TELE Project Reflections

All in all I feel the TELE project, "My Dream Career" went very well. Implementing the technology was a bit of a challenge because we did have some technical difficulties. At first I wanted the students to narrate throughout their PowerPoint presentation by recording their voices, but on several of the computers this function just would not work properly. The other issue we encountered was that CircaVie would sometimes save their timelines but sometimes when they'd return the timelines would be deleted. It is still in Beta testing, so I'm sure this is a glitch that will be fixed. Students also had the option to use Dipity, and most chose to. However, after the third day our server began to block Dipity. The students then reverted back to CircaVie to do the best that they could with the multimedia timeline requirement.
The students truly enjoyed taking the online career assessement and seeing their career matches. Working collaboratively they researched their dream career and the steps necessary to achieve that career. Many of their PowerPoints were impressive, and I had a lot of fun watching them be creative and problem-solve while determining what would be necessary for them to achieve to reach their career goals.
In the future I will have more back-up options in case of technical difficulties, and I may even submit a request to make sure the websites I want the kids to use don't get blocked halfway through the project.

Where am I in my project?

My students started the unit I designed for my project this week. So far they seem to be enthusiastic about it, mainly because they LOVE using the computers. I'm really excited to see their finished presentations. I set up email accounts for them all using Gaggle, so they have the freedom to use so many online tools to supplement their PowerPoint. The students are having fun using the online career assessment that takes their choices of color and matches them with careers. They have started their research and will do their PowerPoints next week!

Barriers to Implementing a 1 to 1 Program

Sorry, guys! I accidentally posted this under my other class!

Implementing a 1 to 1 program would provide many benefits to students and teachers. However, several barriers could make such a large project prove to be impossible. First of all, the cost of such a huge implementation would be overwhelming for most districts. Funding a computer for every student in every school could easily cost millions, depending on the size of the district. Add to that the cost of ITS personnel to maintain that equipment. Also, licensing fees for software could be quite daunting. I know at my school alone it is a $50 fee per additional computer for Office. All in all, I think cost would be the major deterrent in implementing a 1 to 1 program. Once funding was achieved, then the district would face the obstacle of maintaining the laptops. On top of this is the challenge of making sure students do not abuse the laptops, etc. The program sounds awesome, but what happens in three years when the laptops are way outdated? All that money would have already been spent. Do they spend it again? We all know how computers function after being used for awhile. I would LOVe for all my students to have a laptop, but I just don't know how practical the program is.

What did you takeaway from our digital citizenship night?

I really enjoyed learning about social networking sites (SNS) and the suggestions for how to use them in a positive manner. I learned a lot about the different examples of SNS. I also did not realize employers will search out job candidates on SNS. Perhaps I should've known that, but I really had no idea. It reminded me of when my former assistant principal showed me the Myspace page of one of my colleagues. He was dressed in a leather vest with no shirt underneath (to show off his tattoos). Although I have absolutely nothing against leather or tattoos (I have a tattoo myself), I found myself losing respect for my colleague based on that photo. He is a very good teacher, but I was judging him based on something he posted on an SNS that I probably was not intended to see. But I did see it, because it all comes back to Chris Pirrillo's #1 Social Networking Do's and Don'ts: Everything goes on your permanent record. It was a gentle reminder to me to reconsider some content on my own profile.

Critical Thinking: To what extent do you teach, model, and have students engage in critical thinking. . .

I feel critical thinking is crucial in the classroom. Students will connect more to the content if they must use critical thinking skills. Also, these skills are so important in the real world, and our students will learn and retain more information this way. I try to foster critical thinking as much as I can in my class. Instead of just having students practice for the Reading CRCT, I have them create Thinking Maps around the text they are reading. Thinking Maps are awesome for critical thinking in all content areas. There are 8 of them for each thought process we have. They require students to create a graphic organizer of the information, connect to it, and consider how they know what they know. Technology is also a great way to encourage critical thinking, as we are learning in this course. All of the web 2.0 applications are awesome ways for the students to take their information and find a way to apply it authentically. I am learning a great deal in this class. I am constantly thinking about what all I could do if I had access to a computer for each student each day. We don't even have a computer lab at my school, just about 10 or 15 computers in the media center that you CAN sign up for, but considering there are around 700 kids at our school-not a very promising resource. We do have three tech labs but they are used solely for those three classes, not accessible by other classes. It's sad really, the lack of technology in the schools. Still, Thinking Maps and that sort of tool do not require technology, so critical thinking skills are not dependent on technolgy but could be greatly enhanced by technology if the resources are available.

Which Resource out of my Resource Collection will I use/integrate the most? Why?

I really like the Dipity site and the multimedia timelines and flipbooks you can create there. I want my students to create a timeline of the steps they need to follow to reach their dream job. Alternately, I really liked the Scrapblog site. I think my students would truly enjoy it. I thought about just throwing them into it, telling them to figure it out and then write instructions on how to use it. This type of activity is rare for them, but I feel this type of learning is so important.

Where am I with my project?

So far I have not come as far as I would like with my project. I have my big ideas and a solid preplan, but I have much to do as far as implementation goes. I definitely want my students to explore a career choice and use technology to research it, plan out a career path, and present the information to the rest of the class. This project will be very appropriate in November as we do our Career Day that month. I'd like to make a DVD of all the presentations so all my students can watch them. As for right now, I'm a little nervous and unsure of myself, but I know if I just buckle down and tackle this I'll feel so much better!

What small change might I make to my project to increase creativity/innovation?

Erin's Cool Tool Demo makes me think that I could use http://www.scrapblog.com in my unit. I was set on the kids creating a multimedia timeline to display their ideas on how they can accomplish their career goals. I can keep that, but I also think they could use this scrapbooking tool to tell about their career as opposed to PowerPoint. I'll have to play with it some to see how it might work. As with all wonderful online tools, I run into the problem of the students not having email access at school. Some tools I can create a generic login for all students to use, but when having them create a major presentation I run into the problem of deciding if I can trust them to sign-up on their own (and many require an email authorization they'd have to complete at home) or creating a fake email for every student (something that is way too time consuming in my opinion). Still, it's a small hurdle we can overcome to integrate useful technology in their lives!

Project Update 9/23/08

After completing my project pre-plan I feel I have a better sense of where I am in my project, but I still see much room for improvement. I want to do a career exploration unit with my students, because I feel that middle school is a crucial time to begin exploring interests. Too often adults find themselves in jobs they hate, so I feel if my students have the freedom to research dream careers, perhaps they'll have some sort of plan in mind as they go on throughout their education.
So far I have them doing internet research, PowerPoint presentations, and a multimedia timeline. After seeing Mark's cool tool demo, I think I might try to incorporate slideshare into my project if I can.

15/5 #2

I really enjoyed participating in the "Cool Tools" demo last night. I plan on using circaVie in my classes (not sure yet if it'll be part of my project though). I'm going to check out some of the collaborative project sites that Dr. Moore posted to see if that is something I'd like to do as my project. I am limited in time with my students though, only 45 minutes a day per class, so this may not be possible for me. We'll see though!
As I get ready for next week I see the need for me to come up with my own timeline (maybe using circaVie-haha) for my project. I can see how it can creep up on me if I'm not careful, so I'm going to really start trying to come up with a storyboard or something for it.
I have found by taking the LoTi survey that I often have lessons that are level 2, sometimes 3. I really hope to bring my classroom to a whole new level, hopefully at least a 4 or 5.

15/5 Entry #1

I am eager to come up with some ideas for my individual project in EDIT 7500. I love this opportunity to create a unit for my class that integrates technology. Unfortunately, I'm having a difficult time so far brainstorming. I think I am just a bit overwhelmed trying to organize my UGA classes, my professional work, and of course my family. So far I'm thinking that I will have my students create some sort of PowerPoint, but I would like them to use some video and sound in it. Typically they just create a basic one, so it will be nice to figure out a way for them to incorporate video and voice recordings and them actually apply to the lessons. I'd also love to have them do some sort of digital storytelling project, because I feel they would love it. My problem now is focusing on one unit idea. I teach remedial reading, so I really have a lot of freedom in this area. I probably need to just focus on a unit that requires the use of digital storytelling and PowerPoint but it can apply any novel. My students right now have their choice of two novels they are reading, so this may be the perfect opportunity to integrate technology into the task of reading the novel.

I have to say that I already am in love with Diigo! I'm so happy to now have this wonderful resource at my fingertips. This easy opportunity to share great online resources with each other is going to be so beneficial. I look forward to learning about the cool tools other teachers have to share. As I write this I am starting to come up with a few ideas for my final project. I'm thinking about digital storytelling since I teach Reading. Regardless of what I choose, my teaching is already going to improve from the research I've been doing for this project. Already I've found some great interactive tools I didn't know existed!