Diigo #3

I have not thought much about software that tracks attendance grades and seating chart because in my memories of the classroom, I recall a physical book which had all of that and the lesson plan. Interacting with students and parents is a given, but interacting with other teachers from different schools is a blessing.

#6

After typing school into google, Florida Virtual School (FLVS) was one of the first things that came up due to my computers' location triangulation capabilities. FLVS serves K-12. As a past FLVS student (during high school), I find it interesting that I had no idea kids as young as five were involved in the virtual classroom. When I did it it was very hard for me to discipline myself due to my traditionally teacher led classes. I wonder if children develop a greater sense of autonomy with online classes for their first year. I also wonder what affect this has on their social relationships with children who are similar aged.

The website is straightforward and easy to use. There are many options for the online learner like full and part time online schooling. Navigation is simple, especially for parents who are not digital natives, the parent login portal is easy to find and there are many ways to contact support through working social media links. There is also information on becoming a FLVS teacher. I wonder how teachers feel when they transition to a concrete environment from virtual and vice versa.

I would consider working on FLVS if given the opportunity, in this course, I feel as though I can learn the proper tools necessary to teach kids online. Using my new love, pictograph I can make infographics and/or power points. I have learned how to use garage band and I can record podcasts. I know that there are more ways I can utilize technology but I wonder about the burnout a VS teacher goes through (if they do)? For instance, instead of dealing with 20 students at once for ~8 hours a day or contacting 20 students separately and explaining the same concepts to different kids. I feel as though the most important aspect is to be organized and setting timers for yourself. My friend told me that if they see an alarm for a task without completing it, the guilt heightens until you absolutely must complete it. Thats a good way to learn to be efficient, I think.

Last week, I was unable to attend class to visit the tech sandbox because of some weird stomach stuff that I'd rather not talk about. I did get the chance to look at the website. I think it would be important to allow students to use VR in order to learn and simulate situations to gain confidence for the real deal, like driving. I think that it is also pertinent to highlight the dissociation that comes with the safety of VR simulations no matter how awakening the content is.

ILP Design: Poetry Infographic

Pictograph/ Slide presentation
I had a lot of fun making this for the elementary school classroom. Poetry is one of the more accepted forms of art in academics as it is literature. The piktochart software was a little bit difficult to use because of all the options I've been given but I still managed to create something that I am proud of.  I like that my pictograph can transform into a slide presentation, I would make these instead of traditional microsoft power points and prezis from now on, because I feel as though design is easier with piktochart even though I am more familiar with the latter.

#5

As a teacher, the web 2.0 tools that I would use are youtube, prezi, edmodo, and kahoot. Youtube is full of information and misinformation, so as the facilitator, I would choose most of the videos viewed in the classroom. With prezi, there is ease of use especially if software like microsoft powerpoint is not accessible. Edmodo and kahoot are communicative platforms that include keeping the students regulated and safe.

One I found interesting was scribd. With this, we are able to remain informed or even entertained. A general subscription is 3 books and 1 audiobook a month with unlimited access to documents as well as magazines. Talk about light reading, get it? Because its on the internet. It would be even better if one had access to more books, like netflix, maybe library thing is a better option actually.

Gamification is one of the technological advancements I found helpful and progressive. This may give students intrinsic motivation, if learning feels like playing a game and games are fun, would learning then be fun? We are in a time where we are surrounded by technology and gamers are on the rise. Do you think this is feeding the fire? Or accommodating to our own progression?

E-course

I had a nice time doing the ecourse. I learned about integrating technology into my professional work (which will surely come in handy once I am a professional woman). I would like to attend (or maybe even have) a webinar after learning about the software adobe has to offer. I can apply these communicative task management softwares to things as simple as group projects as a student and a professional. I think its a little odd to appoint a leader in a group to manage tasks as a student because I don't like being told what to do by my peers. I wonder if there is a way every one can be a mod and offer suggestions for the project. I have also never done a grandeur project, though I am this semester, I realize now I may try task management, even though I am not in a group.

The flow of information was easy to follow, only a couple times did I feel the notes were out of order. I could write my notes without pausing up until the last section, which did not have a pause button, so I may have missed a couple notes. I liked the graphic design, and activities, both were pretty much straight forward. I would prefer if there was an option to speed up the audio (like on youtube), I feel like listening is easier if I can hear the words faster. I would learn through an ecourse again.

Digging Diigo

I really enjoy this website. Upon its description, I immediately dismissed it, I don't need anymore websites in my life. After actually using it, I realized it was like Pinterest. Instead of looking up health and wellness information, I'm looking up links that will be pertinent and useful for my professional woman lifestyle. I think the tagging system is a lot more useful than having separate folders. I feel like I'm actually organized.

#4

The first time I ever made a twitter was to get a free meal. The second time I made a twitter was for my job. Now I have one for class! It is kind of peculiar that we are supposed to tweet in class  when we used to do it in secret. I like that classmates are able to share their ideas with me as the average college classroom atmosphere can be quite reserved. I have not been using communication as optimally as I should. I think so far I've only communicated with my teacher and an artist that visited town. When I am on twitter, even though there are  millions of users, I feel like I'm speaking into a really big box the size of the world with 6 people in it. I kind of like that, but I also feel a little shy.

The digital divide is the gap between those who have access to a computer and those who do not. There is a disparity among students because certain pertinent resources are not available to them. With the progression of time comes the progression of technology. Those who have readily available access have an easier time maneuvering a computer whereas those without must work a little harder, whether it be ease of use, or just getting to a place that has a computer. This may be caused by class differences and maybe because our foundation was built on institutionalized racism? As an educator, I'll do my best to bridge the gap by placing higher performing tech kids with lower performing tech kids. I could also provide students with more hands on activities. Like the podcast said, I should be sensitive to those who lack access when assigning work outside of school.

When teaching 2nd grade, I expect my students will learn how to use word, powerpoint, and lite photoshop skills. I don't think you can start them from augmenting reality too early. We wont be typing essays but we will learn to type through a software, because I type like I've never seen a keyboard before, we don't need more of that. The only things I can think of the students not using are software with material that is too complex for children as I think that it is important to expose all options to the children.

#3

Of all the ELA technology standards, I have the most experience with using multimedia in literature. I feel as though it is pertinent to expose children because there is a wide variety of multimedia to ornament a piece of work. Many representations in multimedia can offer a wide range of responses and reactions or they may elicit a certain tone which can amplify meaning within the content. I think I may have some trouble integrating and evaluating. I wish to encourage a classroom that integrates and evaluates but I have not had good grades in the past when it comes to analyzation of my work despite my efforts.

By the time I am teaching, mostly all of my students will have been exposed to some form of technology. I would teach them how to use word, photoshop, excel, and offer them a wide variety of content such as video editing or coding software. As digital citizens, I feel as though it is our duty to express our ideas in the infinite range of ways technology can offer. With previous technological experience, I feel confident that students will feel confident in the familiar computer chair.

Open content refers to content that is freely available for use and can be modified and redistributed. Open content is amazing in my opinion because I did not have Microsoft Word in high school, Open Office was my next best option and I could do pretty much anything your mainstream document software could do. This can be extremely useful for someone who has a lack of resources.

As for my newsletter, I enjoyed the project because I felt as though I was creating art. I don't like that I felt so stressed out about doing it though, especially when it comes to the fact that I now know I  can no longer plagiarize clip art of put in useless art I just think is fun to share with others. I don't want to take anyone's credit. I like the way my newsletter looks. I would want to be my teacher, or my friend's kid's teacher. I had a hard time finding a good dotted  line to use for my field trip slip, but it would just get cut off the paper anyways, right? Next time I would like to improve by creating my own art, a crest, if you will, which I can post anywhere and I wouldn't have to worry about plagiarizing.