Print Media Doomed?

Ch. 9 Ethics & Issues 9-1 p. 465

Will widespread wireless broadband connections kill print media? I believe that technology, not necessariliy wireless broadband connections, will ultimately kill print media in its current form. Like Jason Price said in his article ( http://thethirstydogblog.com/2013/12/print-media-doom/ ) , younger people prefer using their technological gadgets to read so do not subscribe to the typical print media like newspapers and magazines.

Will widespread wireless broadband connections, such as Wi-Fi, put an end to printed newspapers and magazines? Why or why not? Yes, because it is so easy to get audio, video, and written content that meets or exceeds what a newspaper or magazine would provide. Websites like twitter give you world wide information before CNN or your local paper knows about the next “big event”. Real time information is made possible by wireless connections and cellular data. Why wait for a newspaper to tell you what all your friends are talking about in real time right now?

Would you prefer to read newspapers and magazines in print or on a  mobile device that provides similar or better readability as compared to print media? Why or why not? I like my newspapers and magazines on my mobile device to help me not have so much clutter. With tools like Pinterest and Evernote, I can curate the online content I read so I can find and later use things from the online content to do things later - cook, sew, study for a test, teach a class, build something, etc. Much better than a bunch of ideas pinned to a bulletin board or stacked in a file cabinet.

How can the media industry take advantage of the wireless internet trend? I think they have by connecting to ways that today’s reader can curate content they read - the media industry “listens” to people on Twitter to find out where “the news is happening”, they follow blog writers on Pinterest to see what diy project people are working on, they share content on Facebook to draw people to their brand. Social media has provided many great ways to connect with users of media content. The more ways an industry can share, the more money they can stand to make.

Cloud Based Data Storage

Ch. 7 Ethics & Issues 7-3 p. 369

Is data stored in the cloud free from prying eyes? No, data in the cloud is too easily intercepted or shared because there is no absolute way to prove that another individual or company would not be able to access the information. This article by TechRadar http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/data-privacy-how-safe-is-your-data-in-the-cloud--1170332#null , asked some excellent questions that each individual should ask himself before storing data in the cloud. First, how important is privacy with the data? Does it matter if a company uses your data to market things to you? Second, how reliable do you believe the service to be that has your data? It is important to remember that business do fail or stop providing services. Third, what about data encryption? If your data was hacked into by an unknown party, would that cause you distress? Fourth, how continuous is the service? What would happen if the company didn’t allow you access to your data? Fifth, how well does your internet connection perform? Will you able to access your data when you need to if for some reason your internet connection failed? Sixth, how important is copyright? If you upload a photo, video, or written document and these are shared without your permission, how would these resources be protected from dissemination to others without your consent? If these questions do not give you pause, then using cloud storage is a good choice.

Should data kept in the cloud be treated the same way legally as items that are kept in one’s home? Why? Yes, the items in the cloud are still data that you have created and should not be accessed by others without your permission or a warrant from a government official that makes you aware of their access of your data.

Should the government be able to access your data in the cloud without your knowledge or permission? Why or why not? The government shouldn’t have access to your data without your knowledge, however even using social media and having “private” settings, someone should screen shot something you said and share it without your consent with anyone they wanted to. If the content is digital someone somewhere could access it. This Computer World article ( http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9241553/No_your_data_isn_t_secure_in_the_cloud ) said it well “if you're a consumer and you're storing photos, videos, digital music or innocuous documents on a cloud storage service, you may not mind that a hacker or the government gets access to your files.”

What types and amount of personal data are you comfortable storing in the cloud? Why? I am only willing to store digitally - on the cloud or on a computer - those innocuous things that if the government, a family member, friend, or boss saw them it would not have a negative effect. I am even more picky with cloud based data because I know how easy it is to share digital data and once it is shared, it can never be taken back.

Website accessibility

Ch. 6 Ethics & Issues 6-4 p. 328

Should Web Sites be held accountable for accessibility levels for physically challenged people? Yes, I believe that websites should be held accountable for accessibility levels for physically challenged people because the accessibility features help others even if they are not challenged in some way. Within the education community, there is a push to give multi-tier systems of supports in order to help all people, not just those with challenges be successful. Using ideas based on the Response to Intervention website (http://www.rtinetwork.org/essential/tieredinstruction), making websites accessible to all people through video or audio or translation services would be a part of core instruction for all people.

Should the government require that all Web Sites meet the W3C accessibility guidelines? Why or why not? I believe that unless there is a government mandate, many websites will put accessibility on the back burner because it takes extra resources to convert existing web content into accessible content for all people.

Do Web sites hosted by disability organizations have a moral obligation to meet the guidelines? Why? Absolutely, an organization meant to assist those with a disability have a moral obligation to make their content accessible by the individuals who would need to access their resources. I think of my grandfather who became blind as a young adult due to a familial disease. He needed resources in braille or on tape so he could continue to study in college. Thanks to organizations in his day, he was able to get what he needed to be successful. Today’s students need web resources but more must be done to make them accessible.

What can be done to encourage people and organizations to make their Web sites more accessible? The National Federation for the Blind is even having a conference on Web Accessibility Day ( https://nfb.org/web-accessibility-day ) to help businesses and educational entities implement accessibility of web content and to promote government policy changes.

Ban Mobile Devices?

p. 219 Should mobile computers and devices be banned from the classroom?

Are mobile computers and devices too distracting in the classroom? Why? Yes, mobile computers and devices can be distracting in the classroom, but it is up to the teacher to help students understand how to use these devices for positive educational purposes and not be distracted by them. One method to keep students engaged is to have students answer a quick question at the beginning of class using Poll Everywhere which is a program that students can text something to and see changing results on a graph. The potential distraction can then be turned into a positive learning experience. Other teachers have used Poll Everywhere for similar interaction like in the article from Transforming Education through Technology journal http://thejournal.com/articles/2012/03/28/revisiting-cell-phones-bans-in-schools.aspx

Should instructors, departments, or entire schools be able to ban mobile computers and devices in the classroom? Why or why not? In article by NBC (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/35063840/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/t/some-schools-rethink-bans-cell-phones/#.U39LDSjRax0 ) it discussed how schools have been banning devices in the classroom, but students are bringing and using them anyway. These devices have so many applications that make them useful for instruction that I do not believe they should be banned. When I was teaching a geometry class, I actually had students text me answers in class to questions I posed. This allowed students to answer without the fear of shame or embarrassment  from fellow students about getting a wrong answer. I would text back that they were right or needed to try again. It was an amazing tool to help keep those students engaged and it helped me to make sure all students were attempting to answer the question. Officially at that time all electronic devices were forbidden in school. I had advocated for their use in class for educational purposes and I was allowed to attempt their educational use with students using their own devices. It had a positive effect on the students I used it with.

What are proper and improper uses of mobile computers and devices in the classroom? Why? I think in order to use mobile devices properly in the classroom, a teacher has to play with and experiment with similar devices in order to make the best use of them in the classroom. Just getting a bunch of iPads or other mobile device for classroom use without allowing a teacher to become familiar with the device first, benefits no one because the educational uses often get passed over for more non-educational uses that a student may use it for. At https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/1to1/phase2 there are teacher resources that discuss how to implement a 1 to 1 technology iniative. Some proper ways of using mobile devices would be to increase interaction in real time, give access to applications to support learning, and increase individualization of education.

Is the use of a mobile computer and devices more of a distraction than taking notes or doodling in a notebook pad during class? Why or why not? This educause article

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/distraction-engagement-wireless-devices-classroom discussed how to take mobile devices from distraction to engagement.  I do not think that the mobile devices are the cause of the distraction, they are a symptom of classroom climate. It is a teacher’s responsibility to make their class interactive as possible that a student doesn’t have time to be distracted by a mobile device or even just stare out the window. In the educause article it said “distractions caused by computers might be the result of a failure to involve students in the classroom rather than the reason they are not engaged.” This supports my concern that it isn’t the object itself that distracts, but the lack of meaningful classroom interaction with the teacher and other students that allows a student to use their mobile device or notes as a distraction. Another valuable idea is that “professors can actually contract with students to elicit their self-regulation”. Depending on the age of the students, these kinds of contracts will likely have varied success. Helping students to be able to learn self control is a priceless gift to them as they prepare for the work world. If a teacher is using a varied amount of active learning activities in the classroom that require “constant feedback, such as questions and answers, discussions, general assignment feedback, group collaboration, and hands-on activities” then mobile devices could be a tool to aid in these active learning activities, rather than a distraction.

Should you be judged by your internet communications?

p. 100 Should you be judged by your internet communications?

Should employers require that employees adhere to e-mail authoring policies?

I think that employees should adhere to e-mail authoring policies because these policies are in place to protect a business and employees. But I think that employers need to go beyond just e-mail. Employees today may be communicating via text message, email, blog posts, comments on internet sites, etc. and these employees must be aware of their rights and responsibilities for what they write. The model policy for internet, intranet, email, phone, and fax from the government of New Zealand http://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector/strategy/justice-sector-information-strategy/publications/information-knowledge-management-guide/7.14-model-policies-on-the-use-of-the-internet-intranets-email-phone-and-fax did a great job of outlining the importance of positive appropriate usage of internet communications. This site reminded me that what is written is part of the public record and could be used as evidence in a court of law. I am guided by the verse from the Bible that says in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Following this guidance could inform a person’s internet communications and help have a positive communication experience with others.

In general, has e-mail’s impact on communications been positive or negative? Why? I think that in general communication via the internet has been positive. It has allowed short and quick communication. It has allowed for quick feedback that can have a positive affect on communication. A research study into email ( http://www.itdl.org/journal/jun_04/article06.htm ) as feedback showed that email communication can “increase the likelihood of student achievement and satisfaction and promote learner retention.”  

Would you judge somebody by the quality of his or her e-mail message? Why or why not?

I do judge individual's by their email and internet communication. I believe with the tools available today that there is no excuse for a poorly written email. Tools are available to check spelling and grammar as well as applications where a person can speak words and those same words are typed in proper context with correct spelling. In my sewing hobby, there is the adage, measure twice, cut once. I think the same can be said for communication via email and the internet, think and read twice, send or post once.

Could someone's professional reputation be enhanced or hindered by the quality and effectiveness of his or her internet communications? I believe a person's professional reputation could be either enhanced or hindered by his or her internet communication. This article in Forbes magazine http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/03/14/6-steps-to-managing-your-online-reputation/  did a great job of reminding the reader how to keep a positive online reputation. I personally have created several blogs for the things I am most interested in and I try to add content occasionally to them either in written or video format. The idea that if negative information is on the third page of a Google search, then people won't notice it seems logical. It is still it important to know that negative unprofessional content may exist sometimes posted by others. When writing content or posting pictures or videos to the internet, referring to the guidance from Philippians 4:8 would go far to keep a person’s internet reputation positive.

Final Capstone Reflection Things 1-21

Two technological items that I was introduced to while going through 21 Things for 21st Century Educators were Evernote and Diigo. I think both of these technology applications will make me a better professional because I can learn and share with others so they can learn more as well. I can be more productive and save paper from printing by looking at my diigo highlighted articles and with Evernote I can actually clip the entire article for reading later even if the website disappears. I see Diigo and Evernote as tools that help both me and my students to better summarize and take notes so we can see the similarities and differences between the different author’s points of view. We can also take our summaries and use them to generate and test hypothesis as we extend our knowledge. I think that digital storytelling is a thing that I will be incorporating more into my classroom. I see digital storytelling as a combination of visual learning, digital images, and sometimes screencasting. Digital storytelling requires students to think through what the main message is to be shared with their audience through succinct digital images - either still or video - with a sound track or captions that will catch another person’s attention. Digital storytelling requires students to put into practice all of the NETS-S. Most specifically the student must be creative in production of an original story covering a particular topic that requires multiple types of technology to complete. Students must communicate and collaborate with their team partners as well as consider how they communicate appropriately with their audience. Students must research how to best photograph or video record their subject. Students must evaluate, synthesize, and process all of the information about their subject into the creation of their story. Managing a project like this requires deep critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making to create the best project. Students will become better digital citizens when they see how human, cultural, and societal issues converge in their story. Because of the different facets of a digital story, students will learn how to select and use technological applications to create their story. Trouble shooting these applications and transferring what they know to others will happen because projects require those skills. It will be exciting to see what happens as I use digital storytelling with my students. One thing that I will use to continue growing professionally is developing my professional learning network through Twitter. I want to give myself 15 minutes a day to log in, read the pithy thoughts of others and read through linked articles that others have found useful, and collect their tweets in my diigo library or collect the articles in my Evernote notebook. I also want to interact with the individuals I follow on twitter by commenting on their tweets and links that they share. My interaction on Twitter has been a priceless to my growth and ability to connect with others who think deeply about ideas that I care about and share what they learn with others. One aspect of digital citizenship that I want to do well and teach my students and co-workers to do well is to create a positive digital footprint. I want students to see how I interact with people on Twitter and in my blogging and for them to model that behavior in their own online presence. I want students to understand that there must be boundaries about what personal information is shared online. I want them to live a life without regret and guilt over a status update, photo or video that they have uploaded. I want to remind them of the Golden Rule - treat others as you would want to be treated. I want them to think critically about how they use digital resources and to contribute to online communities in a positive way to build up others. My views have been widened through this course because I have come to see how wide technology is and where students could get into situations where negative choices could be made. Helping students have positive experiences and helping students learn positive ways of behaving will make all the difference as I move on in the way I educate young people about technology.

Thing 21 Screencasting Reflection

I have been creating screencasts since May 2012. I have found out how important it is for me to wear my headset so extraneous noise doesn’t distract from the video and how important it is to use text tools to type as much text as I can for a student to see. I find having my picture in the picture useful to connect with students when they are viewing my videos outside of my classroom. My students have told me that shorter videos are better than longer ones. Also keeping one main idea to a video is best so students can focus on that idea and then create their connections before moving onto a new idea.

When I think about my screencasts, I know that screencasts with step by step directions are very useful for students who lack confidence in their problem solving skills. As I think about the videos that I have posted on my youtube channel, the ones that are watched the most are the ones where I balance chemical equations. The fact that people view them from all over the world is amazing. It gives me such a good feeling to know that I am helping many people not just those that are in my classroom. Some things that my math students struggle with the most are ratios, fractions, the distributive property, and solving for a variable. I have made some of those tutorials already but I would like to rework some of them to better connect my students to the necessary ideas to be successful.

Thing 20: Online Video and Audio Resources Reflection

Online video and audio resources are a great educational tool that has become very useful and easily acquirable in the last decade. Tools like youtube, teachertube, discoveryeducation, and learn360 are all great locations where videos have been collected. Now even better curation tools are making their mark to create collections of videos for educators and students. Curation sites like mentormob and sophia are free tools that help educators find videos that are the best of the best. These curation tools make it easier for teachers to find what they need, when they need it, quickly. Audio tools like iTunes often have videos attached to them so a student can see what is going on in a podcast. These videos and audio resources help me to connect students early on to something interesting and in a media format that catches their attention. Video and audio resources are a great way to motivate an opening to a lesson.

Videos are great for seeing and hearing the big picture for a particular topic so a student receives the information in more than one way. Videos require the ability to view as well as hear so a video can’t be used when walking or driving. An audio resource could be used while walking or driving because listening is all that is required. I think it is best to remember that a compilation of resources is best without focusing on just one mode of learning.

Thing 19: Digital Storytelling Reflection

Digital storytelling has several great ways it could be used in my classroom. I could use photographs and captions to create a sequence of images related to story problems that students work out. Having students see the step wise progression of solving a problem through pictures would help them to connect the non-linguistic representations of math and science to the concrete problem solving algorithms. Using digital story telling to create mnemonics for problem solving would be another great use. Having students create their own digital stories to show how they solved a question would give them yet another way to see the similarities and differences between how they solved a question and how another student solved a question.

So far the feedback I have received on my project has been positive and points to creativity in my creation. This was helpful in that it was reassuring but I would like more creative critique next time.  This thing was probably the most intense learning curve for me of the entire set of Things because first I had to create a storyboard with succinct ideas that I wanted to get across in my story. Then I had to find pictures that conveyed this idea that were copy-right free or could be used under a Creative Commons license. I made great use of http://pics.tech4learning.com/ , http://www.morguefile.com/archive , and www.flickr.com . As I consider my project there are two things that I would like to edit, now that I have completed the project. With the captions, sometimes the colored background used to separate the caption from the underlying photo weren’t big enough. Next time I would either edit my captions to be much smaller or figure out a way to make the colored background larger. Also I had found a piece of music that I really liked however it wasn’t quite long enough for my presentation. I cut and pasted the pieces together but the transition from the end of the first loop and the second loop is very distinct. Having used Movie Maker for the first time, I think my next uses of Movie Maker will be better and I can play more with other features.

Thing 18 Virtual Classrom

Virtual classroom experiences can be tricky.  As I navigated through the “Land of Online Learning” looking at the requirements from a student perspective, I was reminded just how important collaboration is to success in the virtual classroom. There are so many slippery slopes where student can fall down and it is possible that the student will never recover from those falls. As a private school, the swamp of surprises has held up some students from taking an online class for lack of a mentor to be sure the student is registered in an online course.  Next is the importance of a student having enough connected time to access the material he or she is to cover. Then the slippery slope of completion. I have seen such a difference between several students that I have mentored - some get right into the work, work steadily, and finish before time is up for the class while others make excuses and never get up to speed nor complete the course they started. For me, the infrequent feedback and lack of time with the teacher that is synchronous really thwarted my initial work into the 21 Things for 21st Century Teachers. As an adult learner, I needed to know that my work was being critiqued and I needed feedback to feel confident about my forward movement. My students need that same measure of confidence.

The CAPSpace (TWICE) site was an amazing resource that I think I could use more if I was a teacher of an English, History, or World Languages class. Most of the projects I saw were in those categories. I like the idea of using video conferencing to connect with classrooms across the state or around the world. I would like to develop a network of professionals that I could “bring into my classroom” via skype for a videoconferencing presentation on career items necessary for student success.  I think that video conferencing has power over even watching videos because an individual can talk back in forth in real time and see the responses of his or her fellow conference attendee.

I would like to use moodle to extend my classroom online. There are several different ways I could use moodle to streamline the careers course I teach which would make it easier to give students feedback as they work through their career development plan. An online classroom experience using moodle or google drive would allow students to communicate and collaborate as they learn new information and synthesize the information into different mediums for redistribution to others. I have loved the way that Google drive has allowed me to give feedback on work that students have completed and to see the transitions in their learning as work is reviewed and critiqued. I think this kind of review and critique allows students to use their critical thinking skills and decision making skills to develop the best learning products. This transfer of knowledge from introduction to completion is a great reason to use a virtual classroom to moderate the flow of information. This moderation is one way my teaching and learning will be positively affected and it will help my students meet several NETS-S.

Thing 17 Professional Learning Networks

Wow, MACUL is free!  I had a friend who talked about attending the MACUL conference and the information he was sharing was excellent and gave me tools that I have been able to use in my classroom to improve instruction. It is awesome that the purpose of MACUL is to keep up with the ever changing world of educational technology, collaborate with people who enjoy using technology in their classroom, and learn new things from those that are members in MACUL. I can contribute to an organization like this by my excitement to use technology to improve instruction and support my students new learning.

LearnPort is great and it is how I learned about the Calhoun ISD courses. I like LearnPort because it leads me to webinars that I could watch to grow as an individual and get involved with groups of people who are doing technology based things like I do. I am glad places like LearnPort exist because it inspires me to connect with others to grow as a professional.

The purpose of Twitter, Facebook, and MACULspace is to connect with others who are excited about learning about what others are doing and how we can join others in doing things we find interesting. I see the greatest pro of Twitter is its linear nature. I can go through my tweetdeck with my multiple columns of hashtags and read what is important to me with #edtech or #edchat or #mathed. Tweetdeck helps me not be distracted by streams of information that are unimportant to me or totally off the topic I am interested in at the moment. Another pro of Twitter is that you can follow what another person tweets about without being a member on twitter and without them necessarily following you back. For people that are hesitant to use a social media platform, twitter allows an individual to see a stream of tweets without requiring a sign in. But that leads to a con for Twitter where if I want to communicate with someone on Twitter, I must be signed in to my account. A pro for Facebook is that many people use it personally so that a transition to professional use isn’t so daunting. However a con of Facebook is that you have little control over the stream of content that comes through your news feed and much of the content can be distracting from a professional viewpoint. Although MACUL looks like a great professional organization, MACULspace seems to have gone the way of Myspace, because there seemed to be little relevant new content there. Instead MACULspace seemed to point to twitter as the location to get up to date information. I know that I appreciate social networking sites that make my professional growth easier, not more complicated and distracted. For me Twitter has become my go to social media and networking site for its ease of use and linear stream of content.

Thing 12 Evaluation & Assessment Tools

Currently in my school we have a student information system, RenWeb, which allows access to student demographic information, grades, and medical information. It has been helpful for parent communication and co-worker communication because we can see how students are doing in each others courses. I look forward to using course management systems like moodle to streamline how students access and complete work. Data warehousing of item level information for assessment would also be helpful for teachers to use to inform instruction. The biggest challenge right now is getting our data into a tool that allows us to run reports, find similarities and differences, and look at trends.

The FERPA/HIPAA quiz was informative because I wasn’t aware of some of the particulars of FERPA. I thought that once a student turned 18 and graduated from high school, that their parent no longer had access to their child’s educational record. I learned that was false, as long as the parent still claimed the child on their IRS forms, the parent had the right to see the child’s educational record. Another interesting thing I learned is the lack of length of time required for maintaining student records. As a counselor I get calls all the time asking for verification of attendance for students who did not graduate from our institution or for verification that students completed GED testing at our school. I often do not have any records, yet other educational agencies expect that I will have them. It seems obvious that a student should be allowed to see his or her educational record, but then I wonder what purpose it would hold. Keeping FERPA information close at hand is probably the best way to decide if a record should be shared or not.

Rubrics allow me to give students more freedom to complete requirements for a given task. It also allows them to self score themselves to see if they are completing work that is worthy of demonstrating mastery and advanced skill. It helps me to better assess in an objective way, rather than subjectively.

Educational surveys like Google forms are great to collect large amounts of data and summarize that data for further consideration. I used the Google Forms as a survey tool to determine where students were feeling the most need to get practice for the upcoming ACT. In the past I have used Survey Monkey to do needs assessments for our school guidance program. The ease of use for both Google Forms and Survey Monkey make them very user friendly surveying tools.

Thing 14: Productivity Tools

I really enjoyed learning about some of the productivity tools that were in this lesson. I had never heard of Zamzar before and I think it has great possibilities for my work. Being able to convert a text file to a pdf so a student or parent can’t cause the format to be ruined is priceless. Zamzar also allows me to convert files that are in older formats into newer formats especially some work that I did using Corel WordPerfect.

I love using my Google Calendar. I have an app on my phone that takes me directly to all the Google Calendars that I subscribe to so I can keep up with both school and personal events in one place. Each calendar has a different color so I can reference who is doing what and where. I could see using Google Calendar to note test dates and other unique homework assignments. I use a Google spreadsheets for my quarterly plans currently but I could transition those assignments to a Google Calendar for students and parents to follow.

I like using productivity tools like this that are online web based rather than computer application based because I can share my work with others in the cloud without having multiple versions of a resource. I liked using Evernote and its web clipper function to create notebooks. I haven’t shared any yet, but I think that Evernote is a tool I would like to use for students to create portfolios of what they are studying. I see it complimenting diigo as a research organizational tool. I appreciate using a tool like Evernote because it will help keep my class paperless in the research process yet organized.

A big disadvantage of all these great tools is that if the internet isn’t working or the electronic device isn’t working, students, parents, and coworkers can’t use the tools. Another disadvantage is that sometimes lessons get thwarted from forward progress because access is limited by IT stipulations on which what tools are allowed for use in a school. As a technology using educator, it is my challenge to educate my co-workers, administrators, and IT staff about the great tools available and the rationale for their use.

21ThingsBCK Thing 16 Research and Reference Tools

I use mel.org all of the time to better educate myself about different new concepts. Since I am trained as a guidance counselor, I prefer to use APA style for the citations. I am going to compare Infotrac Junior Edition and Infotrac Student Edition.

I looked at Infotrac Junior Edition and read the article

Instagram users should wise up. (2012, December 20). CNN Wire. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA312576238&v=2.1&u=lom_accessmich&it=r&p=STOJ&sw=w

I like that it had full text option and that peer reviewed articles could also be found in this database.  I searched for dolphins and it took me to a Science News article, without pictures, but there was a link to the actual magazine with color photos that would be appropriate for all ages. I think that Infotrac Junior is a great database with access to great full text articles from nice colorful magazines that are attractive to young people.

I looked at Infotrac Student Edition and read the article

Ehrenberg, R. (2012, December 29). Scientists take on Twitter: social media comes into its own as a tool and a subject for study. Science News, 182(13), 22. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA313796244&v=2.1&u=lom_accessmich&it=r&p=STOM&sw=w

Infotrac Student Edition seemed basically the same as Infotrac Junior edition. It think both are very simple to use for young people, intuitive, and clear about the results from credible sources given based on a particular topic. This clarity makes both databases appropriate for middle school and high school research.

For the advanced searching I used the Academic OneFile and read the article

Angelova, R., Lipczak, M., Milios, E., & Pralat, P. (2010). Investigating the properties of a social bookmarking and tagging network. International Journal of Data Warehousing and Mining, 6(1), 1+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA215246715&v=2.1&u=lom_accessmich&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

I appreciated the color pdf file where I could read all about social bookmarking and discussing the properties that were found within the social bookmarking constructs.

I think it was a really useful database with peer reviewed journals that had pdf of the exact article so that I could see the mathematical expressions and graphs in their original form.

Another article I read in the Academic OneFile was

Erwin, H. E., & Fedewa, A. L. (2011). Stability balls and students with attention and hyperactivity concerns: implications for on-task and in-seat behavior. AJOT: American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(4), 393+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA263786116&v=2.1&u=lom_accessmich&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Bushong, S. (2009). Keeping Students on the Ball. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(21). Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA192644092&v=2.1&u=lom_accessmich&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Was another very short article that was about stability balls.

These articles are useful as I look at participating in a research project with my students. Having information like this available is really useful to a teacher and allows me to share information with students that is from a reputable source. It is appropriate for high school students and the content is much more higher academic so it would require additional research skills in order for students to make the best use of this content because the articles come from peer reviewed journals, not from magazines.

I liked the citation makers on each article so that students could create an annotated bibliography of their research with a link back to the mel.org database location where it was originally found. Being able to use APA or MLA is useful depending on which format is required in a particular discipline. I think that using a citation maker like this should begin by grade 3 because by then students can understand the concept of written work belonging to another and they can understand how important it is to properly attribute material they use from another person within their own written work.

Thing 9 Copyright and Creative Commons Reflection

It was interesting that among my senior students and faculty that answered my questions there was a difference in how photos and text would be treated. Seventy-seven percent of responders answered no to the statement “any photo on the internet is in the public domain and I may use it without attributing it to its creator.” Sixty two percent of responders answered no to the statement “any text I share on social media like Facebook, twitter, or a blog is copyrighted to me immediately upon publishing it to the internet”. Sixty two percent of responders answered yes to the statement “any picture or video I post on the internet is my content and is copyrighted to me.”  Seventy-seven percent of responders answered true to “Copyright protection is given to an author or creator of a work for his or her lifetime and 70 years after the individual's death.” Ninety-two  percent of responders answered yes to “It is best to ask the owner of a work for permission to use it rather than be found in violation of copyright.”  Eighty-five  percent of responders answered true to “Registration of your created work allows you to have a public record that you created the work in question if there is an issue of copyright violation.” Fifty-four percent of responders answered no to “Using a Creative Commons attribution allows another user to use content someone else created as long as the new creator shares the new content with others.”  Fifty-four percent of responders answered yes to “You can use short video clips from another individual and put together a montage of these clips. You own the new montage.” Fifty-four percent of responders answered yes to “I can use pictures I find on the internet for backgrounds on a presentation without citing who took the pictures.” Fifty-four percent of responders answered yes to “As long as I don't make money off of what copyrighted content I use, it is okay to use it for my purposes.”

When I use Creative Commons I feel like it gives other educators a helping hand in creating something for their classroom without reinventing the wheel. I think that more educators should use Creative Commons and make their great ideas open for others to build upon their work and share the newly created work more. Collaboration is so important and Creative Commons gives an excellent vehicle to make this collaboration less cumbersome with respect to copyright and fair use. Educators have the best interest of their students in mind as they create their new tools. Creative Commons allows great minds to create even greater text and media to share and strengthen education.

Thing 15 Staying Informed Reflection

I have been using Google Reader since March of 2012. It has changed the way I find information on the web. It brings feeds from different blogs and news agencies all together in one place. From this one place, I can choose to go out to the individual blogs to read more, especially if a feed has been truncated. Several blogs that I follow truncate their feeds because their blog entries were being posted verbatim on other “gathering” sites without necessarily providing links back to the original writer or blog. Another important thing to know about an RSS aggregator is that if I only read the content in the agggregator, the blog author doesn’t get the site usage information they would otherwise gather through products like Google Analytics. That site usage information may be used to help the blog owner make money or to help the blog owner decide what kind of content will be created next based on high traffic postings. I love my Google Reader and when an author creates something that is important enough to read, I click through to the original content to give the author information they can use to be a better content creator.

Sometimes having an individual RSS content stream would be useful. An example for me is Science Codex - a site that aggregates short research abstracts. It sends me so many reader subscriptions that sometimes I just delete them all without reading them because I don’t have time to catch up with the abstracts. I am sure there is a way, but I haven’t figured it out yet, to filter the different types of blogs into folders. For example, my education blogs, my crochet blogs, my cooking blogs, and my sewing blogs would go in individual folders and I can use my time more effectively to read through content in those individual areas but not all at once.

Thing # 13 Online Interactive Learning Tools Reflection

Google Earth is an awesome educational tool that could be used in many different ways to better understand the world around us. I read about a research study in Chicago where the researcher used Google Earth to determine the amount of community gardens in the Chicago area. Using data that is readily available like Google Earth can allow researchers to learn more about their community in order to make it better. Having parks, gardens, and bodies of water make our lives better and these are characteristics that can be seen on Google Earth. Giving students the big picture about the world and their place in it is often eye opening to some that have never been out of the state of Michigan, out of the midwest, or out of the United States.

I liked the StudyStacks because it was easy to sign up using my Facebook login information and it was super easy to create my stack with two columns given to enter information into for the flash cards. I can see students using StudyStacks on their smart phones to practice for an upcoming test. Carrying around a bunch of flash cards can be bulky and inconvenient. Using an application like StudyStacks, a student can carry around thousands of flashcards and have plenty of room for more on his or her electronic device. I like that a student could create their own StudyStack that could focus in on something the student really feels they need to study. Giving our students more tools to learn is another reason to use web 2.0 tools.

Thing 13 Flashcards Portfolio piece

I uploaded the link to my Rational Equations flashcards on my Algebra 2 site. I hope my juniors can use those flashcards to get better and reducing rational expressions.

Thing #11 Presentation Tools

Today I was experimenting more with creating presentations for my students. They are so used to multi-media presentations that prezi is a lot more appealing to them. Figuring out how the frames work together was a major learning curve for me. I finally figured out how rearrange the frames so that I can focus on the most important part of presentation one “step” at a time. I used a template that had a set of stairs leading to a door at the top. I think this non-linguistic representation is a great metaphor for the process that students take as they prepare their learning direction for college.

PowerPoint is so linear in comparison to prezi. I like the way prezi allows me to zoom into a particular part of the screen so that students are focused on just one area and not the whole page at one time. I think that is useful because students can get distracted by all the different choices afforded to them and with prezi their distraction can be dissipated.

    Using online tools like prezi allows me to create a new kind of presentation to share with students to connect with them my students on a new level.  I could see them using a project like this to pick their specific “steps” on their way to fulfilling their general education requirements. Each step could be the courses they specifically picked based on their interests. Hopefully a project like this could help them better understand and connect the steps of graduating with their actual choices.
    Zoom It is a great tool. I have used it to show students some specific points on graphs in math class.  Again it focuses in on a specific part of a picture and helps me keep students connected to the important part of a graphic that I have projected in my classroom.

Thing #10 Digital Images

I like to use digital photo sites to post photos that I want students to use without having to pay a lot of money. I know that on my blogger site there is a limit to the number of pictures I can upload. I want to begin using flickr to upload the photos of my class lectures so that students can refer to them if their notes are incomplete or if a student was absent from class. The photo sharing site makes it useable to many different people. As I have been reading Marzano, it makes me want to use non-linguistic representations more often and digital photo sharing sites allow me to do so more easily.

I am cognizant of the difference between public photo sharing and password protected sites. I have to say it is annoying to have to create an account to be able to view photos that are on password protected sites. I really like the Creative Commons attribution because then I can share my content with others and I can add to the educational tools that are present on the internet.