Disaster at the Mills' House

About two weeks ago my daughter Cami was dancing around the house to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and fell, she broke her distal tibia . It has been quite a huge ordeal because she cannot walk or put any pressure on her foot at all so she has not been able to go to daycare. I have had to take a small break from school, work, and homework to take care of her so I have fallen behind on my blogs. I just wanted to say thank you for understanding and I will catch up ASAP!

Comments 4 Kids

This week on comments for kids I commented on a 6th grade class blog. The blog that I had to read about was about a holiday that you would like to add. The holiday that the student wanted to add was International Drawing Day, where you would sit outside or go to your local museum and just draw all day. I thought that I would enjoy reading the older kids blogs but to see a 5 year old adding to a blog I think is a really great thing. I think that the younger they get into technology the more they will want to learn as they get older and the more they will want to be involved in their class because they will want to post things they are proud of on their blogs. I also like the older student's blogs because they are a little easier to read and are easy to comment on.

The New Media Literacies by the NML Staff

I just watched this video on Youtube and I think they are absolutely right, to survive and flourish in today's tech savvy society there are a whole new set of skills that must be learned to participate in what is going on around the world. If you watch this youtube, think about these questions that I have posted, I have answered them as well.....
1. What do you think of them?
I think they are very smart and right on, I wonder if they have other videos that teach you these skills???
2. Are they really the 21st century skills that will be needed to be effective artists, citizens, and workers?
I think so, it is true that a new set of skills are needed to be involved in all of the innovative things that are going on around you. I think that workers will especially need these skills in order to keep up in today's society.
3. How many of these skills do you possess? Which ones?
Not many, I am learning more everyday though. I think that I have pretty good judgment.
4. How will you acquire the others?
I do not know. I am going to have to do some research on that but I do not ever want to stop learning. I want to understand all of this new and interesting technology and if I cannot teach myself I will find someone who can teach me.
Questions courtesy of Dr. Strange.
To view this video, click here to go to YouTube.

This Is How We Dream Part 1 & 2

I thought both of these videos had some great points. This is how We Dream Part 1 & 2 was done by Richard Miller. He is a professor in the English Department at Rutgers. Both of these videos are about the internet and how you can basically do anything you want as far as books and research on the internet. Richard Miller says in these videos that he dreamed of books, where he works he is surrounded by books and he finally wrote a book. The book is now on sale at amazon.com for 59 cents, but it lives forever on the web for free. Everyone works now on a laptop because that is all that you need because all the riches in the world as far as research are stored on the web. People are no longer looking to newspapers and print for their information they want visual information such as during the election, you could see on the web the states changing colors to figure out how everyone was voting and who was going to win the election.
For example Richard Miller did a piece on violence and teaching after Virginia Tech. He did all of his research over the web using images, film, and archives. People do not want just print anymore, so he came up with a document that had print, images, and sound, it was a very visual yet very informing piece. I thought it was great. He got all of his material from the web and a few things that were being passed out around the college.
It is amazing how popular academic lectures are on iTunesU where ideas are being shared freely. Teachers are now able to "push ideas into our culture" for free. Richard Miller said in the video that a friend of his is working on an emotional profile of the world; you will actually be able to tell which city is the "happiest" city in the world! This is a little hard to believe for me! Richard Miller is inspiring teachers everyday I know he inspired me.
Click here to view the two videos on "This is How We Dream Part One & Two"

The Networked Student

I just finished watching a video on YouTube, actually it is a YouTube video that I watched on one of Dr. Strange's blog, called The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler. It is basically about a student that sets up a great personal learning network and learns all kinds of new information and meets some experts in field. In the video they ask the question "Why does he even need a teacher?” They are asking this question because most of the student’s class is online and he is getting all of his information from the internet and his personal learning network. Who do you think gave him the assignment to set up the learning network in the first place? Just Kidding! The video ends by saying all of these wonderful things about his teacher and why he needs one.
I think this is great for students to have their own learning network. This is my first semester back at school after a couple of years and my first semester ever to make friends in my classes and have my own little personal network for each class. I think it would be great for my students to have a personal network but I know I am not ready to teach someone how to do this, I am still learning about the internet and all it is capable of. I want to be able to teach this to my students but I feel like I have a lot of learning to do as far as being able to incorporate this into my class.
EDM 310 has taught me that I want to incorporate all the technology I can into a classroom and I do not want to stop learning once this class is over. I think that if I continue to learn and build my personal learning network once this class is over and keep building and learning even after I graduate I will absolutely try to teach my students how to network and use technology to their benefit.
Click here for link to Networked Student video.

Using iPods in Instruction

I did quite a bit of research on this topic and found out that a lot of schools are trying to incorporate this technology in the classroom. One school started by allowing iPods to be used in music classrooms and another school is even providing the iPods for foreign language classes. For the foreign language classes the students download their lessons to their iPods, the school has included downloadable files on their websites for the students. This allows students to study and learn away from class, like when they are driving home or on a long trip.
The first school to use this technology was Duke University. Duke approved a grant that gave each and every incoming freshman a 20 gig iPod. Professors had a plan to upload class notes and make them available for students to download on their iPod. This would make it easier for them to study on the go. Class lectures and presentations were also made available for the students. Many students used them correctly but other students decided to use it for other reasons and it became more of a distraction then a learning tool. Because of these few students who used their iPods the wrong way only freshman that are enrolled in music or foreign language will be able to receive an iPod their freshman year. Those few students ruined it for everyone else!

Comments 4 Kids

The blog that I had to read this week was very interesting. It was a little bit more grown up than the last couple of blogs I have read. It had some great photos from Katrina that struck close to home. The blog is all about Fredericksburg,and why people would want to move there, such as:"Some people moved to the Fredericksburg region for jobs, schools, housing, economy, safety, climate, natural disasters, farmland, religion or to leave huge cities." It is a very well put together blog with a lot of great features. I enjoyed reading it and looking at the pictures.

iTunes University

Students today are constantly connected, between laptops, cell phones, and iPods they have constant access to everything they are interested in. Which is why iTunes has developed a way for teachers and faculty to distribute digital lectures and lessons to their students through their iPhones or iPods, so students no longer have to come to class so frequently. You can access iTunes by using your cell phone or Wi-Fi networks to watch or listen to your teacher's lectures. Teachers are discovering "Mobile Learning Networks" where they can teach a class over the phone or on their student's iPods. Teachers can customize their curriculum and deliver it straight to their student’s iPhones or iPods.
The next question is of course.... Can Professors require students to have an iPod or an iPhone? They are kind of expensive, but I am all for it. I would love to be able to listen to lectures on my own time, there are only so many online classes offered. Audio and video podcasts allow students to go to class at their own pace, when and where they want. Teachers are using iLife and iWork to create these digital lessons on their Macs where you can create customized educational materials.

Dr. Christie's Site

Wow what a great site, she is very passionate about technology in the classroom! I like a lot of her ideas and could use them all in the classroom. She has a lot of great articles about learning through technology, virtual schools, and one article that I really liked called "New Times Demand New Ways of Learning". She also does a lot of podcast that could help teacher in the classroom as well. She talks to a lot of different guests during her podcasts and they talk about all kinds of interesting things such as the purposes of digital stories and podcasts, using 21st century skills to increase student achievement, and how one principal has made learning irresistible for his students. If you have time you should give these podcasts a listen.
Dr. Christie has another great idea about using multimedia in the classroom. She thinks that you can increase student engagement and motivation for learning by incorporating multimedia tools into your curriculum. You can use digital cameras, digital photography, video, and podcasting to keep your students interested. You can do different projects for your students and incorporate all of these things into how the project must be completed. She had a lot of other great about using the internet in the classroom too!