Yesterday in class, we worked with photoshop, fotoflexer, or gimp, to alter photos we took of key scenes in different texts.
The scene to the left is supposed to be from Lord of the Flies, at the point where Piggy dies and Ralph is speared and runs away. I added weapons, water and a pig's head to make it a little more interesting.
How could photo manipulation enhance students' learning in the classroom? They could alter pictures to better represent their thoughts more accurately. Creating images represented in texts would help them practice visualizing techniques and give them a chance to be creative as well as analytical. It would also be a good introduction to programs that are not as easy to familiarize yourself with as Facebook or Word.
In class today we created concept maps with the program, inspiration. I love the idea of being able to create a normal outline, and have a program transform it into a map like the one to the left.
I can see the value in this program for students trying to plan out a paper, think through a project, or map out different elements of a story. I would love to use this particular program in mapping out one of Shakespeare's plays by breaking it down by act, scene, characters, etc.
The Teddy Bears Go Blogging article is a great example of integrating technology into the classroom in a real, meaningful way that enhances learning as well as understanding of technology. Blogging gave the elementary students the opportunity to communicate and learn from peers across the globe. The teacher in this story admitted that the blog format became just as easy to use as email, allowed for comment moderation, and made sharing photos simple.
I have heard that some schools do not allow teachers to use public blogs in schools because of difficulty in moderating comments and content. I wonder how wide spread this restriction is, and how educators could create a similar communicative experience from which they can learn.
Conversely, I have heard of high school teachers creating a class blog and requiring students to post a certain number of times. I wonder if 'forcing' students to participate in that way is an effective way to engage them with technology. Does it just become another mindless task? The second graders in the article seemed to love their blogs, but I wonder how much of that kind of passion/interest can be generated on the high school level. They're already so fluent in this sort of technological medium - would they be bored by it? Would it enhance their understanding of technology or of the content being taught in class? Perhaps if done right, but what is 'right'?
Technology has been a part of my life for quite a while.My family bought their first computer when I was 11 years old, and I have been on computers ever since.I become fiercely attached to my computers of the moment, until they die and are replaced.
I'd say I'm rather comfortable with technology, and I'm not scared of trying out new stuff. I use my computer for storing music and photos, personal writing projects, gaming, reading the news, working on school work, and much more.I started exploring forums when I was probably in 8th grade, and was only really active on one forum that belonged to a band I liked.Nowadays, I’m active on facebook, and have used Flikr, Blogger, Skype, etc. to keep in touch with different people in different ways.When it comes to other technology, I am very fond of my first gaming console, an Atari, which I still have and can use if I can find an old enough T.V.
Professionally, I don’t interface with technology a ton at the moment.As an intern I do a lot of substitute teaching, so my interfacing with technology in the classroom is very limited.I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with technology in my future classroom.Good thing I’m in an ed tech class to help me figure that out!
In my past jobs, I’ve had to use technology quite a bit.At a car rental company where I was for almost 2 years (kill me now, I hated it so much) they had a lot of different programs that one would have to adapt to rather quickly in order to survive.Also, at my first job right out of high school, I worked in a poster store with a boss who was (and still is) a professional photographer.He introduced me to a lot of information of digital photography, how to store it, how to manipulate it, etc. That was a pretty wonderful experience.
I'm excited for this course. I'm always eager to learn new ways to interact with technology on a personal and professional basis. I feel that this class will help enhance and elaborate my goals as a future educator.
"teachers must also consider the cognitive demands [technology] places on the user. Does it require them to recall facts, ... to provide content information and represent their understanding, ... Or does it require the user to represent their knowledge in a symbolic form?" (Dexter, p. 58)
This quote struck me as very important. Educators must constantly think about what they are asking their students to do, how it makes the students think, what kind of learning style they are using, and what kind of habits we are reinforcing. When we introduce technology into the classroom, it is important that we have a specific reason to use it, and we are aware of what kind of thinking the students will be using. If we are using technology as busy work, or just another skill and drill technique, are we really using technology to its fullest extent? No. We must find ways to introduce technology into the learning environment that will enhance a student's ability to express meaning and think critically.
"Using educational technology in a classroom to add value to teaching and learning, by adding, extending, or changing what teachers or students do, inherently increases the effectiveness of technology," (Dexter, p. 60).
If we begin to introduce more technology and a variety of technologies in assignments, class activities, projects, etc., we will give more meaning to the piece of technology we are using. For instance, if we ask the students to use wordle to create a poem about their identity and personality, we are changing and extending a typical writing assignment. In essence, not only did we make the assignment a little more interesting, but we just gave the students a new way to use the internet and produce text.
"A collaborative professional community would serve as the vehicle for school-wide knowledge processing about technology integration and implementation, increasing the likelihood of reflective dialogue, sharing of instructional practices, and generally increasing collaboration on new practices," (Dexter, p. 65).
I work in a high school as an intern in the English Department, and I see very disparate uses of technology in the various English classrooms. Some teachers allow students to email homework, others forbid it. Some teachers are in the computer lab all of the time, others never. Some teachers introduce interesting and thought provoking assignments that would require technology, like creating a fake facebook page for a character in a novel that excite the students immensely, while other teachers assign the same, "answer these 10 questions at the end of each chapter" worksheets that bore the students to death. I think creating an open, collaborative community would help everyone in this situation. Students would be able to move from class to class with realistic expectations about the use of technology in the school. Also, teachers would be able to enable each other to push their own comfort levels and create new, fresh lessons and assignments that would make the department jive in a way it never has before.
Even evil wasps are trying to cool down in this crazy hot weather. I caught a few of them hanging out by this leaky hose in the middle of the day. Poor wasps. You gotta look close to see them.
Hallo. I wish I were in a winter wonderland, like the pic here of a tiny dorf in Deutschland. Doesn't it look refreshing? I'm surprised how warm it is in this room. You'd think they'd have stronger air conditioning for a room full of computers. Oh well. It's better than being outside in this sweltering HEAT WAVE. I've decided to build a walk-in cooler in my house. Once I have my own house, that is. I'm making it just to sit in.
