Reflections on Technology in the Classroom

Importance of Technology in the Classroom:

- Having technology in the classroom is very important. Everyday there are new technology advancements being made and if the teachers are not up to date with the current technology, they may just find the students controlling them. The teacher should know and be prepared for the students and as well as to prepare them for the future. Technology has a great importance in the classroom because we are now living in the future and this generation is all about technology.

Benefits:

-There are many benefits that technology brings in the classroom. For example the following are just a few examples:
- makes learning more fun
- opens up a wide variety of teaching strategies
- students become more willing to participate
- all students can engage in the activities
- computers and smartboards make it interactive
- Students learn better visually than listening all the time
- makes teaching a lot easier for teachers: quizzes, flyers, concept maps, documentaries, etc.



Challenges:

-There are also some challenges that may erupt with having technology in the classroom, for example the following:
- copyright issues
- technical problems
- learning the process and material thoroughly
- knowing how to use the program
- how to effectively use it for the lesson
- how to meet standards
-students having difficulty


Reflections:

- Overall there are many lessons that I will take with me after I leave this class. I have learned so much in this class and am very grateful to have had this class. I feel a lot more comfortable with technology now and I think Ms. Mislevy did an amazing job at effectively teaching us and preparing us for the classroom. I will remember to take copyright seriously. I will use smartboard in my lessons. I learned that using boxes for quiz formatting makes grading a lot easier. I learned that technology can be used in so many ways in the classroom, greater than I expected. The material I learned in this class will benefit me in so many ways in the coming years and I am happy to have taken this.

Copyright

  Discuss copyright for teachers. What surprised you? What ways have you observed copyright laws being violated in schools (no names, please. Just examples)? How about violations outside of the school environment? Is it your job to teach copyright respect to your students? How can you do this?

Copyright is a serious matter and many things regarding copyright had surprised me. For example,  here are the following things that surprised me about copyright:

• When the rapper made his version of the song 'Pretty Woman' he won the case because he had an absolutely different audience.
• That movies cannot be shown in schools without having a liscense and such only if it relates to the class 
• That unpublished work has a copyright term of the life of the author plus 70 yrs.

I have also many times have seen copyright laws being violated in schools:

• Teachers would show random popular movies right before winter break or spring break and the movies have nothing to do with the curriculum.
• I have had teachers make copies of chapters from books just to save money or the trouble of having to buy them.

Good and Bad electronic portfolios

good portfolio- http://www.kzoo.edu/pfolio/archive/example/jenks/home.htm
-This portfolio would be considered good because it has many colors and the design is very neat and organized as well as appealing. This portfolio looks like there was effort put into it. It also looks quite professional rather than having inappropriate pictures and such.
bad portfolio-  http://www.cesa8.k12.wi.us/teares/math/it/samplePort/JAMES/Jim%27s%20Index.htm
-This portfolio would be considered bad because the organization and set up is quite off. The colors are not very appealing and the the little character in the corner does not fit in well with the portfolio. This does not seem profession nor does it catch the eye.

Scenario: Video Project in my Classroom

Video Project Lesson

Content Area- Artists and style periods
Project- Students will create a short video with group members to re-enact the life of an artist from a particular art period. Students will have to research the lifestyle, culture, and politics during that time and also research the artist they are trying to portray. A research paper will be required from each student along with the video.
Age- 10th-12th grade

Preparations:

1.  Students will be assigned groups to work with
2. Students will have to borrow cameras from the media classroom and learn how to use the camera
3. Use 2 class periods to inform students how to use moviemaker
4. Have students get a storyline ready on the worksheet provided
5. Students should draw out scenes and write what will occur in each scene. Students should also include the dialogue and props on the worksheet.
6. Have students go to the library for one class and research their artist and the art period in which they were in.
7. Once Teacher has approved the storyline and has seen that students can appropriately handle camera have students look up video shooting tips
8. Students should then be able to begin shooting on school location during class time
9. Students may also shoot out of class time, but will have to check out the camera from the teacher
10. Students will be given a week and a half to finish shooting.
11. Once all groups have completed they will then begin the process on moviemaker
12. After all editing is done during class time students will then hand in their research papers
13. All students will then watch every group's video and give feedback and comments

Challenges

• having enough time for students to learn moviemaker
• responsibilities of cameras
• not many locations that can be used appropriately for filming
• some group members not getting a long

I think overall this video project would be very successful because its something fun and students can be very creative with their artists that each group has chosen, since they will be older highschool students not as many challenges should be present.

Group Video Project

Things that Worked Well

• angle perspectives
• music in background
• location
• keeping everything minimal
• no dialogue
• breaking up the scenes

Things that Could have been improved

• Lighting
• more than one background music
• more humor
• better camera zooming
• more visual interest

If I were to do this project again I would do many things differently. I would make sure we had a lot of practice before actually beginning the shooting. I would also make sure we get in all the scenes we want included. In the project that we did I know that we had to cut out a lot of scenes due to the requirement of the video being from 60-90 seconds. I would also maybe think of having some dialogue next time to keep the interest going throughout the video. I have taken with me many skills from completing this project. Here are some of the following skills I have learned from the project:

• how to shoot several scenes
• how to include music into scenes
• how to use moviemaker
• how to edit scenes
• how to include credits
• how to condense a scene

How to find a book in the Library EDU350 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8RcBsREo-w&feature=channel_video_title

Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are a great benefit to the classroom in many ways. I believe they enhance teaching and learning in numerous way. Here are some of the following ways they enhance it:

• collaborative way for all students to participate
• It is an active way for students to learn and generate ideas.
• Its a new way to present material to the class
• its a tool that can be integrated into any subject material
• It is great for visual learning and tactile learning
• Teachers can get very creative with communicating the material

I did not think the technology was very difficult to use. I was quite intimidated in the beginning when we were first introduced to it, but then i realized how easy it really was to use. I think it was easy to use because it reminded a lot of something familiar I've used which is  power point, but its a step up from it and a lot more fun to use. There are so many creative ways the interactive whiteboard can communicate and present lessons.
There are many benefits to having the interactive whiteboard installed in the classroom:

•  lessons could include something to hear and see using videos and listening graphics
• go on  field trips around the world by viewing documentaries
•  geographical maps can be zoomed in
• internet interaction can also be used while using the whiteboard
•  student projects can be displayed on the whiteboard.
• substitute teachers can just open it up and see what the lesson will be on for that day

The benefits are numerous and this list can go on and on and on, but there are also a few disadvantages or not so favorable things:

• quite costly for many schools
• a takes a bit of training for teachers and others to learn the different aspects of it
• it requires a bit of maintenance 
• doesn't accommodate well to individual needs of some students
• Some teachers like to move around the classroom and might find it distracting
• It can create a glare for students.

The Smartboard could have also have been used on some of the lessons i previously taught, but since I didn't know how to use a Smartboard at that time I didn't use it. Here are some of the lessons I had and how I could have incorporated Smartboard in the lesson:

• I taught a lesson on the phases of the moon- i could have used a matching game for them to link the name of the phase with the picture and also use the shadow slide to cover and reveal the answers.
• I taught a lesson on right, acute, and obtuse angles- I could have the students move the line to form each angles, I could also have them make one on their own
• I had a lesson on Chinese watercolor lanterns- I could have them watch a small documentary on lanterns and then try drawing the chinese symbols on the smartboard.

There are so many benefits to the interactive Smartboard, but there are very few disadvantages because for the most part the benefits outweigh the cons. 

Software Skills

• The software skills we learned in class were awesome tricks to create great layouts to appeal in terms of organization and to catch the eye. There were many things that I did not know before and learned that software skill in class. There were a few things i did know like using a table and the formatting, but even with the tables i never thought of using one to format a quiz or test. Using a table to format a quiz or test makes the organization so much easier.  I loved all 4 projects we had to work on. The one project I did have a bit difficulty with was the concept map. With the concept map i had to constantly adjust the sizing and spacing because when I exported it to Word it was too big to fit on the whole page in the landscape form. I really enjoyed making the newsletter on Publisher because they already had the format ready I just filled in the information and added a few clip art pictures. The flyer and the quiz were pretty easy to make. 
• Taking the time to learn all the software skills was very beneficial, I wish I had learned them before because they could have aided me with my prior projects I had done. I think for the future in my career as a teacher the skills will definitely help a lot. It will help save a lot of time and just make each handout a lot more professional looking. 
• The one most beneficial for me as an art teacher would probably be  Publisher and all of its features and sometimes a concept map could help with my lessons. They could help me as an art teacher in numerous ways:

-publisher to make newsletters and flyers]
-publisher could also be used to make calender art projects
-concept maps to learn a new procedure for cleanup
-concept to learn a new lesson
-concept map to study for a quiz
- i could use a concept map as the quiz

Inspiration

Inspiration is definitely something I can use and benefit from in the classroom. I think Inspiration is a great resource for any teacher or student to invest in. There are many ways in which Inspiration can used in a classroom. Here are 10 ways in which Inspiration can used in an art classroom:

1. A concept map is great way for students to study for a quiz
2. Help students learn the steps for that day's art project.
3. Showing how two colors mixed create a 3rd color using venn diagram
4. A flow chart that shows how discipline will be handled
5. For comparing to different cultures for a cultural project
6. Help teacher organize the art lesson for the day
7. Chart to show what materials each table will be responsible for during cleanup
8. Helping students to learn and define the vocab
9. Help to show what certain materials will be used for in that lesson
10. Showing deadlines for certain projects for the class to see

Out of the many web resources we used in class I have a few favorite. I really liked wordle.net, polleverywhere.com, 4teachers.org, and the discoveryeducation.com. The ones i would use the most in my classroom would be 4teachers.org and discoveryeducation.com.  I would use 4teachers.com for many reasons, particularly using rubistar to make rubrics for my students and their projects. I would also use it for the students to have computer lab time where they can play the online games to recognize their material. I really love discoveryeducation.com because it has so many amazing educational documentaries that i can show the students as an intro to a lesson. If there is a snow day and there is a bit of time left in class then this is perfect for the students to watch a brief video. Students can also jot down ideas for their next lessons from the videos. 

Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking does have an application in my classroom and can be used in numerous ways for it.

Ways Social Bookmarking can benefit me as teacher and students

There are many ways social bookmarking can be used for a teacher and his or her students, here are some of the ways:

• teachers can organize and bookmark resources for their students
• teachers can use a common tag to share resources of interest for all students 
• teachers can use it to collect sources & discuss the information together with students
• teachers can categorize bookmarks for specific classes, projects, or lessons

•  students can create a greater sense of community within the course  
• students can share items of interest with those in their networks. 
• great way for students to communicate with one another
• students can collaborate with one another on research

 Social Bookmarking can benefit me now in some  ways:

• Its a  fast way-for me to visit any webpage
• I can create links to my content area
• I can share content and links with others
• I can organize the tags the way i wish

GoogleApps

I really like GoogleApps, I think that it is very beneficial for students or anyone. I enjoy using gmail and google docs because they let you collaborate with another person on ideas or discussions.Google docs lets you create documents that others can change or manipulate. This is great for organizations that are creating a constitution for their group because it allows other members to contribute ideas. Overall GoogleApps is really useful and has many advantages, but it also has some disadvantages. Here are the advantages of GoogleApps over Office apps:

• Since there is no software or hardware needed, it saves big versus any office apps
• It filters out any spam
• secures information by asking for a longer password to insure security
• Message threads help to save time
• There is more storage than the regular office apps
• great way to interact with members of an organization

There are also some disadvantages:

• can be difficult to plan for upgrades
• some documents are not supported
• Google isn't liable for lost data
• Having other students manipulate the information isn't always good
• Google has a limit of 100 email addresses

Blogs in the Classroom

Ideas for including Blogs in the Classroom from teachersfirst.com:

• Students can write about their sports game and their experience
• If there is a long break then students can write about their vacation and what they did
•  On snow days students can update their blog for extra credit
• Students can write about a field trip that the class went to 
• Have students post suggestions to make the class or learning better
• Students can post up study hints for extra credit
• Students can use the new vocab words to write an essay blog post

There are many advantages to using Blogs in the classroom, but there are also many disadvantages as well. Some of the advantages are the following:

• It is a great way for students to collaborate on ideas and discussions 
• It is a good way for students to practice typing and reading online text
• It is a way for students to participate especially the students that don't normally participate
• Great way to motivate students
• It is accessible for students at home, at the library, or at school

There are also disadvantages to this form of technology in the classroom:

• For teachers, responding and giving feedback to each individual student can be time consuming
• Some students may not feel comfortable or open to sharing their ideas or thoughts
• The links and posts that students post up may be viewable to the public and password safety might be cautioned
• Some students still don't have access to technology
• Younger students may need parental permission or safety when using the internet

There are many disadvantages, but i think that blogging has more beneficial and that there are solutions to the disadvantages.