Final Reflection Post

Final Report on PLN

Using Symbaloo as my Personal Learning Network, or PLN, has been a very neat way to see all of my Internet resources right in the same place. It is a great way to keep me organized (through labeling with colors) and also saves time so that I can easily go from one site to another with a click of a button.

My networks have ranged from personal to educational (and sometimes both). Personal, such as facebook allowed me to connect with my EDM classmates to discuss class projects and activities to help each other clear up any confusion. Educational tools included Google and Wikipedia and even new sites such as Wolfram Alpha. This semester, these sites helped me with research for ideas in this class and even in my other classes.  Other sites such as YouTube were used for both educational and personal enjoyment. I was actually a bit surprised to see how many educational videos were up on YouTube. I knew that the amount of videos online were statistically outrageous but I guess I never wrapped my mind about all of the different categories of videos uploaded every seconds.

Symbaloo has definitely been a great tool to keep me focused. I have learned so much by using a PLN. I will for sure keep using it through out my college career and into my professional career where I will be able to share this resource with many other people.

C4K November and December Summary Post

In the month of November, my first post was on an Australian class blog. My assigned post was for their teacher's birthday. There was a video sent from an American friend to wish her a happy birthday through song. Her students made her a "blogging" birthday card. It was a great way for her students to see the benefits of using technology and I could tell through the pictures that she really enjoyed her day.

My next post was for Safa in Ms. Gaudet's class. Safa posted a short story titled "Love Between War." His stor was based in the middle east and about a child who was separated from his parents in a bombing attack and years later reunited. Safa did an excellent job writing the story. He used many descriptive words and  it was generally gramatically correct. I was very impressed with his ability to relate to what is going on in the world today.

My next student was Marigrace in Mrs. Melito's class. Marigrace's post had three parts to it. In the first part, she described how to find the degree of a polynomial. The next, she wrote about her favorite way to multiply polynomials. In the last part, she wrote about the three things she is most thankful for. She did a great job describing the mathematics portions. Math can be a difficult concept to grasp and even more difficult to explain to someone else.

The fourth student was on our Special C4K student, Yasmine. In my assigned post, Yasminesummarized a book that she had checked out from the library. She did a great job hitting all of the main points without going into too much detail. She is a very talented young writer and I could see her going far in  a writing profession someday.

My last student was Amy in Mrs. Huebner's class. Amy wrote her post on what she had learned about Christopher Columbus. She gave us the explanantion of how Native American came to be known as "Indians."  Amy was very excited to tell about what she had learned because it was from a relative in the line of Christopher Columbus. It's great to see kids this excited about learning history when they are able to see how it applies today.

Project 16

Teach Someone Something Project

Smart Board Project

Skype Interview #2

I had trouble uploading my first Skype interview to YouTube. This is the one that works.

Additional Assignment #5

Tom Johnson's Adventure in Pencil Integration

Tom Johnson's blog is full of stories with metaphors in each. They all bring a great point and the metaphors help the reader to stretch their imagination and truly think about the message that the writer is trying to convey. He has a great attitude towards his students where he creates an awesome learning environment. From his stories, I can really tell that that he takes the time to get to know his students and values their thoughts for what they're worth.

Blog Post #13

Review of Alabama Learning Exchange

The Alabma Learning Exchange, or ALEX, is a very useful site with tools for all educators. Not only does it provides lesson plan ideas for all subjects and any grade, K-12; but it also has a place for teachers to strengthen their own professional learning skills. Under the professional learning link, an educator is able to review presentations about training opportunities and even learn about grants available to teachers to use in the classroom.

The training opportunities include information on Leadership and Evalution, English Language Learners, Distance Learning and much more! The great thing about the ALEX site is that it all about the use of technology. Teachers have their own account on the site so that they can fully utilize all that it has to offer. The site even offers information on technology tools including Google tools, Multimedia Applications and Internet/Email Applications just to name a few.

Being that the site is so technologically inclined, there is even a place for teachers to review educational podcast. Here, an educator may find a podcast for any subject ranging from art to mathematics. A podcast is a new innovation that I believe is changing the way children learn. Students are now able to hear first hand information from the professionals who are gathering the information to share with others.

When I begin to teach, I will keep this site in mind. It is a wonderful tool that can only help make the teacher's job easier.  The best part of this site is that it is free. It does not cost the educator anything to get the information in order to better their classroom experience. I can only think to describe this site as classroom innovation at it's finest!

Project #15 Short Movie Trailer

This is a short movie trailer of four books created and produced by myself and Kiara Blackmon.

Please enjoy a preview of:

The Golden Goose
The Three Little Pigs
The Clown Arounds Go On Vacation
Mole Hole Holiday

Final Project Progress Report

My partner and I have been meeting on Skype. We are planning on doing a project with Evernote. This is something that we were not able to cover in our class but we still thought it was a very interesting and useful tool. We want to create a video on how to use it and reep it's best benefits. This is also a tool that we can share with our students beyond college.

Survey Summary

My Topic:
As an active member of the Greek community on our campus, I decided to create a survey about other's students involvement and relations to Greek students. I wanted to see, of the people I was assigned to survey, who else is also members of Greek organizations or have been involved with Greek events.

The Results:
Of the seventeen people to respond, only two are active members in an organization and three people (not including the two actives) had ever considered joining a sorority or fraternity. Eight out of the seventeen had friends that were involved with Greek life and  the other nine did not. Ten of the people felt that there was certain stereotype of students in Greek organizations.  When asked on a scale of 1-5 (one being poor and five being great) what the Greek's over all contribution of morale on our campus was, the average was 2.7. When asked what events Greeks are most often seen attending, the most common answers were class and campus sporting events. They were then asked what Greek sponsored events that they had attended and the majority had never attended a Greek event. However, the two active members had atteded all the events listed.

My Response:
These replys to my survey were not very surprising. I had expected that not many  of those who I had surveyed would be involded in Greek life because less than 10% of all students enrolled on campus are Greek. I also had expected that most students would be freinds with or had know someone who is Greek, which I was correct because almost half replied that they did. The general about Greek's on our campus was a 2.7. Not great but at least half feel that we are doing something good for the school. Not many students had ever been apart of a Greek philanthropy event either. I feel that is something that the Greek community could work on. Perhaps advertising more to the independent organization to become involved so that there is better student involvement campus-wide.

Blog Post #12

Watch the following video entititled "Education Today and Tomorrow." Write your response to the video in your own blog. Address whether you think if the 21st century learners of today's school system will be ready for the steadily increasing technology of today's society. Use examples from the video to back up your reasoning where they apply.






My Response


This video begins with a picture of a classroom from the mid-20th century. It now just the dawn of the 21st century and I found it interesting how the our classroom's today still look very similar. While we do have "computer labs" in schools I just do not think that having one room full of technology is enough for a school of children to learn. I believe that every classroom today should mimic that of our so called, "computer labs." Technology is truly changing not only the way we process information and communicate but also along with that, how we learn. In order for our students to be successful we need to cater to their needs. More local school funding should be placed on the tools to make this a success. After alll, children are the future to not only our country but to the entire world. Like the video showed, we are no longer preparing them for factory labor but instead how to utilize today's technology to the best benefit.

C4T Summary Post #3

In the past few weeks I have been reading and commenting on blogs by Paige Baggett. She is an assistant professor at the University of South Alabama. Much of her post were about art and the use of education. For example, in one of the first that I commented on she wrote about mistakes. She said that mistakes can't be erased and like a piece of artwork, you just have to work with them. I thought that this was a great philosophy to instill in young children that I will be teaching someday. It is okay that mistakes happen sometimes, after all, that is usually where we learn our best lessons.

In her next post she also talked about art, but this time she highlighted a piece of installation artwork; which is where the viewer (or person experiencing it) is actually apart of the art. This piece was actually comparing a historical event to today's society. She created a video of pictures that she took and placed them with post so that the reader could better understand what she was describing. It was a very informative way to use her blog to tell other people about what she had seen.

Blog Assignment #11

Ms. Cassidy's Technological Approaches to Learning

In Ms. Cassidy's video, she shared ideas that uses to implement technology into learning with her first graders. Some examples included a class webpage with links for the children to use while learning at home. Like our class, she also has the children set up on blogs where they can improve their writing skills and receive comments from friends and other people. In addition she also has them set up on Skype so that they can talk to and share ideas with people who are not close by. For example, the video showed that they had an interview with a geologist who lived in a different state. But, the most creative use of technology, in my opinion, was the Nintendo DS.  The children had an opportunity to use if to better their problem solving skills. This was the first time in this course that I had ever seen or thought of using a game system for learning. I would love to have DS systems in my classroom someday. I believe that it is not only an interactive but also fun way for the children to learn. This is just the type of technology to get kids excited. However, the only problem that I see with using the DS is that they are expensive to purchase. With poor school funding from the state, each classroom would probably not be able to furnish one for each child. So, an approach to that would be to also teach the children the value of sharing. Each day, I could rotate the children in groups so that  each child is able to use the game system at least once or twice a week. Technology is a great thing to be excited about in education. I believe that no child should be left out and there always solutions to little glitches.

Additional Assignment #3

Changing Paradigms by Sir Ken Robison

One of the most important things that I believe that he had to say was one of the first, which he based all of his other arguments off of. That is, we are still using the same educational system from over 100 years ago. The times have completely changed in ways that now EVERY person is entitled to an education and the economies for which we are preparing students has also changed. When the educational system first developed, students were prepared for an industrious economy. They were also prepared in a way that guaranteed that some students would be more successful than other, which also has not changed. Robison went onto mention students with ADD and ADHD. These perhaps were the students back then they may not have succeeded but in today's society where we want everyone to succeed, these children are being medically treated. ADD students are being "calmed down" with powerful drugs that do not allow them to creatively express themselves.

As you can tell, his lecture really made me think about education today and I do not believe that there was anything that I had to disagree with what Sir Robison said. Since I have only recently changed my major into the College of Education at South Alabama, I am not sure where there is agreement and disagreement within our own program. However, I do know that today's teachers, as a whole, are not being prepared for very much change within the system (aside from EDM 310, of course). Personally, I believe that students are entitled to the same opportunity as any other child. Some children do learn in different ways are different paces than others so I believe that classes such as PACE in elementary education are great. Although, I believe that it is just not enough.

I believe that every educator can do something to address the positions that he raises. It may not be much individually,  but as a whole I  think it could do a ssplendor of good. Teacher today could be more conscious to what they are really preparing their students for. Again, it is not the same industrial economy. Today, it is a fast-paced society where information and lines of communication only takes split-seconds. Having more classes based around the ideas of ours (EDM 310) could allow for students to learn how to not only communicate effectively but also learn at their own pace.

In a project like this, I feel that I could attribute by gathering information as an author. I love to find out new information and then interpret it for what it's really worth.

C4K October Summary Post

The first blog post that I commented on was by a young lady named, Chloe. She wrote her post based off of  the movie, Cars. She talked about the true friendships in the movie and how she can apply them to her own life. In her summary, she said that a true friend to her  is: "trustworthy, cheers you on, kind, caring and always there for you." I thought that these were some great values of friendship to see at such a young age. Overall, the content of her post was great except for a few gramatical errors.

The next student wrote about her reaction to romantic themes. She did a great job of telling everyone specifically how it made her feel. She mentioned that it could give her many emotions from being very excited to being very sad. The student even mentioned how these same emotions can be played out in t.v. advertisements. She says that it is all about how the writer or producer wants to make you feel. Again, I thought that this was another excellent student post.

The third week, my student was from a middle school in Iowa. Her post was a poem that she had written. She didn't metion particularly but I had guessed that it was a haiku.  I beleive that the point she was trying to make was to be your ownself and lively freely. Lexi R did a great job and seemed very mature beyond her expected age.

This week, my C4K was on Mr. McClung's class blog. He showed an assignment that he had given his students using Google SketchUp. This was another amazing tool produced by Google that allowed the students to create their own country. I absolutely amazed at the technological offerings that students have today. When I was younger, just about the most advanced tools that we had to express ourselves with were still crayons and paper. What a great distance education has come just in the last 10-15 years! 

Blog Assignment #10

An Open Letter to Educators by Morgan Bayda

As a whole, I will have to say that I agree with the thoughts of both Morgan Bayda and Dan Brown. I have the same experience that I enter a classroom with at least 50 other people where the professor makes no attempt to get to know the class and his teaching styles are power point lectures full of FACTS. These facts have little to do with what I am trying to accomplish in becoming a teacher. While it is true that an elementary teacher will need a broad knowledge of basic concepts in many areas like science, math and history. But knowing every little detail of the Cold War for a final exam is not going to make me a better teacher. If the time comes that I ever need to go over Cold War facts for my students, I can just as easily look them up on Google then, as I can now. Like Dan Brown said, this is the "information age" and the information in today's text books  are the same information being offered online. So it seems to me that something does need to change in the institutional education. We need to be more focused on preparing people for job specific careers and while doing so cut down on the high and wasted cost of today's higher education.

Two Questions That Can Change Your Life

I believe that motivation is something that is instilled in all college students. Like mentioned in the movie, motivation is what gives us the drive to become who we want  to be. At night, I am not sure that I have ever given thought to whether I was better today than I was yesterday. However, making a conscious effort to be a better person tomorrow than I was today is not a bad a idea. Sure, everybody has their moments or days when nothing seems to go right but that shouldn't stop us from our drive to get things accomplished. I am starting to see that as a challenge to strengthen our own various skills, be it whatever we are working at. So, what is my sentence?  I am a college junior working to become a well-rounded student given my current circumstances of various learning techniques so that when I graduate I can inspire others to succeed.

Skype Interview

Blog Assingmnet #9

What I've Learned This Year by Mr. McClung

I thought that this was a great post for any teacher or teacher-to-be to read. Not only does Mr. McClung provide great insight to what your first year of teaching is really like but he also explains it in seven simple points.

His first point is "How to Read the Crowd." Here, he explains that you must teach for your audience not anyone else. Meaning that students may never grasp the material if it is not on their level or "wave of thinking." He stresses that you may want to impress your superiors with fancy lesson plans but in the end teaching is not about you, it is about the children.

His next point is "Be Flexible." Mr. McClung wants to remind everyone that things don't always go as planned. He says that "the lesson you teach and the lesson you plan are always different." Nothing is ever going to be perfect so when something goes wrong he says that you just have to keep a smile on your face and work with it.

Communication is another valuable tool to remember in your first year of teaching. He stresses that not only to you need to communicate well with students but also build a good rapport with other teachers.  Communication always makes things go smoother.

Mr. McClung also says to be reasonable. As teachers we will always expect nothing less than the best from children. But, fact of the matter is that children are just children. Being reasonable means that it is okay to set high goals for our kids but if they don't achieve them we must still be able to "pick them back up and dust them off." Otherwise, we will just set them up for disappointment.

Another valuable trait to have in the first year is the ability to embrace technology. He says that adults everywhere are afraid of computers because they cannot know everything that there is to know about them at once.  He says that learning about technology is a process. You just have to jump in and get on board, and then you will see how beneficial technology really can be.

A teacher must also be able to listen to her students. Having a true student-teacher relationship means knowing a little bit of background on each student. This can be beneficial in education because then the teacher knows how to approach her students in ways that they can understand.

Finally, his last point is the "never stop learning." His point is that we will be working in a learning environment so we must continue to learn ourselves. Though, the material may not change but the approaches to teaching the material can.

After reflecting on his post I found great tips that I will truly keep in mind as I grow into my professional career. I believe that his self-evaluation is something that every teacher should do at the end of the school year. It provides great insight upon what you are doing that is working great and what can be improved upon.

Blog Assignment #8

This Is How We Dream by Richard Miller

This video series was very inspiring on how to use technology to get your thoughts out to other people. In Part 1, I consider his "incremental" changes to be very simplistic. It gave you very easy ideas on how to form videos and documents that you can share. Part 2 goes over very in-depth ideas that will be seen in the future. I had never heard of or seen anything like what he was showing.

Although the ideas in Part 1 were very simple, I did not find them any less important than those in Part 2. I feel that students, particularly younger students, would be more capable of learning from the ideas in Part 1. It gave great ideas on how to compile information and organize it so that it is neat and to the point.  In the beginning of the video Mr. Miller talks about how writing use to be a very solitary activity.  I feel that these ideas can make it fun for students to compile their thoughts on what they know or think about a topic. I believe that this is the same idea as writing an essay, it is just done in a more interactive method.

The ideas expressed in Part 2 were a bit more complex but generally had the same points.  Part 2 talked a little bit more about how to actually get your thoughts heard on the Internet, and essentially all across the world.  He mentioned that if you are going to take the time to compile your thoughts then you should also take the effort to make it presentable with facts and pictures. People will be more likely to want to read it if you at least look like you know what you're talking about.

So in conclusion, I find that students could, in fact, be capable of  writing with multi-media. However, like any discipline I think that somethings will need to be taken on step-by-step basis. Especially since much of this technology is so new, children will need to have time to grow and learn with it.



Chipper Series and EDM 310 For Dummies

I thought that the both of these movies were not only very entertaining but also, very purpose driven. They both demonstrated ways to be successful in EDM 310. The Chipper Series demonstrated the importance of not procrastinating while EDM 310 for Dummies showed why it is best to ask questions when your confused. My idea for an additional video would involve something that shows the basic importance of this class and how it can affect a students academic and professional future. This could be very basic, as in, an interview of multiple students are even as complex as doing a commercial similar to EDM 310 for Dummies. The commercial could then be an advertisement on why people should take this class in order to learn about new technologies.



Critiques of Smartboards

Michael Staton, Why Smartboards are a Dumb Initiative
In this blog, Mr. Staton makes a couple of valid points that I can agree with. His main point is that it doesn't change the way that children are learning. It is essentially the same thing that they are doing now, just with more expensive tools. The children will begin to want to participate in class, but only  to be able to "play" with the board. He validates this point by stating that with the purchase of 30 Smartboards, test scores went up on 1%.

Bill Ferriter, Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards
Mr. Ferriter is also making the same arguement, Smartborads are a waste of money. In the mainpoint, he states that while they are a neat tool, they are practically useless. For the most part, they didn't make teaching the cirriculum any better or make it any easier for the children to learn it. My own conclusions about Smartboards are that since they are not accomplishing anything more than what students are already doing, why waste the money? Some may say that they get children more involved with the learning process, but children were already involved; just in different ways.

Sylvia Tolisano, Math Lessons? Empower Learners?
http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/04/19/math-lesson-empower-learners/
In this blog, Sylvia Tolisano is giving an example of how a Smartboard was used in her classroom in conjunction with a math lesson.  She split the class into groups and had each group look through Smartboard lessons to find a slide that they could explain. Once they found the slide, they had to narrate outloud to the rest of the class on what to do. I thought that this was interesting for a couple of reasons. One, the children are taking on a "teacher" role in that they are taking something that they learned and explaining it to the rest of the class. Two, they are able to learn from each other. As one group is figuring our their own math problem, the rest of the children are listening and learing as well. This seemed to be a successful way to use the Smartboard in the classroom setting.

Project #11 Short Movie

Time Toast Project 9b

Additional Assignment #2

Answer these questions in your post. Identify any other issues that you think are important or useful to discuss.

1. What do you think? If learners are motivated, can they teach themselves?
Absolutely, without doubt anybody could learn to do anything if it is their will. Not only was this proven with the children in India and the computer they were given but even in normal day-to-day life. Personal example would be that I do not know how to cook until I read a recipe. Once I follow that recipe multiple times I begin to not rely on it as much until I do not need it anymore. Therefore, I have taught myself how to make that dish.

2. If those motivated learners are kids, can they teach themselves?
A motivated learner can be anyone. Like I said before, the children in the rural areas of the world were given a computer with no instructions and no adult help.  Yet, they were able to figure out how to play games and how to record themselves in just a matter of days. So, absolutely children are able to learn on their own. 


3. What conditions are necessary for kids to teach themselves? For anyone to teach him or herself?
I believe that the only true condition is that the person must be motivated and have a will to learn.  However, the advancement of technology is also a positive aspect. Technology is not necessarily a must for children to teach themselves but I believe that it definitely help.  Computers offer many advantages ranging from arithmetic games like shown in the video to search engines.  With Internet search engines, students can read and learn about anything that they have an interest in.


4. What role do computers and internet access play in the process?
Like I mentioned in the previous question, computers offer tools for learning that cannot be offered by any given teacher.  The Google searches done by the kids in the video prove this. The students were given a term in different language of their own and yet they were able to figure out what it was that he was asking for.


5. What role does motivation, a desire to learn?
I believe that motivation is the most important part to this equation. If the students are not motivated then they will not want to learn.  Furthermore, the students must stay motivated to keep their interest alive in order to keep learning.


6. What roles do a problem, a question or multiple problems or questions play in the process?
It seems to me that problems and questions would be a great thing in the process. Problems would encourage the children to learn even more to solve it. In any given learning environment,  you must ask questions in order to learn. If you don't ask questions then you will not be able to further your knowledge on any given topic.


7. How do you motivate someone to learn?
You have to be excited about something yourself. If you do not show general interest then why would anybody else?  No one is going to want to listen to you if you're boring or have a negative attitude. Not only be excited, but you must also have something to show. Whether it be dated PC's like the ones in the video or just pictures from your last family vacation. People tend to have more interest in things that they can visualize. 


8. How are you motivated to learn? 
As an adult, I stay motivated to learn for many reasons. My motivation to learn in college are based upon many reasons. Firstly, because I know that chances are I will not get very far into a career without a college education. Secondly, because I do not want to waste money. If I stay on top of my classes and do not get behind then I do not have to worry about finding the money to retake them. In my personal life, I stay motivated to learn about current events around the globe in order to be a more well rounded person.


9. Can anyone who is not motivated to learn, learn?
After pondering this question for a few minutes, my answer is no. In school, students may not want to learn all of their subjects but there is some sort of motivation. This motivation could come from parents, teachers, guidance counselors and even friends. Any of these people could encourage the students which is what may give them their motivation. 


10. Do you teach yourself? When? Why?
I feel like I have been teaching myself in EDM 310 this entire semester. While I do have help should I ever need it, I have still been successfully completing  my assignments. But it has been a good experience. Why would I need to sit behind a desk for at least 3 hours a week when I am completely capable of teaching  myself?


11. What role does a teacher (either answer generally or use a specific example) play in your learning?
I feel that Dr. Strange and his staff have been excellent for going to with general questions. However, I have yet to need to ask them exactly step by step on how to complete an assignment. In EDM310 I feel that the teaching staff are, more or less, class moderators. 

12. What is the most important idea, question or emotional response you take away with you as a result of watching this video?
The most important idea would be that children truly are capable of teaching themselves and do, really, just about anything that adults can do with technology. They just need the right tools and a little bit of encouragement.


13. What other questions or issues are raised by this video that should be considered and discussed by aspiring teachers.
I feel that aspiring teachers should look into giving children more time for doing group learning and less time standing at the black board. In group learning, students are able to get into the subject for themselves rather than just hearing about it from the teacher.

PLN Progress Report

Before beginning this course I had never realized how many amazing things that Google had to offer. Not only is Google an awesome search engine with numbers of was to search, such as, a regular Google search and Google squared. But it is also a great way for keeping e-mails organized with Gmail, storing and sharing documents with Google docs and I also can keep my dates organized with the calendar. Particularly with the calendar, I feel that I am more organized. I can organize the calendar with colors to distinguish between classes and social events. Google is truly a great tool that I will continue to use far beyond our class.

Blog Post #7

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture


In this lecture, by Randy Pausch, he gives a very important lesson that you probably wouldn't find in a class room.  His lecture is about having dreams and the creative ways to achieve them. He comments that we all have dreams and then goes on to talk about his own childhood dreams. His point was that we must push ourselves to achieve them rather than putting them off.

After going into detail about the extraordinary ways that he achieved his own childhood dreams, Randy turns the discussion into a new direction. He began to have a new dream. He wanted to find ways that he could encourage people to achieve their dreams. So, to achieve this, he becomes a college professor. While he is teaching, he finds that, perhaps, students were not being taught in the correct way.

He wanted his students to be as excited as he was about achieving dreams. Maybe it was that students were not taking away the right message from the classroom.  Randy began to focus on "life lessons" rather than classroom-type material. He began to implement technology in replace of books and group-study instead of paper and pen homework.  This advanced method of learning allowed the students to achieve things that Randy never would have thought of.

What I take away from this lecture is to not be afraid and to go for what you believe in. Not only was Randy able to do this himself, but he also left this impression on his students and his inspiring words for viewers and listeners across the globe.  I now know that dreams really can come true. From now on, I will make a conscious effort to go for what I believe and to never back down.

Time Toast Project 9a

C4T #2 Summary Post

Over the past couple of weeks I had been assigned to Mr. Brian Crosby who has done an excellent job in keeping his post and comments update. The first week I read and commented on his reply to NBC's article, "Make Way for Awe." NBC argues about styles of teaching to get children involved in the class. However, in Mr. Crosby's blog post, he replies by implying that the writer of this article probably has little to no experience in education. He then goes onto say that the people that are being heard in education reform also possess no experience within the classroom but are the loudest to be heard because they either have fame, fortune, or involvement with politics. His main point is that the children who are reaping the benefits of this reform are not the ones who truly need it but rather the ones who just happened to be placed in the best schools which are usually in the best neighborhood. His final stance is that ALL children be given the same opportunities in order to have the chance in life down the road. My reply to this is that I completely agreed with what Mr. Crosby had to say. My hope is that my students will have an equal opportunity to be a well-rounded individual. After all, these children are the future, so why would we wan to leave any of them out?


On a completely different note, his next blog post that I commented on was pertaining to interesting ways to make a lesson plan fun. He took the topic of Thanksgiving. In order to learn what Thanksgiving was REALLY like he had his students research the foods that were using at the original Thanksgiving feast. Once they came up with this menu, they had the chance to experience it for themselves. Most of these foods, the kids had never even heard of or thought of as traditional a Thanksgiving meal. It was quite an experience for the students who probably will not quickly forget. I loved this type of project for the kids to engage. Not only are they really involved but it is fun. So, with the combination of involvement in learning and having a good time, a teacher just cannot go wrong!

September C4K Summary Post

The first C4K was an about me post by fidele. He wrote that he wasn't very good in math, so, I gave him some tips that helped me get through my math classes. I told him that math is not a spectators sport and you have to "get into the game." In order to be good with math, like any other sport, you must first practice. To make math fun, I told him to treat each problem like it were a puzzle. Don't think of it as homework.

The next week, the kid's post were on their learning manifesto. They put on their blogs promises that they make to help them have better success during the school. My student promised to go to bed on time and asked questions when he didn't understand something. It stuck out to me that they promised to ask questions. I told him  that this was a great promise to make because the only way you really learn is to truly understand and to truly understand, you must ask questions.

Blog #6

The Networked Student


The video, The Networked Student, described what the author saw as a student of the future. The student of the future is very similar to EDM 310. They said that students will begin to learn through connectivism, that is, learning through socializing and sharing information on the web through sites and sharing ideas through blogs. It would be the students own Personal Learning Network, or PLN.

After a student does research on any given subject they would post theirs ideas and thoughts of what they had found in their own blog. A teacher would no longer be needed to go over the material in a class room like setting. The teacher would now be a useful source of how to build and maintain networks for learning. Therefore, after the class is completed, the student could continue to network in order to broaden their knowledge.

While all of this sounds great in theory, I just don't believe that students today are willing to take on the responsibility for their own learning. I believe that students need test, at least early in education, to hold themselves accountable for what they learn. Furthermore, test are also a tool for parents to be able to see how their child is doing in class. I also can't help but to think about how special education children would handle this. Special education requires that children receive more attention and guidance in class. These children, particularly, may not be able to learn on their own.



7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment


I believe that the personal learning environment, or PLE, shown in this video is a great organizational tool.  I believe that when students are organized, they are more likely to succeed in what they are doing. The PLE is not only a great way for students to be organized but it's also fun for them. Once again, I find her PLE is much like our EDM 310 PLN.

The student in the video mentioned that the PLE gave her more freedom in her own education. I think it's great that she is excited about using this technology for benefiting her education but I just do not feasibly see all students as excited as she. What is going to happen when this new technology becomes old and students become bored? I feel that the education system will then have a large problem on their hands because students will have all of this freedom to do their own learning but not taking the on the initiative and responsibility. The education system will then have an even larger problem than it does now.



The Machine is Changing Us


Dr. Wesch brought about many points about how today's society is changed through technology, that is, the use of  networking and broadcasting sites. His main points were based upon that today's younger generation have been raised to be narcissistic.

Personally, I had a hard time relating to this video. While it is true that my generation probably is more self-centered than any previous generations, I do not feel that I fit into his description. Much of the video talked about the use of YouTube and people's need of recognition. Before this class (and aside from facebook) I had never really put out some of my deepest thoughts on the Internet. But, I do agree with Dr. Wesch in that people create post to feel that they are being heard, creating a deeper level of awareness.

Dr. Wesch stated that 99.9% of YouTube videos are completely irrelevant to any given person.  This statistic speaks out a couple of things to me. First of all, that people waste entirely too much time being bored on the Internet. Secondly, people are nosey. Viewers know that they can easily access nearly anything they want to know on the Internet. So, people use this to get into business of other people's lives because they are probably bored with their own. In addition, like Dr. Wesch stated in the video, people use sites such as YouTube as "deep communities... revealing things about themselves that they wouldn't normally reveal to close family and friends."

Blog Assigmnet #5

Eagle Nest Radio & Class Blog

I enjoyed listening to this class podcast. Before hearing it, my ideas on how to do a podcast were pretty vague. I loved that they put music to the whole thing. That definitely made it more interesting and easier to listen to. For instance, if they were talking about a battle scene at a Roman coliseum the music would become intensely dramatic so that you could easily picture in your mind two men about to fight.  Next, the topic changed to talking about Cleopatra's life and with the change in subject, the music also changed. The music became softer so that the listener could further distinguish this change. The music made the podcast much more interesting and easier to follow. I look forward to using music in my own podcast to come.


The Benefits of Podcasting in the Classroom

This video brought about many good points of not only how podcast can be used in a learning environment but also why.  A very essential point that the video makes in the beginning is that students today are apart of the Millennial generation. This generation has been raised to use the advanced technologies in their everyday life. So, it would only make sense to put those to use in the classroom. Podcast can be used to enhance their learning experiences for many reasons. For example, if a student has been sick for an extended period of time, the teacher could assign them podcast to listen to and watch from home so that they are not getting behind on their work. Secondly, the information given in podcast is very relevant and it is easy to find podcast that are credible. iTunesU has many free podcast that come from university professors all over the world. But not only are podcast available to listen to, students can also make their own podcast as a group learning project. This is a fun idea for students because it gets them involved with the technologies that they are already using today. Furthermore, podcast can be kept up with on a class blog, such as our own. This allows for students to keep up with their school work from home, comment on the blogs which could lead to an online class discussion, and even a way for parents to check in on how the class is going. Therefore, podcast are extremely beneficial to the classroom. They offer nothing but benefits!



100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better

Before looking over this article, I had never realized how many things my iPod can be used for outside of listening to music.  You can also download novels to the iPod if you were assigned to read one for a class. But not only just novels are available, but also Bibles for seminary students, you can listen to tutorials on how to speak different languages and even take an iJourney. I thought that the iJourney was pretty neat because you can listen to tours of different cities all over the world.

iPods are also great for putting study information on so that you conveniently have it with you anywhere you go without hauling around bulky books and notebooks. On your iPod, you can get Sparknotes, an SAT vocabulary builder and even a Kaplan SAT prep guide. After reading the article, I was surprised to find out how much you studying can be done with an iPod.

The downloads are great but the applications are even more immense. There is an application for just about anything that you would want to do with your iPod. From playing games and reading jokes to fixing a cocktail or surfing the web. It is true that the iPod is a powerful tool that you really can do just about anything with.

Blog Assignment #4

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

This post was written by Dr. Scott McLeod who is an associate professor of educational administration at Iowa State University and also a co-creator of the Did You Know? video.

My point of view from this article is that he is being witty and sarcastic but at the same time making good points that there are harmful things on the Internet for children. However, I believe that it is completely acceptable for children to surf the web. Yes, there are sites that children should stay away from but there are also so many more benefits to outweigh the negatives. I have been using the Internet since I was in grade school, myself. Nothing bad or harmful ever happened to me or my friends so I believe that becoming technologically literate at a young age is for the best. Like, Dr. McLeod said that the end, "can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two."


The iSchool Initiative

The iSchool initiative is this idea to take the technology that we already have from the iTouch and use it to for just about anything used in the classroom. The vast applications range from history and science subjects to being able to take notes, e-mail and have a calendar. It would be able to save thousands of dollars in the school systems because books would not have to be purchased and printing cost could go down. In addition it is also a way of "going green." We could salvage our natuarl resources with less paper being used.

In my personal opinion, I think that it is a great idea. However, I do not believe that it is very feasable right now.  Since the technology is so new, I believe that many school boards and parents would have concerns about it. For instance, what about children in special education classes? These children already have a difficult time keeping up with the rest of the class. I think that this is something else that would hold them back even further. Maybe not educationally, but most definitly in a social sense.


Lost Generation

This video was somewhat depressing. I had never considered myself apart of this "Lost Generation," of given much thought to what people say about my generation. True, society as a whole is changing and people say that my generation is not going to take time to make it any better. But, I don't but into this.  I think that our generation can have a postive impact. Who is to say that we don't want the same things that people had in generations before us? In this video the words were scrolling down the screen but, as it ended they went back up in the positive direction. So,  I have left this video with a positive outlook on my generation because I know that we will make a difference for the better.


Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

Wow! I have never seen or imagined anything like this! It is amazing how technologies are able to do this. The programs that we have for computers today are absolutely phenomenal and mind boggling. This group of people sounded like a professional choir but I think that it is truly the talent of Eric Whitacre that should be appreciated. To say the least, this video was fascinating!

Additional Assignment #1

Before having this assignment,I had never heard of neither Google Squared nor WolframAlpha. However, I see now that they both offer quick paths to information that is relevant and factual. In Google Squared, I was able to quickly find information not only in paragraph form but also in tables and charts. This enabled me to cut out much wasted as compared to if I were just using the usual Google search engine.

WolframAlpha is also a great tool. On this website, again, I was able to get right to the basis of what I was really searching for with out wasting time. When I decided to randomly type in, "pregnancy" it immediately gave me a definition, it's pronunciation, and synonyms along with other information. The information given from this search engine is also factual and straight to the point.

These search engines are ideal for students and professionals to use on a day to day basis. They cut out a lot of wasted time for a few reasons. One is that they go straight to what you are probably searching for. Additionally, I wouldn't have to search multiple sites in determining which is most relevant and reliable as to what I am searching for.

After revisiting my blog portion on "Did You Know?," Dr. Strange's comments definitely put that video into perspective. As a whole, the US has such a large landmass that I guess we sometimes forget that we really are not that big in terms of population. Furthermore, for the countries with large populations, such as China and India, it would only make sense that they would be the world leaders. In my opinion is that those who are in control would be those with the most manpower.

So, from this excercise I have learned not to take a statistic for "face-value." You really have to think about what you are looking at and why that number is there.

Food for Thought: It amazes me how we are so advanced in technology and yet they are so simple.

C4T Summary Post #1

Daneah Galloway had many good insights to technology in her post. In the first post that I had read, "Magic Wand," she discusses the rapid change in technology and how there are no boundaries to what humans can accomplish. She stated that the ideas of boundaries have really become "obsolete." I agreed with her post and commented that there are so many changes in technology but not many of these changes are being seen in the educational systems. There are so many ways to improve technology but they are not being taken advantage of when it comes to educating our children.

In the next post, "The Hole," Daneah talks about how she is in Bangkok and buying her first home in the US. She purchased this home thousands of miles away and while still in Bangkok she does a complete remodel. This is all made possible through technology. Her family and friends in the US would use tools such as iPhone pictures and Skype to keep her updated. I am amazed when I read this. Here this woman is thousands of miles away and still in complete control of what is being done to her first home. When I commented, I left a thought of what people ever did without technology? I wonder how people ever lived without the technologies that we have today and if we had to, could we live without them again? I think not.

Blog #3

A Vision of Students Today

When watching the video, I felt that many of their points were not relevant to the experiences that I have had at the University of South Alabama. I feel that I am satisfied with the education that I have received thus far and that, overall, I have had good experiences within the classroom. I believe that technology is not used as much on our campus when compared to this classroom setting. In comparison to the classroom setting being portrayed in the video, the class size at USA is much smaller, most students still take notes with pen and paper (not computer) and that a large majority of my professors have taken the time to get to know me when I approached them.

I think that technology in a college setting can be both good and bad. Good, because it allows us to communicate fasters. But also, bad, because the personal side of students and professors getting to know each other is lost. So, what I would do differently in this video would be taking the main point in a different direction. I would focus more on what technologies effects are having on today's college student. How is the college experience different today than it was 20 years ago? Maybe colleges and universities are still stuck in the past and technology is changing so rapidly that the deans and professors can not keep up with it.


It's Not about the Technology

Mrs. Hines brought about many good points on technology that I can agree with. There is no doubt that technology is creating newer ways of how people function in life. Funding for the latest programs and innovations is being put into use in American schools. However, if teachers are not educated on how to use these new programs then what's the point of putting the money there?

I believe that teachers have to be willing to move on towards the future so that the children will also be prepared to for even more technological advances to come. Perhaps, this could start early on in the education system. What is the schools were to take less of a focus off of history and make more time for computer programming classes. Since history does have a way of repeating itself, I believe that it is essential that students understand the past. But, we are suppose to be preparing them for the future and the only way that this will really happen is to embrace the future ourselves.


Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

Some could say that Mr. Fisch's comments were a little extreme but I agree with most of what he had to say. First and foremost, it is my belief that we must be able to understand computers in order to be an active member of today's society. I agree with his point that as great and as vast as technology is today, it still can be used merely as a simple tool to help us teach. But once again, teachers must first have at least a basic understanding of technology.

Teachers today must be willing to continue to learn new technologies and be willing to change with them. Mr. Fisch made a very profound statement by saying that, "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." I believe that the educational systems of the US are still stuck 1970's where knowing how to read and write were probably the main two requirements of being a teacher. In that day and age, if you could read and write then you had just about the complete capability of being able to learn something yourself and then go out and teach it to others.


Social Media Count

All of these topics that having changing statistics at such rapid rates all have one thing in common. That is, that they all pertain to some sort of Internet and computer technology. These statistics are evidence that there are more people using technology than ever before. Technology is truly the future of all modernized life. So, we must embrace and move with it. If we do not then we will be stuck in the past and unable to function with all societies across the globe.

Wonderful World of Kellie

Below is my Google Presentation on myself. I hope that you enjoy it.

Blog #2 Video Response

Did You Know?

My response to this video is that I am somewhat shocked. Before watching this video, my perception of the US was that we were more technologically advanced than other countries. However, it seems to me that we are not taking advantage of all that there is to be offered. I was surprised to see that India was so much farther ahead of us in education. When I think of India, I visually picture poverty with dirt roads and cattle roaming the streets. Therefore this was the most shocking part of the video.

So, I believe that technology is developing faster than the US can keep up with. Maybe it is because other countries like China and India have larger populations and therefore have the ability to stay on top of technological advances. Maybe it is because citizens of the Southeastern United States are "stuck in our ways" and do not want change. These are just a couple of my theories that I can come up with. But, I do know that from watch the video I am more aware of where we truly stand.


Mr. Winkle Wakes

In Mr. Winkle Wakes, Mr. Winkle finds himself in a strange time that he did not know anything of from his time. Everything is different from the way a business office runs to a hospital. But, the one thing that did remain familiar to him was the school. I thought that was an interesting point how over a hundred years there had been so many technological advances but not as many were seen in the schools.

It seems to me that education would be one of the top priorities for our government to focus on with getting our future leaders ready for a more advanced time. If we do not educate our children now on technology then they could be like Mr. Winkle in the future. We may not be able to compete with the other more advanced countries like China and India.


The Importance of Creativity

Ken Robinson's talk brought about many good points in a comical sort of way. I had never thought of the school systems killing children's creativity until now but I do see where there is some validity to that. One of his main points that I agree with is that it is okay to be wrong in order to be creative. How else are you truly going to learn something if you do not try. Even today when I am sitting in my college classes I am hesitant to speak up in class on the fear of being wrong.

From this lecture, I am taking away a new perspective on creativity. When I am teaching in the classroom one day I am going to encourage and support my students original thoughts. It is true that they are the future and we will need this originality and creativity when they are running the country.


Harness Your Students Digital Smarts

One of the first points that I took out of this video is that with more technology, more students will be able to succeed. Like Vicki Davis said, "not all students can learn with paper and pencil." Technology also introduces more terms to broaden the students vocabulary. With the advancement of technology, I see these terms as actually being useful and something that they can use in day-to day-life.

Technology is also something that students and teachers are able to learn together. Since technology is constantly changing they can learn the latest trend together. Technology also encourages people to do independent learning like that of which we are doing in our class.

Alpha Gam Wordle

Alpha Gamma Delta

Blog #1

My name is Kellie Grandquest. I am what a lot of people consider to be a third-year sophomore. That is, it is my third year of college but I am 3 credit hours short of actually being a junior. I just switched majors from Criminal Justice to Elementary Education. Last February I began a part-time job at a daycare where I found that my passion is actually with kids, not criminals.

I am a very family oriented type of person and when I graduated from high school the thought of leaving them all just about killed me. So, with Mobile being my hometown, I discovered that there are still so many opportunities for me right here.

So, who is this family that I love? I'd like to say that it is still growing. I live with my mom that I adore and my cat, Whiskers, who has a mind of her own. My father just recently remarried to someone that he has known since high school. It's funny to see how he acts so differently when he's around her. I have one older brother, Brad, and a sister-in-law, Marla. They have also recently wedded on this past May 7th and in next April I will an aunt for the first time. Lastly, I have the greatest boyfriend, Mark Norris. Mark is also a student at South Alabama in his senior year of the civil engineering program.

When I'm not with my wonderful family, I am with the girls who I consider to be my "2nd Family," the ladies of Alpha Gamma Delta. I joined Alpha Gamma Delta, or Alpha Gam for short, my freshman year. Alpha Gam has not only provided me with lifelong friendships but also has taught me to take initiative. With a group of 30+ women, sometimes when you want something to get done, you have to do it yourself. I believe that this skill is something that I will use and value for the rest of my life.