Creating a Digital Story

Over the past few weeks, I've had the chance to create a digital story! There were many things to learn and many different paths to take while creating this story. After taking a few different paths, a final product resulted that was quite satisfactory. Our digital story was created on Photo Story 3, as well as with the help of Audacity. Each step was laid out so that we could complete the final project. We even had the chance to get peer reviewed by others in our cohort. I believe that such peer reviews helped improve the digital story. For those of you who may not know what a digital story is, it is a video clip that one can create and include voices, music, sound, etc. to make a story. The digital story that my field partner, Megan Loveland, and I created was on pollution. Grab a bag of popcorn and take a look at our digital story, found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vii_wskv3e4&feature=youtu.be.

Animoto Vidoes...Who Knew!?

Today in class, we learned how to create Animoto videos. After signing up for a teacher account, I was able to create two videos on educational topics. The first topic was "Utah," where the video informed students about different Utah state symbols and different outdoor places in Utah. I could use this quick video to either introduce Utah or use it as a review of Utah. The second topic was "World War II," where the students learned about the concentration camp victims and then saw the joy that came from liberation. It concluded with the question, "Ready to learn more?" I'd use this video to introduce this topic. To create these, I used pictures found on Flickr, Culture Grams (from Pioneer), and Google Images, limited by labeling for reuse and noncommercial reuse. This assignment was very fun to complete and I hope to be able to use this in my future classroom, especially as a hook or engaging factor among all sorts of different subjects.

Creating a Podcast!

This week in this media course, we got to create a podcast. It was very entertaining to complete. I worked in a group with McKenzie Clement and Stephanie Easton. We decided to keep the theme that we used for our WebQuest and do a "news broadcast" of sorts about what was happening in Pompeii when Mt. Vesuvius was erupting. From this podcast, students can get a feel for the chaos that was likely happening when Mt. Vesuvius was erupting. This podcast would make the WebQuest "come alive" or seem more real for students. I'm excited to use Audacity and create some podcasts in my future classrooms. I really liked how the professor created a podcast of a book with "dings" inbetween where the pages needed to be turned. I'd like to use that idea and others when creating podcasts in my future teaching career. "Well ladies and gentleman, that's a wrap on Roman Numeral Chanel 2 news! Everybody run!"

WebQuest Adventures

Wow! What an adventure!!! I learned how to create a WebQuest site. It was very different than anything I've done before. It's a quest that students take on the web. It certainly does take quite some time to put together but once it's put together, if websites stay the same over time, this can be used over and over, year after year (remembering that the information should be relevant and always up to date). I got to set this site up with McKenzie Clement and Stephanie Easton and they were wonderful to work with. Stephanie had some great ideas that she shared with us on the site. I'll have to try creating my own WebQuest sometime to see how it goes! Otherwise, it was super fun!

Check out our WebQuest Site and maybe you can have some fun playing around on it too!: https://sites.google.com/site/webquest3250/

Google Sites!

I got to learn how to create a Google Site today! I learned many new things in creating this site. I had created a Google site before but it was a long time ago! Some of the new things I learned were connecting a calendar to a website page, connecting a survey to a website page, creating an announcements page, copying images into the website page, hyper-linking words to an educational link, and much, much more! Once I figured it out, it seemed fairly easy to get going but it did take a lot of listening to the instructor to figure out exactly how to set the site up. It was quite an exciting adventure I had in creating this site and I hope to use creating a Google site in my future classroom!

Check out my site: https://sites.google.com/site/missbremersclass1/

Parent Survey

As I was completing this assignment, I was enjoying the work that can be done and shared with parents of students in the classroom. I marveled at how easy it would be to send a survey home with students - I wouldn't even have to worry about the paperwork and having a chance to accidentally loose the papers! I found it really fun to do, simple, and motivating. As a parent of a child, I would appreciate an online, private survey, such as what was done, rather than a paper I may lose or worry if the child might lose or share it! I'm grateful that I took part in this assignment and didn't find it too challenging. The challenging part I found was figuring out what questions to ask parents and how to be careful in wording them as to not offend anyone. Completing the Parent Survey was a great and enjoyable lesson!

goo.gl/G0pJsn - Check out my survey!

International Society for Technology in Education Reflection

International Society for Technology in Education Reflection

Identify 3-5 specific ISTE standards with which you feel the most comfortable.

1)      Standard 4: Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.

               a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and

technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

The reason that I feel comfortable with this specific standard is: I understand how to use the internet and other technology safely. I know where to find resources to help parents and students understand why internet and technology use safety. I am an advocate for students feeling comfortable where they are, including when using technology.

2)      Standard 4 (see #1)

b. Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources.

The reason that I feel comfortable with this specific standard is: I understand that students all learn differently. I also understand that not all students may have access to technology in the home. I am aware of many places in which students can access technology in order to complete their assignments. I also envision myself having alternate assignments or of the like if students do not have any way to access the internet or other technology.

3)      Standard 5: Engage in professional growth and leadership. Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.

a. Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning.

The reason that I feel comfortable with this specific standard is: I enjoy participating in conferences and other activities that involve technology. It is really interesting to learn how to use technology in different ways such as in the classroom, helping in the community, reaching globally/around the world, and in many other ways.

Identify 3-5 specific ISTE standards that would be important to you as teacher for which you need more preparation.

1)      Standard 1:  Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.

The reason that this is important to learn more about is: It is very important that students understand how the world runs and what they can do in problematic situations in future careers, societal issues, family decisions and problems, etc. Using what is often available and widely used to help solve those issues is important – technology is one of those resources. Learning how to use technology in all aspects of life is an important skill to learn about and to teach to students!

2)      Standard 2: Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments. Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the Standards.

b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.

The reason that this is important to learn more about is: It is very valuable to understand how students learn and what makes them curious. It is important to know how students can become active participates “in setting their own educational goals” and how teachers can use technology to implement it.

3)      Standard 5 (see #3 for Part 1)

c. Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.

The reason that this is important to learn more about is: It is so important to be updated on technology and the internet usage, especially as it is becoming more and more accessible to people. It is important to know exactly what tools and resources will help students in the classroom. It is important to understand what technology students use in the home that will affect their progress at school. It is very important to learn more about where to find resources and why we use such technological resources in the classroom.

What do you want to learn in this class?

I want to learn how to use technology in the classroom to involve parents and students. With parents, I want to find out ways I can keep them involved, updated, and informed about what is going on in the classroom. If possible, I’d like to learn a little bit more about e-mailing parents, the e-mail operating system that most school districts use, and the proper and professional wording teachers should use in e-mails to parents and students. I’d also like to learn about writing grants to get technology in the classroom. A teacher who is close to me wrote for a grant and was awarded with netbooks in her classroom. I’d like to learn about who we write grants to, how we write them, and why specifically we want to write posts for technology in the classroom. I also would find it interesting to learn how to capture videos of us teaching in the classroom and how to post them online for any students who wish to review or may have been absent in class that day. I believe that would be a very valuable resource to have for both the students and the parents. Above all, I’d like to learn how to stay updated in technology so I can “stay with the times” and am able to identify with and further understand my students.