Friday, October 3, 2008

Talk about technology

Wow. I went for my first MRI's this past week. I was amazed with the technology! As soon as I walked down the stairs, there were two CD's with my images ready to come home with me. Talk about speedy results! It was probably a 3 minute wait from leaving the imaging machine to acquiring the CD's. Now if only I knew how to read them!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The days of Fall are here

Fall is here, officially. I'm not quite ready to put away the summer stuff and pack away the warmer weather attire, but I am back in the swing of things as far as school. So I guess that means shorter days, cooler nights, less time outdoors and more time spent indoors, accomplishing things which have been neglected up to this point. School is another big focus, for now, until I realize it's time to start Holiday Shopping. Would you believe that stores are carrying Christmas items already? I'm just waiting for Valentine's stuff to appear on the shelves. Seriously, school has been active and I'm learning lots while looking forward to this semester, but I already feel that it's going to be a busy one...

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Welcome to Fall 2008

Wow. Where did the summer go? It seems that just yesterday it was last semester, with a whole summer ahead. Well ok, I can't complain, I've been to the beach, went on a mini-vacation, took 6 credits in Grad school, went on numerous interviews and had time to just be me. But all good things must come to an end, well a temporary end.
Fall semester has begun and I'm a little uneasy. Who knew there would be so much information to comprehend in one short meeting. I know it will get easier, I just need time to take it all in. Here I go!

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Summer sessions complete!

What an experience. Looking back, I can't believe how fast a one week intensive course flies by. Before I knew it, we were sharing our final products, of which so much time was invested throughout the week. The Technology Integration course was by far the most enjoyable. My entire week, both inside class and outside, was spent thinking about Web 2.0 tools and how to connect museums to my curriculum. I was constantly tossing ideas around, changing my ideas and products...I think I even forgot to eat one day. It was so hard to step away from the work, that I'd leave class thinking and continue working once I was home. By the end of the week I was completely satisfied with my products and all the time I spent working diligently, I was ready for the weekend. And how great that weekend felt, knowing I've completed one course and could step out of that frame of mind.
I've also completed my first online course. That was exciting, and challenging at first, because all the communications were through the computer, but a few days in and I was comfortable. I surprised myself with the photographs I was able to take with my own camera. By the end of the course, I was able to improve my photographing techniques so less "photoshop-ing" occurred, and a more natural shot was captured. I still need some work, but this is after all a continuous learning experience.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Once again it's that time....

How quickly this spring semester has flown by... we're down to only 3 classes left! It feels like I was just saying that, not that long ago, except it was much colder outside. This semester has been exciting and engaging. Aside from working on a great collaboration project with four members from my TEAM, getting my Efolio up, running and updated often, I attended a Conference which was very exciting!

However, I am looking forward to summer! I've been busy and just need some time to relax :)

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Will technologies shape Education in 2008?

Yes! Technology will assist in shaping education in 2008. In TEAM alone, we use the tools which are considered "social operating systems" or social networking. Now that I am familiar with social bookmarking, I truly appreciate the fact that it is used to organize work and show others what work we engage in and leaves a trail behind of our current lives.

Aside from social bookmarking, collaborative web technologies and videos are already being used in classrooms. As far as using videos, it's a great way for content to be presented, as another way for students to view new information. With the internet and so many choices out there, teachers can be selective to choose what they want to focus on and have the ability to chose the quality (amateur or professionally created). We should be grateful for the vast information right at our fingertips.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Metacognition

* This response is geared toward the secondary level*

As a student, several years ago, when it came time to take the finals or regents in June, after practicing and engaging in work for the previous nine months, there were certain subjects in which I felt well prepared, specifically Math, Science and English. Then there was social studies, which not only was it not really my favorite, but I always felt like I wasn't prepared. I wonder if it was the teacher? But how is that possible? The teacher isn't responsible for my actions, whether I decide to engage fully or not. Saying that, to better prepare students today, I think as teachers we have a really big role in that. Of course students are contributors to their own success and self-regulation to feel better prepared. But there are things the teacher can do to assist students.

One way that teachers can help students develop meta cognition is within the daily lessons. Teachers can use the aim, to set a goal, which is sub-divided from the long term, so students understand what the primary accomplishment for the day(s) should be. The aims from the entire unit should serve as the long-term goal (Schunk).
A web 2.0 tools which I see helpful to this is a concept map, with the long term goal in the center and each branch with the sub-divided goal, in this case the aims from the lesson. It provides students with a visual in addition to their notes and handouts, but it also helps them keep goals(units of study) orderly when it comes time to looking back.

Another thing teachers can do to help students is to internally motivate them so the student begins to take ownership of their own learning, which in turn would increase their confidence and they'd begin to value their learning to assist in taking steps toward developing self-regulation. (Self Regulation ppt) It is important for the student to understand how much of the topic they already know, but they should be able to compare the current task at hand, to their current performance. (Schunk)
A technology tool which could help the teacher accomplish this when beginning to plan the lessons, could be to use Survey Monkey, Poll Daddy or a QuickTopic. These tools would allow the student to communicate what their interests are. If the teacher is aware of the students' interests, students would have an easier time taking ownership of their learning. It also allows the student to let the teacher know what they already know about the topic, providing the teacher formulate clear, direct questions, which could easily be answered by students.


Finally, the third thing teachers can do is to ask questions which would guide the students in the right direction, learn how to analyze feedback, whether it's from the teacher or peers via cooperative learning, and finally to recognize success. Challenging the students with a question they may not know how to answer, by asking them to research or hypothesize a path toward a solution would assist with developing self-regulation.
One way I see technology helping this idea is to create an online collaborative tool where students could post their answers/hypothesis for others within the class, including the teacher, to view and be able to provide feedback directly on that document.

Well these are only three suggestion I've come up with for now about how teachers can help students develop self-regulation and integrate technology. Taking these small steps, focusing on student learning could help many students avoid feeling unprepared at times when cumulative exams arise.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Well it's January....

...and class has resumed. Even though the break felt long, the time in between blended the end of the fall semester with the beginning of this semester. It's good to be back and see familiar faces. I am looking forward to developing my portfolio with Dreamweaver and focusing on Adobe CS3 in various workshops. But like I've experienced in the Fall semester, before I know it, it will be May and summer classes will be starting.....