MEDT7462:
A study of various Internet tools, resources, and issues as related to k-12 education. Strategies for integrating the Internet into the curriculum will be included.
Assignment 3.1 Course Homepage
This is my course homepage!
Assignment 3.2 Getting started with Gmail
My gmail address is: apieniaszek@gmail.com
There are many ways in which gmail could be useful in an educational setting. The first that I notice is the chat feature on the left hand side after you log in. This particular feature could be useful if you need to give students instruction but cannot speak on the phone or are not in class. The second feature that I think would be useful in the chat section is video chat. I personally have video chatted with a friend who lives far away. I think it would be amazing to use this feature in the classroom setting, particularly a language class, to allow students an opportunity to practice their language with a native speaker. The third feature I think would be useful in an educational setting is Google Docs. Google docs is a great way to share information on the internet. It eliminates the need for specific software for students to view documents. You could use it to email assignments to students. Overall, I think gmail is a great tool that is free and could be used in multiple ways in the classroom or for professional development.
There are many ways in which one could use Gmail calendar. A teacher could use this feature with their students to remind students of assignments, and make students aware of upcoming events (such as tutoring sessions or group meeting times.) A teacher could also use this to keep parents informed of their students progress in the class, set up meetings, and make parents aware of important dates and events in the class. Lastly, this feature could be used to set up collaboration meetings with other teachers, media specialists, and other support personnel within a school setting.
The address for my Blog is: http://pieniaszek7462.blogspot.com/
I would use a blog in the classroom to have students create an online journal. The journal posts would be required regularly throughout the course of the class (at least once a week), and the students might have to respond to a specific topic or write using various grammar points (the past tense, certain vocabulary, etc).
An extra feature I might use to help monitor student progress, and to have students view their classmates work and comment, is the follower feature. This feature could even be used to collaborate with other classrooms and students around the world.
The address for my wikispace is: http://spanish1discuss2010.wikispaces.com/
I already do use this tool in the classroom. I enjoy using the wiki. However, I am surprised by the lack of enthusiasm my students have for it's use. I use the wiki as a forum for students to respond to class discussion questions. I also use it as a tool to communicate with my students because I post information about what we do in class each week, as well as helpful websites they can use to practice important concepts from class.
Some of the features I use to help monitor this site are in the Manage Wiki section of the wiki. There, I am able to see who makes edits to the page, and when they are done. I can also invite people to be a part of my wiki. I have set up my wiki so that only members are allowed to edit the page, and everyone is allowed to view the page. I look forward to expanding my use of this wiki in the classroom.
In the classroom, I would use aggregators to help keep up with student posts to websites, such as blogs and wikispace discussion responses. This tool could be very helpful for the teacher, because they would be notified every time a student posted their assignment.
Students could use this tool to keep up with a classroom website, such as a wiki, or to keep up with blogs or other important information they could use in their classes. If a student was doing a project, aggregators could be used to help keep track of current events and new articles posted on the web on websites of interest.
In the classroom, I would use google docs to collaborate with students on writing or projects they are developing in groups. This tool could be very helpful in a group situation, because it allows multiple users to edit files. This tool would also be helpful for teachers working with students, because teachers could preview the work of group members, give timely feedback, and see who is contributing to the group.
Another use for google docs would be teachers collaborating with each other. Teachers could use this tool to develop handouts or announcements for classes. This tool could also be used by teachers to work on professional development projects, and could save time because teachers can use it anytime and anywhere they have internet access.
Assignment 3.8 Writing a Behavioral Objective
For my ASSSURE lesson, students are going to use the class wikispace site and respond to another students discussion posting on the site.
In the classroom, I use slide share for looking up power points about topics that are already created to use to present material to students. I would also use slide share to share presentations that I have created with colleagues and students. I think that slide share would be useful for students working on projects together. They could post their show and make it available for other group members to access and edit as necessary. It would also be helpful for students to post their work to simply share with other classmates. If there is a project that requires a class to be responsible for information in a presentation, that presentation could be posted so that students could access the show at home.
Slide share could also be a useful tool for teachers to collaborate on projects. As I previously mentioned, I use slide share to search for shows on topics I am presenting in the classroom, and then edit the projects to suit my needs. Teachers could post their shows and share them with colleagues. Schools and districts could create slide show banks for use by everyone across a curriculum.
I would use delicious as a way to share with my students useful websites that they need to complete assignments or that would help them practice concepts we learn in class. Delicious would also be a great way for students to share information with each other. If students and teachers created a classroom network, they could share useful links and websites.
Teachers could use Delicious to share useful websites as well.When teachers find sites that are helpful in completing research, assignments, or projects, teachers could create networks to share these sites with each other.
Assignment 3.11 Google Sketch Up
Google Sketch Up is an interesting program. I could see google sketch up being useful to teachers and students in a number of ways. I think one disadvantage of sketch up is that it would take time for the teachers and students to become familiar with the program and use it efficiently.
When I was completing this assignment, I was thinking of the city building project I have my Spanish III classes complete. The students have to build a city (in a diorama form), and then label all the things in that city in Spanish. I could also see students using Google Sketch Up to work on assignments in social studies or drafting. I think this would be a great program that could be used in multiple ways, depending on the subject being taught.
I could use Picassa in an educational setting to have students label pictures in Spanish. This would be a fun way to have students practice vocabulary. Another use for Picassa would be for students to share pictures of what they are doing in class with other students, friends and family members. Students could upload pictures of completed projects and presentations they have created for a class and create online picture portfolios. Students could also share pictures of things such as their hometowns with other students around the world.
Assignment 3.13 Google Translate
As a language teacher, I discourage the use of online translators to complete assignments. I tell my students-"People are still smarter than computers!" In the image that I have captured of the things I translated, the translator did not translate the phrases correctly. I entered four imperative phrases. Below are the correct translations for these phrases (depending on who I was speaking to....):
Go home: Vaya a casa
Go away: Desaparce
Get lost: Pierdete
Learn something: Aprende algo
The translator translated these phrases, but did not conjugate the verbs correctly. If you enter phrases or sentences into google translate that don't have specific subjects, the translator does not know how to conjugate the verbs correctly in the phrase. In addition, the translator is unable to take syntax and context into account when translating phrases. It functions as a dictionary.
I would use google translate in an educational setting only as a dictionary for individual words. I do not think it is useful for translating entire sections of text. Many times it will translate something and use inappropriate vocabulary and phrases, and if a student uses it as a tool for communication, in my experience, it doesn't work.
My Google Earth tour of El Prado in Madrid, Spain
Go0ogle earth is an amazing tool for students and teachers to use. I have not used it in the classroom yet, but think it would be wonderful for cultural lesson for Spanish students. I would use this tool in the classroom to create virtual tours of Spanish speaking countries that we were studying. I would also encourage students to use it when they were doing projects where they have to study other countries.
I could see this application being used effectively in the classroom to:
Demonstrate what specific landmarks look like
Demonstrate how people live in other places
Compare/Contrast the differences between how buildings, cities, and towns look in the US and how they look in other parts of the world.
Allow students to explore points of interest in other places in the world
I could see Google Earth being used in many classrooms, including English classrooms, Social Studies Classrooms, art classrooms, and language classrooms. Teachers could show presentations and tours they have created, or have students create their own tours.
Assignment 3.15 Custom Searches
Google custom searches would be a fantastic tool to use for students doing projects on a specific subject. It would also be helpful in school districts where google is blocked. I would use this tool for projects where I don' t want students to spend a long time looking for necessary and helpful information. I think google custom searches would also be helpful for younger students just learning to search the internet.
Google forms would be useful to help collect data about any subject. I could see this being used in a math class to help evaluate data and report findings. This would also be useful for teachers doing evaluations of anything from effectiveness of class activities to evaluation of overall performance.
I think people trying to conduct research about anything would find google forms useful. I know several people who have gotten their doctorate, and they would have found this type of surveying particularly useful to gather and record data.
Assignment 3.17 ASSURE Lesson Plan