, classroom updates that you would like all parents to see can be posted on a class website. Grades can also be accessed on the website so that parents can access their child's grades and remain cognizant of how their child is progressing in your class. Technology can inhibit showing sincerity and warmth. Group messages on the website and grades posted do not convey the relationship that you have built with the student as much as a call home would.

Classroom websites are certainly useful tools. They can keep parents up to date on what is going on the classroom, what homework has been assigned that week, and when big tests are coming up. These things can be accessed any time the parent can access the internet rather than relying on communication via the student. What are some other promising and realistic technologies to use to communicate with parents?

There are many issues that arise because of technology use. First, privacy is a major concern for parents, students, and teachers alike. Classroom websites should be password protected and student grades should only be accessible for the parents of that student. In addition, student work and photos should only be posted with parent permission. Second, technology can erode professionalism if used incorrectly. Teachers should be wary of using Facebook, MySpace, and texting to communicate with their students. All of these can lead to the blurring of the lines between personal communication versus teacher-student communication. Third, technology access can be a problem for parents. Some parents may have limited access to the internet or very slow connections. Consideration of these issues should be taken when writing a web page. For example, web pages should be formatted for easy printing so that the parent does not have to be at the computer to read the information if they do not want to be or cannot be. There are many other issues and possible solutions; can you list some of them?

Technology Enhanced Interactivity

The article basically summarized a lot of information we learned in Educational Psychology. Some basic information you should probably take away: text and visual are better together, cone of learning is a myth, three types of memory: sensory, working, and long term, students learn more when the activity is personally meaningful, and significant increases in learning can occur through informed use of visual and verbal multimodal learning.

I think learning can increase greatly by including multimedia tools and resources. Students can better connect lessons when they are personal and meaningful. Multimedia can provide a foundation for this type of building. The important factor when including multimedia in a lesson is the purpose. If the lesson just has it to use it, the lesson will not work. The multimedia needs to enhance the lesson to create a purpose. You are not going to remember the power point your teach use to read from, but you will remember dissecting a frog using a simulation.

I would try to use mostly interactive tools and resources. Students would probably rather do things themselves versus watching the teacher. Hands on learning is very helpful and multimedia tools can help provide students with opportunities to try things for themselves. As an English teacher, including interactive resources may be difficult. I will try my best, however, to find ways to get my students involved.

Using multimedia tools and resources can be time consuming. The teacher has to figure out the technology then scaffold it for the students. With trying to teach all the required material plus technology extras, the teacher could run themselves ragged if not done effectively. I do think it is probably worth it in the long run with proper planning.

Life on the Screen, Digital Directors Guild, and Podcasting

I really like George Lucas' viewpoints on visual communications in education. He brings up a good point about it not being very easy to measure progress and competency when using visual communication. Does anyone have any ideas on how this could be standardized, at least within your own classrooms? I think he made a good correlation between grammar and film rules. That made this a lot easier for me to understand. I also liked how he says that we should be spending more money on developing education rather than the military since it is education that makes the nation, not strictly being able to take over the world. I didn't really think he made any concrete suggestions on how to incorporate visual communication into lessons or really any ideas on implementation. What do you all think?

The Digital Directors' Guild was very helpful to me in answering my previous question. After looking at the website, I would like to incorporate some means of visual communications during the school year. Looking at some of the example videos was very helpful too. Do you all think you might try this at some point? I also think that it's very cool that Dr. Hofer and other people from Virginia are involved with this project.

Podcasting sounds really cool to me. I will admit that I have zero experience with them, but I think I will look into them more. I don't know about you all, but the science people have to teach a lesson this semester and videotape ourselves. This podcasting information has been and will be helpful for me with videotaping. I really recommend looking at the tips in the booklet if you all have to videotape yourselves.

The first thing that struck me about podcasting though, was how the "Learning at Hand" site said that teachers could have their students posting their videos worldwide. That would make me kind of nervous, especially after our last class on copywriting and not posting things to the internet, only to an intranet. Anyone else have any thoughts on that?

See you all tomorrow,
Melissa

Copyright Issues

I also agree that realizing citing the author does not get you off the hook is an important point to remember (1). The fact that works are protected from their creation until 70 years after the author's death makes things a little difficult to use fairly off of the web (2). It seems like, as sort of a general rule, if you are not trying to make money off of your use of someone else's work, you're probably okay using that work in your own (3). You definitely have to remember and remind students about the Golden Rule of Copyrighting (4). It's very interesting to me that copyright applies to unpublished works as well (5).

I agree that I am not quite sure how I would handle a student infringing on copyright. I think I would probably handle it as plagiarism (give the student a zero for the assignment and report them to the administration). The tricky part is that the student has to be informed of copyright rules, and I don't think schools do a very good job of that. They definitely focus more on plagiarism, and even if you cite the author, you could still infringe on copyright.

A big issue for me with copyright is that the science teachers in my placement school use each others' materials all the time. I have already received other teachers' materials and witnessed my teacher accepting materials from others. My teacher has also told me she uses materials from teachers in other schools and divisions. All of these materials are given with the author's original consent, but the way material passes from teacher to teacher, I know the original author is not receiving credit or giving permission to each teacher who has it, to use their material.