Blog 5: How to use Wikis in the Classroom

Wikipedia logo

A wiki is a web site which allows visitors to participate in creating or editing the actual web site without any special technical knowledge or tools. Since visitors can participate in this website through editing, a wiki is constantly "under revision." An example of a wiki, is Wiki-pedia which is an online encyclopedia which has millions of authors and editors. People all over use wikis in order to collaborate on projects and ideas. Some jobs that use wikis include researchers, travel journals, clubs, chefs writing books, and many more. Wikis are right now most common in the college level. The most potential of wikis, "lies in student participation in the ongoing creation and evolution of the wiki."

One way a wiki can be used in an early childhood classroom is to collaborate on book reviews or author studies. Another is to create a family twadition-wiki. This is where elementary students could share their family's traditions of preparing for a holiday such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays,

etc. then compare this family's traditions with other cultures as they read and learn about them. Finally, a wiki can be used to take a virtual tour of the school and for the children to study their community throughout the elementary grades. I will use wiki's in my future early childhood education classroom. I believe that wiki's could be a great tool for presenting ideas to parents in my classroom. As a teacher I want to have high parent involvement in my classroom. I would use a wiki to post about a topic or idea that we would be learning in the next few weeks, then a parents can add other ideas, activities, or just general information in order to participate with their children's education as well as the classroom.

Blog 4: Interactive Whiteboard Research Base (iBook)

As technology advances, the more influence that it will have upon the education within a classroom.

With this increase in technology, it causes teachers to stay up to date on current technologies which means extra training. In the iBook by Blanch O'bannon, "Effective Use of Interactive Whiteboards" discusses the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom and how they have effects on student achievement.

According to O'bannon, interactive whiteboards provide a way for the teacher to "create interactivity for your students to get them actively involved with the learning". Some ways that interactive white boards have been proven to have positive effects on students learning is through: highlighting, coloring, annotating, or zooming content, hiding/revealing texts, matching items, importing pictures, shared reading, peer teaching, providing feedback, and by utilizing student response systems. There are many instructional benefits to using interactive whiteboards such as being an active learning, classroom management support, lesson organization, and flexibility with lesson materials. There are some instructional challenges with using interactive white boards in the classroom. Teachers need to be trained in using interactive white boards, if the teacher doesn't know how to use it correctly it can cause classroom management issues. With this issue and lack of knowledge on using the white board, the teacher could waste time trying to get the whiteboard to work instead of teaching the children the material that they need to know. Research shows that in order for the interactive whiteboard to be used appropriately and successfully in the classroom then there needs to be training before.

After reading Chapter 1, it was made very clear to me that interactive white boards can support academic achievement in students but it can also be very difficult to use. If a teacher is trained correctly then it can be a positive addition to the classroom. I hope to have the proper training in the use of interactive whiteboards so I can use it to support my students learning.

Blog 3

Copyright Symbol

According to the UMUC Library, "Copyright is a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work is used." By having copyright an author will feel more incentive to create new ideas since their work is protected. There are three requirements to get something copyrighted: fixation, originality, and minimal creativity. Fixation is where the document is, meaning written, on a computer, audio, it just needs to be somewhere. Originality is that the work must be original. Minimal creativity is that the work must be above and beyond original. Some things that cannot be copyrighted are ideas, facts, slogans, short phrases, and government works. Copyright protects the authors work. 

Fair use, "Is the most significant limitation on the copyright holder's exclusive rights" (UMUC, 2011). The purpose and character of fair use is to make sure that the piece of work is not just a copy, does the work transform the old work in some way? and is it for educational purposes? The nature of the copyrighted work is if it is unpublished or published, if the copyrighted work is out of print, and if the work is factual or artistic.

 Permissible amounts of copyrighted information must meet tests for brevity and spontaneity. Brevity is how much of the work you can copy. Spontaneity is, “How many times you can copy and how much planning it would take to otherwise seek and obtain permission from a copyright holder” (UMUC, 2011). What counts as fair use is a chapter from a book, an article from a newspaper, a short story, poem, or illustrations. Some things that should be avoided is copying the same worst from semester to semester, special works, an excerpt of no more than 2 pages. 

UMUC Library. (2011). Copyright and fair use in the UMUC online or face-to-face classroom.
         University of Maryland University College. Retrieved from             http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm

Blog 2

"Integrating Technology into the Classroom" by Jong H. Chung 

Historical Background

Shows all the various forms of technology
that can impact the mind of a student. 

Technological innovation in education has occured since the early 20th century. Public schools were utilizing technology in the form of films, pictures, lantern slides, VCR's, radio, TV, computers and the internet. "As a new medium enters the educational scene there is a great deal of initial interest and much enthusiasm about the effects it is likely to have on instructional practices. However, enthusiasm and interest eventually fade and an examination reveals that the medium has had a minimal impact on such practices" (Chung, 2007). Technology is constantly evolving and therefore the classroom is evolving as well. The interest and enthusiasm that this technology has brought to the classroom has positively effected the instruction in the classroom, but that excitement will soon fade as well. Thinking about this constant exchange of new technology being introduced, new enthusiasm, and then a fade, are the children being positively impacted by these new forms of technology in instruction, or are they just learning that technology is what keeps them engaged in the classroom?

Motivation

The motivation to adopt technology in the classroom comes from nonprofit organizations, commerce, and education. Most educators agree that technology needs to be implemented within the classroom, but they disagree on how technology should be used in the classroom. There are two main ideas of how technology should be integrated within the classroom. The first is that it should be used to improve the traditional lecture based teaching and learning style. The second is that it should be used to reform the traditional lecture approach into the constructivist approach in order to best support the student. By choosing the second approach for how to implement technology in the classroom the student will be an active, autonomous learner, the classroom will be child centered, and their will be a focus on communication as well as collaboration with students.

Classroom Technology Examples 

Interactive Whiteboard- allows for the teacher to project the computer screen onto a large interactive whiteboard. This screen is touch sensitive and allows for the teacher to interact with the material directly on the screen.

Example of a student
response system 

Classroom Management Software- allows for the teacher to project a student's computer screen in the classroom in order for the student to share what is on their computer. This form of technology can be used to show undesirable work done by student as well as desirable work done by a student. Th teacher is able to fully control the internet and computer use of each of the students

Student Response System- a remote controller that allows for the teacher to create questions for the
students to click in the answer on their remote controller. Once their answers are clicked in their responses go to the teachers computer and the teacher is able to see if the students are understanding the material presented to them.

Weblog (Blog)- a easily updated and accessible website that a teacher can use to communicate information with students as well as parents.

Wiki- a webpage where students and teachers can anonymously post and edit content collaboratively.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication)-  allows for users to subscribe to feeds on interest that present headline pages of news media, blogs, or podcasts.

Multimedia Publishing- consists of podcasts which is a digital audio recording that is published for sharing. They can be used during presentations, during instruction, or through distant learning.

Concerns about Integrating Technology in Classroom 

With the use of integrating technology in the classroom many have various concerns of this transition. Some teachers have concerns that students will have a dependency on technology and lack fundamental skills. Other have copyright violations, security, privacy, and plagiarism concerns for their students as well as for themselves. Some have concerns about the digital divide, which is the gap between the socio-economic status of school districts and how they can equally support all of the schools. Finally, there are concerns of how they would training and hiring teachers to incorporate technology within the classroom.

Recommendations 

Some recommendations for implementing technology in the classroom is to make it a gradual change, have patience, educate yourself on the changes of technology, and create policies for technology within the classroom.

Chung, J.H. (2007). Integrating technology into the classroom. 1-10. Retrieved
         from: http://www.usma.edu/cfe/Literature/Chung_07.pdf

Course Expectations

Welcome to my blog,

I am in the Child and Family Studies Department working on my PreK-3 teaching license. I hope to work in a kindergarten or 1st grade classroom someday. When I am not in the classroom I spend a lot of time with my dog Carrie. We enjoy going for long walks, going to Dunkin Donuts, and hanging out with friends. I also enjoy going to Neighborhood Barre and hot yoga classes in the area. Friends and family are also very important to me. I enjoy going on new adventures and trying new foods!

In this educational technology course, I hope that I will be able to come up with creative ways to incorporate technology in my future classroom. I currently have a very basic knowledge of how to use technology in a classroom. I have always felt like I knew very little about technology and never felt confident in my abilities with it. This course will allow me to feel confident with my use of technology so I will be able to support my students in the classroom by keeping them engaged and active with the help of technology. So far, I can see how technology in a classroom would be utilized to keep in contact with parents and to continue parental engagement in the classroom. With the use of blogs, websites, and other resources I will be able to stay connected with parents in a positive and engaging way. I hope that I can also be able to find new ways to present information to my students. I want to be able to reach the needs of many different learning abilities within the classroom, and the use of technology can support this need. Overall, being able to use technology in the classroom is a skill that I hope to achieve.

http://cfs.utk.edu/