For this assignment, I chose to interview Kristin Ezzell, a history teacher at my school. She has about the same amount of experience teaching as I do, and she had very similar answers to the assigned questions as I did.
Ms. Ezzell said that the criteria she uses to decide which online tools to use with her students basically cover the three following ideas: Is it user-friendly? Does it teach the necessary material in a variety of ways/does it offer differentiated instruction? Does it collate data and/or self-grade and allow for feedback to both students and teachers.
One of the tools she has been using for the past year is Google Forms for weekly assessments. Because our school has limited technological resources available, she had to receive special permission to sign up for the only Chromebook cart our school has every Friday of the year. The stipulation was that she could have the cart of Chromebooks for her students during 1st, 2nd, and 4th period, every Friday, but teachers were aware that they could call her to ask if she needed them every week, just in case she wasn't using them. For what she told me, I think there were some teachers who weren't happy that she had the only available Chrome-cart every Friday, and I can really understand that. But I really think that this is a prime example of how teachers can utilize technology that's available, but also how schools really need to provide the necessary tools for their teachers to use.
When I asked her what advice she would give to other teachers trying to replicate the same procedure, she said that she would also advise them to ask permission from the technological rep in the school as well as administration. She also advised speaking with the Instructional Tech to see if it would be possible to implement BYOD for one day per week. She mentioned that allowing students to use their own devices would ease tensions among staff and free up the limited technology our school has for other students to use.
I agree with Ms. Ezzell that the technology should be able to give feedback and data, and hopefully, that it could alleviate some grading from the teacher. As one of the teachers who uses the only chromebook cart our school has, I think it might have been better if she had rotated her use of computer labs and the chromebook cart based on how many students she has in her classroom.
Friday, June 30, 2017
Sunday, June 18, 2017
PSA Viewing Reflection
Role: Parent
Video 1: Telenor the Essay Commercial
I believe that the main idea was that even the "craziest" or far-fetched ideas are attainable, and not everyone will believe in you. As a parent, I was rather disappointed to see that her parents didn't believe in her dreams.
I think the audience is the basic market for cell-phones--the general public who want to be the people getting the newest version of a cell phone and it's capabilities, even if that made a person "different."
I think that the main focus of this video was about how people treated the little girl because she was ahead of her time. If we are supposed to want to buy that phone to be ahead of our time, the leap in logic would lead you to believe that "we should buy that phone even if people treat us like outsiders." I'm not sure watching a small child be bullied, taken to psychiatrists, and disbelieved by everyone around her was the most effective way to sell a cellphone.
Video 2:We Think
I believe the main idea of this video was that being online is best for everyone because it creates "Mass Innovation," which allows anyone and everyone to share their ideas and come up with the best ones.
I think that anyone who is wary of the Internet and how to use it/why to use it is the audience for this video.
I believe that the method of using mainly text for the audience to read was effective. I think that reading something makes people think about it more in-depth than watching a video or skit about that same topic would. I liked that it was a simple way to explain a simple concept about a very technical mode of communication and innovation.
Video 1: Telenor the Essay Commercial
I believe that the main idea was that even the "craziest" or far-fetched ideas are attainable, and not everyone will believe in you. As a parent, I was rather disappointed to see that her parents didn't believe in her dreams.
I think the audience is the basic market for cell-phones--the general public who want to be the people getting the newest version of a cell phone and it's capabilities, even if that made a person "different."
I think that the main focus of this video was about how people treated the little girl because she was ahead of her time. If we are supposed to want to buy that phone to be ahead of our time, the leap in logic would lead you to believe that "we should buy that phone even if people treat us like outsiders." I'm not sure watching a small child be bullied, taken to psychiatrists, and disbelieved by everyone around her was the most effective way to sell a cellphone.
Video 2:We Think
I believe the main idea of this video was that being online is best for everyone because it creates "Mass Innovation," which allows anyone and everyone to share their ideas and come up with the best ones.
I think that anyone who is wary of the Internet and how to use it/why to use it is the audience for this video.
I believe that the method of using mainly text for the audience to read was effective. I think that reading something makes people think about it more in-depth than watching a video or skit about that same topic would. I liked that it was a simple way to explain a simple concept about a very technical mode of communication and innovation.
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Francis_Infographicsreflection
I think using infographics in my classroom for students to show theme, main idea, or some kind of research would be the best way I could use them. They might even be able to use these to explain a grammatical concept, or to map out a story sequence, or explain a vocabulary word. I really like the idea of using infographics as a substitute to a PowerPoint or research presentation. Depending on the program used, it can be very user friendly and students can be very creative with it.
Because of my high school aged students, they can use this technique to take concepts and teach their peers or explain their own ideas. I think the availability of computer labs in my school would suffice to be able to utilize some of these options. Because it's all online software (and I especially liked Canva), it's very easy to use.
Because of my high school aged students, they can use this technique to take concepts and teach their peers or explain their own ideas. I think the availability of computer labs in my school would suffice to be able to utilize some of these options. Because it's all online software (and I especially liked Canva), it's very easy to use.
Sunday, June 4, 2017
Online Presentations Reflection
I liked Padlet, and it would be great as a type of journaling assignment or a portfolio for students to create, but it's hard for me to envision how else I could use it in my classroom.
I would use, and I have used, Adobe Spark Video before. I've used it in my English 12 Remedial classes, and had students create PSAs on a topic of their choice. I really like that it is incredibly user friendly and gives options without being overwhelming. The image search that is built in is also really useful, especially since all of the pictures Adobe offers fall under Creative Commons licensing.
Creating the Adobe video was easy enough, however, I think something has changed since the last time that I used it. I could only record 10 seconds of audio at a time, and that was also the longest I could get a slide to run before moving to the next slide. The last time I used it, it allowed me 30 seconds of audio before switching to the next slide. This made me feel rushed, and I'm sure my presentation sounds rough too.
It's somewhat difficult to be able to do online presentations in my school at this current time because of lack of computers. It would be a lot easier to do this type of activity in a 1:1 based school. I think creating these types of presentations, however, is not overly time consuming and can be done while teaching students the 21st century skills they need to learn.
Overall, I liked this assignment, although I would like a little more flexibility in Adobe Spark Video.
I would use, and I have used, Adobe Spark Video before. I've used it in my English 12 Remedial classes, and had students create PSAs on a topic of their choice. I really like that it is incredibly user friendly and gives options without being overwhelming. The image search that is built in is also really useful, especially since all of the pictures Adobe offers fall under Creative Commons licensing.
Creating the Adobe video was easy enough, however, I think something has changed since the last time that I used it. I could only record 10 seconds of audio at a time, and that was also the longest I could get a slide to run before moving to the next slide. The last time I used it, it allowed me 30 seconds of audio before switching to the next slide. This made me feel rushed, and I'm sure my presentation sounds rough too.
It's somewhat difficult to be able to do online presentations in my school at this current time because of lack of computers. It would be a lot easier to do this type of activity in a 1:1 based school. I think creating these types of presentations, however, is not overly time consuming and can be done while teaching students the 21st century skills they need to learn.
Overall, I liked this assignment, although I would like a little more flexibility in Adobe Spark Video.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)