ePortfolio

The Product
I organized my portfolio by putting links on my home page so that those accessing the site would be able to easily navigate through. I remember in one of our very first W200 session when the class held a discussion about perceptions and personal experiences with technology. A very unanimous opinion was the fact that they liked the advancing in technology as long as it was "user-friendly" and easily accessible. I have to say that I agree, and I do also feel that Web2.0 has made the web very "user-friendly."
I wanted to be able to showcase my projects, so I created connections by inserting my slideshow presentation as a gadget. I also mentioned my podcast and movie, but was unable to connect them due to them not being linked on-line.
I believe organization and creativity to be the strengths of my work because once I begin a project; it most always flows together smoothly. I spend a lot of time getting the details, organizing, and planning done, and then I am able to put my ideas together and work on the creative details.
If I had to change one thing about this session's projects, it would be to allow myself more time. This summer is very busy for me; I just started a new summer tutoring program in my hometown, and with directing that, tutoring children, and planning my September wedding, I was not able to focus as much of my time and attention as I would have liked to. However, I do feel that I have accomplished very much and am pleased with the outcome of my projects.


Process
I found planning and brainstorming to be the most effective techniques in creating my projects. As stated above, once I finished the planning and organizing, my projects came together very well.
I learned new web2.0 techniques such as bookmarking, blogging, creative commons, wikis, professional networking, podcasting, and many more. These have enabled me to see how collaboration and new technology can come together to create an amazing new way to educate the future generations. I found so many techniques that I will be able to incorporate into my own classroom.
As our class is coming to an end, I am looking back at all I have accomplished in this very short summer session. I have learned not only about new technology and tools of the web, but also what and how I, as a teacher, will educate my students. Most of the classes I have taken in college have been all papers and tests and lectures, and though I am not saying they are bad or wrong, I am saying that I feel I have gotten a lot more out of this class that I will be actually able to use in the "real world."

Here is the link to my ePortfolio - http://sites.google.com/site/chanelleseportfolio/Home

Movie Project

For our group Movie Project, we focused on Right Brain vs. Left Brain and the uses in technology. We first described how left and right brain dominate people think and what types of jobs they are best at. Then we described how the future is changing and technology is advancing so fast and beginning to take over "typical" left-brain jobs.
This project was another great way for us to learn about how technology can help us as future educators. I have also included part of Rachel's group blog post, to view the links visit - http://rduntern.blogspot.com/2009/06/imovie-left-brain-vs-right-brain.html


Our video has a little something for everyone, referring to a variety of professions such as an accountant, banker, librarian, technician, teacher, musician, psychologist, and interior designer as well as a few other professions. It goes through our ideas and our perspective of right brain and left brain ways of life. In the past, left brain people were more successful but now that we have had such significant advances in technology, right brain people have the upper hand in most competitive job markets.

As Rachel stated in her blog, we found our quotes from multiple sources including Rich Morris, Daniel Pink, Kimberly Ewoldsen and Martin Mak. We also included some interesting and informative photos of the right brian vs. left brain idea.

W200 - wrapping up

As our class is coming to an end, I am looking back at all I have accomplished in this very short summer session. I have learned not only about new technology and tools of the web, but also what and how I, as a teacher, will educate my students. Most of the classes I have taken in college have been all papers and tests and lectures, and though I am not saying they are bad or wrong, I am saying that I feel I have gotten a lot more out of this class that I will be actually able to use in the "real world."

Podcasting

Once again, another great advance in technology that will benefit us as future educators. To be completely honest, before this class, I had heard of podcasting, but I had never really understood what it was. I had no idea how useful and beneficial they could be.

I don't know how many times I had wished for a way that I could study while driving or taking a long trip. I seemed to always be cramming before a test and then driving for an hour to get to class. Now, all I have to do if I want to utilize my driving time is listen to a podcast instead of my favorite radio stations! (Not always the most entertaining option but definitely the most beneficial.)

This project was actually a lot of fun and I really liked working with Garage Band. This project also helped me to see that there are so many ways I, as a teacher, will be able to educate and also capture their attention and interest!!

Slide Show Presentation

When we were first assigned this project, I was not very excited. I had done so many power points in high school and college, that I was a bit bored with the idea (No offense Mr. A) :)!! However, after we began putting it together, I became very interested and excited about the results. The process was a bit rough to start (as are most group projects), but it began to flow together really smoothly.

The Mind map and flowchart were great, it helped to organize our ideas and by the time we were done with it, the only thing left to our presentation was converting it to the slides and adding the pictures. I would have preferred to do one or the other, doing both the map and flowchart I found to be a bit redundant. Google Docs Presentation was so user-friendly and very easy to use. I love how you can share it with you group as collaborators and they can work on it at the same time you are!!! This was awesome!! All in all, I found this project to be very helpful; it was not just another boring slide show, it actually taught me a lot about what the advances in technology are capable of.

Teacher Website

Over the last few years I have really started to notice all of the advances in technology; however, I did not pay much attention until this class. One thing in particular that has caught my attention are these classroom websites. I think that they are an extremely helpful tool when trying to communicate with the parents of your students. It is a way for them to connect and share information, and also to keep up on the information and announcements on their classes.

I am so glad that we were able to create this website for our project. I will definitely use it when I have my own classroom. On my site, I have a parent's page, describing the schedule details and the important class procedures. I also have a homework list and a school supply list. This site, I feel, would be very helpful when trying to create lesson plans and sending out information to the parents; not to mention hopefully getting them involved.

Click here for my website!!!!

The Digital Divide

The Digital Divide, according to Wikipedia, states that the term refers to the idea that there is a gap between the generations that have readily available access to new technology and those that don't.

I feel that this term is very accurate for what is going on right now. For example, there are so many older people with experience wanting jobs; however they are given to the younger generations who are up-to-date on all the latest technology. Another big example of this digital divide, is in the school systems. The newer teachers coming out of college now are technology savvy and are able to get the jobs they want and even replace the older teachers that aren't.

I feel in order for the economy and job market to keep going, people must be educated and help to educate about this new age of technology.

A Whole New Mind

I have always heard teachers talk about right-brained thinkers and left-brained thinkers; however I hadn't given it much thought as to what I was. When I think about it, I feel that I am a right-brained thinker, but then I again I do have some left-brained qualities (to-do lists, organization methods, problem solving strategies, etc.) I wanted to find out, so I searched on-line for a test to determine which kind of thinker I am.
I first went to www.intelliscript.net which said I was right-brained, but it was very close 13 vs. 11.
Then I went to you tube and found a few optical illusion tests to determine right vs. left brain, and I was still right brained.
I find this whole concept very interesting and would love to get "A Whole New Mind" and read through the whole thing. I agree that the future will consist of more right-brained thinkers and that technology has taken jobs away from these left-brained thinkers. Outsourcing and computerization are reasons, just to name a few, of how this is happening.

Remember the Milk

I chose Remember the Milk for my web application. The reason why this one stood out to me is because it can be used as an organizational tool that could easily benefit someone like my brother. My younger brother Phil, was diagnosed with ADHD when he was just 5 years old. He struggled all through elementary school; was threatened to be held back and even kicked out. He was very hyper, not attentive, VERY disorganized, and NEVER listened. The schools that he went to were not set-up to handle a child diagnosed with this. The teachers kept pushing medicine on him, which was ruining his life. We took him off the medication, and he slowly began doing better. Phil is now 15 years old, attends a prep school in Pennsylvania, and though this school has done wonders for him, he is still VERY disorganized.

I feel that people like Phil can benefit from a tool like Remember the Milk. It is said to be a "reinvented to-do list" and allows you to have everything in one place. You can even set reminders that can be sent to your cell phone! This tool is great for those of us with too much going on, and I know it would be great for someone like my brother; who cannot seem to get organized or remember things. Another great great aspect that this tool seems to have is tabs. You can customize them, that way you have separated, organized to-do lists; allowing you to keep work separate from school, etc. Tagging is yet another bonus, because you can add tags to your items making them easier to search for in the task bar. Other features are: adding tasks via e-mail, task sharing, and subscribing to feeds. I am still fiddling around with this application, so I am not positive that it would be great for Phil, but it sure seems like it.

Tagging

Tagging is a pretty self-explanatory term; however many people do not know about it, let alone use it. Tagging makes technology much more user-friendly, allowing you to find the link, site, etc. by using words associated with the tag.
For example, I now use tagging all the time. It has made surfing the Internet, researching, and networking much more convenient. Before this class, I would tag all of my favorite sites to "my favorites" in my Internet Explorer web browser. Every time I got on my computer at home, I would just click on IE and everything was readily accessible. This was great; however only if I was home. When I went to work or school, I had to try to remember how to access all of my favorite sites. Now, thanks to this class, I use Diigo and Netvibes, and I can access my favorite sites and resources from any location.

Connectivism

Connectivism, as Wikipedia states, is "a learning theory for the digital age." Today in our new "digital age" technology plays a major role in our lives. It affects how we live, how we communicate with others, how we teach and how we learn. Technology is everywhere and we have the whole world practically at our fingertips. Connectivism, to me, is a new way of learning using this technology to benefit and further our understanding and knowledge. I feel this is an excellent thing and I hope to incorporate Connectivism into my own classroom.

As shown in the class slides on Connectivism, Teachers have a network of ways of getting information. Before this theory, the network of information only came from their curriculum, media, fellow colleagues, family and community, and other resources. Now, after this new digital era, teachers have those resources plus many, many more; including digital data, pictures and messaging, networking, blogging, wikis, and many other aspects due to web 2.0.

Here is a great video explaining this concept and what it means to be a networked student or teacher.....

Web 2.0 - Great Info.

Click here to see a great website I found with definitions. It defines Web 2.0 along with many other media terminology.

Also, here is a video describing the concepts of Web 2.0, it is very detailed and helped me A LOT!! It is a bit long but very worth it...

The positives and Negatives of Technology Advances

Before this class, and even up until today, I believed the new advances in technology to be all positive and beneficial to our generation of teachers. However; after today's lecture discussion, I now feel that there can be a downside to this "revolution."

Advances in technology have enabled the world to communicate faster and easier. Teachers may now find it easier to develop lesson plans and provide learning materials for their students. A big plus, as stated in today's class, is that if a student asks a question that a teacher does not know the answer to, the Internet has made the information readily and easily accessible. Also, the advances of how a teacher displays their lessons to the class has come a long way from the old chalk and blackboard. Today, you will see dry-erase boards, power-point presentations, and the newest of all - Smart Boards. These Smart Boards are interactive whiteboards with a touchscreen feature allowing many hand-on learning experiences.

For the most part, these advances are great for teachers and students to learn and share information; however I feel there may be a few negative aspects. As stated in today's discussion, a student having the answers right at their fingertips may be a bit to easy for them. They may just look up all the answers and never actually know how they got it or why. Teachers will now have to alter their teaching methods to ensure that their students are not cheating and are getting the full benefits of the lessons.