Project 5 Google Presentation

Project 13

Collaboration has been a very important part of EDM 310. We have had several group projects in which collaboration through different technologies was absolutely essential. The best example of this for me occurred on the final project, which was project 16. My partner, Kayla Walker, and I collaborated through email, text, and Google to come to conclusions on what our project would entail and how we would accomplish the goals. Through these technologies we were able to brainstorm ideas for our "Made at The USA" video and turn in a product that we felt worked pretty well. I plan to use many tools such as Google Docs and Skype in future projects where meetings aren't possible due to scheduling conflicts.

Final PLN

I used Symbaloo to organize my PLN, and it is a great tool. I have my blog and the EDM 310 class blog up at the top to keep me focused on my work. Many of the other tiles are filled with what I felt to be the best blogs that we read all semester: pencil integration, Mr. McClungs, and one of my C4T blogs, Bill Generoux. I hope to keep up with my PLN and continue to expand it over time.

Final Reflection

Final Smartboard

Final PLN Update

C4K November

I commented on some very interesting blog posts in November, including one that this picture fits perfectly. The first post I commented on was from Alberta, and it was a video composed by Luke and Colton. The video contained some very interesting pictures of the Rocky Mountains. I commented that I had been to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, but I haven't seen anything like what is in the pictures.

The second post I commented on was from a student named Alyssa in Mr. Seliksar's class. The student I was assigned to post on hadn't made any posts, so I just found another student who had no comments. Her post was about the first few chapters of "James and the Giant Peach." I commented on how well her summary flowed and how she incorporated all of the important details.

The last post I commented on was from Jacob, and he wrote a story that re-imagined Napoleon's battle in Russia with lightsabers. Needless to say, it was a very interesting post. Even though his story was short, it was well written, and obviously it was very creative.

C4T 4

My fourth C4T teacher was Bill Generoux. He is a college professor who blogs about the intersect of technology and the arts. His blog is one of the blogs I found most relevant to this class that I have read this semester, and I will definitely continue to read it on occasion in the future.

The first post I commented on was a post titled "Voice of Authority in Teaching." His main point in this post was to communicate the ways in which he tries to get students to become their own decision maker. He allows his classes to take shape organically and views himself as a guide in learning rather than an authoritarian of the classroom. One of his main goals in his classroom is to help students become independent learners that make their own decisions in their lives. I commented on how I appreciated this teaching method and hope to incorporate some semblance of it into my future classroom.

The second post that I commented on was a simple post about the nature of computers and the age-old adage: "garbage in garbage out." He illustrated this point by using a student's Youtube video as an example. The student had failed to use the correct search engine optimization therefore hurting the video's chance at views. I commented on this posts point of "garbage in garbage out," and I also appreciated the post for helping me with my future Youtube submissions.

Blog Post 13

Back to the Future is a presentation by an elementary school teacher named Brian Crosby that explains the methods of teaching and learning that occur in his classroom. His classroom is essentially a perfect example of a class that uses all the principle ideas of EDM 310. His fourth graders all have a laptop that they use in class to blog, research and perform almost all of their actual "classwork." His class seems to be one giant "head fake" after another. One particular project had his students participate in creating a balloon that would rise high into the atmosphere. The balloon had cameras on it, so students could view the flight through the layers of the atmosphere. When the balloon rose out beyond sightline, the students were able to track the path of the balloon through google maps. This entire project was obviously a fun way for students to learn about the layers of the atmosphere and the properties of gases, but Mr. Crosby took the learning experience a step further by having the students blog a narrative from the balloon's perspective. This is the activity that interests me because it is so reliant on language and writing skills. Mr. Crosby was able to take a fun activity and turn it into a real learning experience that helps students develop their writing skills as well.

Listening to a teacher like Brian Cosby is inspirational, but in a strange way it can also be intimidating. He has created an incredibly successful classroom that actually makes a significant difference in kids' lives. An incredible amount of work and thought goes into creating these assignments, and I hope that one day I can create some similar activities. The great thing about seeing all the videos throughout EDM 310 is that I can take little pieces from many of them and use them in my future classroom.

A Vision of Students Today is a video created at Kansas State University that shows the situations that many modern college students face. From high amounts of debt, to ridiculously high costs of textbooks, modern college students do face some difficult situations. Many of these problems are familiar to me, while some seem almost too outlandish to be true (500 emails a semester?!). The issues also deal with things outside of monetary problems and things of that nature. They also deal with the way many classes are still set up. The video takes issue with the fact a great number of college classes are still taught at the chalkboard. While it may be true that many modern classes could be enhanced by some technology being input into them, the college classes that rely on technology are often a complete waste of time. EDM 310 has been the only online class that was different from the norm. The online work in most classes is often busy work where no learning takes place. This is not to say that technology is bad for classes, but the way it is often used in the college classroom is unsuccessful.

I've had many great college classes where the chalkboard and lecture was the main focus of the classroom, and almost all of the technology based classes I've had (EDM 310 notwithstanding) have been a waste of time. I believe this is because many teachers rely on the technology to do their work for them instead of using it to enhance the learning experience. Technology is a great thing for education on all levels, but at its core it is simply a tool. A tool can only do so much in the hands of a teacher who is unwilling to use it to its full capabilities.

Final Project: Made at The USA