Sunday, October 10, 2010
My PLN
For starters Symbaloo is amazing! I’m not a very well organized person, but with symbaloo it does all the organizing for me, which I love. I have just started customizing my PLN, but so far it contains lots of things that can be useful for this class and any other school work I need help on considering it has a tile for every subject. I love having the blogger tile, instruction manual tile, and goggle docs tile, because it will make my experience in EDM310 class a little bit easier and much easier to keep everything in order. I have also added a few tiles for my own interests including skype and facebook. As I continue to progress in this class I will add to my PLN and plan on using it even after EDM310. I think this is a great tool for students in every classroom and will most definitely be using it in the future as a teacher!
Blog Assignment 7
This was a very inspiring speech by Randy Pausch! This man is absolutely amazing, he is a great example of being a genuinely good person and putting others first. He was also very successful throughout his life and inspired many people with his words, which is a huge success in it‘s own. One of the greatest qualities Randy shows throughout the speech is how determined he is about achieving his goals.
Randy starts his speech out by talking about his childhood dreams, a list ranging from defining gravity and winning stuffed animals, to being an imaginer in Disney World. The most impressive thing that he does in my opinion is reaching every single one of his dreams as a child. One of the only childhood dreams that I can remember was to become a country music singer, and I am far from reaching that dream! Dr. Pausch shows true dedication to reaching goals, and every teacher should do so to where the kids in the classroom can be pushed to their full potential. In the video I like the story Dr. Paush tells explaining how he gives his students a project to do in two weeks, and when the two weeks is over he is so blown away by the students work, that he doesn’t know what do give them next. Randy then calls a friend to ask what he should do about his situation and he is told to say “This is good, but I know you all can do better,” and he is amazed by what his students come up with by the time the building virtual worlds class is over. I’m sure Dr. Pausch inspired his students in the classroom as well as he inspired all the people that has had the privilege to hear his speeches.
There are some many awesome things mentioned through out the speech including the “brick walls” quote, indicating that brick walls are only put up to see how badly we really want something. Randy was also a co founder in the computer program called “Alice” it was a novel way to teaching computer programming and suppose to be a fun way for students to learn how to make their own computer programs. Dr. Pausch say’s “It would be great to see millions of kids having fun while learning something hard.” This quote alone indicates that he was not only dedicated to his life goals, he was also dedicated to his students. I think all teachers should take the time to watch this speech, so they too can be inspired by Randy’s hard work.
Dr. Pausch was also a big family man. He mentioned more than once in the speech about how amazing his parents were to him and how he had a great childhood. During the speech he also brings his wife up upon the stage and gets over 500 people to sing happy birthday to her, which was a touching moment for the both of them. In the end he states that the speech was not for the people in the room or for anyone else in that matter, it was for his children. After watching this speech anyone could be able to tell that this man was not only hard working, but was also kind hearted and very optimistic. Dr. Randy Pausch sadly passes away after being diagnosed with cancer, but he will surly be remembered forever through the inspiring words of wisdom he has left behind.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Summary C4T #2
I was assigned to Kim Cofino, and her blog is called “Always Learning.” In Kim’s first post I commented on, Titled “Finding Inspiration” she explains how a guess speaker named Jane Goodall came to their school to tells stories about her life. Jane is a woman inspired by animals and has traveled the world to study them. In Kim’s post she states “Not only is she a natural storyteller, keeping the students captivated at the very end of the day in our stiflingly hot gym, but in every theme she discussed, there was a wonderfully simple and inspiring message.” Kim also mentions in the post that she likes to tell her student to choose a career field they love, because that will lead them to success. In my comment to Ms. Cofino I put “ I really enjoyed this post and I loved the fact that you inspire your students to study what they enjoy. When I first started college I picked a degree based on salary, not what I loved. Finally my parents got it through my head that money is not important, doing what you love is what is going to make you happy in life and now I’m pursuing my degree in education. I also like the fact that you want your students to take a risk in order to gain more learning opportunities.”
In her second post I commented on titled “Beginning with Blogging” she explains how she gets to start teaching her sixth grade class technology. Throughout her post she explains that she is excited to start this process of learning with them, but also doesn’t want to start out too fast, she states “It’s also important that I make the class approachable for the parents, teachers and students – starting too far out of the realm of understanding could bring some unwanted backlash early in the year.” She also goes through the stages she will have to experience with the students for their blogging to be a success. In my comment to Ms. Cofino I said, “I am excited for you to start teaching your kids how to use technology in the classroom! In my EDM310 class we are learning and preparing ourselves to do the same thing as future teachers. I like how you stated you want to start out slow so there is no early backlash. Starting out in EDM310 was quit over whelming, but now that I have the hang out if it’s very beneficial. I hope the best for you and your students!”
In her second post I commented on titled “Beginning with Blogging” she explains how she gets to start teaching her sixth grade class technology. Throughout her post she explains that she is excited to start this process of learning with them, but also doesn’t want to start out too fast, she states “It’s also important that I make the class approachable for the parents, teachers and students – starting too far out of the realm of understanding could bring some unwanted backlash early in the year.” She also goes through the stages she will have to experience with the students for their blogging to be a success. In my comment to Ms. Cofino I said, “I am excited for you to start teaching your kids how to use technology in the classroom! In my EDM310 class we are learning and preparing ourselves to do the same thing as future teachers. I like how you stated you want to start out slow so there is no early backlash. Starting out in EDM310 was quit over whelming, but now that I have the hang out if it’s very beneficial. I hope the best for you and your students!”
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Blog Assignment 6
The Networked Student
In the this video it explains the future of networked students in detail and how Connectivism can be used efficiently in schools. I liked the short clip because it was simple yet very educational and to the point. I agree that bringing networking into schools will be huge educational tool for the students in the long run, and also a great new learning experience for the them. Now if someone where to show me this video a few months ago I may have thought they were a little crazy for wanting to try this, but after staring my educational journey in EDM 310 class I have become more and more for technology in the school systems!
I believe when I become a teacher I will most definitely want to teach networking to my students and use a blog system in my classroom, but I also want to be in the classroom giving my students the guidance they need because I still think teacher and student connection is important. My reasoning for wanting to use Connectivism in schools is
because the internet has endless opportunities for students to seek the knowledge that one teacher alone cannot give them. It is stated in the video that a networked student can have access to the best professors in the world, which is amazing if you ask me. I think anything that can strengthen a students learning process can be nothing but positive for them in school.
I am thrilled to know that Ms. Wendy Drexler will be trying this with her middle school students this fall,. I’m sure it will be a challenge at first, but also a great experience for them! In the video it is mentioned that the students will attend school for three days and the other two days being online, I wonder if she will be using this method. Considering students will do whatever it takes to cut the amount of days they have to go to school I think the three days in class and two days online will work, but only if the students are responsible which could be a problem with students at a young age. Overall it is clear that my opinion on students using a networking system will be great, but we can only see wait and see what the outcome will be in time.
A 7th Grader’s Personal Learning Enviornment
I think this student’s PLE is a very great learning tool! Although in the video it shows the student doing all her work on the computer and her loving it, I would still like to have the teacher and student connection in the classroom. I understand that this may be how teachers educated in the future, but what if not every student is as enthused about blogging, networking, and sitting at a computer for long periods of time such as the girl in the video. I must say it will probably take a very responsible and driven seventh grader to be able to keep up a PLE as shown in this video. The students in EDM 310 pay large amounts of money to take this class and keep up their own PLN, and yet still seem to struggle with having the discipline to turn in their work on time. Could you imagine a whole school of teenagers having to do the same thing! Now granted if this system of teaching through networking is going to work out for everyone in the future or not, I still think it is a great way to further a students horizons in the education world.
The Machine is Changing Us
This video was great on helping me realize the changes made in certain generations. I can admit that I am defiantly a part of the “MTV generation,” mainly because of my short attention span. Through out the video Dr. Wesch points out several facts about how technology is not only changing in the world around us, but also changing the way people act in response to technology. One of the quotes I really liked in the video was “ We shape our tools, and after our tools shape us,” which is very true. An example Dr. Wesch explains in the video is youtube and how it can be used as a really good tool for learning, but people also use it for a variety of things ranging from homemade videos of children, to people sharing their personal feelings to the world. When I was younger and I had a problem with something I vented it to my friends or family, in today’s time it seems like a large population of kids are posting youtube videos about their personal lives. I could never imagine making a video about my life problems and posting it online for the world to see, and I don’t know the answer to why people would. I grew up in the 90’s and so many things have changed since then. In the future when I become a teacher I will use technology in the classroom for the students benefit and I will also realize the students came from a different generation, so I can understand where they are coming from.
In the this video it explains the future of networked students in detail and how Connectivism can be used efficiently in schools. I liked the short clip because it was simple yet very educational and to the point. I agree that bringing networking into schools will be huge educational tool for the students in the long run, and also a great new learning experience for the them. Now if someone where to show me this video a few months ago I may have thought they were a little crazy for wanting to try this, but after staring my educational journey in EDM 310 class I have become more and more for technology in the school systems!
I believe when I become a teacher I will most definitely want to teach networking to my students and use a blog system in my classroom, but I also want to be in the classroom giving my students the guidance they need because I still think teacher and student connection is important. My reasoning for wanting to use Connectivism in schools is
because the internet has endless opportunities for students to seek the knowledge that one teacher alone cannot give them. It is stated in the video that a networked student can have access to the best professors in the world, which is amazing if you ask me. I think anything that can strengthen a students learning process can be nothing but positive for them in school.
I am thrilled to know that Ms. Wendy Drexler will be trying this with her middle school students this fall,. I’m sure it will be a challenge at first, but also a great experience for them! In the video it is mentioned that the students will attend school for three days and the other two days being online, I wonder if she will be using this method. Considering students will do whatever it takes to cut the amount of days they have to go to school I think the three days in class and two days online will work, but only if the students are responsible which could be a problem with students at a young age. Overall it is clear that my opinion on students using a networking system will be great, but we can only see wait and see what the outcome will be in time.
A 7th Grader’s Personal Learning Enviornment
I think this student’s PLE is a very great learning tool! Although in the video it shows the student doing all her work on the computer and her loving it, I would still like to have the teacher and student connection in the classroom. I understand that this may be how teachers educated in the future, but what if not every student is as enthused about blogging, networking, and sitting at a computer for long periods of time such as the girl in the video. I must say it will probably take a very responsible and driven seventh grader to be able to keep up a PLE as shown in this video. The students in EDM 310 pay large amounts of money to take this class and keep up their own PLN, and yet still seem to struggle with having the discipline to turn in their work on time. Could you imagine a whole school of teenagers having to do the same thing! Now granted if this system of teaching through networking is going to work out for everyone in the future or not, I still think it is a great way to further a students horizons in the education world.
The Machine is Changing Us
This video was great on helping me realize the changes made in certain generations. I can admit that I am defiantly a part of the “MTV generation,” mainly because of my short attention span. Through out the video Dr. Wesch points out several facts about how technology is not only changing in the world around us, but also changing the way people act in response to technology. One of the quotes I really liked in the video was “ We shape our tools, and after our tools shape us,” which is very true. An example Dr. Wesch explains in the video is youtube and how it can be used as a really good tool for learning, but people also use it for a variety of things ranging from homemade videos of children, to people sharing their personal feelings to the world. When I was younger and I had a problem with something I vented it to my friends or family, in today’s time it seems like a large population of kids are posting youtube videos about their personal lives. I could never imagine making a video about my life problems and posting it online for the world to see, and I don’t know the answer to why people would. I grew up in the 90’s and so many things have changed since then. In the future when I become a teacher I will use technology in the classroom for the students benefit and I will also realize the students came from a different generation, so I can understand where they are coming from.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Summary C4K 1&2
The first blog I commented on was a student’s named Adriannav. She wrote a very good manifesto promising to do many things to improve her experience in the classroom. My comment to Adriannav was that I though all of her promises are great steps to better her education in the classroom, especially the one stating “I promise to show I want to learn.” It is important that we, as students, show dedication to learning and cherish the knowledge we gain from the classroom.
Since Adriannav didn’t get to write her About Me yet I commented on another student’s blog named Colby. His About Me was quite interesting. Some of his hobbies included science labs, fishing, camping, and of course video games. His strengths in school are reading and his weakness is math. Colby’s parents have very high hopes for him and wish for him to become a doctor, but he wishes to succeed in life and to become an actor one day. I commented to Colby telling him I too enjoy fishing and my dad is a charter boat captain, so I get to go quite often. After reading a statement in his About Me saying he has no big goals in life, I said to him it is very interesting that he wants to enter the entertainment field and I’d say that’s a huge goal in itself. The last thing I mentioned to him was that majority of parents hope their kids will grow up and become a doctor of some sort, but my advise to Colby was to do what makes him happy because that is what will lead him to success!
Since Adriannav didn’t get to write her About Me yet I commented on another student’s blog named Colby. His About Me was quite interesting. Some of his hobbies included science labs, fishing, camping, and of course video games. His strengths in school are reading and his weakness is math. Colby’s parents have very high hopes for him and wish for him to become a doctor, but he wishes to succeed in life and to become an actor one day. I commented to Colby telling him I too enjoy fishing and my dad is a charter boat captain, so I get to go quite often. After reading a statement in his About Me saying he has no big goals in life, I said to him it is very interesting that he wants to enter the entertainment field and I’d say that’s a huge goal in itself. The last thing I mentioned to him was that majority of parents hope their kids will grow up and become a doctor of some sort, but my advise to Colby was to do what makes him happy because that is what will lead him to success!
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