Debbie Riser's Blog

Reflective Paper

2008-04-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Summary Reflective Paper

During this class, I have learned many things about educational technology. The biggest thing I have learned is simply how to use several different types of software. I am so excited about the things I have learned how to do, and I can’t wait to put that knowledge to use. My hope is that, eventually, I will move from the familiarization phase of technology adoption to the evolution phase.

As a teacher, I will face certain challenges as I move from the familiarization level to higher levels of technology usage. One of the biggest challenges that I can predict is the lack of access to technology. In order for me to use technology in a student-centered environment, adequate technology must be available. For example, in order for students to be able to complete webquests, there must be enough computers for individual use or small group work. This is not the case in many classrooms.

Another challenge is that the outcome of student-centered learning is not always easy to grade. Time restraints make it tempting to give work that requires less time to grade. Although many parents want their children using higher thought processes, they too, like to see many graded papers that let them know exactly “where their child stands.”

After completing this course, I have improved in so many areas. Although most of the software we used was new to me, I feel much more proficient at my ability to use it. PowerPoint and Movie Maker are fun to use and are probably my favorites. Although Audacity seemed difficult at first, I believe that I can use it fairly easily now. I even feel like I have greatly improved my spreadsheet skills. Although I am not as confident about embedding audio or video into a web page, I definitely feel comfortable creating a web page in Dreamweaver. This is something with which I would like to have more practice, though.

The material taught in this class is so relevant and useful for teachers. I am more motivated than ever to put this information to use. As I do, I will continue to work toward reaching the evolution phase of technology adoption.

Week of April 22

2008-04-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

Wikis

After reading the link about wikis, I really don't have any better idea of what they are than I did when I started. I remember being confused about these after reading one of the earliest reading assignments in the class. I understand that the word means quick, but that is about all I get.

Overall, this class has been great. I feel so much more confident in my knowledge of technology than when I started. Dr. Dean, you have been very approachable and very helpful. Thank you!

Week of April 15

2008-04-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

Spreadsheets

I have used spreadsheets to average grades in the classroom. Once the spreadsheet is set up with appropriate formulas, it is an invaluable tool. I especially like that I can easily provide students with their current average at any time. Even though I have used Excel for a gradebook, I still learned several helpful things while completing the exercises. Being able to highlight grades below a particular range is very nice. I also like the "fill" command when copying formulas.

The link provided this week included some interesting websites. There were several lesson plans that will be helpful for use with elementary students. Since lessons involving technology are now required, these links will give me some good ideas to implement within the classroom.

Week of April 7

2008-04-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Web Pages

At school today, I asked about the program used to create the school's web page. DreamWeaver is the software that is used, but it is only available on one computer in the school. I am so excited about being able to create my own web page, but I find it very discouraging to have such limited access to the software. Schools want teachers to integrate technology into the classroom, but funding is not always available to make this very practical.

The school's web page was created in frames. Each teacher's name is listed under their appropriate grade. It would be very simple to link from the teacher's name to their class web page. The class web page could be targeted to display in the main frame.

Week of April 1

2008-04-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

Web Pages

In the process of trying to create my own web pages, I discovered a misconception that I had. I wanted to create my web pages in framesets. It seemed like I should create all three pages in framesets and just make the mainframe different on each page. After I created the first two pages, I realized why I couldn't do this. Now I realize that I should only make the first page in framesets and just make the mainframe be the target for the subsequent pages.

I am so excited about learning how to create my own web page. Very few teachers that I know have their own web page, and I think it is such a helpful tool. I am wondering, though, what type of problems I might run into by posting such things online as photographs of the children. I think I need to do some research and take a look at more web pages created by teachers in order to get some helpful ideas.

Week of March 25

2008-03-28T15:33:00.000-07:00

Web Pages

I am looking for information to use in the creation of my web page. Below are two websites that might be helpful in the process of creating a web page:

1. http://www.cln.org/themes/webpages_intro.html

This is a website intended to help K-12 teachers in the creation of webpages. Below are a few of the links:

Clip Art Theme Page

This CLN theme page has links to a variety of clip art collections. Together, they contain thousands of free, uncopyrighted clip art, buttons, bars, backgrounds, bullets, animations, and icons.

Copyright and Multimedia Law for Web Builders and Multimedia Authors

This Website provides information about various Web copyright issues and cases.

Evaluating Web Resources

A site that focuses on presenting a stategy for teaching critical evaluation skills for World Wide Web resources. Checklists for five types of Web pages are provided. The authors offer links to additional sites with more Web evaluation materials.

Good Homepaging

The Quebec English Schools Network has developed a series of resources to "help schools create unique and dynamic Web sites. Our approach, though, has a particular bias. We believe that, by participating in the development of School Web pages, teachers can truly add a powerful teaching and motivational tool to their bag of pedagogical tricks. And they don't have to be "computer experts" to do so! We also believe that the true value of a school Web site or a teacher's web page comes from making it a pedagogical venture."

HTML Survival Kit - Table of Contents

A comprehensive guidebook on basic HTML. The author provides many graphic examples of the HTML tags. These examples show you what will happen on a web page when you use specific HTML tags.

Introduction to HTML

A tutorial to introduce beginners to the basics of HTML design and style. Content includes: Introduction to HTML, Heads, Titles, Paragraphs, Lists, Special Effect Tags, Anchors and Images.

Introduction to HTML Level 1

Introductory level on-line training course offered through the University of Saskatchewan. Since it is designed for students at the University, some instructions will not apply to all Internet users. Each lesson consists of short descriptive pages with links to more in-depth information.

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators:Brush up on the Internet

A series of mini lesson plans for grade four students (adaptable for other grades) which will introduce them to the Internet. There are several lessons which deal specifically with web pages.

NCSA: A Beginner's Guide to HTML

A comprehensive guide for writing HTML.

NCSA Education Group Tutorials

A basic tutorial to help teachers learn more about the Internet. A downloadable version (Microsoft Word) is also available.

School Home Page Building Blocks

Four concepts important in developing an effective school home page are discussed and usually linked to further resources. The four concepts are purpose, content, organization and design.

School Web Sites

Do you want to see what other school home pages look like? Do you want other schools to be able to link to your school web pages? The Community Learning Network has a comprehensive set of links to other BC schools whereas Web66 provides an international registry of school pages.

The Learning Page

An HTML template of a basic home page is provided with a lesson on how to change it to be your home page with your content.

Untangling the Web: Lesson Plan

The goal of this lesson plan is to have students examine sites on the World Wide Web for relevancy and credibility.

Webmonkey for Kids

Webmonkey is intended to show children what's possible with the Web and teach them how to begin creating their own sites. There are lessons on the fundamentals of HTML and web design which can be augmented by suggested projects which give the students some hands-on experience. A "tool" section has links to web sites that have programs for writing HTML and there's a teacher's planning guide section.

2. http://pages.google.com/-/about.html

This website explains Google Page Creator, a free tool that lets you create web pages right in your browser and publish them to the web with one click.

Week of March 18

2008-03-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Web Pages

In the process of preparing my web page, I read some online material regarding web pages. One of the articles made some very good suggestions regarding the initial construction of the page. Below are just a few suggestions to help create a better web page.

The visitor should be able to understand quickly what the web page is about.
The visitor should be able to quickly locate the focal point of the page.
The site should be reflective of a credible professional.
The home page should load within 4 seconds.
There should not be too much or too little white space.
The text size should be large enough to be read easily.
Blinking, fading, scrolling, and moving text should be avoided.
Make sure there is enough contrast between text and the background color.
Make sure the font faces are appropriate for the intended audience.
Only use underlining for links.
Links should be a different color after they have been visited.
Links should be informative.

Week of March 11

2008-03-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Web Pages

Today, we learned how to move our web page to the internet. Although I moved exercise one and three successfully, I am confused about how to do this in a school setting. Since this was a UAH account, I don't know how to set this up on my own.

When I do set up a webpage for my classroom, I would like to use it for several different purposes. I want links to several school websites like the district homepage, lunch menu, and school calendar. I would love to be able to publish lesson plans or at least the objectives we are studying. I also want to have links to websites that offer reinforcement to the skills were are currently studying. It would be cool to add video of the class completing different activities during the year, but I am not sure of the legalities involved with putting students pictures online. If this is not to difficult to obtain permission, I would like to attempt that as well.

Week of March 4

2008-03-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Web Pages

I have been looking forward to learning how to create a web page for use in my classroom. Almost daily, I think of new uses for one. It will be an excellent way to communicate with parents about upcoming events and activities. Links to other school sites, educational games, and information sites will be of great value to both parents and students. It will serve as one central location that parents of my students can go for information regarding the class. Embedded podcasts might also be something that I would want to utilize in the future.

After working on web exercises 1-3, however, I am a little discouraged about my ability to actually create and edit my own webpage. I am very concerned about being able to embed podcasts, as well. Hopefully, after several classes regarding web pages and some more practice working with them, I will feel more capable!

Week of February 26

2008-02-28T11:02:00.000-08:00

As we have started creating a podcast this week, I came to the realization that I need to change my tone more frequently when I am teaching. When I was recording my voice, I noticed the "flat line" on the screen. There is basically no change in my tone of voice. I was also disappointed to hear how monotoned my recordings were. Although I feel like I am more animated when in front of a classroom, I will certainly be more conscious of my tone of voice.

I am a long way from feeling comfortable using Audacity, but I am excited about its usefulness. I need to become more proficient with the program so I am comfortable using it and can create podcasts quickly. My goal is to have a class web page, and podcasts would be an excellent addition to the page. They can be used to present information to both parents and students. Podcasts seem like an excellent application of technology in the classroom.

Week of February 19

2008-02-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

The PowerPoint exercises seemed very time consuming to me. By the time that I had completed them, however, I felt like I had gotten enough practice using PowerPoint that I could use it proficiently. This is my first time to use PowerPoint, so I am pleased that I am learning how to use it.

I am very excited about using PowerPoint in my classroom. Not only is it an effective presentation tool, but it will be a wonderful way to collect teaching resources. I love the idea of saving material in this format in order to be able to access it easily, as well as, to be able to modify the material to meet changing needs. I also like that it can be used as a source of remediation or review for individual students. The hyperlinks that can be inserted are a great tool!

Week of February 12

2008-02-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

PowerPointless Presentations

What makes a PowerPoint Presentation, PowerPointless?

When it is overused
When it is just a fancy copy of notes
When instructors read directly from PowerPoint
When the format distracts from the content

2. What makes a presentation effective?

When the content is substantial
When the text is limited
When it provides a visual outline of material presented

3. What's the role of PowerPoint in a presentation?

To serve as a visual outline
To provide graphics, audio, & hyperlinks that support the content
To help enhance understanding by the audience

I have seen teachers that use PowerPoint to present vocabulary words to their class. Although this doesn't seem to be any more effective than writing the words on the board, it does give the teacher an easy way to provide students who are absent with vocabulary words that they miss.

Week of February 5

2008-02-06T16:46:00.000-08:00

Although I have used Microsoft Word for years, I have a very limited knowledge of some of the tools available in the program. After completing the word processing assignment, though, I learned much easier ways to use some of the tools such as tables and numbering. While at work, I had to type a simple list of books and their authors. I typed it in a very short time with the use of a table and the automatic numbering tool.

In completing the word processing assignment, I reorganized a resume that I had written previously. Since one of the requirements was to use bullets, I bulleted my experience. Although it made my resume longer than I would like, the resume is now much easier to read. I will continue to work on it in order to shorten it, but I like the use of the bullets.

Week of January 29

2008-01-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

At the moment, I am substituting in an elementary classroom, teaching gifted students. We are studying mysteries. As I watch the students complete the assigned activities, I have thought how much fun it would be to incorporate the use of different technology into the lessons. The students have completed activities on fingerprinting and handwriting analysis for which a little research online would have benefited them greatly. It would have been much more interesting if the students could have completed a short webquest on the topics. They are also writing their own mystery story for which I would like to let them type on the computer and then edit each other's papers.

Although it is taking me a great deal of time to complete the class assignments, I am certainly becoming more comfortable with some of the tools available. I find that I am using newly discovered formatting commands as I do things at work and at home. I am also making plans for a class website for my own classroom. I am still a little intimidated but am excited about being able to utilize some of the technology that is available.

Week of Jan 22

2008-01-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

In the article "Cooperative Learning Groups," several points were made that reminded me of some areas in which I struggle when coordinating group activities in the classroom. One area I have difficulty with is teaching individual accountability and personal responsibility. It seems that there are always several children who do not work well with others and who do not contribute a fair share to the group effort. This also affects the element of interpersonal and small group skills. I have not yet mastered the art of guiding these children effectively through the cooperative group process so that they are successful and so they do not hamper the efforts of others in the group.

While reading the above mentioned article, webquests came to mind. A well constructed webquest would be a great way to use cooperative learning groups in the classroom. Because these activities require several processes in order to complete the final goal, it would be easy to delegate equally important responsibilities to every group member.

Week of January 22

2008-01-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

The article about webquests was very informative. I like the idea of getting students more involved in their education. Some positive benefits to students from completing webquests are:

knowledge acquisition & integration
ability to transform knowledge and create a product using that information
development of higher level thinking skills such as analysis and synthesis
information retention

A webquest usually contains the following elements:

Introduction
Task
Sources of Information
Process
Guidance
Conclusion

As I began the web resources project, I was concerned that I would have trouble locating webquests for the objectives I had chosen. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many sites from which to choose. What started out as a daunting task, actually turned out to be enjoyable and very informative.

Week of Jan. 15

2008-01-16T18:54:00.001-08:00

When beginning this assignment, I couldn’t imagine how a blog could be of any use to me in the classroom. Now, however, I am excited about the possibilities. I would love to have a forum in which to share information with parents such as homework assignments, reminders, and special links to useful websites. I also love that this information is archived for future use.

This began as a very frustrating assignment to me. My computer knowledge is so outdated that I felt like I was reading a foreign language. Before completing this assignment, I had very little experience with blogs and was unfamiliar with much of the terminology. Although I still have a lot to learn about blogging, I now know what the termsSkype, tweeting, wiki, and hypertext mean.

Week of Jan. 15

2008-01-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

In “Teaching With Technology”, the authors define technology as the application of current knowledge for a useful purpose while innovations represent change for the sake of change. Although many educators value technology within the classroom, some teachers never reach the higher levels of technology adoption. I believe that there are so many demands placed on teachers that they need assurance that technology adoption will be useful to their students and will be productive in raising test scores before many are willing to make that investment.

This article discusses the benefits of allowing students to explore and research information that meets their individual needs. As I am completing assignments in this class, I find that I am doing exactly that. I retain the information so much better when I am able to see the connection between and application of information.