Loved this Class

I LOVED this class, and learned so much from it. Six months ago I wasn't even considering high-speed internet, now I couldn't live without it!

e-portfolio

Uggghh! I can remember dragging around my art portfolio back when I was in high school. It was so cumbersome and clumsy. If flashdrives would have existed when I was in school, life would have been so much easier!

e-portfolio's are so much easier and more efficient than a hard-copy portfolio of anything. And...it looks so much cleaner and professional. In my reading, I found a percentage that 89% of the nation's schools departments of education are using portfolios in some capacity.

"Trust the Kids with Technology"

"Introducing the kids to technology begins in the first grade...", and "trust the kids with technology", these are two of the best quotes from this video and are from teachers in the Hawaii schools. The theory is that you can't just let kids who already know how to use computers use them. You can't just let the kids who are more advanced use them. Computers are hands-on and by using them can take them around the world, or be useful in their own communities. In a local harbor, they collected seaweed to test "specimens" and then share their findings with the rest of the school. They then make a film, and post on the schools website. This is one example of many different projects that are shared on websites for the school classes to share and learn.

Another cool project that was featured was the researching of their own family trees and creating pictures symbolic of their families.

I printed the article that listed 20 ways to incorporate technology in the classroom to use for the future! I loved all of the painless, easy ways and ideas that can be done to learn technology as well as spelling, math, science, etc... Great article!

Copyright

Who knew there were so many rules?? I always thought that anything on the internet was public domain. Now I know that even postings of any kind are protected just the same as published printed works. Soon copyright owners selling digital rights for reasonable prices will argue before courts inclined to view "making copies" as unjustified under fair use that activities we all consider normal, are actually infringements. How will we respond? If this peek into the future is even close to accurate, we need to get busy right now negotiating with copyright owners for the rights we want for as cheap as we can get .

Interactive White Boards

I LOVE the smartboard!! I thought I used it in another class, but whatever that was - wasn't nearly as cool! Looking forward to learning more about it...I only hope I'm in a school where they have them.

I think students will really enjoy being a part of the lesson and using the tools. It's so different than when I used the overhead projector in third grade and thought that was high-tech!

Editing

I am eager to continue learning about editing and importing music into videos. I love the royalty free website where I can find music and beats to tie into my videos. In researching, I have come across a lot of other websites that are a lot of fun too.

Week of the Water Buffalo

Alright, so I can't deny it...I really did like the Water Buffalo movie. It left me wondering though, did they continue that project to continue "donating" Water Buffalo, or did they stop doing it after that one? I wished they would have concluded with what the future intentions were. It was really a great idea. I tried to focus on the actual movie and techniques that were used, but I did become more interested in the content.

I think that we read the Podcasting article in an earlier class. Since the first time we read it, I have seen Podcasting in several lesson plans for El Ed. I've never done Podcasting/ or listened to it, (whichever is the correct way to say it) but I'm interested in learning. I do want to be a cool and hip teacher who knows technology.

I love this class, and I can't wait to do the video project. My thought was to somehow encorporate a PSA to the Risky Business movie and have my pregnant partner play the role, but I don't think she's going for it?? Anyway, can't wait to see how it turns out!!