Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive whiteboards are a recent helpful technological advance created for the classroom. The boards are similar to traditional whiteboards, but they also combine aspects of a projector and computers. There are different models and companies, but the main 3 that our reading covered were SMART, Promethean, and Mimio.

    There are a variety of uses of interactive whiteboards in the classroom. Some of these include: highlighting, coloring, and zooming, and use of multimedia content like pictures and videos. These practices can help keep the students' attention in ways traditional whiteboards or projectors can't.

    Some of the benefits research has shown include: active learning, classroom management, lesson organization, and flexibility in handling lesson materials. In general, this leads to increased interactivity, efficiency, enhanced interaction, and generally better instruction.

    Research has not revealed very consistent correlations between interactive whiteboards and student achievement. However, I think most notably, there have been positive correlations found between the use of student response systems and student achievement. These devices allow students to contribute and answer questions through other handheld devices like laptops, iPads, or clicker devices.

    Like most technology-related additions to the classroom, there are some challenges to overcome. Research has shown that some teachers are not utilizing the whiteboards in the ways they should. Even students with a lot of technology experience sometimes don't actually use the whiteboards in the way they're intended, but instead just use them as projectors. However, through effective and comprehensive training, a lot of these problems could be easily fixed. The training should be done initially, but should also be ongoing as more updates and developments become available.

    I think interactive whiteboards are great additions to the classroom. Almost all of teachers used them in high school, and I know it is becoming even more prominent in all classrooms nowadays. I do think there are some limitations when teachers don't know what they're doing. I think the boards have the potential to engage students if the students are allowed to use them, but in my experience, teachers rarely let the students use the board. With the proper training and instruction, I think interactive whiteboards are a great classroom tool.

Wikis

Teacher's First provides a very concise and helpful overview of wikis. Essentially, a wiki is a website that allows people to actively contribute and edit the content. It is very helpful when collaborating with multiple people. Perhaps the most famous example of a wiki is the popular encyclopedia website, Wikipedia. 

Wikis are used by a variety of people in the world outside of K-12 teaching. Some common examples include conveying data for a project, sharing family information and photos, travel journals, and more.

I often run across wikis when googling information about shows or characters. I often stumble across fan-made wiki pages that chronicle the history and relationships of the show's characters. Currently colleges and universities are using wikis much more prevalently than K-12 classes. However, they have been helpful by connecting parents in K-12 curriculum. 

Blogs and Wikis do have some similarities, but blogs are much individually focused, whereas wikis are great for collaborative works. Users can comment on blogs, but they can't change the actual original content like they could with a wiki. 

Wikis have a variety of uses, some of these include:

1.  "What Might Be on the Test Wiki" I think this is a great idea for any grade level. This could help with chapter tests or a final exam. Students can post content that they think is especially significant throughout the year or semester, so when the test date approaches, they have a much more comprehensive view of what they've learned. This has the potential to be led and done independently by the students, but I could also picture myself posting broad topics and subjects and then allowing the students to fill it in as they go. 
2. Vocabulary lists: This would be especially helpful in my Secondary English content area-- it is similar to the idea of the "What Might be on the Test Wiki," in the fact that it's a comprehensive list, but this would be specifically for vocabulary. Students can add their vocabulary words throughout the semester, and give the definitions and examples in a second. This could prepare for various vocab tests or for a specific cumulative vocabulary exam.
3. Continuing story: This is a very creative and interesting idea for English teachers. It plays on the game where a group goes around in a circle, each saying a new sentence to form a creative and interesting story. The students could do this to help creative writing skills, but it would also be a great way to tie in the use of classroom vocabulary.

Wikis are very interesting platforms for education because they provide a way to collaborate outside of the classroom while still giving the teacher some control over the content. 

Midterm

John H. Chung’s Technology in the Classroom

Historical Background

Thomas Edison said in 1913 that, “Books will soon be obsolete in the schools. . .  It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture.” And although this hasn’t shown to be true quite yet, it is interesting that this thought has been around since such an early time. Some of the earlier uses of technology included radio, and then use of television and film in the 1950s. In recent years it is clear that computers have become the most prevalent, new source of technology within the classrooms. However, it is historically true that technological innovations become obsolete, so it is unclear what the future of technology in the classroom will look like. 

Motivation

Chung cites three sectors as the driving forces to adapt technology in the classroom: 1- nonprofit organization: Nonprofit and government organizations have proposed guidelines for using technology. Some examples of this include the ISTE standards. This helps keep classrooms on track and regulated with others.

2- commerce: Businesses profit from being informed and educated about various modes of technology. 3-education: Almost all educators agree that education should be used in the classroom. This is broken into 2 main ideas. The first is that technology should be used to improve the traditional lecture based teaching and learning. The other is that we should reform the traditional approach into a constructivist approach. These educators want to change learning and teaching by using technology in student centered learning, project-based learning, real life problem-based learning, collaborative learning, active learning, and alternative assessments. A more in depth look at this is found on the Wikipedia page for Integrating Technology. 

Classroom Technology Examples

Chung provides some examples of forms of technology found in the classroom. Some examples of these include:

• ·      Interactive Whiteboards: These are essentially a combination of classic whiteboards and projectors. They are often called SMART boards, because this is the most common commercial product. Helpful because the drawings on the board can be saved and posted later.
• ·      Wikis: These are collaborative webpages, similar to Wikipedia. These are similar to weblogs, but there are some differences.
• ·      Multimedia publishing: podcasting and screencasting are examples of this. Podcasting broadcasts audio through different outlets and can be similar to a radio show.

Concerns about Integrating Technology in Classroom

Technology’s use in the classroom has been debated, as there are some obvious concerns that should be addressed. Some of these include:

• ·     Unwilling teachers: There are a variety of reasons for teacher unwillingness in regards to technology, but the reluctance to change, time and energy, and evidence of success are some reasons that Chung cited.
•  Technology Dependency and Lack of Fundamental Skill: Some think that technology won’t help students grow into deep thinkers and will have a dependency on technology.
•      Copyright Issues: Although this is a place of concern, if teachers educate their students on copyright rules and violations, computer network defense, and awareness and supervision can help.
•      Training and Hiring Teachers: There can be problems with hiring teachers who are not educated in technology-based classrooms. This could be helped with comprehensive training programs.

Recommendations

Chung gave quite a few recommendations about the use of technology in the classroom, but I’m focusing on three:

• 1.     Be informed of technological changes in education and actively make necessary adjustments in your teaching practices. I think this is especially important for teachers. Because we are the ones providing instruction and direction for our students, we should make an effort to stay as informed as possible. It does our students a disservice if we are teaching them outdate and irrelevant technology practices.
  2.     Be patient and plan ample time when integrating technology into classroom. The lesson preparation with technology may take more time than you plan for. This class in particular has really highlighted the fact that we all learn at different speeds and in different ways. I may assume that the way I teach will work for all of my students, but some things take more time. In the future if I’m planning to introduce a new technological concept, I will make sure to set aside an extra day for practice, just to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
  3.     Educate the technology users on copyright laws and fair use guidelines. This is really important for students, not only in my classroom but also in general. If I am lenient or incompetent in teaching my students, they might go on to continue practices that don’t line up with copyright rules and violations. 

   All of this information was taken from John H. Chung's article "Integrating Technology into the Classroom"

Copyright and Fair Use

Whenever I think of copyrighting, I usually think of the lame piracy warnings that would play during the previews of DVDs and VHS movies I would watch as a little kid. They looked like this:

However, piracy is only one component of copyright and fair use laws. After reading The University of Maryland University College's guidelines for the use of copyrighted materials, I now have a better understanding of what those words actually mean. 

Copyright is defined as: "copyright is a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work is used" (Fishman, 2008, p. 6)." 

In order to be copyrighted, the work must be tangible, not verbal and must be 1- fixed in some way, 2- original, and 3-must have some sort of minimal creativity. Works of the public domain, along with short phrases or common ideas cannot be copyrighted. 

Copyrighting provides four basic protections: 

1. The right to make copies of the work.

2. The right to sell or distribute copies of the work.

3. The right to prepare new works based on the work. 

4.The right to perform the protected work in public. 

Fair use is not a black or white concept, but there are four guidelines that can help aid the decision process of whether or not it can be used: 

1. Judging the purpose or character. Basically if it's simply a copy, it won't be considered fair use. If it's being used for a good purpose (educational or nonprofit) it has a better likelihood of being considered fair use.

2. The nature of the copyrighted material: If it's unpublished it is much less likely to be considered fair use. If it's more artistically geared it has a better likelihood to be considered fair use. 

3. The amount and sustainability: Basically don't try to use the majority of the work or use it in a way that will benefit you economically without giving credit. 

4. The effect on the potential market: Is it creating something new or is it too close to the original? If you're trying to pitch the copyrighted work to the same audience then that will be probably not be considered fair use. 

The following are generally considered fair use: 

• A chapter from a book (never the entire book).
• An article from a periodical or newspaper.
• A short story, essay, or poem. One work is the norm whether it comes from an individual work or an anthology.
• A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical, or newspaper.
• Poetry: Copies of a poem of 250 words or less that exists on two pages or less or 250 words from a longer poem.
• Prose: Copies of an article, story or essay that are 2,500 words or less or excerpts up to 1,000 words or 10 percent of the total work, whichever is less.
• Illustrations: Copies of a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon, or picture contained in a book or periodical issue (U.S. Copyright Office, 2009, p. 6). 

Information taken from: http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm

I think I now have a better understanding of what works I will use in the classroom, and I think I'll be able to help guide my students in the right direction in terms of what materials they choose to work with. I know now that I should not redistribute multiple copies of works without permission, especially if they could just as easily be purchased in their original format. If I plan on using a source repeatedly semester to semester that would be considered a violation of the fair use rules. And if I ever have any confusion, there are plenty of resources at my disposal to clear up any questions. If you want more information on this, click on the link at the top of the page! 

Award-Winning Teacher Blog

I reviewed "Mr. Foley's World of Words" for my blog review assignment. I was drawn to his blog because teaches 7th grade English, which is the area I'm interested in. 

Mr. Foley uses his blog as a tool that he can easily incorporate into his everyday classroom activities. When you first visit his blog, you are prompted to select your class, and then there are following instructions once you reach your page.

I clicked through a few of his classes and looked through them; he posts assignments and classroom activities in each of them. 

I opened some of the student's blogs to see what the content looks like. He has each student create their own blog, and that is where they can post their creative writing assignments and responses to assignments he posts on his own blog. I think this is a very helpful tool for keeping track of student's assignments because it keeps them all in one localized place. It also gives the students a chance to be creative, as they were allowed to use whatever blog layout they wanted and personalize it. I could see myself doing this in future classrooms. The only thing I had reservations about was actually managing multiple students' blogs-- it seems like it could become overwhelming to keep checking in on each student's blog. However, I'm assuming that he has a solution for this problem. Maybe there is a potential system that compiles all the students' responses without having to open each blog.

He also posts his classroom assignments and anything students might need extra copies of under a separate documents section. I think this is very helpful because that makes it the student's responsibility to keep track of their own assignments. This also reduces waste in the classroom, and it can help the students catch up from home if they were absent for that day of class. 

I like the idea of keeping a "Class News" link open like he created. Although he doesn't seem to have update his, I think this would be really helpful to keep track of due dates and/or exams. I think parents would really appreciate this feature as well. I might extend it a step further and link a class twitter account. I think twitter would be very helpful in terms of sending out small reminders concerning what the students should be studying for and upcoming due dates. 

Overall, I think Mr. Foley's blog was very interesting and definitely gives me some good ideas to use in my future classroom settings. His blog was very organized and user-friendly and wouldn't create confusion for the students. I think that using individual blogs for students would be really fun for the students and would make the classroom feel fun and interactive. 

Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome to my blog. This is my second blog ever, the first of which was a really embarrassing blog/journal I used in high school that I stumbled across the other day. I'm hoping this one will turn out a little better. I'm a senior at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, majoring in English Literature and pursuing my Master's Degree in Secondary English Education. I'm using this blog to keep track of my experiences in my ETEC 486 class.

Although I'm not terrible with technology myself, I've never been really good at helping others with technology matters. I hope to learn how to not only utilize various forms of educational technology in my future classrooms, but more importantly, how to educate my students about these topics as well. I think technology is becoming increasingly important in classroom environments, and I think it is a necessary tool in keeping students engaged and entertained.