Tech TIme

Well this is the last blog of my Tech Time. All in all I learned a lot in this class. There are definitely things that I learned that I will use in my classroom, but there are also things I do not think I would use. some of my favorite tools that I use even now are prezi, smilebox, Adobe Photoshop, and Imovie. There are many more. I loved being able to use all the tools and not just being lectured to. This class allowed us to experiment with all the tools to see how they work and how we would use them with our classes. It was fun and I loved the people in my class. We had a blast learning everything about technology in the classroom.

Blogs

Blogs are an amazing tool that can allow students to post what they think or even post assignments. the teacher can then go visit the blogs and see what information they have put on them. This is a good way to to track learning and see how they have comprehended the information and translated it into a personal matter, how they created a connection with the information. It can also be very good as a resource for students to be able to see what is going on in the class. They can also create a blog for certain topics that everyone can add to or comment on others blogs. It is a fun way for students to be able to express themselves and share what they are learning. This is also something that can be shared between classes so they can see what others are doing with the material that is being learned. It is a very fun tool that can be used in any class.

Prezi

Prezi is a web 2.0 tool. It is probably one of my favorite tools. I absolutely love it. It allows you to make extraordinary presentations. It also stores them on the server so there is no need to save them to a thumb drive or remember to take your computer, you can access them from any computer. You do have to sign up for this tool, though it can be free, there is also a paid version. It allows you to change the background, the fonts, the size, and even add pictures or video. There are a lot of possibilities with this tool. The first one I created I found things I would do differently. Things about aligning and sizing. The next one I made I was able to adjust that and create an even better one. Every prezi I do I am able to make them better and better. It is a tool that can be used for a lot of different things. Students can use them to create presentations, teachers can do the same. They can be used for any subject and it is easy to use. I would recommend this to anyone and I have.

adobe photo shop

We have used many tools throughout this course. One of my favorite tools has been photoshop. It is an amazing tool. I do not think I would allow most students to use it due to its complex nature, but to be able to edit photos that will be used in the class it is so useful. It can allow teachers to edit out things they do not want to be seen or things that should not be displayed. It also allows you to re size pictures so they can better be displayed in the manner that the teacher wants them to be. I love this tool.

Web site

Websites can be very useful in teaching. It allows you to share information in a simple manner and have some fun with it. When creating my own website I was surprised at how easy it was. For a tool that can make a teachers life simple, it is simple. I really like being able to add pictures and decorate it for my classroom. I would probably do a more fun background next time, so it would be a little more fun for the students. There is a lot that can be done with it though. It can be used for a lot of different things not just class updates. It can be designed for a topic that is being discussed. It can be an awesome learning to and place to explore for the students. there are really just a lot of opportunities to utilize this for a class and it is made extremely easy.

Movies

This is a video I was able to make using Imovie. It is about my life growing up and moving a lot.
I had a blast making this video and I think this would be an awesome way to let students learn about a subject. I do not think there is something that I really would have done differently. I would like to make another movie. Students could use this to not only tell about themselves, but also about something they have been learning. Teachers could also use this to make a video that would be more interesting than them just teaching the whole time. all in all I think this is an awesome tool that can be use in a lot of ways.

Using excel spread sheets can be nice. it allows for immediate results and for easy access. It also can be nice to not have a lot of paper to care around or grade. I really liked creating a spreadsheet quiz and it was not extremely hard, but I have used excel many times. This may be something that a lot of teachers are not good at and it would be a lot of work to create this and may be more trouble than it is worth. I had fun making it and I may use it occasionally, but it will not be very often. I probably would have made it a little more friendly for elementary students. I did learn a lot from doing this and am now a lot more comfortable with using excel and the formulas involved. It was fun, but not sure how much it would be used in the classroom.

<- My inspiration Project.
This program was really interesting. I had never used a program like this before. It allowed you to make a diagram of a lesson and include pictures and links and notes. It also allowed you to view it in a outline format. So all the information you inserted while in the diagram was then turned into a outline based on how the content was linked. The same would happen if you inserted all the information in an outline it would then format a diagram of the information.
This could be a really useful thing in the classroom. It is a fun way to show how things are connected or show the lesson. It is also a really fun brainstorming tool for the whole class to use. I really enjoyed using this program and seeing all the things it is capable of doing both in and out of a classroom.
One of the major things that I do not like about this program is the fact that you can only use the tool if you or your school purchases the program. You cannot use it on a computer other than the one it is loaded on. This is difficult for teachers that want to be able to use this on a computer other than a school computer or for people that want to use it outside the classroom. Other than that this program has a lot of amazing capabilities that would be very useful in the classroom.
I was able to make an Inspiration project on the outer planets. It included fun facts that students would enjoy. It also included information about each planet and how it is different from earth. It showed where in the universe they fell. I was also able to link a fun page from the N.A.S.A. site so that students can go explore the planets, both inner and outer, to a greater extent. Changing the font and the colors of both the font and the backround was easy to do and it made the project a lot more fun. I was also able to add pictures of each planet so the students can see how each planet looks.
The inner planets were also done in inspiration by Meredith Phelan check out her blog by clicking her name.

SmileBox

Another free picture collage by Smilebox

SmileBox is a simple tool to make collages, slide shows, and much more. It is a really fun tool. It allows you to upload your own pictures and select a layout. You can then position the pictures how you want them. you can even add text to your work. Then you can change the colors the font style the order of the pictures, almost anything you want. I think students would have a blast being able to make collages, even if it was collages of work they had done in class or pictures from a scavenger hunt. The toll is simple to use and a lot of fun. I think it would be more suitable for older students. The younger children may not be able to manipulate the program as well. I loved being able to use any photos i had on my computer and being able to share my collages on multiple different websites. This is a feature that will allow students to display their work proudly on their personal sites. with a little help and some monitoring this tool would be really fun in a classroom.

Scavenger Hunt

The picture scavenger hunt was a lot of fun and can be used to further learning in almost any subject. It really allows students to be able to get out a little and use what they have learned and do something fun. It is an activity that I do not think I would do with younger children, but 2 Grade and up I think would have a really good time being able to go explore and take pictures then edit them.
It went really well. I think having different list of items is a really good idea so no one can just follow another team and use their ideas. I also really liked being able to get out of the classroom, I think that is something that students would love.
I would change some of the items on the list to match the ability level of the students and limit the area that they were allowed to explore in.
I think that this would be awesome to use with students to allow them to explore and learn on their own a little. The items they find and have to explore can really enhance their learning.

Pictures

This assignment was a lot of fun. I love editing photographs and making albums to share with other people. I come from a family of photographers and do part time work with my brother who is a professional photographer. This assignment really just allowed me do something I already loved doing. I had very little experience in scanning photos and posting them. This was a really good experience and I learned a lot about how to edit photos after they have been scanned in to a computer. I really did not struggle with anything on this assignnment, I just enjoted being able to play with my pictures and being able to find new pictures from other people online.
I think that students can use this to post pictures of some of the resesarch they have done. This would be an easy way to share with the teacher without having to print off all the pictures and bring them to the teacher. It also allows for easy access for the teacher. He/ She can look from any computer and not have to worry about losing the work or not being able to keep track of who did what.
This is a really fun tool. It would mostly be used for higher grades, but students would have a blast being able to edit and share photos, especially if they had the opportunity to take them.

Army

Lesson Plans

Lesson plans are fun to make. It takes some work to get all the information, but I enjoy being able to come up with activities to help children learn. It was really interesting to be able to explore how technology can be used within a lesson plan. The first lesson plan we made was not exactly how it should have been, so we made a new one. The one we ended up doing was science for 5th grade. It was a really interesting lesson with some fun activities. I learned a lot about how to include the use of technology in a lesson and how this can further the learning that is going on. Students can definitely learn a lot when they are able to research something and be able to explore. Technology will be something that is used to further the education. Students will be allowed to use computers and the internet to explore what they are learning and be able to learn more about the topic whatever it may be. Students can learn a lot from exploring the topics and being able to focus on certain aspects that interest them.

Web 2.0

This entire Web 2.0 exercise was amazing. It really taught me how many different tools are out there that can be used in a classroom. We were only able to scrape the surface of web tools and how they can be used, though it really opened my eyes to some of the uses of the tools. As teachers we have a lot of resources and some that may not be what we expect to use as a tool for a classroom. I did not have a chance to explore the tools as much as I would have liked to, but I have had to chance to explore a couple and to be able to see that there are even more out there. It was also extremely interesting to see how others would use the tools. They came up with stuff that I never would have thought of. I thought this exercise was good in being able to see uses of resources that we would not have seen otherwise. It is also cool to see how some of the tools relate to wikis and how easy it is to share info on the wiki. It showed how useful the wiki would be to teacher. It is an amazing tool for teacher to share what they have been using and how it has helped their class or not. I love how interactive this exercise was. We had the chance to not only see how others used the tools, but we got to use the tools ourselves. It was an all around good exercise. I loved it!

Wordle

There are so many websites that can be extremely beneficial to teachers. I had the opportunity to explore a couple of different site. One of which is Wordle. I was not sure at first about Wordle. It is not something that can or will have a huge impact on a classroom in my opinion. It is however, a very interesting tool. And while it may not have a huge impact on a classroom, I do think that students would have a lot of fun being able to create wordles on this site. This is a Dr. Suess wordle.

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I had a blast being able to create this wordle. It was fun to be able to change the way it appeared. 

When creating wordles one can not only change the way the words are arranged, you can also change the colors. It really allows for for the person creating it to be creative. I think this could really help students. One way of using it would be to have the students research a historic figure and create a wordle with only words pertaining to them. This is a creative way to allow students to demonstrate what they have learned. I think that students could have fun playing with this. I think this is a simple site that can be used by most students. I really think this site is a good aid in establishing information. 

National Geographic

Unfortunately I have realized how much goes in to actually being able to use a website in a classroom. It is not just simply finding a "cool" website and allowing children to go explore. Having to actually go to the site and find out all about it and actually exploring it myself showed me how much children could actually find if they just went to a random site. It is really hard to be able to find a site that gives good facts and is supported. It really assisted me in just knowing what to look for in a web site. I really had to look at the website and how it could actually relate to children in a classroom. It is also more than just finding a website, but it is finding a site that will captivate and interest students. just a site that must be read is not going to grasp their attention. We have to be able to find websites that will be useful and at the same time interesting. this is a challenge in it of itself. This means when you then have to be able to find all about the site and its support it is a lot of work. I found though that there are a lot of sites that would really help children learn and enhance understanding. This exercise helped to see what types of things make a good site and which do not. I was able to find the National Geographic website. It is an amazing website that allows people to explore the world around them in many different ways.

My flash drive picture.

Wiki Wonders

Wikis are something I have never used. This means that I learned a lot about them and how they work. It took a few tries to get everything right with it all, but some of the stuff that did go well was we all learned how to utilize them. In playing with the wiki, making a few mistakes, we all learned some new things to do on wikis and how they can be used in a class. I really like the fact that anyone can add to a wiki if they are a part of it. This can allow us as teachers to be able to teach and learn. If we allow our students to create and have their own space then we can learn more about them. this also allows them to own something. While it was some work to figure out the wiki it is now a proud accomplishment that we can share with others. It would also be an amazing tool for teachers to collaborate. The only thing I may have done is made sure people knew to not change the home page, but even that was a learning experience. I actually really like wikis and think they can add a lot.