Lesson Eight: Online tools

Although I am not yet teacher, I can see how online communication tools can be extremely valuable resources in a classroom. Throughout this class, we have studied a wide variety of different types of technological tools. I learned about technological standards, databases, WebQuests, software that has been created for those with limitations, desktop publishing, PowerPoints, and other types of educational software.

I think that utilizing these things in combination with online tools is a wonderful opportunity for educators and students alike. Through the WebQuests, I learned about helping students utilizing the internet as a multimedia resource for learning. In addition to having the students use online communication tools, using all the things we have learned about in this course will be great for educators.

By seeing examples of documents created using desktop publishing, different ways databases are utilized, or types of software that can be used to assist students is a great way to learn new ways to use technology in the classroom.

When using online tools, one has to be careful about malicious software. It is a best practice to have anti-virus software and to only download things from a trusted source. This can limit your exposure to viruses that can ruin your personal computers, classroom computers, and potentially be spread to others you know if your email address book is “hacked” by the virus.

Through this class I have realized that technology is a wonderful addition to traditional teaching and can help reinforce and expand upon the knowledge a student gains in class. With this great tool, however, as an educator you have to be sure that you use the tools in an appropriate and effective way.

Lesson Seven: Educational Software

This week, the lesson was about education software. Although I am not yet a teacher, I have been fortunate enough to see a variety of educational software being used where I observed.

One of the programs used was Lexia, a tutorial program. With Lexia, each of the students is completing the program at their own pace. The software teaches them material, then they play mini-games to quiz themselves on it. As they progress, the students earn certificates as they move up in levels. The students I observed really enjoyed this part since all of the certificates were posted outside of the classrooms.

Screen shot from Lexia. Image Source.

What I liked most about the Lexia program was the fact that on each “level” there were indicators to show the students what their score were in comparison to what they needed to advance.  It was in a format similar to a thermometer that would “fill up” as they got the scores they needed on each assignment. As they got a high enough score, the indicator would fill up, and once it was full, they could work on filling up another.

This helped them to feel more responsible versus just doing the same part over and over until it was complete. They could redo the activities in any order. If they needed a break from one activity, they could focus on another aspect of that level. Every class goes to the library computer lab four days per week to work in Lexia.

The software covers whatever material is on each individual student’s level. The teacher I observed who was using Lexia said that she could identify improvement in her students overall. When I asked about how well the students were able to catch on and use the software, she said that it was extremely fast. According to her, most of the students had figured out how to use the software before she and the librarian had time to show them.
           

All of the students really seemed to enjoy the software, and getting certificates for each level that they completed. All of the certificates were displayed outside of the classrooms, and the students were extremely proud of their work.

EDOL 533: WebQuests

Prior to this week, I had no experience with WebQuests. I had never completed a WebQuest as a student and hadn’t ever seen one. I think the hardest part about creating a Quest would be making sure that isn’t something you could normally do without using the Internet.

For me, the hardest part of creating my WebQuest was deciding on what I wanted the content to be, since I am not yet a teacher. I looked at dozens of examples of both well done and quickly put together Quests. I looked through them and tried to find examples that would help serve a cross-curricular purpose. The ones I found to fulfill this the best were the traveling Quests. I explored several Quests before starting on my own.

I decided to do a WebQuest where the students will plan a trip for a “Pen Pal from England”. The scenario is that they were planning a five day trip for their pen pal’s family of four to Kentucky. 

Screen shot from my WebQuest

The main goals of my WebQuest were three fold. One: Students research the counties in Kentucky that were approved (I limited the area they could have the trip be in, to lessen the overwhelming amount of options) to discover interesting and different activities and locations. This will help them to learn about their home state! It would also be a great way to learn about your county and the impact of tourism on the local economy.

The second goal was for them to maintain a travel budget for the trip of $2,000. In this scenario, the family had already paid for their travel to the US, but the students were responsible for allotting funds for activities, lodging, travel (such as a rental car) and food for the trip.

The final goal was for students to create a brochure marketing their trip to the family. This will help them to utilize and demonstrate an understanding of the principles of design while allowing them a creative outlet within the project.

These goals, focusing on social studies, economics, math, and art are all wrapped up in a fun and exciting project!

To visit my WebQuest, go here: Plan  your Pen Pal’s trip toKentucky.

Please let me know what you think!

Lesson Five: Online Communicaiton Tools

As an educator, I have not yet used Online Communication Tools in the classroom because I am not yet a teacher. I have used these tools as a student, and have found them to be extremely helpful.

One of the classes I took as an undergrad had what was hands down the most helpful website I have ever seen. Posted on the website were our assignment instructions, links to articles about the topic we were covering that week, discussion boards so that students could discuss the materials or plan a study session, and all of our study guides.

In addition to just having our grades posted, there was also a chart comparing our grades to the class average, what our current average was, and what we needed to get on upcoming assignments to get a certain grade in the class. The professor also used this site to post extra credit opportunities. There was also a place where we could email him questions, even anonymously if we didn’t feel comfortable with him knowing who asked.

This amazingly thorough and well planned website made the class much more enjoyable. Ironically enough, this website made the 300 person class one of the classes that I had the most interaction with the teacher.

A website that is as interactive as the one I just described may not be as practical outside of the college setting. I do, however, plan on having a class website, regardless of the age I teach.

On this website, I will have an archive of class newsletters, assignments posted with detailed instructions (no more excuse for lost homework!), and helpful links. The links will include fun and relevant sites that will give students more information and give them the opportunity to practice whatever we are learning.

One part of the website that I plan on having is a blog. Depending on the age of my class, the format of the blog will change a bit. With an older class, the students will do the updating. This will help with their writing skills and give them personal responsibility. It will be a great way to write about ongoing projects, such as a science experiment or pen pals. A blog would also be a good tool for a large group project, where the members could alternate who writes, and they can report on their project, including pictures and graphics that they create.

I think a class website, even if it isn’t super extensive, can go a long way in enriching and supplementing classroom activities.

Lesson 4: PowerPoints

My PowerPoint was created for a beginning band class. It was about the different instrument families and what makes them different. The PowerPoint then described each instrument. For every instrument, there was a video example to show the students what the instrument looks like, how it is played, and what it sounds like. It was presented to beginning band students in 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade.

The most exciting part of the presentation was selecting songs to go with each of the instruments being demonstrated. Since this was many of the students’ first time being introduced to some of the instruments, I wanted the examples to be fun and relatable to them. I chose many examples from popular music, such as a saxophone player that covered Beyonce’s Halo. More fun examples include Greg Pattillo performing the Mario theme on flute and a Lady Gaga cover by a group of bassoonist.

Some of these were chosen for more than just the “relatable” factor. For example, I wanted to show a male playing flute on the PowerPoint so that it would help break the stereotype that “only girls play flute.”

As for the layout of the PowerPoint, I am a firm believer that less is more. There were pictures of each instrument and bullet points for the main points, such as instrument family, material it was made of, and how it is played. I think that PowerPoints should not be able to be viewed without the speaker present, that is, it should not have all the words you say on it. It should just be visual reinforcement of what you are presenting.

Overall, the presentation was very well accepted by the students in the class. They seemed to enjoy it, and had a great time hearing the songs they knew from the radio on the band instruments.

Something I would have done differently is selecting a song that is more like what they will actually play. While they enjoyed the Mario theme, it included beat boxing, which will NOT be happening in the band. Now they are all concerned with how to play the “cool” music and not beginning band literature.
            Before the PowerPoint is presented again, it will have to be edited to be more in line with what they might realistically play. I will still try and find interesting and fun materials, but more in line with typical band literature.

Lesson 3: Desktop Publishing and Word Processing

During this week’s lesson, I learned quite a bit about technology can for students with differing learning needs. Some of the technologies, such as text prediction, text-to-speech and assistive input devices, like mini keyboards was very interesting. I knew that there was technology that assisted with students with severe physical limitations, but I had never thought about word processing being a solution for students with limited fine motor skills, like writing.

Reading about these obstacles for some learners reinforced what I already knew about design principles. I believe what makes flyers, posters, and newsletters more understandable and user-friendly is a combination of things. You need to have enough white space on the material so that the reader will know, very clearly, where they are to be looking. This also allows for visual “rest”. A cluttered page without enough white space can make the reader feel overwhelmed and rushed to absorb the information being presented.

I also think that a clear definition is necessary if the material has different subjects. The example of some work I have created is a newsletter. Since I am not yet a teacher, my example is a newsletter that I created during one of my internships. This newsletter is for the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center. I designed the layout, edited the articles, as well as wrote one of the pieces. In this newsletter, the different articles are highlighted by rules (or lines separating the items), larger space between columns, or in some cases, different colored backgrounds. The articles also all contain a headline, and in articles that split pages, a jump line.

The principles behind this newsletter is the same as one I would create for the parent’s of my students, or, with older students, have them create as a class. For teaching, I would also utilize more graphics. I feel like for a student, there is too much text, and not enough of the visual element in this newsletter. In my teaching, I would break the sections up more definitively to not take away from the material, or have it be distracting from the reader.

           

For a newsletter I would have my students create, I would have them incorporate more photos, so that they could become familiar with using a digital camera, and with inserting photographs. This would also be a great way to showcase if they are explaining something that has multiple steps or changed over a period of time (such as a plant they may grow as a part of a science unit).

Lesson Two: Spreadsheets and Databases

I am a huge fan of spreadsheets. That may be weird to say, but I use them very frequently in my personal life. Creating budgets, organizing addresses, and making schedules are a few of the ways I utilize Microsoft Excel, fairly frequently in my personal life.

Since I am such a fan of spreadsheets and databases on my own, it makes sense to me that they would be a wonderful resource in the classroom. Although I am not yet a teacher, I already have a few ideas of how I can use these tools in my future classroom. One way I plan introducing the use of spreadsheets is through a survey performed by the students. They survey will be about something of their choosing (favorite foods, number of siblings, time spent outside, just to name a few) and then be compiled into a database. This is also a great opportunity to learn about other subjects. For example, parts on an experiment (sample size, correlation vs. causation, sampling error, etc) or graph making, in order to effectively display the information that was gathered.

One simple way to utilize spreadsheets that I did not know about prior is an “attitude” scale. In this, kindergarteners’ daily behavior was recorded each day based on a color representing their behavior for the day. Then, at the end of each month, they would review the chart. This seems like a great way to introduce the concept, provide a visual guide for how they are doing, and allows for accountability for every student.

In searching for more resources featuring spreadsheets and databases, I found the Sabine “Classrooms that Excel Resources” page. On this page, there are basic tutorials, tips, and templates to use in Excel. Data sources and formulas and functions are also provided. The site has quite a few projects available at all grade levels! The neatest part of it that I saw was a collection of Spreadsheet Webquests. This seems like a very fun and interesting way to get students using spreadsheets!

Here is the link for this page: http://www.sabine.k12.la.us/class/excel_resources.htm