Thursday, April 30, 2009
EDM 310
Although I read several political blogs online, I had never really considered writing a blog myself. Working on this blog has been an experience that I have really enjoyed and would consider continuing beyond this classroom. Google documents as a whole was something I had some experience with before entering this class and had used it most back during the campaign to keep track of contact information for volunteers. Although it still has a few kinks to work out, it has improved significantly since I was first introduced to it. Perhaps the most useful aspect of the Google "works" was Google presentation. I have found it to be a good alternative to Microsoft Powerpoint as it is easier to keep track of your documents and you don't have to worry about saving it, or emailing it to yourself or any other hassle.
I think perhaps out of all of the technologies utilized I enjoyed using iTunes and podcasts the most. Although I use iTunes quite frequently, it was purely for the purpose of purchasing music. Finding educational podcasts and using them outside the classroom has been something I have really enjoyed and I feel that listening to them helped prepare me for the Praxis II exam. This is a technology I could certainly see using, particularly as a teacher where I could create a podcast that would cover days that I may be absent so that my classroom doesn't fall behind.
Finally tools such as ACCESS and ALEX are terrific opportunities for teachers to communicate with each other and share ideas and classroom strategies. As a teacher, one might feel that lecture and other classroom activities are getting dull and repetitive and this provides a great opportunity for teachers to infuse their classroom with fresh ideas. I feel that all these technological options I just listed were the most important aspects of EDM 310 and the ones I will take advantage of in my future career.
I think perhaps out of all of the technologies utilized I enjoyed using iTunes and podcasts the most. Although I use iTunes quite frequently, it was purely for the purpose of purchasing music. Finding educational podcasts and using them outside the classroom has been something I have really enjoyed and I feel that listening to them helped prepare me for the Praxis II exam. This is a technology I could certainly see using, particularly as a teacher where I could create a podcast that would cover days that I may be absent so that my classroom doesn't fall behind.
Finally tools such as ACCESS and ALEX are terrific opportunities for teachers to communicate with each other and share ideas and classroom strategies. As a teacher, one might feel that lecture and other classroom activities are getting dull and repetitive and this provides a great opportunity for teachers to infuse their classroom with fresh ideas. I feel that all these technological options I just listed were the most important aspects of EDM 310 and the ones I will take advantage of in my future career.
This semester I had very little experience with Twitter. However, from what I have learned about it recently, I can see a few ways in which it would be beneficial as well as detrimental in the class. As a teacher, it would be easy to upload addendums to assignments for example and have my students be able to access it quickly. Twitter would be an ideal tool for small updates to various classroom activities.
There are several negatives as well. I feel that with these addendums, students would ask their friends about the assignment rather than seek it out themselves and therefore have an excuse if the directions get distorted. Secondly with our current situation with the swine flu, information travels so quickly that oftentimes it is not correct and people become concerned for no reason. Because of these reasons, I don't have a particularly positive reaction to Twitter and don't foresee using it in my classroom.
There are several negatives as well. I feel that with these addendums, students would ask their friends about the assignment rather than seek it out themselves and therefore have an excuse if the directions get distorted. Secondly with our current situation with the swine flu, information travels so quickly that oftentimes it is not correct and people become concerned for no reason. Because of these reasons, I don't have a particularly positive reaction to Twitter and don't foresee using it in my classroom.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Classroom Podcasts
After reviewing several of the podcasts, I felt that there was a running theme throughout most of them that warrants some attention. First, it was clear that since this was a "live" broadcast many people were nervous. To avoid long pauses, people kept large quantities of notes to ensure that they would not forget anything. However, because of this action, many of these podcasts felt overly rehearsed and unnatural.
Rather than speaking casually and conversationally as occurs in most podcasts, many groups simply took turns reading their contributions to the discussion. Thus the podcasts felt overly transcribed rather than well rehearsed. Additionally, those groups who did engage in some question and answer portions of the podcast felt very unnatural.
Ultimately it is clear that many people were nervous about this exercise. To compensate for this nervousness they rehearsed to the point where their discussion no longer felt natural. Despite these criticisms, I felt that every group excelled at the knowledge of the topic they were discussing and provided an interesting look into whatever field they chose to discuss.
Rather than speaking casually and conversationally as occurs in most podcasts, many groups simply took turns reading their contributions to the discussion. Thus the podcasts felt overly transcribed rather than well rehearsed. Additionally, those groups who did engage in some question and answer portions of the podcast felt very unnatural.
Ultimately it is clear that many people were nervous about this exercise. To compensate for this nervousness they rehearsed to the point where their discussion no longer felt natural. Despite these criticisms, I felt that every group excelled at the knowledge of the topic they were discussing and provided an interesting look into whatever field they chose to discuss.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Benefits of Blogging in the Classroom
After reading Gretta's blog , what struck me the most is how often we diverge in the things we notice in each assignment. This first observation points out one way in which teachers could utilize blogs in the classroom, by observing what each student notices in each assignment the teacher better understands what interests the student and what they ignore.
There is a little more freedom in blogs because there is no right or wrong answer necessarily, just how one responds to what is listened to or observed. As such, students with picking out specific details and instead looking at the assignment as a whole. I think that this is part of how Gretta and I diverged. Additionally, where topics must be selected rather than assigned, the students are allowed to pick something that interests them and they are therefore more inclined to do the assignment. I think giving the students some freedom in writing blogs would be very important to their success.
Yet, as has been observed in this classroom there are cons to writing blogs as well. Since blogs are discussed infrequently, students many times tend to forget about the assignment and fall behind, creating an environment where it becomes more and more tasking to catch up. Thus I think it would be more ideal to grade them throughout the semester rather than at the end to encourage students to maintain their blogs. Individual the blogs themselves are not difficult, but when 3 months of blogs begin to stack up then working on them becomes intimidating.
Overall I think that blogs would be a welcome addition to a classroom if students are able and willing to keep up with their blogs and use them to communicate their ideas effectively.
There is a little more freedom in blogs because there is no right or wrong answer necessarily, just how one responds to what is listened to or observed. As such, students with picking out specific details and instead looking at the assignment as a whole. I think that this is part of how Gretta and I diverged. Additionally, where topics must be selected rather than assigned, the students are allowed to pick something that interests them and they are therefore more inclined to do the assignment. I think giving the students some freedom in writing blogs would be very important to their success.
Yet, as has been observed in this classroom there are cons to writing blogs as well. Since blogs are discussed infrequently, students many times tend to forget about the assignment and fall behind, creating an environment where it becomes more and more tasking to catch up. Thus I think it would be more ideal to grade them throughout the semester rather than at the end to encourage students to maintain their blogs. Individual the blogs themselves are not difficult, but when 3 months of blogs begin to stack up then working on them becomes intimidating.
Overall I think that blogs would be a welcome addition to a classroom if students are able and willing to keep up with their blogs and use them to communicate their ideas effectively.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
"Growth" vs. "Fixed" Mindsets in Learning
In this video podcast, author and professor Carol Dweck is interviewed about her research into growth and fixed mindsets. She argues that students who believe that intelligence is a fixed trait and putting themselves at a disadvantage and will be unable to learn and adapt as well as those who believe in growth learning. People who believe in growth learning, on the other hand, believe that knowledge is something that can be gained constantly and actively seek to learn something new. Intellect is not a fixed characteristic and can be improved over time if one makes the effort.
She mentions a study in which two groups of students were taught in the fixed and growth mindset manner and those educated in the growth mindset improved their grades significantly. Although teachers were unaware which students were involved in which group, the results pointed clearly to the advantages in growth mindsets.
As an educator, this lesson is important to me most of all. After the first few years as our lesson plans are set and become reusable year and year, teachers are tempted to become apathetic and not improve upon their subject matter. By making the effort to continually learn, our brains will continue to develop and hopefully help us become better teachers by increasing our knowledge of our subject matter and the world around us. Thus by following the growth mindset, teachers should be encouraged to remain curious, and to remember that just because they teach it doesn't mean that they cannot learn.
She mentions a study in which two groups of students were taught in the fixed and growth mindset manner and those educated in the growth mindset improved their grades significantly. Although teachers were unaware which students were involved in which group, the results pointed clearly to the advantages in growth mindsets.
As an educator, this lesson is important to me most of all. After the first few years as our lesson plans are set and become reusable year and year, teachers are tempted to become apathetic and not improve upon their subject matter. By making the effort to continually learn, our brains will continue to develop and hopefully help us become better teachers by increasing our knowledge of our subject matter and the world around us. Thus by following the growth mindset, teachers should be encouraged to remain curious, and to remember that just because they teach it doesn't mean that they cannot learn.
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