Web 2.0 tools in class

I could practically guarantee that 100% of students are already using Web 2.o at home or wherever they access the internet. In light of this, I think that students would be a lot more likely to engage in learning and education if the material was presented on this level. Students might be assigned to create a blog and in that blog act as if they are living within a certain event or time period. They could research and present their information in a way that might be entertaining to the themselves and the rest of the class, instead of handing in a 6 page paper on WWI. I think it would be fun to write and record fake radio bulletins or entire radio programs and turn those into podcasts. I think that history and social studies can be a lot more interesting than the typical read a book and write a paper approach. I would also like to try and use google earth and show the students what different parts of the world look like. So, for instance, when talking about the construction of the Panama Canal, the students could both see the canal and see where it is exactly. I feel that engaging the students on a level that they are already interested in is so important for today's and tomorrow's teachers. Life changes and so should we.

Assignment # 2

My first two categories really go hand in hand. However, to start off, when studying history, it is extremely important to have the facts correct. My goal with these websites was to provide a way that students could find basic information on a person, place, or topic easily. The internet if full of information, however, not all of the information out there is true. There are websites on the internet that are highly unreliable, the most widely-known is Wikipedia. Although, this shouldn't scare students away from finding useful information on the internet. It is the place most easily accessible for students, especially those without cars and who are not within walking distance of the library. This is why I have chosen these web pages and posted them in a groups of databases. The first, Answers.com, is a fairly new site and it seems highly reliable. Unlike Wikipedia, Answers.com pulls excerpts from other resources online. For example, when the term "WWII" is searched a variety of resources a brought up including: The American Heritage Dictionary, Oxford University Press, and Britannica Precise Encyclopedia. As a student it is important to find reliable sources, and even more important to find reliable sources that are easily accessible.

My second category was a step beyond the first. Once students have found strong reliable information about a topic they are researching, they can then investigate what other people may think about it or have written about it. For example, after clicking on the HNN Blogs link, and after entering in the term "WWII" again, pages and pages of blogs pop up in the search. Some of these are from news paper articles others are from personal blogs from professors or educated people. However, some are simply just people who have only dropped the term WWII into their blog for one reason or another. This gives the students a chance to decipher what is fact and what is fiction, what is reliable and what is unreliable. This can add a new perspective on writing research papers. Students can branch out from only using facts and personal opinion, to current or recent public opinion and individual opinion. I do admit that these searches are less reliable then the ones in the previous category, but this is a new idea for research.

My third category is multimedia. I was a little upset that I couldn't locate a good number of sources for this category. However, the onces that I did find are exceptional. The History Channel website is full of video, speeches, pictures, links to just about anything. It is really impressive. Digital History is really interesting as well. There are many different sections of that site, but one thing that I found really neat was the Interactive Timeline. As you dragged the bar across the screen different icons would appear. When highlighted, these icons would display information about an event or place. If the icon was clicked on, a page would pop-up about the subject of the icon. The Discovery Channel has similar aspects to The History Channel, but the topics discussed are slightly different. The neat things about web pages like these is that, students could use these videos, speeches, pictures in presentations and multimedia reports. Instead of simple papers being turning in, students could create blogs with links and moving parts encompassing all of their research on a broad array of media fields.

The fourth category is really straight forward. I tried to find sites full of ideas for projects that could be used in a social studies environment. The students will hopefully see what other people have done in the past and begin to formulate ideas that they want to do. The hard thing about history is that it has already happened and it is not going to change, but hopefully, after reading about what some people have done, the students' minds will be charged full of new ideas on exploring the past and making it come to life. Also, social studies is not just history. It is great for students to get involved in their world today and the social and political events that are happening all around them.

Since it is important for students to remain on top of the world's happenings, I thought it would be useful to have access to news from all around the world. Now obviously, these news sites are not from everywhere on the globe, because the students and myself included only speak English, for the most part. However, seeing the different perspectives from Seattle to New York and then to England can make a huge difference on how a person views a certain event or actions of a person.

"A Day in the Life of Web 2.0"

I just want to start out by saying, "Wow!" I am at a loss to describe how this school functioned in the article. I was so impressed and intrigued. I started wishing that my high school would have been just like that, and, also that, Northwest could implement similar technologies. It would be indescribably helpful if teachers could record and podcast their lectures everyday. I also loved the idea of the student created study guides, through the use of wikis. It is astonishing how the students were so involved in their education and how that involvement propelled their desire to learn.

However, I am assuming that since there were no real names, places, or dates given that this was a fictional school. I can only assume how difficult it would be for teachers to adapt to this technology and remain ahead of the students. Although, even though it might be difficult it seems the best way for students to get involved in their education.

He is the article, prepare to be amazed -- A Day in the Life

SMART Board

I really think that the SMART Board is powerful teaching tool. It allows the students to interact with the information provided in the lesson by the teacher and opens up new worlds of possibilities. In one of the articles that I read, it talks about the students have a live video conversation with scientists doing research off the coast of South Africa!! How cool is that? The Board brings students into a new type of learning that excites them and interests them. I would love to give my students the chance to see what life is like in a different part of the world and have them ask questions and see them want to learn. Even as just a basic tool in the class, with no internet connections or fancy gadgets, the SMART Board allows the teach to move out from behind the podium and engage the students in a more personal way, and the students can participate in a way that seems "cool" to them. Of course, the Board does come with some drawbacks. Most teachers, can barely work a projector or a DVD player, it could be difficult for some to make the jump to SMART Boards or clickers or something not even thought of yet. Here's is the link to the magazine that I read from. i.e. The article is on page 16.

Integrating Successfully

I read the winter '06 article from i.e. magazine. The article was entitled "Integrating Successfully" and it was written by Wendy McMahon. The article talked about a school district in Connecticut, and, more specifically, Hall Memorial Elementary School. The school was awarded the Blue Chip School Grant, and began purchasing new technological classroom implements (i.e. the SMART Board). I was interested to hear how the school changed, when the technology was introduced. Students became excited to learn, "With so much excitement about
learning, discipline issues are nonexistent." I almost cannot believe such a statement about an American public school classroom. The article also talked about how the teachers became excited to teach. When they had discovered something new, or where shown something new by their students, they could hardly wait to show it to the next teacher. It was said that the school "changed from a closed-door environment to a more collaborative environment[.]" I would love to be a part of this process. I love technology and watching it alter the way things are done, and most of the time it looks really cool too!

Creating a Web Page

I think that the idea is really awesome. However, the process can either be quite simple or extremely difficult. It is kind of a hit or miss situation. For me, this time, it was not easy. Technology was working against me and I had no idea how to get around it. Now that my page is created, I think it was a good experience. It is awesome to be able to create a page of anything that you want and display it for everyone to see. It will also be a great tool to use in the classroom. Students can create their own pages and we can link classroom exercises in through that.

HTML Page

My School's Website

First off, I have not yet been admitted into the program, so therefore I did not have a class or school that I am observing. So instead, I decided to use my old high school's website. First off, I thought that the home page was organized and had decent appeal. The school's name is at the top followed by a bunch of tabs, that correspond to all of the sites sub-pages, and lastly, there is a large picture of an eagle, the mascot, surrounded by the school's colors of royal blue and white. The majority of the tabs, when clicked on, open up there page on the screen already present. This reduced the amount of loading time, and depleted the need of a home button. The rest of the tabs open up adobe spreadsheets, for the staff list and the schedules. This seemed a little bit lazy to me. When the spreadsheets open up, they pop up in a new tab. They are not as colorful or as interactive as the rest of the website. However, there was one aspect of the web page that I thought was very well done. Each faculty members name, when clicked on, opened up an Outlook box. For those that don't know, Outlook is Microsoft's email program. I thought that was very helpful and convenient for parents.

Despite the convenience of the site, there were a couple of things missing. There were no pictures of the school, students, events, or anything really. It would have been nice to see some student involvement on the page too. Such as, a tab for student interest or something posted by the ASB or the newspaper. Everything seemed kind of lazy and easily put together.

Technologically Literate

I believe that technology should be used in the classroom. Today's society revolves around the field of technology. The children that are being raised in the world today are submersed within an ocean of technological devices. These kids live and breathe technology. I believe that technology aides learning as well. Kids today understand technology. All the aspects of technology are first nature to kids. That is why I think that technology can aide in their learning. If a young child is having difficulty understanding a new math concept that is being taught from a book, he might be able to better understand when the same concept is presented in an interactive software program.



High school students in today's society have access to a plethora of new technology. They are woken up by an alarm clock that is programed into their cell phone. They proceed to plug in their IPOD into either their computer via USB or in a portable IPOD speaker/sound system. They then might grab their PSP or MP3 player and head out the door for school. After school, while surfing the internet, they will most likely access myspace, facebook, youtube, photobucket, hi5, limewire, itunes, or some other new site that has sprung up over night. While surfing the net, they are mostly likely logged into aim, msn messenger, or some other form of instant messenger where they are able to share any file that a computer can generate.


In the last class that I was in, the technology was fairly basic but it was spread out through the entire classroom. The teacher had their lesson outlined in a powerpoint that they brought to class via a USB jump drive. This also means that, in the classroom there was a computer that was connected to a projector, which in turn projected onto a screen. Most of the students in the classroom used personal laptop computers for taking notes

Under Observable and Best Practices my classroom would fall under Tier 1, because the technology focuses on getting the teacher's job done. For Professional Development Possibilities the classroom I was last in has elements from both Tier 1 and Tier 2, but I would tend to think it would rank closer to Tier 1 because the technology mostly supports learning as opposed to enhancing it. In the Required Conditions category, the classroom I was last in ranked under Tier 2. The school has a computer network and tech support as well as projector and some other elements. Overall, I would rank the classroom I was in between Tiers 1 and 2, but it would probably be closer to Tier 1.

To raise technology's influence from supporting to enhancing, or even to transforms, I would like to see some interactive technology in the classroom. Instead of a simple lecture class with projected information, maybe classes could create research projects that are posted on created class websites, and and semester has an original website. The website might even incorporate video and sound along with text, as opposed to only text.

GLE Social Studies/Geography - Grade 10 -- The part that is really intriguing is "Analyze how the environment and environmental changes affect people: Analyze how technological innovation may both solve environmental problems and create new ones." I would like to see if there is a way that my students could interact via e-mail or IM with students who live in other countries. They could theoretically talk to these students and see how environmental changes such as a natural disaster like Felix affects their lives. They could then as a project create a web page that collects donations or brings awareness to people here in the states and directs them to a place where they can make donations.

GLE Social Studies/History -- Grade 10 -- 2.1 -- this point wants student to research using electronic resources and library ones as well. I think that if students were aware of the happenings of the past, they would better understand the events of today. I think it would be interesting for students to access Legal Databases and read about court cases that have influenced the way in which they are educated (i.e. Brown v. Board of Education). They could then create a blog or website for the rest of the student body informing them of how school became what it is today.

3.3 -- the point wants students to comprehend how technology has "changed people's ideas of the natural world." I think that it would be interesting if students could recreate through video recording and/or video production software how life has adapted with the introductions and integrations of technology. They could create a blog and post the video or you an already existing site such as youtube or googlevideo.

Professional Preparation Performance Profile

Adopt and Adapt

For this assignment, I chose to read Adopt and Adapt: 21st-Century Schools Need 21st-Century Technology, by M. Prensky. I really appreciated this article. I am assuming that Marc Prensky, the author, is a current teacher or administrator, because of the perspective of the article. This article really opened my eyes to the challenges of technological integration in today's classrooms. A lot of teachers who are currently instructing may fear using advanced technology in their class because their students are so far advanced into the technological field. The worry is that the teacher will no longer be able to instruct his or her students, and they fear that the education of the students will suffer. Growing up, I always wished that we would have had more time in the computer lab or working with something associated with technology, even something as simple as the projector. Another point brought up in the article is, the disassociation of technology and learning. The article expressed the thoughts that parents or educators may feel about learning and technology. They feel that the excessive use of technology will move away from "the basics" and "the basics" is where children get most of their learning. However, I do not think that is true and I don't think the author of the article does either. Children are described as "digital natives." This means that they are accustomed to the workings of technology and might learn better through it. Overall, I thought that article was interesting, since I am neither an educator or a fully-grown adult, so I had no idea what their perspective might be. I missed out on a lot of technology growing up, mostly due to the financial situation of my school district, but I am always excited to learn something new in the technological field. After reading this article, my view on technology in the classroom as been put into perspective. Children are already immersed, comfortable, and familiar with technology, so why take them out of it and force them to learn a different way? It makes much more sense to bring education to the children through means that they enjoy.