Week Ten

IN CLASS
I visited the website listed under "Social Studies" since I am majoring in secondary education with an emphasis in history:

• http://www.thistory.com/

This website was created by a company that creates digital stories commemorating any aspect of life that their customer requests (i.e.: birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, etc.). Personally, I think that this would be an awesome technology to use for the aforementioned events. Professionally, I would never use this website. I would make use of other software packages, like PowerPoint or MovieMaker, if I wanted my students to do a video project. Plus, most school districts will have purchased access to PowerPoint and/or MovieMaker, so that my students could create their projects por gratis. This website, on the other hand, charges the user depending on how many photographs, videos, songs, sound effects, etc. that they want to incorporate in their overall project.

POST CLASS
This week our readings focused on digital storytelling. The articles I read are as follows:

• Understanding Digital Images- J.V. Bolkan

This article focused on digital photography and photo manipulation. It talked a great deal about photo resolution and picture editing in general. In regard to the classroom, Bolkan argues that incorporating photo editing in your classroom could be beneficial in supplementing math or geometric lessons. Personally, I do not think that this would be beneficial in my future classroom, but the knowledge could be useful for my students when they create projects for my class.

• 10 Tips for Filming-summarized by Karin Lindstrom

This document is a great reference to look at before starting to film our digital stories. It listed the top 10 tips for effective filming. They are as follows: use a big net, never rely on software, plan well, don't zoom, capture good audio, create good lighting, make use of a tripod, choose the interview conditions early on, and incorporate the thirds/ninths rule.

• Beyond Words: The Craftmanship of Digital Projects-Bernajean Porter

This article espoused the importance of digital projects in regard to nurturing student creativity and various communication skills. In this manner, digital storytelling is a very effective tool in both teaching students how to use tech tools while also giving them the chance to express themselves creatively.

Week Nine

IN CLASS

We explored many teacher sites this evening. They are as follows:

• http://www.toondoo.com/

This website allows users to create and manage their own cartoons. You have to create an account in order to access this technology. I think that this could be a great tool to use in my future classroom. For intance, I could possibly have my students create their own political cartoons when we discuss current issues.

• http://www.voki.com/

This website is host to a simulated reality. Users create their own "avatars" that represent them throughout the site, on blogs, and in email. I probably would not use this particular technology in my future classroom; I really cannot see any forseeable benefits for incorporating it in a secondary environment.

• http://www.sketch.odopod.com/

This website allows those that access it the opportunity to digitally sketch a picture and save it to their computers when they're finished. I think that this is a cool technology, but I would not be able to use it in my future classroom. I feel that it is better suited for the younger children.

• http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech005.shtml

This website is a resource for teachers. It is host to lesson planning, professional development, and numerous other resources. This particular webpage opens up an article about being techno-constructivist teachers. The main focus of the article was the idea that teachers should be facilitators only; in this respect, they should provide their students with the tools and resources that they need and basically allow them to jump in, discover, and learn things for themselves.

• http://www.flicker.com/

This website is host to free photos. This will be a great resource in the classroom because it provides images for educational use that are free from the confines of copyright.

• http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

This is a blog that provides notice of various, free technologies available for teachers. When I opened the page, the most recent entry was actually about copies of a new History Channel program on DVD being offered for free to schools, so long as they have their principals apply through the History Channel website. I wish I was a teacher now, so that I could take advantage of this opportunity!

• http://projecthelp.wikispaces.com/Music+Resources

This website offers free music files. This is a great resource for the classroom, because it allows students to take advantage of incorporating music into their projects without the concern of copyright law.

POST CLASS

This week's readings focused on digital storytelling. There were a great deal of articles but not all of them successfully opened on my computer. I have taken notes on the readings that were able to open below:

• The Flip Ultra Video Recorder- David Pogue

This was a video showcased on the New York Times website that showed some individuals testing out the Flip Ultra video camera.

• How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom- Jennifer New

This article created a list of advice for teachers to effectively incorporate digital storytelling as an educational tool within their classrooms. The gist of the list is as follows: learn from your students' creations, use the technology as a tool NOT a goal, learn through trial and error, provide student liberty simultaneous with student accountability, be a behind the scenes facilitator, and praise your students' efforts.

• Digital Storytelling Finds Its Place into the Classroom- Tom Banaszewski

This article chronicled a project that a class of fourth and fifth graders did using iMovie. The students were able to express themselves in their own independent yet structured ways. I think this is a great practice for all students. I would love to have such a project in my future classroom.

Week Eight

IN CLASS

In class today, we were able to explore three teacher sites:

• www.answers.com

This website is actually a search engine. I searched the phrase "teacher educators". A great deal of the hits that came up were on the subject of what is needed to become a teacher.

• www.kerpoof.com

This website was extremely cute and a great resource for elementary school teachers and parents alike. It offered little games for younger students to practice an array of skills such as spelling and writing in addition to expanding their fluency with technology. I would not be able to use this website in my own teaching career due to the fact that I will be a secondary educator.

• www.yolink.com

This website is used as a research tool. An individual searches a particular webpage for certain information and when they find what they need, the yolink technology provides the opportunity for the user to share the information that they found. I could most definitely use this technology in my future history class when teaching about the research process. I would provide this website as a potential tool for the students to focus their research while also giving them the chance to share their information with others for reviewing purposes.