ACCESS

ACCESS is a distance learning program for high school students. This program was started in 2004. ACCESS provides so many courses such as, Math, Science, Social Studies, Foreign languages, and Health. The ACCESS vision is that "The state of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning." I think this program is amazing.

It has the opportunity to help students advance in so many ways. It gives the students access to other areas of learning and is no cost to them. The students are able to advance in ways such as becoming independent learners, literate individuals, and become effective at written communication. It may not be the right choice for all students but I think it's a great way for students to learn. It gives them a choice of education in another form rather than in the traditional setting of the classroom. Click Here to visit the ACCESS website.

ALEX

ALEX is the Alabama Learning Exchange. It's a website that provides teachers with very useful information and materials. On the home page, the areas are divided into parts such as Courses of Study, Web Links, Lesson Plans, Podcast Treasury and Search. Once you click on one of the sections, such as Lesson Plans, you are taken to a page that allows you to search for lesson plans accroding to the course and grade level. This site also provides you with every standard and course of study for Alabama students K-12.

I think the best part of the site was the Podcast Treasury. I have been to the ALEX website a number of times, however, I never clicked on the podcast section. I really enjoyed looking through the podcasts. I think this is a great tool for teachers to use. You are provided with so many ideas and new information that will be very helpful in the classroom. Click Here to view the ALEX website.

Dear Kaia

I really enjoyed Kaia's video. It made me smile because she had such a sweet little voice when she was explaining her pictures. For the video, Kaia and her father went outside and took pictures of different things. Objects that could be ugly, however, according to her father these things are made beautiful through art. They then made a video sharing her images on Twitter. Mr. Chamberline found the video and shared it with his class. They in turn did a videothread for Kaia because she is only three and cannot read yet.

I think the way things happened is really cool. I believe it's a great way to keep things interesting in a classroom. Especially being able to Skype to different people in the world. I think that that technology will be very useful because you could use it to help answer questions that your students will ask. I completely understand Kaia's father having concerns pertaining to putting his daughter out for the world to see. Either way, it's a great resource and I can see myself using it when I become a teacher. Click here to view Kaia's video. Here is the letter from Kaia's father.

New Media Literacies Project

I looked over the site and I found this video in the blogs that they post. The video had a ninth grade girl at the Games for Change Festival. She spoke to the audience of educators, academics,and game developers about how they can develop games to create social change. I really enjoyed this video. Click here to watch the video.

I liked how she pointed out that while everyone at this festival was talking about how kids learn etc. that she understands why it works because she is a kid. She gets why games help kids learn. She spoke about immersion and how that works differently for boys and girls. First, don't let the students know they are learning. It won't work. It takes away from the gaming experience. Boys like the characters they can create, while the girls like to create a story.

I just enjoyed how they actually got a kids perspective. Allowing the students to talk for themselves and express why they feel that this form of education is important makes this project more relevant to me.

New Media Literacies

The skills discussed in this video are important for people working and living in today's world. Some of these skills are required to do certain jobs and others you just acquire as you learn. I don't believe that these are new skills at all though.

Employers expect their employees to possess certain skills. You must then apply them in the workplace. Technology is changing, however, these skills discussed by NML have been around for years. I think that these skills are just applied in a different way/setting now because of the changing technology.

I think I possess many of the skills discussed. I am a multi-tasker, negotiater, and visualizer. I think these are good skills to have and am able to apply them at my job. I think as I learn more technology that I will be able to acquire many more of these skills. Click hereto watch the NML video.

Week 6 Comments4Kids

This week I have listened to two girls read poems. Their poems were about rivers and were very good. I was very impressed by their reading.

The Networked Student

I like the idea of networking in the classroom. It allows the student to become an independent learner. It would help the student think and help make the information become relevant instead of just memorizing so you can take a test. Would it actually work? Many questions come to mind as I think about this.

One thing I am positive about though is the fact that the teacher is always going to be an intricate part of the classroom. Whether or not the class is networking or using some other form of technology it is important for the teacher to be there. They help guide and motivate the students in the quest for knowledge. Learning wouldn't be taking place if the teacher wasn't part of the classroom.

Honestly, I'm not sure if networking would be good for some middle/high schools. I see many students being lazy and not wanting to do anything that would be "extra" work. However, I believe that if we started teaching students from elementary school to think outside the box that networking could be the way to go in the future.
Click here to see the Networked Student video.

Richard Miller

Dr. Miller started in Part 1 of his speech talking about the libraries and printing books. As he was talking I was thinking about all the research I have done in the past couple of years and I haven't walked into a library once. Everything is accessible from your home most of the time. "Our workspace is our laptop." Information is available almost instantly and changes constantly.

I liked that he said that knowledge is something that "belongs to us as a culture." I agree with that. Knowledge wasn't always accessible to everyone. However, with all the advances in technology we all have the ability to acquire knowledge as long as we are willing to learn.

I don't know if I am 100% ready for the full multimedia experience in the classroom. I'm definitely willing to learn new technology to help students excel. It's necessary to help my future students become comfortable and capable of excelling in this ever changing culture of technology. Click here to listen to Dr. Miller.

Week 5 Comments4Kids

Last week I went to Mr. C's Class Blog. I commented on 6 students blogs. They were all so creative and neat. My favorite blog was the one where the students were learning how tall they were by measuring how many hands high hey were. I did myself and I'm only 11 hands high! It was fun.

Week 4 Comments4Kids

In week 4 I viewed another class at Pt England School. They were a class of 4 and 5 year old. I commented on Sean's Gingerbread Man. He did a great job with his picture and his writing. Very cute.

Week 3 Comments4Kids

The 3rd week I visited Latu's blog. She wrote about going to the semi-finals with her rugby team. I enjoyed reading about her game and commented on her blog.

Week 2 Comments4Kids

The second week I commented on Pt England Scribes, Auckland NZ blog. I watched Kaycee read her story of Little Pink Riding Dress. I thought this idea of having the students read and record their stories for the world to see was a neat idea. When I was little I know I would have enjoyed getting comments from people from all around the world.

Week 1 Comments4Kids

The first week that I participated in Comments4Kids I went to Moturoa's blog which is a blog done by 4 and 5yr old students in Appleby, NZ. I commented on 3 students blogs. I was very impressed with the students ability to use technology at such a young age. I really enjoyed this assignment.

iPods in Instruction

In 2004 Duke University provided students with iPods. Students were able to listen to podcast, record classroom lectures and review. We have learned how some K-12 schools have also started using the iPod to enhance their curriculum in areas such as mathematics, science, reading, foreign language, and history. It is becoming a tool that is accessible to anyone.

Click here to read this study about the effects, both positive and negative, that the iPod has in the classroom. I knew many of the positive effects of the iPod already but was surprised about what some of the negatives were. The battery life was short, there was difficulty with file sharing, and the students did not have the basic technological skills to "work easily in this environment." I don't agree with this last point. I think that younger students are more technologically advanced today as opposed to students in previous years. It was also pointed out that students used the iPod for other purposes half the time. I think that this a great tool for the classroom though. I would be thrilled to be able to use this kind of technology in the class. It has far more positives than negatives in my opinion.

iTunes University

Students today are always searching for more information. There are so many devices and information out there that it makes it possible for anyone to access what they are looking for. With iPods and iPhones now available to students it is possible for them to learn anywhere.

For example, the iPod nano allows students to listen to much more than just music...it has a built in mic and video camera making it possible to learn and share. Being able to use iTunes University you are able to access so much more information such as lectures, labs, etc. Students will be able to listen to podcasts and vodcasts. It is a great tool to use when I become a teacher also. To visit this website click here

Dr. Alice Christie's Discovering Art in a Web 2.0 World

I read about how we can use technology to enhance our teaching and students' learning in many areas..even art. By using "kid-friendly" technology such as Google Earth and GPS receivers we can make exciting environments available to our students through the use of technology. This site provided me with many lesson plans to give me an idea of how to integrate art and technology.

One lesson plan that I looked at was Waterworks at Arizona Falls. By using a GPS receiver the students would be able to navigate the site. By looking at the pictures, you could ask questions, such as describe what you see and how does this picture combine art, history, and technology? I was very impressed with this. It's a great way to integrate art into the classroom. With so many activities disappearing from the class, such as music and art, it is great to see that there are still so many ways to make it available to students. To view this lesson plan Click Here