This week we were required to watch the video "The Wizard of Apps". This video is one created by Joyce Velenza who is a school librarian. Her video was so full of information on different resources for different ways to really use the internet and how to leave a good digital footprint. The video was done as a parody to the "Wizard of Oz" which helped keep it entertaining. The biggest takeaway was that there are endless sources that instruct how to truly utilize the internet and how to do it safely. It is also important that we spread this knowledge and teach others how to use these resources.
I relate some of this information in this video to being in highschool and being taught how to use resources such as ebscohost to research for school papers. Unfortunately the information we were given throughout high school was nothing as great as the information Joyce has to give the students of her school.
As a teacher, I would like to have time to discuss some of these resources with my students and introduce them to how to apply some of these resources. However, I fear that this will be hard but it may also depend a lot on what school district I end up in.
Since I am an elementary education major I though looking at Boolify would be benifitial to me and my future classroom. One thing I have always had problems with was knowing how to perform a good search so I thought that if using a kid friendly search engine such as http://www.boolify.org/ I could start teaching children at a younger age how to find good research information. Boolify uses the Bolean Search method and puts it in a visual representation to help you see how to form a good search. The website also offers awesome lessons on how to evaluate a website, how to use the Bolean Search method and how to refine search options. This website would be great for beginning researchers. I would really like the opprotunity to incorporate this into my elementary classroom!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The miracle of Pregnancy
I decided that something I was really passionate about lately was the growth of me and my baby. I chose to tell the story of the progress of my baby in a story I like to call The Miracle of Pregnancy.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Digital World
The biggest takeaway fromt he Digiteens: Digital Citizenship video was that our society is highly techonology based. Technology leads to the digital world. We really need to be aware of all the different dangers that lie out there if we are not careful. It's also our job to teach others who are unaware of these dangers just what these dangers are and how to avoid them.
I have been using the internet since I was very young. My family is all over the U.S. and it was a great communication tool. At a very young age my mom began talking to me about the dangers of the internet and what I need to be looking out for. Along with this, my mom monitored my actions. As I got older and she could see I understood the risks of being on the internet and how to use the internet and it's information properly she began giving me more freedoms. Not only did my mom teach these important lessons at home I learned these lessons at school. The local police department came to our school and discussed cyber predators and internet safety.
It is very important that we teach internet safety at school. Not all families are discussing these things with their children so it falls upon the school and teachers. With technology being more wideley used it is extremely important that our children and students are educated and being safe while using the internet.
I have been using the internet since I was very young. My family is all over the U.S. and it was a great communication tool. At a very young age my mom began talking to me about the dangers of the internet and what I need to be looking out for. Along with this, my mom monitored my actions. As I got older and she could see I understood the risks of being on the internet and how to use the internet and it's information properly she began giving me more freedoms. Not only did my mom teach these important lessons at home I learned these lessons at school. The local police department came to our school and discussed cyber predators and internet safety.
It is very important that we teach internet safety at school. Not all families are discussing these things with their children so it falls upon the school and teachers. With technology being more wideley used it is extremely important that our children and students are educated and being safe while using the internet.
Education Through Research
When watching the video Project Learning, I found the biggest takeaway to be that students can learn so much more through research and handons activities. It is important to include these opporunities even in a traditional education setting. Educators need to reach out to all students and all interests. The traditional curriclum is not the only way to teach.
In school the most hands on learning I can remember doing was the science fair. I don't remember having too many teachers that encouraged learning to experience and research. We typically followed a traditional curriclum. I do remember in elementary school when we studied the colonial times, we got to go on a field trip to this place that took you back to colonial times and we had to do some of the household and farm chores just as though we were living back then. I know this wasn't really learning through research but it was a good way to fully understand and comprehend the history we had been reading. It brought things to life. Sometimes bringing the subject matter to life is the best way for everybody to fully understand and learn.
As a future educator I would like to take these principles and do my best to incorporate as much hands on learning as possible. I fear that this will be a huge task that sometimes seems impossible with how much control the government and school districts want over what is taught and how it is taught. I hope that the horror stories I have heard will not apply in all situations.
In school the most hands on learning I can remember doing was the science fair. I don't remember having too many teachers that encouraged learning to experience and research. We typically followed a traditional curriclum. I do remember in elementary school when we studied the colonial times, we got to go on a field trip to this place that took you back to colonial times and we had to do some of the household and farm chores just as though we were living back then. I know this wasn't really learning through research but it was a good way to fully understand and comprehend the history we had been reading. It brought things to life. Sometimes bringing the subject matter to life is the best way for everybody to fully understand and learn.
As a future educator I would like to take these principles and do my best to incorporate as much hands on learning as possible. I fear that this will be a huge task that sometimes seems impossible with how much control the government and school districts want over what is taught and how it is taught. I hope that the horror stories I have heard will not apply in all situations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)