Technology Exploration_Week 1

EDOL 533
Technology Exploration Assignment Form

You should complete this form thoroughly for each of your twenty Technology Explorations.

Student Name: Sarah Roe Date: 5-6-13

1. Wiki - http://pbworks.com/education
1. Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.- By exploring this resource, I found multiple ways to keep children and their parents active in the work we do at school. This would be a great thing for our Spanish program at JRES. Because the students only get Spanish 20 minutes a day, and there are no grades received, it is hard to keep their attention; let alone keep their parents involved. PBS works allows teachers to make websites that keep all information the students need for what they may be doing in class at that time. It almost works as an online notebook, keeping all information in one place. It also allows parents to log in and see what the students are learning about. Teachers have the option and giving good tips for parents to use when helping their students study at home.
2. How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.-  In a school setting, I could allow the children to make their own individual sites. This would let them keep anything important in one place, without the risk of loosing papers, forgetting things at home, etc. It would also be nice to use these in blog settings, and letting students take notes from other children, and learn things from each other. This site could definitely change the Spanish program, and make it more accessible to all students. We follow the same curriculum in all elementary schools here, but some Spanish teachers teach more of one subject than another. With this site, we could look at the sister schools and keep up with things they might be doing ( other than simple teacher collaboration).
3.Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?- I would recommend this site to other teachers. It would be great for any subject. It all students had it school wide, they would be able to interact with the program, parents would be up to date with school work, homework, etc. without the hassle of too much paperwork. I think essentially, that has always been our goal. The more we can use the computer, the more data we can take from our students, and use it in our teaching resources.
2. E-books - www.tumblebooks.com
1. Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.- This resource has an abundance of read-along books, puzzles, and much more. The best thing about it, is that there is the option to search for those things in different languages as well. As a Spanish teacher, I do not see that often. The website had a great list of books that could be worked in to any lesson plan. The option for the book to be read aloud was especially great. This setting could be turned off as well.
2. How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.-  In a school setting, I would love to use these books to read to students in Spanish. I would also like the older grades to read aloud. This is difficult with a normal book, because the only way for everyone to have a copy, is to make copies myself. With the online books, everyone can watch from the overhead, and read aloud together. This would be great way to practice their Spanish speaking skills.
3. Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?- I would definitely tell other teachers about this. Not only those in my department, but others as well. Money is short, therefore there are not a lot of copies of the major books children need to read together, and do assignments on. Although it is helpful to read to your students, I think it is even more beneficial to have them read aloud in front of their peers. The tumble books also have interactive games that would be a great "brain break" for the students, but still pertain to the subject material.
3. Pod Casts - www.epnweb.org
1. Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.- I was unable to download site due to having a mac computer.
2. How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.- N/A
3. Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?-  N/A
www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/
1. Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.- This resource had an abundance of information on it. Not only could I see how a pod cast/ blog worked, but I could see the comments of the students, parents, and other teachers who watched it as well. It is very important to make all material available to the students, and this does a great job. It made me think, that if all students had access to this, (in a world where all students have computers at home), the teachers could assign the "homework" online, as a lecture about what they are going to be doing in class (what is usually used in class as the teachers lecture). Then they could come to class and get help on what would have otherwise been their "homework". I have heard many parents complain that they need better instructions on how to do the homework at home because they are having a difficult time helping their children finish their homework. This would completely solve that problem. Then the teachers could use time in class to work with students on their homework, as they are best to help in a subject they are teaching.
2. How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.- In a school setting, this would be another resource to use in catching the attention of the students outside of the classroom. Parents could use it to have a better idea of what is going on in class, etc. I think it would be a great way to also let children make their own pod casts about their favorite things, helping them to better maneuver on the internet and through technology.
3. Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?-  I am not sure if I would recommend this to other teachers. Though it seems very resourceful, it is not something I am completely comfortable with. I think that I would have to spend more time with it, to feel more at ease, rather than just researching it. I myself have fears of being on video tape, and letting others watch me or hear a recording of my voice. I also am not sure how well this would go over with elementary school children, as the example is for middle school.
http://www.iste.org/images/excerpts/EDPOD1-excerpt.pdf
1. Describe what you learned from exploring this resource. Be thorough in your response.-  This source was great for going in to a deeper explanation of podcasts and how they should be used in the classroom. After first researching podcasts, I was full speed ahead. This brought me back down to the real world. There are certain precautions that should be taken when using any type of technology in the classroom, and this was a great check list that could be used in those situations.
2.How could you use this resource in a school setting? It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.-This will be helpful in my selection of podcasts that I could use in the classroom. It is important to remember to review anything that could be used in the classroom before showing the students. These guidelines make it important to know who is behind the podcast, and whether or not their information is stable or not. It would be terrible to show students some vulgar, un-educational podcast because the teacher did not preview it first.
3. Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth. Why or Why not?-  I would most certainly spread this information to other teachers and faculty members. It is obvious how beneficial these podcasts can be in the school system, but it is important to follow a certain set of guidelines when choosing them as well. Those teachers who are new to using podcasts in the classroom will be able to better understand the process with the help of this website.