Blog Assignment #13

My Teacher Is An App

This is an article about the rise of interest in online learning amongs K through 12 students. There has been a rise in the number of students that participate in online learning over the last three to four years. Some students participate in online learning full time while some may take only one course while still attending school in its traditional setting. It is estimated that at least 250,000 students are currently enrolled in cyberschools, online learning, nationwide. There is much debate over the effectiveness of the cyberschools because it is so new and different. Of course, to fully know and understand the strengths and weaknesses that cyberschools have take time and much attention to detail. Yet, there is some great concern that the students of cyberschools are not scoring on level with students of traditional schools. I'm sure there are kinks that can be worked out that could improve the scores or least make it appear that way but it would take time.

After reading this article I really have mixed feelings about the cyberschools. On one hand, the article does a good job of pointing out the pros for cyberschools, which give students an option of being safe from bullying, learning at that own pace,  and it's not as taxing on the education budget. Yet, it is kind of scary because I have the feeling that it won't turn out being an opportunity for all that want it or it may be forced on many who don't want it. Also, I really think while some of the current problems that we see in the education may be rid of or at least minimized, there will be new problems that will arise that we are currently unprepared for if cyberschools become the leading choice of the education process. So in other words it kind of appears to be a quick fix instead of a full repair.

Smart Board Instruction Part 2

Progress on Final Project

I will be doing my Final Project with group members Mary Bishop and Lindsay Dunham. We have not met in a couple of weeks, so we have not made a decision on which topic we will pick.

Blog Assignment #12

Google+

Watch this videos: What is Google+. Write a blog post explaining your thoughts on Google Plus and give an answer as to whether or not it would be useful in the classroom.

Google Plus is a newer version of social networking. It includes video chatting as well as the usual features of photos and messaging. I think it can be very useful for educators. It basically combines the methods of twitter and Skype and other social networking sites into one. Everyone usually likes things in one central location and I believe Google Plus does that.

Blog Assignment #11

Kathy Cassidy

Kathy Cassidy is a first grade teacher in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada. She is a big proponent of technology in the classroom. The students of her class use blogs, internet videos, Skype, and other tools. Ms. Cassidy, herself, uses twitter to connect with other educators. The technique I would be most probable to use is blogging. As a social science teacher, I think the blog is a way to allow all students to share their understanding of information or even get a better understanding from viewing a different perspective other than the teacher's. It's hard to imagine encountering any problems when making plans, which is what makes plans perfect. Yet, I would guess that it would be more likely to run into trouble with an administration that would not want teachers using class blogs. Ms. Cassidy mentioned that she has had administrators that were not in direct favor of her using technology, but they were not all out against it. So I would hope that would be the worst case scenario. In a situation such as that, I'm not sure what would be the best thing for the teacher to do other than abide by the wishes of the administration if that asked teachers not to use certain tech tools. I would definitely like to keep a job as long as I'm not asked to do anything wrong. So I would just say hope for the best under those circumstances. However, if I am allowed to use blogs, I think the student can give a more honest perspective about the history they study. I think it will allow better questions to be answered such as, what parts of history are more important to students, what parts of history are more relative to students, and many other questions of this nature. This will create the conversation for educators to evaluate the reasoning behind the eras and figures that are highlighted in the classroom. This will help to focus education on what actually makes a difference in the makeup of a student.

Comments4Kids Summary #2

C4K #6

I visited  Mr. C's Class Blog of Noel Elementary School. The blog featured artwork from his 7th graders, and the quality of the artwork is on a professional level. I was astonished after viewing some of the drawings I really think that some may have been done by professionals. I commended Mr. C on his students efforts and his as well for bringing this out of the students.

C4K #7

I visited Dawso's Blog. She is a student in New South Wales, Australia. Her blog topic was about her blog avatar. It was a girl at the beach with a soccer ball next to her. Dawso said that she chose that design because she really likes the beach because it is beautiful and natural, and she also enjoys swimming. The soccer ball represented her love for sports. She enjoys playing soccer, netball, hockey, basketball, and tee-ball.

C4K #8

I visited a post by Taimana of PT England School, which is in Auckland New Zealand. His post was about leprechauns. In the short clip that Taimana included he explained that every leprechaun have a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. The gold coins inside of the pot represents a year of the leprechaun's life, which I had not known, and the leprechauns always come out on St. Patrick's day to move their gold.

C4K #9

I visited Mr. McClung's 8th Grade World. The blog post was titled "The Scramble for Africa. They have been studying Imperialism and the interest of land and resources in Africa from foreign countries. The post featured four political cartoons. All of the cartoons were striking including the last one, which featured President Obama, with oil on his mind, heading towards a war torn Libya. He is carrying an assault rifle with 'intervention' written on it, and he is wearing a necklace with a peace medallion. Behind President Obama is a number of fighter jets. My comment explained why I liked the use of political cartoons to teach, which is that the truth will always be present in political cartoons.

The scramble for africa

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