Final Post

I am really happy that I took EDM310 this semester, because I really learned a lot! One thing that really sticks out is the podcasts. I think those are definitly something that could be used in a classroom. Not only can podcasts be used to teach in a class, but you can use them as a project like we did. The students can make podcasts to show what they learned from a lesson. Also, by doing the podcasts I learned about using youtube in the classroom. This is the topic my group did our podcast on, and I'm glad we did. I never would have thought to use something like youtube in my classroom but after doing the podcast I learned how helpfull it could be. We also stumbled across teachertube, which is also something I plan on using in the classroom. If we had not done the podcasts in class, I never would have thought to use either of those things once I become a teacher.

I think we learned pretty much everything in this class that I would have liked to. The only thing I can think of that might have been nice to go over, atleast shortly, would be parent-teacher correspondence. It would have been helpfull just to go over the correct way of writing letters or reminders to parents since that is something we will all have to do soon. Other than that, I think I learned everything I wanted and hoped to learn. It was a great class and very helpful!

iTunesU

iTunesU has this great digital library available to teachers. It's WGBH's "Teacher Domain" where you can find free digital media from different PBS programs. They make it very easy to use by splitting the media into three different secions; k-5, 6-8, and 9-12. This is very helpfull because instead of having to go through everything looking for what you want, all you have to do is pick your grade level and go from there. Of course, you can't teach a class solely based on these, but they are a great enhancement to a lesson!

I watched a video titled "Observe Clouds". This video podcast talked about how children should pay mroe attention to the clouds. They are changing every second. That is something that I didn't know. This would be a video you could show in a science class or if you were talking about the sky. I think this is a great resource to use as an addition to a lesson being taught to your students. It will help to hold there attention and change up the normal teaching method a little bit.

The Edible Schoolyard

Lately, Americans have been becomming more and more concerned with health and what they are eating. The push to "go green" and eat organic has been increasing daily. Why should this not be carried down all the way to middle and elementary schools? Chef and author, Alice Waters, created the Edible Schoolyard based on this concept. In 1995 Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkley, CA got just that. They founded an organization that was made to "create and sustain an organic garden and landscape that is wholly integrated into the school’s curriculum, culture and food program."

When I first started watching this, I thought that it was a concept that would go right over the children's heads. Most middle school students are not very concerned about their personal health and eating habits, they would rather live off of pizza and icecream. I was suprised to see how excited these chidlren were getting about the project. By learning these healthy habits early, there is a better chance they will continue to follow them into a healthy adulthood. I definitly think the Edible Schoolyard is a very creative and fun way to teach students and it should be tried in other schools across the country.

iTunes University

After writing the last post about the possibility of using iPods in classrooms, I was interested to see what Apple, the creator if iPods, thought about it. TO find out, i visited the Apple Education Site to find out more.

According to the website, Apple is using iTunes University to let teachers distribute digital lessons to their students. Since the students are going to bring their cellphones and iPods to school anyway, they might as well take advantage of this and use it to their (the teachers and the company) advantage. Podcast are sent to students over their iPod or iPhone and then they are able to study and learn on their own time. If something comes up, the student is easily able to pause the podcast and come back to it later, leaving no excuse for why they could not finish their homework.

Apple is even making it very easy for teachers to use. The students already have the devices, so all the teachers need to do it get the software to use it, and Apple makes everything they will need. Clearly, learning does not only take place in the classroom anymore.

iPods in Instruction

In todays classrooms, everything from food to youtube is being used to teach, so why not iPods? Using iPods in a classroom is never something I would have thought about, but after being about it, I see that it is an idea that would actually work! I read this article on how iPods are being used in the classroom. It said that within the last year, the number of iPods being used in classrooms has quadrupled and the number of classes using them has doubled. That was very suprising to me!

I like the idea of lectures being uploaded so you can listen to them anywhere. I think that would take a lot of the stress out of the class because if you miss something while taking notes, you do not have to panic, you can just go back and listen to it later. I also think that many students would use the iPods just to listen to music or watch videos and ignore what is going on in the class which could ruin the chance of using them for class work for everyone. It may also give studetns an excuse for not going to class since they can just upload it later. Even though there are some downsides to using iPods, like anything else, in a classroom, I think it is a concept worth trying out.

Dr. Christie's Website

I decided to write my blog this week on Dr. Alice Christie's website. Specifically, I am writing about the part on Electronic Portfolios. A Electronic, or digital portfolio is a collection of your teaching or scholastic artifacts but together in some kind of multimedia program. At USA, we use Folioteck for this.

That was the main reason why I decided to write my blog on this topic. In the education major here, we all have an electronic portfolio and I was wondering if using this technology for something so important was better that just keeping a paper file. Something Dr. Christie said that I really agree with is that a portfolio has to be more than just a bunch of documents thrown together. It has to have purpose and structure. She said that a portfolio needs to be organized around standards, just like ours are. I think this will make it much easier to make sure that you have everything you need to go out and start teaching in a school.

She also said that your portfolio needs to contain future goals based on your past performances. I think this is very important too. Having your goals as a teacher clearly listed in your portfolio will be a big help to future employers. It lets them know where you want to go with your teaching career and if you are a good fit for their school. That way there is less of a chance that you will spend a few months or years there just to find out that it is not the right school for you and then you have wasted your time.

By making your portfolio electronic, you have less of a change of losing important documents and more of a chance of being hired as a teacher. This shows the employer that you are not only organized but computer and technology literate, which is a big plus! You can find out more on what Dr. Christie had to say by clicking here

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a "free, multilingual enclylopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation" (www.wikipedia.com). This site is often used as a reasearch tool by people all over the world. I definitely think that Wikipedia can be used as a source of information for research. At the same time, I do not think that Wikipedia should be your ONLY source for research.

One reason why WIkipedia should not be a trusted source as a final answer to anything is because anyone can make changed to the information on wikipedia. According to The NPR Blog major corporations have been going into wikipedia and making changes to entries containing negative references or information on them. These companies include Exxon, Walmart, and even the CIA. That makes you wonder if you can believe anything you see on the website.

On the other hand, you are able to see who the source of the information is, so you can decide for yourself if the informatin is reliable. If you are doing research on something like Walmart, you may want to check other sources where Walmart is not able to have only the informatin they want posted, but, if you are writing about George Washington, atleast some of the information on Wikipedia should be usefull. Users need to use Wikipedia at their own disgression and check all of the facts they decide to use.