Has anyone ever been to Wordle.net? (http://www.wordle.net/) It's a neat tool to make word clouds. I thought I would share it. You can put in your own words, pate the link of a web page that has an RSS feed, or enter a delicious user name to get their tags. Once your cloud is created, you can edit the style of it, such as the font color and type. They can be printed out or saved to Wordle. This could be a good activity to do with your class. You might use it for vocabulary words, key words to a chapter you are reading, or for review. It just seems like a fun alternative to regular class work. Check it out!

You may be able to see mine better at this link (http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/784072/Teaching_Blog)
I used my blog address to make this one.

*Final Reflection for Integrating Technology Class*

After completing the course, "Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society," I feel that I am more aware of how much of an impact technology can have on learning and what advantages there are to using it. This was also the first class that is directly related to the specialization I chose, so it made me more enthused to continue this program. This is just the beginning of learning how much I can do with technology in my own classroom!

This course also helped me to develop my own technology skills because I learned several new things and got to experiment with different tools that I haven't used before. Some of these were creating a wiki, blog, and podcast. Doing these assignments helped me to realize all of the different ways that these tools could be used in a classroom. I think it is important for a teacher to first have experience with technology that they would be using in their classroom. We learn by being involved in things. Technology brings a new excitement to teaching. There are so many more possibilities.

My knowledge of teaching and the learning process has definitely been deepened. Learning today is way more project-based. Students are taking more control of their learning. I've learned that the role of a teacher has morphed into more of a facilitator. This course has also opened my eyes to just how much students are doing outside of the classroom that isn't reflected inside the classroom. There are so many times in schools that technology has been seen as bad or as a distraction to learning. In a DVD presentation, "Bringing the Fun into Teaching with Technology," a teacher, Houston, stated that we should look at the ways technology can be beneficial and I agree with that.

I have definitely seen that learning today is more learner-centered. Before all of this technology was available, a teacher was the main source of information. Today, that has changed. Students now have access to all kinds of information, usually immediately. Students bring ideas to the classroom and it is our job to show them how to sort out, organize, and evaluate them.

I will continue to build on my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology to increase student achievement. One way I can do this is to continue to stay updated on current technology and to make sure that I involve myself in my own learning process. I'm not going to be afraid to try new things. I was a little nervous about creating a podcast for this class, but in the end found out that it was a fun process and that there were many ways pod casts could be used in the classroom. The process of making a podcast has many steps, which require planning and organization. I think by keeping myself updated and willing to try new things, it will help increase student achievement by breaking down the walls of the classroom. I will be able to connect what students are learning in school with what they are learning out of it. Also, students will be able to learn about things that are interesting to them as individuals.

Two goals that I would set for myself long term would be to collaborate with other professionals in my field about best practices for using technology in the classroom to enhance my own professional growth and to put into use some of the strategies I have learned in my own classroom. For the first goal, I plan on talking more with teachers I work with and also looking out into the global community. This course has helped informed me of more ways to seek out professional blogs, wikis, and more that are related to specific things that I am interested in. I could talk to teachers from different areas just to get input on how they do things and what works for them and what doesn't. I have already started to do that right here through my online class at Walden. :) As for the second goal, I do not have my own classroom right now being that I am a Teacher's Assistant. I will continue to pursue a teaching position and I feel that being involved in and completing this Masters program will help set me apart from other applicants. I have gained so many great ideas from just this course alone and I plan on implementing them as soon as possible.

Podcast Assignment: Technology Survey

For this assignment, I interviewed three teachers at my school and asked them different questions relating to the types of technology that they use. I was unable to interview our students because most students that I work with are non verbal. All teachers I interviewed are female. Their ages range from 24-60. Their teaching experience ranges from seven months to 38 years. I enjoyed doing this assignment because I got to try something new myself and I also got input from my colleagues about how they feel about technology and what they would like to see more of.

The questions I asked were:
1.) How much time do you spend using technology on a daily basis in relation to school-related activities or work?
2.) What kind of access do you have to different kinds of technology in your school/home environment?

3.) How interested are you in learning how to use new technologies in the classroom/personal use? What kinds of technology?

Vision for the 21st Century

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

My first reaction to this website was that it looked inviting and easy to navigate. The goal of this organization for education is to build collaborative partnerships among education, business, community, and government leaders. This is a site that I am going to have to continue to explore over time because it is a lot to take in all at once.

This site has a ton of useful information! I found a bunch of resources in the "tools and resources" tab and then clicked on "online tools." If you click on "Route 21," it takes you to links that show how "21st century skills can be supported through standards, professional development, assessments, and curriculum and instruction." The direct link for these resources is: Browse 21st Century Resources. The sites are rated using a star system. You can also browse by support system, skill, or knowledge.

Another important section of this site was the professional development assistance section. Here, there is a list of companies and organizations that provide administrator and educator training to states, districts, and schools. There also links to presentations and videos of presentations by the partnership. They have also put together a guide, called the "MILE Guide." This is a "guide for 21st Century Skills to assist educators and administrators in measuring the progress of their schools in defining, teaching and assessing 21st century skills."

Something that surprised me was the amount of resources available. This is something that all teachers can go to and benefit from. There are even lessons that include teacher and student plans, rubrics, presentation strategies, links to sites for worksheets, and reflection paper ideas! This is something that I feel I can definitely use in the future to benefit my students. There was another thing I found surprising. I was wondering if the states that are listed under "state initiatives" are the only ones involved in this program. That would be only 10. Why so few? Is there anyone reading this who lives in one of the states listed? If so, how is this partnership benefiting you and your students?

I didn't see anything on the site that I disagreed with yet. Everything seemed to be very well organized and relevant to the skills that will be needed for our students in the future. Did anyone one else find anything that they disagree with or found questionable?

This site has many of the same ideas that David Thornburg and Chris Dede speak about in the DVD presentation for my Integrating Technology class. In his presentation, "Skills for the 21st Century," Dr. Thornburg discusses 21st century skills. These included critical thinking/problem solving, oral and written communication, teamwork/collaboration, diversity, information technology, leadership, creativity and innovative thinking, life long learning, self-direction, professionalism, ethics, and social responsibility. Essential skills also include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. P21 (Partnership for 21st Century Skills) outlines these same qualities on their website. I included a graphic representation of their framework below. In the framework, they are called outcomes and are listed as core subjects and 21st century themes, learning and innovation skills, information, media, and technology skills, and life and career skills. There are also support systems such as standards, assessment, curriculum and instruction, professional development, and learning environments.

After browsing this site, I get several implications for both my students and myself. Students need to be prepared for different types of jobs that will exist in the future. The world around us is shifting and changing, so we need to mold our education system to fit with that. Students are going to need different types of skills than before to be able to keep up with the competition and new technology out there. We as teachers also need to keep up with it. The future is calling for more creativity and that is what we need to instill in ourselves and our students.

Some Ideas for Using Blogging in my Classroom

I am amazed at how many different ways blogs can be utilized in a classroom setting. An assignment for the class I am taking is to propose an idea of how I could use a blog in my classroom. I currently do not have a classroom of my very own, but am a teacher's assistant. I work with a population of students who have Autism and many of them are non-verbal. Our classroom has six students, ranging in age from 7-12. Although many of them may not be able to physically use blogging, I did come up with some ways that our classroom could use it.

Using a blog is a way to connect ideas. The teachers in my classroom could use blogs to connect and communicate with other educators who are working with a similar population of students. We could share ideas and suggestions about different teaching strategies. It could be a place to discuss things with other people who are familiar with what you do.

Another idea is to use a blog as a class portal. Our class blog could be used to communicate information and updates about the class. This would probably be mainly for parents, due to privacy issues. I really think this would be a great idea, especially for the type of school I am working at. It is a residential school, so this would be a great way for parents to really keep updated on what their children are doing being that they don't get to spend as much time with them. We could use the blog to post any upcoming special events, school news, information about Autism, activities that our class is working on, the class schedule, and so much more. We could also provide helpful links for parents.

I also really like the idea of having an E-Portfolio. Blog portfolios can be much easier to manage and organize. We could take pictures of student work and track progress over time.

A blog is a good tool for the instructional context because it offers so many different possibilities. Both the teacher and students can benefit from it. If your students are not able to actually blog themselves, you can use it to communicate with parents and the community about what is going on at your school and in your classroom. You can communicate with other professionals who are knowledgeable about or are in a similar teaching position. I know that when I do get a classroom of my own, I would definitely like to take advantage of what blogging has to offer and let my students get a hands on experience with it. Just think of the audience they can reach. It could be other grade levels in their school or another class on the other side of the world. When students blog, they are learning critical thinking skills and how to appropriately respond and communicate to others. They are also learning new ways to organize information and find things that they are interested in. Besides writing, blogs can also be used to share images and videos.

The world outside is changing and our classrooms need to keep up with it! :)

iPods in the Classroom?

While reading through some educational blogs, I came across the idea of using iPods as an educational tool. I thought it was really interesting and looked into it further.

I found this video :

This video shows how iPods are used for special education. The teacher has students who are mostly non-verbal or have hearing loss. This applies to me because the students that I work with are also mostly non-verbal. I work with students who have Autism, so I thought that this might be something I could learn from. The teacher and interpreter talk about how they made videos of interpretations of books and signs for parents to learn, voice memos back and forth for parents, video portfolios, and learning vocabulary. One idea I like is creating video portfolios. I've always like the idea of making portfolios to evaluate students, but making a video portfolio really puts a different twist on it.

Besides using this type of iPod seen in the video, there is also a lot of talk going on about the iPod touch. I found this blog (http://mrjonesed.blogspot.com/2008/01/ipod-touch-in-classroom.html) that discusses how the iPod touch can be used in a classroom. Also, this website (http://learninginhand.com/ipod/touch.html) that explain using the iPod touch for blog posting, applications, web apps, audio, video, podcasting, photos, and much more.

What are your opinions about using iPods? Does anyone have any other examples of ways they might be used in the classroom?

Understanding Technology

Hi everyone! I decided to use this blog that I had created for our last class. I want to try to maintain it so I thought continuing it would be a good idea. As we know, the internet and fast growing technology is changing the way our students learn. I liked a question posed by Will Richardson, "What needs to change about our curriculum when our students have the ability to reach audiences far beyond our classroom walls?" This is one to think about.