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As discussed in blog # 3, I plan to use technology in my lessons/classroom whenever possible during my next practicum and in my own practice. One way I am hoping to integrate technology in my classroom is with a Smart Board because I have my Smart Board part 1 and 2 training and I have not been able to put these credentials to use yet.
According to Preston and Mowbray (2008), Smart Boards can be integrated into classroom education from as early as kindergarten. Ways that Smart Boards can be integrated into an early age classroom are (pg. 50): -Students can press icons to hear pre-recorded sounds -Students can engage with multimedia activities in an educational manner -Students can watch simulations (science) and view graphics -They can screen capture text or areas on the screen and annotate them with the Smart Board pen -They can save their work (i.e. annotations, drawings and notes) for future use Preston and Mowbray (2008) also state that Smart Boards can be used for many ages (pg. 54) due to their ability to: -Use resources that are web-based in order to teach large or small groups of students at a time -Aid in explaining concepts by showing video clips -Students are able to present their work to the rest of the class (i.e. can make graphics and type their work) -Teacher can use the Smart Board to create digital anchor charts -Revision of work is quick and easy Although a Smart Board is the most common piece of technology that I would ideally like to use in my class, there are many other resources that I would also like to use. Blogging and online storytelling are two things that I would like to integrate into my own classroom. According to Huffaker (2004), promoting online blogs and storytelling encourage student creativity and self-expression. By using a class blog, an online community is created and it continues to grow as students access and add to the blogs. Huffaker also mentions that online blogging is a wonderful opportunity for teachers to advance literacy in the classroom by story telling (pg. 7). Gasparini and Culen (2011) have conducted research about the use of Ipads in classrooms. They have declared that the use of Ipads, with proper supervision, enhances both teaching and student learning. Students tended to be more interested in the reading lessons and other aspects of creative activities and independent tasks. Today, there are numerous applications that can be downloaded for classroom use. These include creativity apps, 3D viewing apps, math apps etc. Gasparini and Culen have shown that students are more likely to adhere to their daily schedules and routines with the continuous use of Ipads. Many students claim that their favourite part of the day is when they are able to use the Ipads to learn and create (pg. 5). I would love for my classroom to function with the use of Smart Boards, Ipads, blogging and online story telling because it will create a sense of community within my classroom. I believe that an online community presence is an important part for today’s students in order to prepare them for their futures. I will be teaching students who will probably have careers that do not even exist today. With this being said, teaching with the most up to date and technological ways are integral in ensuring that my students succeed. References can be found on my reference page. Talk soon, S. This resource can be found online at http://www.zimmertwins.com. This is not downloadable; however, you do need Adobe Flash Player installed on your computer in order to use the Zimmer Twin tool. When media productions are created on the website, they are saved to the website. They can be accessed when you login. The website’s privacy policy states that they collect and keep all personal information private. When signing up, children up to the age of 17 must register under their parent’s name and email to ensure maximum safety. The website is monitored daily by employees of Zimmer Twins to ensure everything on the website is appropriate. I cannot think of any privacy or terms of use issues at this time. You can access this website by connecting to the internet, going to your web browser and typing in www.zimmertwins.com. To follow acceptable use agreements and information guidelines, you need a username (cannot be your real name), a parent email and password (sent to parent email automatically after signing up). Once this is set up, a window pops up for parents to read about privacy and user agreements. All movies made on Zimmer Twins are the property of the company and can be used and reproduced without your permission. Analyze The website states that children 8 years and up are permitted to use Zimmer Twins. Some questions I have are: Is this tool appropriate for teacher use? Can this be used in a classroom to further media literacy education? How could I use this as a tool to help my students succeed and think critically? After exploring the website, I have decided that I will use this tool to enhance my lessons. For example, I can re-create a story or even create my own story in any subject (i.e. social studies - use people in history to create a cartoon movie for my students to watch. This could be a minds on to a lesson to hook the students and become interested). I believe this tool would definitely add value to my digital presence and each student who uses the tool as well. Being able to create your own movie shows creativity and higher order thinking. Create Zimmer Twins allows students to create their own movie by using cartoon characters of their choice. They can make the characters talk by using speech bubbles. This tool is extremely easy to use. Children as young as 8 years old are permitted to use the website with parent permission. The only thing that would challenge me is gaining ratings on my movies. Members of the website are able to rate other movies on a 1-5 likert scale. I’m not quite sure how to navigate the rating system yet (i.e. can you share the movie more to gain more ratings?) Once you save your movie, your finished work is automatically published for all members of Zimmer Twins to see. After this, members are able to rate your movie from 1-5 (5 being the best). Reflect As stated earlier, I could use this tool to enhance my lessons. For example, I can re-create a story or even create my own story in any subject (i.e. social studies - use people in history to create a cartoon movie for my students to watch. This could be a minds on to a lesson to hook the students and become interested). Professionally, perhaps I could create a cartoon movie about how my classroom might look and present it to potentially employers. If I were to use this tool professionally, I could put my movies onto my blog, twitter, facebook etc. to enhance my digital repertoire. I could also display student movies on my classroom blog to help communicate with parents and keep them updated on what we are doing in the classroom. Take Action I believe this tool could be used for both professional and personal use; however, I am leaning more towards personal use. The main purpose for this tool is so children can showcase their creative abilities in media literacy and create their own stories to tell. Audiences would most likely be teachers and parents. Privacy, copyright and fair use issues are addressed when the parent signs up. You have to read and accept the terms before your account is created. I will use it within my own classroom or perhaps in my next practicum. I have already signed up and made an account so I can practice using the tool. The idea behind this is so that I am educated enough about the tool so I can help my students when they are using it. So what do you think? Is this a tool that you could see yourself using in the classroom? Talk soon, S. In the words of Marion Ginapolis (Superintendent, Lake Orion Community Schools, Michigan), “It is not about the technology; it’s about sharing knowledge and information, communicating efficiently, building learning communities and creating a culture of professionalism in schools. These are the key responsibilities of all educational leaders”.
Technology in the classroom is something that was difficult for me during my first practicum. The school did not have any smart boards and the library only had 11 computers. I attempted to do a lesson with the computers; however, this was difficult because students had to pair up. Since it was a math lesson, students had to take turns answering questions. I plan to use technology in my lessons/classroom whenever possible during my next practicum and in my own practice. I am hoping that there will be at least one smart board in the school that I can have access to. I have completed smart board training part one and smart board training part two. I would love to be able to put this new knowledge into practice to enhance my lessons and keep my students engaged in what I am teaching. Although a smart board is the most common piece of technology that I would ideally like to use in my class, there are many other resources that I would also like to use. Edublogs is a resource that I would like to use so my students can blog and I can also blog on behalf of the class. This will be a great way to communicate with parents and guardians. Skype and Epals would also be neat to use to communicate with people in other schools around the world or even with people with various careers around the world. This would be great for social studies. Educreations is also something that I would like to try in my classroom. This Ipad application allows for students to create various types of videos to showcase their knowledge in an area. My ideal classroom would have a smart board in it. I would use it at least once a day and allow for students to come up and interact with it as well. My classroom would have (or borrow) a cart with either laptops or Ipads so my students would be able to use resources such as the ones that I listed earlier. I would use technology and media as a classroom management strategy as well. Class Dojo is something that I recently signed up for; however, I have not had the chance to try it out in a classroom yet. This is a website where teachers give each student a monster avatar. The teacher can give each monster rewards on the website. Rewards can be discussed with the class so they know what is expected of them and what they should be striving for. This website also allows for parent communication. This is probably not a realistic expectation of a common classroom. After discussing practicums with my peers, I have come to realize that a lot of schools do not have a budget to fund technology pieces such as smart boards and iPads. Reference links can be found on my reference page. Talk soon, S. According to the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA), “Visual Literacy refers to a group of vision-competencies a human being can develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory experiences” (Avgerinou, 2012). In other words, visual literacy is one’s ability to create, apply and evaluate representations of a visual nature (Eppler, N.D). According to Eppler, students who learn about visual literacy will gain the knowledge to critically analyze, as well as establish the negative and positive aspects of visual representations (N.D).
In my opinion, visual literacy is something that aids in the development of knowledge and understanding for any level, grade or type of learner. I believe that it is important for visual literacy to be taught in schools because through visual literacy, comes creativity. Play based learning should be incorporated for every age group. Play based learning allows for creativity to shine, and visual literacy can be a type of play. For example, allowing students to showcase their creativity through photography is a fun, educational and rewarding activity. I plan to do this type of activity when I have my own classroom. Being a psychology major, I have come across many resources that state that children begin to understand the world around them through visual representations, before they are able to speak and write. Children are able to analyze something in visual form and begin to make connections in regards to the atmosphere around them. For example, perhaps a young child is shown a picture of an older person and can make a connection between that person’s age and one of their own grandparents. To me, this is a topic of great interest and it goes to show that visual literacy is something that should be implemented in a child’s life as soon as possible. In my own opinion, the younger a child is introduced to visual literacy, the sooner they will be able to critically analyze and make connections with the world around them. From my own experience in the classroom, I do not feel as though some teachers have a full understanding on the importance of visual literacy. The Visual Literacy Toolbox, which can be found at http://www.humanities.umd.edu/vislit has many resources for teachers to help them implement visual literacy into their lessons. This website provides an overview of visual literacy, online activities, activity plans, questions, learning objectives and additional resources that can be found. Reference links can be found on my reference page. Talk soon, S. Is 'play' an important part of the educational experience? Why?
I believe that play is a crucial part of education. Play allows students to be creative and has many positive effects on their development, whether it is cognitive or physical development. Peter Smith states that “Play is a spontaneous, voluntary, pleasurable and flexible activity involving a combination of body, object, symbol use and relationships (2013).” Play is disorganized, yet very important in a child’s life. Social play is usually the first type of play that is recognized in children and can be evident between child and parent (Smith, 2013). I personally think that play should be integrated into the curriculum in a more formal manner to ensure that our students have the time to be creative and are not stuck inside at a desk or on a carpet all day. Creating a play environment in an educational setting can enhance a student’s: 1. Motor coordination: through activities such as climbing 2. Creativity: through artistic activities such as painting and creating clay sculptures 3. Mathematical skills: through games such as snakes and ladders 4. Language and reading skills: through activities such as rhyming games, storybooks and playing with toys such as plastic letters (Smith, 2013). This evidence supports the idea that play enhances a child’s development in many different areas; therefore, I think that the curriculum should focus on a play based atmosphere in the classroom. In my opinion, it would make our students happier and healthier if we focused on creating a play based atmosphere for our students, no matter what the grade is. Who can I learn from, learn with, learn beside? Being a teacher candidate and soon to be novice teacher, there are many resources that I can turn to; to help me set my pathway to success. I can learn from and learn with my professors and teachers at Lakehead University. I can learn from and learn with my peers at Lakehead, my Faculty Advisor, the Chair of Education, my associate teacher on my practicum and most importantly, my students. I am not only going into a career of teaching to solely teach young children, but I am going into teaching to be taught by my students as well. I will proudly learn beside each and every one of my students. In my Media Literacy course, I have come across many useful resources that I can also learn from. Some of these include Edudemic: Connecting education and technology which helped me gather a better understanding of the best Web 2.0 tools to use as a teacher. Media Smarts: Canada’s Centre for Digital and Media Literacy is a wonderful website where teachers can find and add lessons. As well, I can learn about digital and media literacy outcomes by province and many other resources that can help myself and others learn about the importance of digital and media literacy in education. All in all, learning is an ongoing and lifelong process that is not only challenging, but also exciting. I will continually learn from, learn with and learn beside many of my peers and colleagues for the rest of my life. Talk soon, S. See links to references on the “links to resources & references” page. I believe that marketing and consumerism play a large role in media and digital literacy in today's society. The Echo Generation are Canadians under the age of 20 (26% of Canadians are categorized in the Echo Generation). When I think of media and digital literacy, children and young adults come to mind. People under the age of 20 are very impressionable which makes them a large target audience for products in the marketing world.
Advertisements seem to be everywhere we look. I know I can't even go for a walk without seeing an ad for a product. Even in grocery stores, products for kids are strategically placed at a child's eye level so they will see the product and ask their parents to buy it. Online marketing is also strategic and is a large part of digital literacy. When I log onto Facebook, all of the advertisements on the side of the page are catered to similar products that I have previously searched for online. This is great for companies but it also goes to show that you don't have much privacy in the digital world. This brings up the issue of digital safety which should be a main concern when we are teaching younger generations.
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