Thing 20 - Online Video & Audio Resources

1. I explored School Tube to find videos on cyber-bullying. I do a unit on netiquette and internet safety and I  incorporate videos from Teacher Tube so I decided to explore School Tube. I have explained already that I use Moodle in my classroom. I have links in Moodle to the videos in Teacher Tube. Each student is assigned a pair of headphones so they can watch and listen to the videos at their own pace. After they watch the videos, we have a forum set up where they "discuss" the videos. I will ask them a few questions that they need to reply to and, also, respond to other students' posts. At first, this was quite exciting for the students, but now that they have access to YouTube, watching videos is a part of their everyday life. I still feel like the students learn and absorb the material better when they can watch and listen at their own pace. I have the links available to them at all times, so they can always re-watch videos at their leisure.

2. The features of School Tube are quite simple. The students have a search box where they can type in keywords to search for a particular video, channel or school. Once you find the video, there are options on the side for the "You May Also Like" section. I feel that is helpful because the searching is done for you and you can preview the suggested videos. All the results were relevant to what I was searching and they are safe and teacher-approved.

3. The strengths of video resources compared to audio is that with the video the students get the whole picture and are able to watch what is happening. With audio, they are hearing something and they need to visualize what is happening. Some students are not good at visualizing things and get really distracted and frustrated. On the other hand, there is an advantage to just incorporating audio because what each student pictures in their mind will be different and unique and they can think outside the box. I have saved several samples of previous assignments that students have created. For some assignments, I allow the students to view and use the samples to help them get started. On other occasions, I don't allow them to use samples because I feel it stifles their creativity. Many students have the ability to be really creative and it is important as a teacher to foster that ability.  So depending on what outcome a teacher hopes to achieve would depend on if that teacher wants to incorporate video, audio, or a combination.

Thing 19-Digital Storytelling

Photostory 3 is simple and very intuitive to use. I attended a NetTrekker workshop and they covered Photo Story 3 as well. It was quite interesting how simple the program is to use and yet how professional the final product looks.

Digital Storytelling can be used in the classroom to help reinforce a topic and allow the students to be the teacher. The students could be given a topic and a length requirement and they would need to make a "story" depicting what they know about the topic. If a digital projector is available in the classroom, the digital story could be displayed and the other students could take notes to help them learn the topic as well. Once students get to play with transitions, images, videos and music to make a digital story, they will be engaged. Another way digital storytelling can be used in the classroom is to showcase students' creativity. Some students are shy and not comfortable in group work on talking in front of their peers. If they are able to tell their story through images, music, text, and narration they may be very comfortable and excel beyond the teacher's expectations. Those timid students will be able to express themselves and thus, hopefully evoke a discussion regarding the topic they are teaching. By using digital storytelling, all learning styles should be conformable. The visual and kinesthetic learners will be comfortable using the tools of the program hands-on, the auditory learner will be able to include music and narration to teach what they know.

The link to my Face of the Classroom site is: http://21thingsforthe21stcentury.weebly.com/

Digital Storytelling incorporates the higher level thinking we want to evoke from our students using Bloom's Taxonomy. Students can take their learning from concrete and static by using pen and paper to analysis and synthesis where students are generating and creating a product by connecting their ideas with the tools of the software. What more could a teacher want!? After creating my HTML photostory,  I showed my high school accounting students. Obviously, they are not the ones who are learning HTML. I just wanted to get their input since the information would be something totally new and different to them.

They are seniors so of course, they thought the music was boring and they wanted me to upload something "cooler." Most were fixated on the music and thought it wasn't necessary to have music because they were distracted by it.  The said the transitions were cool and it looked neat how they panned in different directions to keep their attention. They thought there was too much information in such a short 2-minute period so they were happy I threw in some pictures to break it up a little. Overall, they thought the HTML students would think it's a good attention-grabber to start the HTML unit, then each section could be expanded on as I progressed through each section. I agreed :-)

Thing 18 - Virtual Classrooms

A plan of how I can extend my classroom for me is by using Moodle. I have painstakingly taken the time to upload all my assignments and organized them into units. If a student is absent, they still have access to all the assignments in my class. I have rubrics for every assignment. When I start a unit, I give the students a hard copy of the rubric for the assignments. If they misplace them, they have access to Moodle so they can reprint their rubrics. I love it! I love that they have to be responsible for their own assignments and rubrics. I tell them in advance that I will not give them extra copies; they will need to take their time to print additional copies.

I have forums, chats, assignments and links to videos all organized so, in essence, my class could be a "virtual classroom." If a new student moves to our district and gets added into my class late, he/she has access to everything we have accomplished. Students have the opportunity to review and/or revisit any topic for further understanding if necessary.

I can refer parents to the site so they have access to what is expected of their child in my class. I give the students feedback in Moodle and also post their grades in PowerSchool so they have access to their progress at all times.

Using Moodle has brought my classroom to the virtual level and has encouraged me to incorporate more videos and online resources into my teaching. All I need to do is add the link and the students have the internet at their fingertips. I feel by using Moodle, the students are meeting the NETS-S standards, becoming comfortable with technology, and becoming prepared for the real world.

Online Students:
In our school district, students have been using MVHS as a means for credit recovery, a chance to take AP courses, and also to gain additional credits for graduation. One concern is that the 'online student' has to be very disciplined and an independent worker and thinker. Spoiler Alert--many students who are taking these classes do not fit these characteristics. The students have to organize themselves so they are aware of the assignments and how to submit them to the instructors' specifications. Many students are reluctant to email an instructor and some instructors do not reply in a timely manner. This, of course, causes frustration and anxiety to the student. I have been a mentor for several years. Sometimes the students are in my classroom and I can help them pace themselves and keep them on task. Over the past few years, the students are scheduled during the study halls and placed in the library; therefore, I don't have contact with them. They are instructed to print progress reports every week so we can monitor them, but unfortunately, there is a disconnect since I don't have direct contact with them.

Students taking online classes have to do a substantial amount of reading. More-so than in a regular classroom. Most classes are organized so students need to outline as they are reading which helps them manage the material better. Although, sadly some students are not quite sure how to outline material or how to determine what information is pertinent. 

Also, some students have hit a roadblock because some of their tests need to be proctored. A mentor needs to know the password to get into the test. If a student is procrastinating, they may not inform their mentor in a timely manner. In this case, the mentor needs to contact the instructor to get the necessary information. This can delay the whole process which is a pain for all the people involved.

Overall, I think students can be successful using online courses and it provides an opportunity for them to take classes that would not normally be offered in a rural school district. Students need to understand that online classes require commitment, dedication and initiative. The luxury of a teacher verbally reminding (nagging) them of deadlines is not existent in the online environment.

Thing 17 - Professional Learning Networks

This website is amazing. I attended a workshop about NetTrekker under the Michigan LearnPort website. I was astounded by the amount of educational resources available. This is a site where you can be assured the information and resources are reliable, valid, current and age-appropriate. The courses available are of a high caliber and are recognized by the State of Michigan as credible.  Courses available focus on content expectations and the Michigan Merit Curriculum. It is a partnership with the Michigan Department of Education so all the content available is relevant to any teacher at any level. Most of the classes are free and some have a small fee, but it is nominal. As long as the educator has internet access, they are able to take the classes so they can work on their professional development at school or at home at their own convenience.

FACEBOOK
There is a varying degree of acceptance when teachers talk about using Facebook in the classroom. It could be a useful educational tool and an easy way to share information with parents and students. I use Moodle in my classroom and I have a unit about social networking. When I ask my students who uses Facebook, almost every student in every class either currently uses it or has used it. When asked how frequently they use it, most results are conclusive that students use it more than 3-5 times per day! Facebook is a way to stay connected and students are able to share images, post videos, chat and share apps. The problem is that students abuse this privilege. They swear, upload inappropriate images and bad mouth teachers and/or other students. Students certainly do not use proper netiquette while using Facebook. It is unfortunate because it would be very easy to share data to "friends" on Facebook because we know students are intrigued and fascinated by it. Students would think it's great for a teacher to deliver content home via Facebook and they would be excited to stay connected, but I'm afraid it would be abused and students would cross the line. I think it is healthy and necessary for teachers to have boundaries with students and I fear that once Facebook is used, students no longer see a boundary and begin to think they are equals with their teachers.That is a scary thought on many levels. I think using an educational resource such as Moodle or Blackboard allows the teachers to communicate effectively and efficiently with students.

NBEA
The National Business Education Association. I have been a professional member of the NBEA since 1999. The NBEA membership includes journals about relevant and pertinent business education news, both locally and internationally, ideas for successfully integrating technology into courses and bridging the gap between high school students and those entering the workforce. Members receive discounted registration fees for regional and district conventions. NBEA supports national-, state-, and local-level efforts to ensure that business education is understood and valued by legislators,  policymakers and local and state stakeholders.

The professional level is $80 annually. This includes all the publications and NBEA services. The professional/Delta Pi Epsilon (DPE) is $140 annually. At this level, members receive all of the benefits offered in the professional category plus membership in Delta Pi Epsilon. The Professional/International Society for Business Education (ISBE) is $110 annually. At this level, members receive all of the benefits offered in the professional category plus membership in the United States Chapter of ISBE.

I have attended the MACUL conference in the past and also local professional development training.  I have incorporated Moodle into my classrooms and have students work electronically as if they were in a college setting. My colleagues have told me that I should share what I am doing in my classroom with other educators. I have thought about it, but that is as far as it goes. I really enjoy teaching in this digital age and enjoy having the students be so excited and eager to learn what I am teaching them.

Thing 16 - Reference and Research Tools

InfoTrac Junior Edition and InfoTrac Student Edition (Middle/High School level)

a) appropriateness-the results were suitable for this age level.
b) usability - the information was simple to find and the databases were very easy to use.
c) content - there was a lot of pertinent information. I searched for charter schools and there were more results in the student edition database vs the junior edition. Although, there was suitable content in books, journals and news in both editions.
d) credibility - all the information was credible, reliable and valid.

 General One File

a) appropriateness - I didn't feel the results were appropriate for a middle school or young high school level. They would be more appropriate for higher level high school students or college level. I searched charter schools and did not get any results which I thought was strange. I then searched for social networking. The results were about articles in New Dehli and Kenya. I would need to narrow my search string to get more appropriate results.
b) usability - similar to InfoTrac. Typing in the keywords, titles or documents makes it quite simple.
c) content - I was not satisfied with the results because by just searching social networking, there were 16683 results and none of the top twenty that were displayed mentioned Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. Searching on google resulted in "About 382,000,000 results" but the main results were about Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and MySpace.
d) credibility - the results in the General One File seemed to be credible, reliable and valid.

 MEL Database Citations 

 FREE Citation Maker  

Buckley, J., & Schneider, M. (2007). Charter schools: Hope or hype?. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Thing 15 - Staying Informed

I spent a lot of time playing with iGoogle and loved every minute of it. I changed my theme about a dozen times and I added more gadget than I would ever know what to do with.
 I decided to get back on task and focus on the assignment so I added the CNN feed, TechLearning feed where I have access to educational technology blogs and dictionary feed. This would be useful for teaching and learning because it is so simplistic to use and it allows students to have control over how they want their page setup. Students love to have control. I think it is a nice way to have things organized so tasks are more streamlined which makes students and teacher more effective. This would be really nice for a Current Events class where students need access to the news. They can quickly and easily view the feed and they can all have access to the same information at the same time without bothersome popups or ads promising a free laptop! As Ron Houtman states, that once you subscribe to these feeds, the news "automagically" comes to you in your RSS feeds rather than you wasting your time searching on the web. Awesome!

Thing 14 - Productivity Tools

Well, I'm not overly impressed with ZamZar because it took to look for my file to be emailed to me, then once it was, I had to go back into ZAMZAR to download it. I converted my weebly rubric that I created using Rubistar on a earlier "Thing" to a .pdf.  I do this very frequently because I put all my files on Moodle for my students to access. We use Word 2010. When I go to Save As, I have the option to save my .doc to a .pdf. That is very fast and it is done using the same progam I am working with. It streamlines my work and that makes me more productive. I doubt I would use ZAMZAR while I'm at work, but it is a good resource.

I was impressed at the number of available outputs. There are image formats, document formats, music, video and E-book. That was impressive. There were may options that I have never heard of, but I did recognize the .rtf, .txt, .html, .ppt, .pdf. My students are always looking for ways to convert their music files so we can import them into Movie Maker and oftentimes we need to convert their .wmv files to be compatible with a DVD player.  The only problem is this site is blocked because it is categorized as computers.filehosting.

I made a google calendar for this last week of my middle school rotation. I listed what the students need to get done this week. It is a good idea to keep them on task. I have been playing with Google docs more since we have had these "Things." I think they are pretty intuitive and there is ample assistance available. It was a little hidden on how to "share" the calendar, but I was able to look under the help and find it. Once there, it was easy to put in the email addresses. Our principal using Google Calendars with the secretaries so they are all on the same page and we have an interactive Google Calendar on our school's webpage where users can view events for the weeks or months ahead. This would be easy to share with parents and colleagues. Many parents ask for their students' work and like to be informed. By "sharing" this calendar with them, they can see the same deadlines the students see. These dates should coincide with the dates in PowerSchool so parents can be informed up to the minute.

Thing 13 - Online Interactive Learning Tools

How fun was Quizlet?! What a great resource for students to be engaged in their learning. I made flashcards for accounting class because we actually made real flash cards at the beginning of the chapter. The scatter games was a hit with the students. They loved the 'game' part of it and I loved that they were learning and applying their knowledge.

With my middle school students, we do a unit with business' logos and slogans. I could type the business' slogans in and have them match the business to the slogan. Middle school students would love to "play" these games. Usually I read the slogan aloud and they type the name of the company in Word, but they all try to read each others' screens and they never know what number we are on, etc. It would be very fun to watch them learn and engage interactively. It would be a great tool to use at the beginning of that lesson.