Swan200t’s Weblog

Obstacles to Opportunities

“The Why’s and Wherefores” By Brian Crosby

Today I watched ” The Why’s and Wherefores” presentation by Brian Crosby. He is a 5th grade teacher from Reno, Nevada. His presentation focused on the implementation of new technology into a classroom. He focused on blogging, digital video, online video conferencing, Inclusion, Wiki pages, and Flicker. Brian stated that computers are powerful tools and it is important that students use them wisely. All of his grade 5 students have a lab top in his classroom. The first thing Brian talked about was blogging. Blogging is when you keep an online journal. The students can choose to blog from home if they wish. One of the reasons blogging is great for students is that it gives them an authentic audience, and this gives the students more of a reason to blog. Getting comments is really exciting for students, the feed back they get on their thinking is really useful for them. There are many different things that students can blog about whether it be stories, poems,their understanding of a topic, field trips, etc. Blogging motivates students to write and I think this is a very powerful tool and I am definitley starting to see the advantages of doing this in a classroom environment. The next thing Brian talked about was digital video. He talked about how some of his esl students were making videos and they would do retakes over and over again until they got their pronunciation correct. Digital video is great because it can be shared over the web. It teaches students about designing, editing, analyzing, etc. Digital video is something that you can keep and watch over and over again it is not like an assignment that gets thrown out. This makes students very proud of their work. The kids in Brian’s class decided to make a digital video about bullying because it was something they were having a hard time with. This video was very well done and it won many awards. The students even got hired to make a short public service announcement for PBS. The next thing Brian talked about was Skype. This is a free site where you can broadcast yourself online. All you need is a webcam and a headset! Brian’s class used Skype to share a presentation about an astronaut with other students around the world. These students then made comments about the presentation. This is really amazing to me, their seem to be so many opportunities with all of this technology. Brian also talks about inclusion in his presentation and how one girl in his class could not come to school because she had leukemia. So they set her up with a lab top and they put a wireless one in their own classroom. The girl logged in to skype and was able to be a part of the classroom. This is really amazing! I bet that little girl was very happy that she could see her peers and feel like she was in the class. Brian also mentioned wiki pages and flicker. Wiki pages are free web pages students and teachers can use, they can be used to put links on, also to make your own pages about animals, science, etc. The last thing Brian talked about was flicker. Flicker is another free website where you can post and share photos. Teachers can post photos they want their students to use in their projects online. You can also make slide shows of your photos, the possibilities are endless. As a practicing teacher I am very excited to see how all of this new technology is being implemented into classrooms. Technology makes the classrooms exciting and engaging and it motivates students to succeed. I wonder what kind of technology will be used in the classroom when I graduate?

If all my classes did this by: Wendy Wolfe

This presentation talked about several different sites that are useful to use in a classroom. Including Toon do, read write think group, Gliffy, Zoho, and G cast. This presentation really opened my eyes to new lesson possibilities. The first site Wendy Wolfe talked about was Toon do. She said it was introduced last spring.

To use the program you:

1. Create login

2.Create cartoon

3.Choose background ( You can click and drag all of these things into the blank space)

4. Select people and graphics

5. You can also customize your cartoons and upload your own photos into it.

6. Name your cartoon, publish it, and share it if you want to.

Wendy said this program if good for high school, middle school, and upper elementary. The possibilities are endless when you use this program. You can define words, show scenes from a book, newspaper stories, etc. I also thought this program was neat because you can publish your cartoon just to your friends so that the rest of the world cannot see it. I would really like to use this site when I become a teacher I think current events would be much more enjoyable to do online in an interactive environment like this rather than just writing them on paper. The second program Wendy talked about was the read write and think groups cartoon site. It is similar to toon do ,but it is better suited towards younger students because it gives students more privacy. You can also print these comics off and color them if you wish. The next program Wendy introduced was Gliffy. Gliffy can be used to create flow charts, floor plans, and be used as graphic organizers. You click and drag the objects. You can also type words into the objects and change the color and size of them. One feature that I think is really cool is that you can give people permission to alter your gliffy. This would work in partner work because it would mean that the partners don’t have to be together to work on their project, they can do it all over the web. Wendy also mentioned that you can publish your gliffy’s and get your own url for your gliffy. This site will open up many opportunities for students. I think it is really interesting and exciting how students can now share their work online with others. I believe this makes students a lot more involved and engaged in their work because they know that someone is going to look at it. The next program Wendy talked about was Zoho. Zoho is a lot like power point because it is used for writing, presentation, and spreadsheets. The program is entirely web based. One of it’s downfalls is that you cannot incorporate sound or animation, but you can draw. This is a very good website for students who want to make very short web based presentations. When I went to elementary school and high school no one did power point presentations except for a few teachers. Now it is the students turn to use this kind of technology to do presentations, etc. I think this will make classrooms a lot more interactive and fun, especially for visual learners. The last program Wendy introduced was G cast. G cast is a free podcasting site. It allows anyone from any kind of phone to call and make a podcast. Before I watched this presentation I didn’t even know what a podcast was! Now I see that there are many educational opportunities when it comes to pod casting on a site like G cast . Some things pod casts are used for are oral assignments, artists statement for virtual museums, you can interview relatives, you can also record classes. The possibilities seem to be endless with all of these programs. There are so many neat and interesting things you can do with these sites! I think websites like these will definitely make education a lot more fun and engaging for students and teachers. I am very excited to see where technology will take us next.