Concluding Assignment

I'm not going to answer the two questions in any order or in a systematic way, but I have learned a lot about what it takes in order to apply and answer these two questions about the 21st century classroom, and want to explain what I have learned from and thus believe in when it comes to assessing and implementing the knowledge I gained from this class.

The 21st century classroom is how education and subjects in the class are being taught by educators today. There has been a major transformation within the past few centuries of education, particularly since the age of technology began. Schools went from type-writers to PC's to Macs to laptops to iPads, from chalkboards to whiteboards to smartboards. The 21st century classroom deals with this new age of technology. Due to technology and the fact that learning can now occur outside of the classroom without a teacher, there needs to be a switch in how teachers teach their students in order to keep them intrigued and interested. My generation and those younger were brought up in this "coming-of-age" of technology and just seem to "know" how to work technologies, and in order to keep up with them and their knowledge of these technologies, we as educators need to learn how to incorporate these technologies in the classrooms.

“Children raised on new media technologies are less patient with filling out worksheets and listening to lectures.” (Collins & Halverson, 2009) Since technology makes everything accessible to our fingertips and makes things faster, students become impatient and bored with textbooks, worksheets, and note-taking in a notebook. Incorporating the technologies that we learned about in this class such as iTunes U, podcasts, youtube, teachertube, skype, googledocs, thinkfinity,which are such amazing technologies that are free for anyone to use! These technologies are tools for lifelong learning beyond the classroom. Educators will have to be able to keep up-to-date with the all new technologies that find their way into the classroom in order to keep up with their students and the way education is being implemented in the classrooms.

The different technologies that we assigned ourselves to research and blog about over the course of this class has helped us as learners and potential teachers learn and access the different technologies that are out there in the world. Watching videos and reading the text about technology and how others view technology when it comes to education was a big help in forming our own ideologies on how we might implement technology in our own classrooms.

Like I said in one of the discussion forums, the quote by Collins and Hallverson about how "schools develop courses such as Keyboarding and Introduction to Computers not only to teach students new skills, but also to keep computers in their proper place. These courses tell students, "Computers can be useful, but you can learn all you need to know about them in one or two courses."" (pgs. 34-35) I still believe, even now at the end of this course think that schools need to invest more in learning how to use computers better, because it doesn't take just two courses to learn everything about a computer. It might take two courses to learn different applications but I also believe they need to teach us how to use the internet better for research purposes. This course was helpful in this way because I already know how to use a computer, I just had no idea about all of the different technologies and sources on the internet that could be used to foster meaningful learning and create lifelong learning.

People of all ages barely have a legitimate reason nowadays to not learn. Information and learning is so simple and easy to access now, all one has to do is open a laptop and will be able to access anything from online courses, iTunes U lectures from professors or legitimate sources all over the world, or documentaries on the Holocaust from the History channel site. The 21st century classroom is a classroom that is filled with all sorts of technology that the students and especially the teachers know how to use in order to have an immense amount of knowledge thrown at them in all shapes and forms.

The technologies I have listed above all foster meaningful teaching and learning, not only for the students, but for the teachers as well. The 21st century classroom is no longer a classroom where only the students learn, but the teachers are constantly learning as well.

How to use Facebook in the classroom

I'm not going to explain how to use Facebook, because I'm sure most if not all of us in this class have one. I wanted to see if there were ways in which a teacher could use this popular networking site, and there is!

There was this one website, here, that I looked at, which had some really interesting and informative ways on how to use Facebook in a learning environment. Of course, if a teacher were to use Facebook you'd probably want to create a new profile separate of your personal one for the class. Facebook really is a great communication tool and a great way to get discussion going and collaboration.

The teacher could create a group for the class, upload photos from the class when doing a class event, have students use the "notes" part of Facebook, which in a way is like blogging, and have them all answer questions on there and have the other students comment on their peers' notes.

Teachers could also use the status update as a way to communicate with their students such as : "don't forget to study!" "do forget to do the homework!" "is thinking about a possible pop quiz tomorrow", etc.

I'd love to use Facebook in my classroom because it is in everyone's lives and is everywhere! Students will love it, it's fast, easy to use, and it is something the students are interested in.

-Danielle

100 Apps for Tech-Savvy Teachers

This is a great site to look at when wanting to include some sort of technology into any classroom. It has a ton of sites to use and apps. This is one site that every educator should bookmark or save because it has so many useful sites that could make an educator's life that much easier. A few of these we have covered, and a few we have heard of or glanced at, but I decided to look more into Flickr since we briefly discussed it in class.

As we have learned, Flickr has a creative commons area where people can share and take photos without having to use citation or accidently plagiarizing. Being able to use this site for a project for a history class for say a newspaper, a student could create a free account and be able to access pictures for their newspaper without having to cite anything. Flickr creative commons is teamed up the the Library of Congress, which is exactly what it sounds like -it's a website created by those who work the Library of Congress in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Their goals are to provide more information and knowledge to the American peoples via the internet. So, at the end of it all, Flickr's creative commons has a background in history. The creative commons do have a lot of historical pictures which would help a lot in a history classroom. Also, there are many different corporations and institutions that are involved that share their own images - with these photos I'm pretty sure one would need to use citations because they are owned by those institutions, but at least the student and teacher would know that these photos are legitimate because they came from an educational site.

Being able to use a website that has photos basically "plagiarism-free" for lack of a better term, is a great, useful place to do some research in any class for any project. The institutions that are sharing their informational and useful photos are a great help too for any kind of teacher and classroom.

Podcasting

I have never known how to utilize podcasts for educational purposes until I started looking more closely at it's resources for this class - the only time I ever used or listened to a podcast was for Harry Potter news from MuggleCast (geeky, I know). I then saw a few months ago that my parents were using podcasts to learn some basic Italian before they went on their 2 week trip to Tuscany. For the past few days I have looked into different ways this program could be used in the classroom and outside of the classroom for educational purposes and believe that it is fun and very useful - any type of teacher can use it!

There are podcasts for all different languages, math, science, history, English, you name it. The best thing about podcasts is that they are FREE! What's cool about these podcasts is that they are either someone talking to you or they can be videos. What I really think is cool is that if students want to say be able to speak a language better or learn more about a language, they can go home, and if they have access to a computer, they can listen to the podcast for free on that certain language and be able to practice - it's interactive and fun.

Also, the video podcasts could be helpful for a lesson plan if it relates to the material being taught for that day - the teacher could always pull it up quickly and have the students watch it and then discuss it.

Another usage is iTunesU, which I love and use even now for some of my classes in college, but I don't want to steal the thunder from the group who is evaluating this subject for class.

Podcasting in general just seems like a good way to get education from people to others via iTunes and the internet. It's free and it's an easy tool to access and use for the classroom to get that technological feel for the students and the teacher.

I'd most likely use this tool specifically for any video podcasts that could fit into a history classroom that would help my lesson plans. I'd also maybe have a day where the students would be on computers or laptops and listen to podcasts by themselves on the topic we are learning about or maybe a current events topic, being that CNN and many other news stations have free podcasts, and have the students write up a short essay on what their topic was and what podcast they used and how they found it.

I haven't seen many constraints - it seems as though it would be more beneficial in middle school to high school rather than early childhood education - it seems like there are more mature podcasts out there than for young children, but perhaps I just did not come across any at the time I was looking.

There's so much more that one can do with podcasting, but what I listed and discussed seems to be the most important to me and the most beneficial towards education. If I find anything more, perhaps I'll post some more on this topic.

-Danielle

Thinkfinity

To start off, I want to say that Thinkfinity is awesome. My group did a quick over-view of what the site is all about but mainly focused on one of the major links that they have at the bottom of the page for Smithsonian History Explorer since we are all history majors.

Thinkfinity gives many links to other great teaching websites whether it be for math, history, science, you name it! Then those sites give you links to other helpful teaching sites! It's great. It also gives you news in education, interesting facts, discussions between others using the website, interactive tools and lesson plans!!

The Smithsonian website is awesome. I was really excited about this site being that I want to be a history teacher. It has a ton of awesome lesson plans that were fun, interactive, and used technology. What I found really cool was the fact that it has all of the Smithsonian artifacts online so you can view them without having to go to the museum! Another great tool. Also, it had a ton of ideas on how to incorporate the media and technology into a history lesson plan.

The only thing that is limiting about this website is that it mainly only focuses on American history, so if one was to teacher European history, they wouldn't be able to use the information given, but perhaps the teacher could look and get ideas from it.

I really don't see any flaws with the Thinkfinity site as a whole and the other websites that are linked to it. It seems overly helpful and I'm sure there was plenty that I didn't even get a chance to look at because the information just seems infinite. I will definitely be checking this site out a lot now to gain more information on it and will most likely use it in the future in my classroom.

Post for 1/25/11

"There's nothing magical about any tech tool. Real magic rests in the minds and hearts of teachers using digital tools to introduce students to new individuals, ideas and opportunities." - This quote from the Flickr website I find to be SO true and crucial towards my lens of teaching and learning. It's true that many students and people in general think of technology as a very magical tool, but it's what the person does who is using this tool that makes it magical. Nowadays technology is EVERY WHERE you look, and people are learning more and more about technology as the years go on. There is more technology in the classroom now than there was when I was in junior high and high school. I had never heard or seen a smart-board until I started observing in the classrooms for my field experiences. Another quote on Flickr, "encourage a culture of questioning, respect, and risk taking" is another idea aspect that I would love to have in my classroom. What is learning without questioning, respect, and especially RISK TAKING? Taking risks are what helps us learn - whether we fail or exceed with our risks, we will always learn from these risks.

I then decided to read The New Literacy article and I have to say I agree with everything that was stated. I know that from having a lame Livejournal when I was a lot younger, myspace, twitter, and a facebook, I'm on the internet a lot more and constantly writing things and typing. My parents have commented multiple times on how fast of a typer I am without even looking- my mom has always considered herself to be a fast typer, but she always says she is nothing compared to my typing and speed. What we're doing right now with this blog helps us get our ideas across to anyone who decides to read it, and it helps us think, learn, write and type better and more efficient. Also, as students, we know what is proper for online writing and texting as opposed to writing a 12 page paper for a history class. Just because there are these new forms of writing doesn't mean that we are going to degenerate from the societal and academic acceptance of good writing, it just means that we are evolving in an age that is technologically advanced.

Lastly, I looked at the Pew Internet website and found it to be very interesting. I really liked the data points the website gives about the internet and what people feel about it. Also, the articles about how technology and the internet may not be helpful when it comes to students and individuals with disabilities. It's great to know this because as an aspiring teacher, it's good to know that, depending on what school district you're in and depending on the culture and diversity of the students in your classroom, who might or might not have access to technology and the internet.

One key concept that I just want to point out about the internet is that, yes, I love it, but there is a ton of information out there, and I want to be able to teach my students at an early stage what is acceptable to use on say a history paper and what is not. I didn't learn any of this until college and I feel that it might have benefitted me more so in high school when writing papers for my classes - I never really knew what to look for online and I believe that the earlier the students learn how to access good information for their classes, the better off they will be.

Post due for 1/20/11

Great teaching and learning, I believe has to deal with the material and how the teacher presents it. The most memorable classes in middle school and high school all dealt with teachers who were enthusiastic about their material, knew what they were doing, and used different materials to present the topics. I know that I learn best when I have more than one way of learning material and when the teacher is enthusiastic and loud. Being that I am wanting to become a history teacher, there have been many experiences with my past history teachers that have shown me how exciting it can be to teach this subject and the many ways one can do so. I remember in my 9th grade European history class we had "stations" that we had to go to throughout the classroom for about a week. We were given a packet and we had to answer questions based on the information each station had. One station had a short movie on the computer, one was a poster-board with information, one was the textbook, etc. I really enjoyed this because it gave us a more hands-on experience rather than the teacher standing in from of the class lecturing. That was one of my most memorable experience with history before college, and there were many others in different classes. Now that I am in my Junior year of college, I have been observing and tutoring in classrooms for my field experiences for my education courses. Spring of 2010 I was in an 8th grade American history classroom and was able to see the different ways one could teach this topic to students. The students seemed to really like when the teacher would give assignments on the computer. One great assignment was to create one's own newspaper based on information on a Revolutionary battle. Each student got to pick which battle they wanted, and then on their own computers they had to do the research and follow the criteria in order to create a decent newspaper. Technology in this form was great because it got the students utilizing different search engines and the different ways to search for something. Also, they were able to figure out how to use a document and template to make a newspaper.

I want to be able to do similar things in my classroom that I observed in the 8th grade American history class and that I was a part of in my 9th grade European class. I want to create a more hands on experience for students because I know how boring a lecture can be even though I love the subject of history. Hands-on experiences, I believe, help the students remember particular topics better which let's them excel. I also want to have more universal design in my classroom. Universal design allows the teacher to have different ways and ideas of teaching a topic to help all students because each student learns differently. I want to be able to give outlines with fill-in the blanks while helping them on a smart-board, show a short 5-minute film on the topic, and do "stations" in my class in order for each student to retain and learn the subject better.

From experience, I have seen how well some teachers utilize the technology in their classrooms, but I have also seen how some teachers have no idea how to utilize the technology in the classroom. I hope to be able to learn every way I can to use technology in the classroom whether it be the computer, online games or quizzes designated for my subject area, the smart-board, etc. I am a huge advocate of using technology in the classroom, and anything that is given to me in a classroom, I want to be able to use properly and effectively so that way my students have the best advantages to learning the material. These seem to be the most challenges teachers face, and therefore learners seem to face the same issues because of the teacher's lack of knowledge.

I'm not sure if I have a lot of pressing questions, but I do want to know what websites there are that are fun, not too "young" for middle to high school students, but are informative and effective in my subject area (history). Also, I have no idea how a smart-board works, and I have seen many teachers fail at trying to use it while their class is in session, and I know that I do not want to be one of those teachers. Kids that are K-12 are raised knowing how to use technology and they love it. I want to be tech-savvy because I know that students will love the use of technology in the classroom.

-Danielle