Two Lives Are Better Than One?

Just when I thought my life wasn't interesting enough, I got a Second Life. In my Emerging Technologies class we created Second Life accounts. We met in Second Life to do some exploring and we even went to a Barn Dance. How can Second Life be used in upper elementary grades to promote student learning? Any ideas?

Book Trailers

I've came across a great use for technology in the classroom. Just like movie trailers, book publishers have started to have book trailers made. Having students make their own book trailers is a great use of technology in the classroom. After reading a book, small groups of students could write, film, edit, and post their own book trailer. Having the end project be a book trailer would be highly motivating for students to read their books. The process students go through to create the book trailer would include many levels of Bloom's Taxonomy: comprehension, application, and synthesis.

The followings are links to book trailers.
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Monster Blood Tattoo by D.M. Cornish

Photo by Faeryan http://www.flickr.com/photos/faeryan/289547369/

On Deck Podcast- How to go Deeper in Student Learning

I think I just found a new favorite podcast! I just listened to a podcast by On Deck called Shifting Our Schools episode 9: How to go Deeper in Student Learning? Why Go Deeper? The guest on this episode was Michael Lambert, a teacher in Shanghai. In the podcast, he discussed different ways to go deeper education students using technology. I thought this portion of the podcast was so interesting. Using technology in the classroom does not mean just giving students access to computers. Teachers still need to create experiences for students, whether by going outside the classroom to learn or creating project based/problem based learning. Another important issue brought up was the idea that teachers need to let go. Learn what the students are interested in and teach that in the classroom (while still meeting standards). Teachers should not feel as though they are losing control when they let go. As mentioned on the program, teachers still need to teach the basics and most importantly, teachers need to teach how to be a learner.

Technology has changed this election and the way we seek information.

I was unable to watch the live coverage of the Republican and Democratic nomination acceptance speeches on television. In the past, I would be out of luck and would only be able to watch small parts of the speeches on the news or read about it in the newspaper. But not today! Never before has there been so much access to information when I wanted the information. I was able to watch the speeches on youtube.
After watching the speeches I was able to look further into what the Obama and McCain had said.

After the Vice Presidents were announced, I thought, "Who the heck is Biden? Who the heck is Palin? What do they stand for?" Technology helped me to learn more about Biden and Palin when I wanted to know. I looked both of them up on Wikipedia and viewed their official websites.

Technology has also helped people who were often ignored get their message out to the public. I had heard mentioned that both nomination parties had protesters, but I never had a chance to see or hear them. I was able to view footage of the protesters on youtube! and a photo essay of protesters at the Republican convention.

Technology has helped us become in charge of our learning. We no longer have to rely on sources to tell us what we should know. Technology has also given a voice to those who did not have one, allowing people to create their own content on youtube, blogs, wikipedia, and all over the web.

Photo by Chis Darling.

UNI Ed Tech Voicethread

This is a Voicethread Angela and I are putting together for teaching Voicethread to our classmates. The more I look at different Voicethreads posted, the more ideas I get about how I could use Voicethread in my personal life and in the classroom. I really recommend checking out Voicethread and setting up your own account.

Are We Teaching Them?

What an interesting video! We not only need to prepare our students for a future infused with technology, but we also need to prepare our teachers to effectively use technology in the classroom.

The Ideal Classroom Environment

Creating the ideal classroom was a chance for us to design a classroom environment with technology in mind. Based on our students’ needs and interests, we created two units, a classroom map, a budget, and explanations of our decisions. Our final product was presented using a website.

The process of creating the classroom was interesting. My partner and I never met outside of class; all of our communication took place with the use of technology. We used Facebook, email, googledocs, and googlepages. We even created the final product at separate times using a shared gmail account. Creating the different parts of the project was a rewarding process because I got to learn about different aspects of education that students usually do not learn in school.

While doing this project, I realized how many great products are available to make the classroom a better learning environment. Also, I learned to put technology at the top of the list when planning lessons. Getting practice during this project will help me to make it a habit. Eventually, using technology with education on a daily basis will become second nature. Also, creating this classroom has started to get me thinking about using technology in more creative ways that I previously had.