Leah Kirwan

Telecollaboration the new idea...

Curriculum Based Telecollaboration by Judi Harris

This article is about helping student?s telecollaborate with the use of the Internet to complete curriculum learning goals.  Three types of learning are:

1. Interpersonal Exchange
2. Information collection and Analysis
3. Problem Solving

Interpersonal exchange is talking electronically through email, blogs or other modes of communication.  Through these modes students share information and discuss different topics at hand.  Information collection and analysis is basically conducting an electronic survey, collecting the responses and then analyzing them to come up with the solution to the problem.  With problem solving it promotes peer feedback, information searches and social action projects.  The idea is to go through the decision-making process by motivating students to collaborate with other students in other states or just in the classroom.  It promotes across the board learning.

Some ideas that I pulled form the article are keypals.  With keypals students are split up into pairs to communicate about discussion topics through email, blogs or instant messaging.  Some teachers find this to be time consuming monitoring emails, but on a smaller scale it promotes student interaction and it gets them using the computer.  Another idea that was interesting was the ask-the-expert site.  This site is an index to help learners find answers to questions.  So many students have no idea how to find answers to questions that this website will be a great asset to my classroom and I hope to be able to use it soon in the future. 

This article encompasses all the things we having been learning in this class.  It promotes across the board technology integration.  Not only does it involved technology but it gets the students involved with other students across the world or across the hall.  It promotes teacher collaboration not just within a school but also with other teachers in the county or world.  This idea works well with the Magnet school ideal, which I have stated before in my articles.  The next step would be to see if these programs used in this article cost money or do we only need to do an Internet search to find them and use them.  The idea that in the classroom I can make finding answers easier and then making projects more engaging by promoting student discussion really excites me as a teacher.  All students love to use email, blogs, or any form of the internet that to be able to implement it in the lesson in a positive way makes it a good situation for both the student and myself as the teacher.  That seems to be challenge in the classroom when you have computers.  All students want to do is send email to friends and download games that in my opinion are inappropriate for school and at home.  I try to have a tight hold on my students and make sure they stay on task and don?t get on sites they are not supposed to.  The idea of telecollaboration is a great idea that gets students using the Internet in a positive manner and not in a mind numbing activity. 

Posted at 05:35PM Jun 17, 2006 by KIRWAN, LEAH in General  |  Comments[0]

Podcasts

Podcasting 101 by Esther Kreider Eash

Podcasting is a digital recording that can be made available on the Internet for downloading.  Podcasting has many benefits including being cost beneficial for professional development events, it is a viable alternative for delivering lessons and it gives extra support to those who need a little more help on topics. When incorporating podcasting into the classroom students learn to conduct research, write, they enhance their vocabulary and they learn to grab people?s attention.  Podcasts can be used for music, public radio programming announcements, lectures from professors or teachers, international or local news updates and for personal views.  To find podcasts you can do a web search or you can subscribe to a syndicated podcast site.  Podcasts are a new avenue for technology integration in the school systems not only for students but also for teachers. 

After reading the article I thought it was neat for students to engage in oral histories by getting a digital recorder and conducting interviews with World War II veterans.  This activity gets students involved by having them not only be apart of the production aspect but they are also learning pieces of history at the same time because they are actively engaged in listening their interviewees.  I also like the idea of using podcasts for creating promotional and educational videos.  The librarian made podcasts to show people how to use different areas of the library, how to start the process of conducting a research paper and putting school news on the podcast.  This gives instant satisfaction and people can actually access it on their own time and in a more conventional manner.  Another idea that was presented in the article was using podcasts for professional development.  So many teachers say they have no time to be apart of professional development and we all know we need 15 hours of renewal credit every five years so having the option of having professional development delivered online would be a great idea.  This is a time saver and people would still be able to do what they have to and feel constraint to travel the development site.  This is actually a cheaper solution. 

Podcasts would be a great asset to my marketing class and my marketing co-op class.  Students could create podcasts on their daily tasks and give me a digital tour of their work facility.  Their bosses and myself could send each other digital messages about student progress and instead of me visiting or other co-op teachers we could do everything online so there is no wasted time with traveling and making appointment schedules.  With a podcast you get face to face with the employer and you can see their expression versus just sending a simple email.  A podcast could also be used to conduct research on consumer behaviors and have students interview customers to see what they like and don?t like and from there use the lessons learned in class to come up with a solution to the problem is there is one and then present the solution and findings to their supervisor.  Technology can enhance learning in so many different ways that it would be stupid if we did not implement it into our lessons at the lower levels of education.  Students should be prepared for work or college when they walk out the doors of high school.   

Posted at 04:41PM Jun 17, 2006 by KIRWAN, LEAH in General  |  Comments[0]

Reliable Research...

Student Research and the Internet by Amy S. Bruckman

This article in a nutshell is about helping students understand the importance and art of research and teaching them how to find the truth in articles.  Student?s today just like back in the day are doing a rush job on school research papers and they still do not know how to find reliable sources or how to determine a dud article from a good article.  Students will go to two maybe three websites off google and feel that have done all the research they can do.  Going to the library is not part of their vocabulary and they might not even know how to use it. Students feel an encyclopedia is the only book of information in the library.  In order to prepare students better for research as teachers and parents we need to teach them about research methods and discuss the differences between article A and article B. Students need to know the different between an article of opinion, a peer review and a manuscript. 

This article is very insightful because after only been teaching for two years I have found that high school students today have no idea on how to conduct research for papers.  This problem is only going to flow into the college systems and by then it is almost too late. In all English classes they should have a unit on how to do research and how to properly use the Internet and the library to get truthful and reliable articles. At all grade levels students should have to write a research paper on a topic of teacher choice and have so many articles to support their findings.  This will allow students to go through the steps of research, writing a paper, and citing resources.   

Posted at 07:21PM Jun 16, 2006 by KIRWAN, LEAH in General  |  Comments[0]

Service learning in school

Filming Compassion by Janet Bremer

In all states high schools are starting to incorporate service learning as part of graduation requirements.  In the article ?Filming Compassion? is about a video production class that participates in service learning projects by creating videos for non-profit organizations.  Not only do the students learn about non-profit organizations, but the students not involved in the project also learn about them as well because they are watching the videos.  Non profit agencies had teamed up with Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy High School students to come up with great marketing tools for their agency and students gain not only a great wealth of knowledge, but they earn service learning hours towards graduation.  Some of the organizations have included inner city schools, homeless shelters and after school care facilities.  The students were put into groups of two allowing there to be seven videos made and seven different agencies.  Their grade was based on they script/storyboard layout, their editing, teamwork, pace of the video, introduction, and overall effectiveness.  This article really touches are on getting the students out in the community and educating others besides themselves and gets them to really understand the importance of service learning. 

The article really uses a lot of cooperative learning and puts a lot of responsibilities on the students.  Students are paired in groups of two and they are given the phone numbers of the organization in which they are working with and they are to contact the agency and set up filming times.  Before they could start filming they had to come up with the agencies objectives of the video and brainstorm on ideas.  The students had to go through the entire design cycle that is enforced greatly in the IB magnet school programs.  Students have to investigate their agency, plan their storyboard/script, create the video and edit the video, and then evaluate their video through peers and the organization.  This whole article incorporates all the ideals of an IB school.

Since I am not an audiovisual teacher I still can incorporate this idea in my future classes.  In my marketing coop class I could have students document their work experience.  Part of their internship would be to create a video about their place of business and how their business uses marketing to boost business.  Another idea is for them to come up with a promotional video for their work site.  The film idea can also be used in my regular marketing class.  Students could create commercials to promote a product.  I could also create an assignment where students volunteer their time at a non-profit organization and they can create a marketing film for the agency just like in the article.  By doing this students will be using the Bloom?s Taxonomy because they will be using the knowledge they have gained from the course and applying it into a video that shows they understand promotion.  The project can go even farther by them deciding how they would distribute the videos and if they would put a price on them.  The project incorporates all the marketing essentials along with getting students involved in the community which is part of the magnet school way. 

This article has been a great resource and it gets students involved in the community.  This provides them with motivation to do well in live because they are giving back something and not just taking. 

Posted at 01:00PM Jun 09, 2006 by KIRWAN, LEAH in General  |  Comments[0]

Table PC the wave of the education future

Exploring Tablet PCs by Lyndon Godsall

Exploring Tablet PC?s is about how tablet pc?s work and how they function. Tablet pcs have an ink-enabled application that allows one to use a stylus to write on the tablet screen.  With this application students can practice their handwriting skills, draw shapes to create connections between meanings and write out math problems and homework with the Math Journal program.  Tablets have one hundred programs that perform different functions to make the tablet pc a resourceful tool.  Manufactures of the tablet pc are HP, Toshiba, Viewsonic, Gateway, Averatec, and Fujitsu.  Drawbacks to purchasing tablet pcs is that they are more expensive then laptops and if students will be using them you will have to purchase a thicker screen causing the price to go up even higher. 

Tablet pcs are very useful in the educational setting.  With Windows Journal teachers and industry can write directly on documents and create constructive comments.  In the article it pointed out very useful tools too enhance the learning process and it can also be applied into the business setting.  While giving notes to students on the tablet pc through a projector the teacher/instructor can circle and or highlight information that is of importance to stress to students the key points of a lecture or term.  One can also write on their notes without effecting the original copy so it is easier to teach the same class multiple times.  The tablet pc is also friendly in that it uses the same skills students use everyday and that is writing.  Students are used to writing with a pen or pencil so writing with a stylus is easier to grasp then typing on a keyboard.  This allows some students who are not good at typing another alternative to succeed. 

I currently have a table pc, but it is not used to its full capacity.  Right now it is used as a regular laptop, but for next year it will used in a whole new manner.  It will be used to grade student papers and projects.  In order to do this the students will have to turn in all work through email or a digital drop box provided through Blackboard.  I will be able to pull up their work on the tablet and then start creating comments and corrections with the stylus.  All I have to do is save it and send it back to the student so they can read my comments and see their grade.  This creates the paperless classroom environment that the school system is trying to move towards.  The tablet will also be used in classroom activities because in the Computer Applications curriculum students need to learn about tablet pcs and what they do and actually perform the handwriting recognition process.  Activities can be created in notepad for students to write with the stylus certain information and they can navigation the Internet using the stylus.  Allowing students to come up to the tablet to draw out a problem and solution or circle a correct answer can aid in the education process and it promotes student engagement and having students teach other students.  All of these new technologies are promoting better educational practices and hopefully the school systems will push harder for more technology integration. 

Posted at 12:19PM Jun 05, 2006 by KIRWAN, LEAH in General  |  Comments[0]

GPS Geocaching

Hide and Seek GPS and Geocaching in the Classroom (Lynn M. Lary)

Hide and Seek is an article about using GPS to geocach.  ?Geocaching is a high-tech, worldwide treasure hunt,? states Lary.  The geocach is a huge database where you can put in coordinates/units and find different caches in a particular area.  Someone has to create the hunt by putting in clues and starting the hunt.  The units are the longitude and latitude of a location.  You can also create a multi-site cache where you have to plug in the units and then have to do a calculation to determine the next set of units.  The GPS unit can be used for a variety of things not just getting from point A to point B, but for educational purposes.    

The first thing before even using the GPS unit is the figure out how it works.  The GPS device is a way to find where items are in relation to where you are and it tells you how to get there.  A good warm-up idea is to give your group longitude and latitude coordinates where the group can enter them in the GPS unit and find the locations.  A great activity the article goes over is when they went to Thurston Middle School and they created 12 geocaches for the students to find.  The students had to break up into groups of three and work as a group to figure out the clues to get the coordinates for the geocach.  One of the clues looked like this:

Look for Box # _________ = 100 ? 80 / 2 ? 2 x 25 + 1 (fill in the ___ with the answer to this problem, 11

This idea of turning learning into a hunt gets students engaged and wanting to learn more about different locations around the world. 

Currently I teach Computer Applications One at Garner Magnet.  In our new curriculum we have to go over databases and different types of handheld devices.  The GPS and geocaching idea would be a great resource in my classroom.  With the GPS database students will better understand what Access (database) is and why it is important for them to learn how to use because they use databases every day if they have GPS in their cars, phones, and at their house.  Knowing how to cache would be a great classroom activity getting students to find where different computer factories are, where Bill Gates lives, and where certain handheld devices originated so they can get a background the technology.  Being in a Magnet school they stress on inter-department collaboration and team teaching to provide a better learning experience for the students.  Some ideas of collaboration would be to team up with an English teacher and to geocach the different locations of their reading assignments (Pig Farm, Death of a Sales Man, and The Odyssey) and then the students would find the geocaches in my classroom because I am equipped with the GPS units.  Just like in the article another idea would be to team up with a History teacher and geocach different locations about a country or city that they are talking about in the classroom.  The GPS provides different resources for teaching material and would be a great asset to any school system if they purchased them.  The idea is to engage and teach and that is exactly what the GPS geocach does. 

Posted at 09:02AM Jun 03, 2006 by KIRWAN, LEAH in General  |  Comments[0]