Even Professionals Need Practice

     This semester, in this technology class, I learned about Inspiration 8; a program that is used for making concept maps. A graduate student was doing her dissertation on the topic of concept maps and had us complete a couple assignments using Inspiration 8. While this program is useful for more efficiently conveying information to students, it also gets easier as well as more advanced the more you use it. Teachers and other professionals alike need always need to be learning more in order to advance their professionalism. Inspiration 8 is simple to use, even on the first time. Yet, the more you use it, the more advanced you can get with the concept maps. It allows for teachers to continue to think more and more outside of the box with each time that they use the program. This technology allows a teacher's creativity of how to present a concept map, which is crucial to a teacher's job, continue to grow and develop into a professional skill.
     From the couple times that I used Inspiration 8, my concept maps looked better with each new assignment. Granted, I didn't get to continue using the program but I feel confident that if I was in constant contact with the program, I would learn something new about it every day. This would enhance my skills and give me a more professional look when presenting my ideas to students. All it takes is practice.
     I have recently been looking into digital programs for the remediation projects I have in other classes. Storyboards are a technology that has caught my eye. There are numerous programs out there for creating storyboards, for example: Storyboard That. This is the program I have been playing around with and while it isn't necessarily a teaching tool by definition, it could definitely be used to teach a lesson in a different, interesting way. With the digital age comes boredom of the same lectures on the same programs such as Word and Powerpoint. I believe teaching in creative ways, such as through storyboards, are part of the future of learning and teaching.

Death to Unorganization

     I have talked about BlackBoard in previous posts, but before I discussed it's use as a communication tool. The greatest part about BlackBoard to me though, is the organization of class materials, grades, and courses. It allows for all of a student's classes, even from previous years, to be in one domain. The teachers can make any type of tab they would like on the side of their course page such as: Assignments, Course Library, Discussion Board (if it's used consistently), and so on. Different teachers use different tools in their classroom. For one, the Grades tab may need to be a main option for the student. Other teachers don't use BlackBoard for grades but they may assign homework to be turned into the Discussion Board tab. BlackBoard allows for flexibility while still keeping structure and organization. It's helpful for students because they don't have to search in numerous domains or pages for their classes. On the home page of BlackBoard, you have your current courses, access to your FSUID card, any recent announcements made by teachers, as well as the previous courses you've taken at Florida State. Overall, BlackBoard helps both students and teachers stay better organized.
     Though I have never been on the side of designing a course's page on BlackBoard, I feel that I could effectively create a page due to my constant use of this domain. I would like to explore other domains as well that are like BlackBoard, and see what options are out there. It would take a little getting used to to know how to create tabs and add documents to the page, but I firmly believe I would be more than capable of doing so.
     Blogger is a technology that I didn't think of as a teaching tool before this past year at Florida State. During the fall semester, one of my teachers created a blog and had us post two times a week. This was fun, and more like the blog side of it. This Spring semester though, I've had a teacher that had all assignments, group discussions, and group project discussions all on a blog that she created. This use of Blogger made it more than just a blog. It made it into a tool that was effective for keeping the class organized and gave more flexibility than even BlackBoard. Having our daily assignments posted ahead of time on the blog was extremely helpful for me as a student, and Bogger is easy to navigate. I would most definitely use this domain as a way to keep my students up to date on assignments and for engaging with them in discussion when not in the classroom.

Motivate Motivate Motivate

     In order to maintain a focused, enthusiastic classroom, teachers must create ways of engaging their students by use of technologies that motivate a student to do his or her work. These technologies can vary based on the intention of the teacher and the intention of the motivation. One example that I have come into contact with was during my sophomore year at Florida State. My Writing, Editing in Print and Online (WEPO) course was instructed by a professor who really enjoyed the creative part of this course. She went outside of the box in the very beginning and created a unique website that contained the same information as a regulation syllabus. As college students, we receive the same types of syllabi over and over again at the beginning of our courses...BORING. By creating her own, unique and interactive online syllabus, my professor created an immediate sense of creativity and motivation for the students in her course, including myself. The website being interactive was definitely a plus and much different than any other syllabus I had received. It honestly made the syllabus easier to navigate, versus going through each page to find the information you are searching for. Want to know what books you need? Just click the 'Books' tab in the main menu. I honestly wish more teachers would create their syllabi in various, technology-based ways.
     I think this is a use of technology in which I would excel. I have created a website for myself before, and love the openness that the domains and programs give you to create the way you want. Being a student that hates the regular, boring syllabus, I would be able to have an edge on knowing what students really want out of their teachers and course introductions. I would go into creating a website syllabus with the angle of wanting to motivate my students immediately. This way, I would always be keeping in mind how to make the website as useful, yet provocative as possible.
     Excel is not a program that is necessarily new to me. I have heard of it, seen it used by other people, yet I have never actually used it myself. That is, until this week in my technology class. It is much different than Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, but it is very useful in its own ways. It is especially handy for students in statistics classes and science classes. It allows for easy situating of data, which is harder to do in programs like Word and PowerPoint. It organizes them automatically and once you get into the swing of things, Excel allows you to create charts in a breeze. A student in a Biology Lab would benefit from the use of Excel quite a bit when conducting experiments with numerous trials. The program doesn't just stop at creating block charts...you are able to make graphs, of various kinds, as well. This is very useful for students needing variety in their data plotting. Overall, I am glad that I was finally made to explore the uses of Excel and plan to use it in future assignments.

Cha-Jing!

     Just this semester, I have had the experience of receiving feedback from a teacher via voice notes on the BlackBoard discussion board. I had never been evaluated this way, but I have to say I thought it was very useful and allowed for a better interaction. The tone of voice one uses when speaking says a lot about the point and the attitude that they are trying to get across. I could mistake a serious piece of feedback for something not-so-significant when the evaluation is just in writing or on a grading rubric versus the voice notes. She went through each part of our rubric in the voice notes, which allowed for me to hear which parts she really wanted me to work on more. The voice notes are the same as handwritten evaluations in the way that you can refer back to them at any time, but the voice notes are more useful because they will never get lost! Just log on to BlackBoard, and there they are. No hassle of keeping track of papers.
     I feel that it is important for me to learn skills such as using the voice notes for future classes. Even if I do not become a teacher, the world around us is constantly becoming more and more digital. We are moving into a time of digital learning, digital lectures, and so on. As of now, I do not know how to create a voice note, but would like to learn. I believe I would be able to catch on quickly and would like to explore other ways of digital teaching and evaluation.
     I recently learned about Jing, a way to conduct voice notes into a PowerPoint. I have not used it yet, but would like to try it out in future projects. It seems like a great way to guide your audience (or classroom) along with the PowerPoint, allowing a teacher to use the slides for more visual learning and leave the words for the audio, through Jing.

Blackboard or Die

      Many students, as well as teachers, curse at the name of Blackboard around Florida State's campus. It is true, there are many times where Blackboard will shut down due to overuse during times like drop-add week and sometimes even finals, when almost every student is attempting to access the site at once, in frantic need of passing their exams. I for one, actually find Blackboard useful. Though it can glitch, it works as a great communication tool among students, teachers, and parents. Teachers can post all assignments on Blackboard as well as send mass e-mails. Students are also able to send mass e-mails to students in the same class as them through the Student Tools page. Looking for notes that you missed one day and don't know anyone else in your class? This is the perfect tool to communicate effectively and efficiently with other students. Parents can also be involved on Blackboard if they control things like the accounts of students' FSU Cards. SunTrust Bank accounts can be used through FSU Cards, therefore parents can use Blackboard as an access to their child's funds.
     Using Blackboard throughout my four years at Florida State would allow me to be able to implement a domain area such as this one into a classroom. Depending on the grade level of my students, I would choose an age appropriate domain which would serve as a home access to everything going on in the class. I would model it after what I have seen on Blackboard, but gear it towards a younger age and make sure the glitches were minimal.
     Just this past year, I created my first Prezi. I really enjoyed using this program compared to Microsoft PowerPoint. It allowed for more creativity in design and animation throughout my project. I think this particular program is definitely a better choice for teachers, of elementary age especially, when giving presentations or lectures. It is more involved, which will capture the attention of younger students for longer periods of time. Constantly updating yourself on communication and learning technology will help you become a more effective teacher.

Enhancing the Classroom Experience

      Just this semester, I have had a teacher use a technology tool that I hadn't seen before. In one of my 4000 level classes, my teacher always uses SmartBoards, which are also very useful tools for teachers. The tool we used that I was not familiar with before, was using Google Docs. It allows for all of the students in the class to revise, add to, and edit the same document. This class is Rhetorical Theory and Practice, so being able to subtract and add to your ideas and theories is extremely useful and helpful. The use of this technology for this exercise showed the thought our professor put into creating it. She had to take into account our needs as students struggling through the material we were assigned; she had to know we would be changing our minds and used technology that could adapt.
     I believe that, if need be, I could research and find a technology that would suit the needs of students during their assignments. The saying goes here, practice makes perfect. As a teacher, you would have to incorporate technology into many of your assignments, this way you would always be searching therefore always discovering more technology that promotes productivity and creativity in your students.
     Inspiration 8 is the program we have started using in my EME2040 class in the past couple weeks and I have to say, I love it as for completing the given assignments. For creating a concept map, this is the absolute perfect program. It is simple to use while still being appealing to the eye. It allows for creativity with different fonts, colors, images, and tools that give your map a little extra. It allows you to easily convert your concept map into a Word document, which is necessary for teachers who need to put these attachments into an e-mail which can be accessed by practically everyone,The Inspiration 8 program is truly a breeze to operate. If I ever do have to create a concept map in the future, I can guarantee you I will be using Inspiration 8.

Let me Google it...

    We all know there's a difference in websites that are strictly fun and games and websites that are useful for the classroom and educational purposes. Saying that though, a teacher's goal is to make learning and the classroom environment as enjoyable as possible for his or her students. That's why Fun Brain is such a great tool for teachers to get their students involved with technology that teaches. Fun Brain is made for all types of students and has categories that will suit multiple interests, whether math or reading. It's very accessible, and the organization is wonderful! You can select games by grade level or by type of game such as: Word Games, Puzzles, Number Games, etc. (I have to say, the games are pretty fun! I always enjoyed them in school.) If you haven't tried Fun Brain, you're missing out, and so are your students. Introducing children to learning through technology better prepares them for their education in the future.

     Using web-based resources for student research can be extremely useful for teachers and for the skills of the student. I, personally, have written more research papers in the past 3 years then I can remember. Without being able to research the Internet, though it's possible, my papers would have taken triple the time and we all know there's no time to waste in the 21st century. The Internet also allows for massive amounts of information to be accessed by students; something that can't be done by searching through only one university's library for a day. Though, there is a time to use research and a time not to use the Internet in education. People have a problem now, in my opinion, of not discussing problems aloud and through cognitive thinking, but resort to the simple action of 'just Google it'. Students still need to talk through questions they have through their own minds and not just resort to what someone has said before them. It takes away from creativity and curiosity. It's better to incorporate research on the web with scholarly websites only, this keeps students from using websites that are not educational or truth/fact-based.

     In my experiences with writing research papers and completing research projects, my professors have always been clear about the kind of websites of which they require us to obtain our information. When I first had to use only scholarly articles in research, my eyes were opened to the difference in content and the way to evaluate legitimate websites from non-legitimate sites. That skill has served me well outside of the classroom as well, when it pertains to news articles and the like. I use some methods that the podcast talked about in the ABCD-T acronym the speaker talked about. I always read to see if the website is biased in any way as well as if the news is current. Knowing how to evaluate websites will allow you to gain more truthful knowledge and information as well as your students.

     I have been asked to visually critique a website based on the rules presented to us in Chapter 6 of our Tech Tactics textbook. I've chosen to evaluate the online educational gaming website, funbrain.com! I used this website many times as a kid and was excited to have to go back through its contents. I notice right off the bat that the website complies a lot with the first rule of using General Design Principles; there are many pictures that are immediately corresponded by captions with explanations or game titles, making it easy to comprehend. Rule 5 talks about limiting colors, which this website doesn't do much of, but I believe that this is because of the younger audience it is striving to reach. It does stay consistent with a blue background though. The website follows Rule 23, Placement Matters, very well by categorizing all of the hundreds of games into 5 main categories. This makes searching through the material much easier! Here's the link to the website I evaluated: 

http://www.funbrain.com/

     

     This idea of open source, open content, and open software is totally new to me! I love the idea for educators, especially for secondary school educators. Many schools are very limited in their budgets so this idea of free or reduced prices for software programs and educational classes is a steal! Literally! If I were going to be teaching, I would definitely use these types of programs for my students. The more programs you are able to incorporate into your teaching, the better your student will be prepared for using technology in the future! It's like buying the Publix brand food instead of the expensive brand name stuff. The only difference is in the name.

     Skill Check #2 was extremely helpful for me! I had never even heard of such a thing as Mail Merge! Down the road, sending out newsletters, invites, and the like will be so much easier! Our professor, Ben, does a wonderful job being patient with our class, as this assignment was much more difficult than those we have done previously! By the end of it, I knew exactly what I was doing though and I believe I could repeat this task if asked to! I definitely need to practice a couple more times with the Mail Merge option, but overall I was excited to learn a different skill in technology!

The Meaning of the Word

     Growing up as a digital native, computers were introduced into my schooling at very early age. And with the introduction of computers came the introduction of Microsoft Word. Students and teachers alike use Word in so many different ways, for a variety of subjects and projects. I started having to use Word just to write short journals, and was about to learn how to obnoxiously begin to put use Word-Art as every single one of my titles. It is simple enough to start using with elementary age kids, like they talk about in Chapter 9 of Tech Tactics. Being able to introduce the Word program to young children, helps teachers keep everyone on the same technology wavelength. Teachers use them to make quizzes, handouts, and worksheets on a daily basis. Students, such as myself, use Word for taking bullet-ed notes and writing papers in MLA format. Without Word, I just don't know how education would work anymore.
     If I'm going to be honest here, I must admit I've downloaded a song or two off of the Internet. Shame on me, I know I know. After listening to the podcast about copyright and fair use, I really must say I feel a small pain of guilt for those songs and the many images I've used just searching through Google. It is important for students to learn how copyright and fair use rules work, as downloading things without permission of the originator can get you into big trouble if not cited correctly and efficiently. So many times we hear the code of conduct speech from our professors about plagiarizing at the beginning of the semesters. As a teacher, I would also include the copyright and fair use rules and regulations speech; this way my students know how serious it is, and I am, about the correct use of images, music, and the like.
     This is the first time in a long time that I have had to create a mock quiz using Word. I learned that no matter what type of bullet you are using (numbers, letters, shapes, etc.), thankfully the Word program recognizes this and will continue to repeat the type of bullet points you are using throughout your process of creating the document! This makes the task so much quicker and easier. Though I am not an Education major, I enjoyed the quick assignment. If I am ever asked to make up a quiz or a test, I am ready for action!

To be Tech-Savy is Key

     This day in age, computers are a part of daily life. In America, almost everyone and their grandmothers have a smart-phone, or a mini-computer. We are required to use computers to write papers, submit assignments, and conduct research for our school work. Without a good base knowledge of computer technology, the material you are teaching is not going to be consumed fully or to the greatest affect because of the new generation of children. I agree with our textbook, Tech Tactics, when it says,"it is necessary for teachers to have the same basic skills as students." Teachers rely heavily on computers as well as students. Teachers are able to keep in touch with their students easily through e-mail and websites such as Blackboard at Florida State. Grades are posted on these types of websites, allowing students to keep up-to-date on how they are doing in classes and what assignments are coming up. Chapter 1 discusses the philosophy of teaching and how students must be interactive while the teacher instructs to learn best. Computers and other educational technology allow this to happen in multiple different ways.
     I am considered a digital native. My brother, who is 28 years old, is considered a digital native but like the speaker of the podcast, he is considered in the upper age limit. A digital native is someone who has grown up with technology in their lives. I, for example, grew up always having a computer. It had to connect to our land-line phone when I was very young, but it was always there. I think this is an accurate term for our generation. We're the first to be there from the big take-off of computers and computer technology all the way through the progress towards some of the mind-blowing technology we have today. The older teachers (digital immigrants) go about technology slightly different than the natives. When I cannot find a way to do something on the computer, I immediately search through the File, Edit, Tools, and Help buttons on the top Task Bar. If I can't find my answer there, I turn to Google or YouTube. I use technology to help me learn more about technology. I've noticed that digital immigrants will get frustrated easier when they are not able to work the technology just right. Instead of searching for the answer themselves, they often ask the students if they know how to do the task at hand. It is interesting to think about the contrast of one generation using technology to the next.

Just Press Start

     My parents were the type who forced their children to play outside. By forced, I mean they locked the doors to our house until 4 pm on Saturdays and we were not to attempt to come inside  unless bleeding or death was occurring. This caused my use of computer technology to be limited to Paint and Solitaire. The older I became, the more I was required to learn and know about computers in order to complete school projects and stay up-to-date with what social network was 'in' during a given phase. I have mastered the art of pressing the Google Search button. I can Save As anything you  need in any folder [unless it's Local Disk (C:)...where does that folder even lead?!]. I can create a PowerPoint with maximum effects and transitions. I can create a New Tab and find programs through the Start button (my favorite button of them all). Basically, I am basic when it comes to using technology.

     

     In this class, I hope to advance my skills in working with computers at least one level. I don't expect to become the next IT gal for Florida State, but I would like to be able to answer a technology question if asked. I am not familiar with Excel as much as the other Microsoft Office programs, therefore the sections about that will be extremely helpful for me. Blogging is something I've attempted once...or twice. With a blog post being required once a week, I hope this class helps me become a better blogger for the future possibility of wanting to start one for travel.

     I learn best by visually watching and repeating instructions. I need to be able to have the instructions in front of me to constantly go back and refer to. As in regards to learning by technology, I don't very well. I enjoy reading and learning from tangible books, ones that I can mark in and dog-ear as I please. In order to learn in this class though, I am excited to have to force myself to just press Start.