That's All Folks!

I know that, once again, I am late on my blog post, but this year came to a close way too quickly! I am not in my second student teaching placement and I am loving it!! However, I am still in shock that my first year of education classes is over, and I am already missing my classmates!!

I feel that I really learned a lot this year! I have to say, that ICT has been the most interesting and fun class I had this semester! As stated in my previous blogs, we learned photo editing, video editing, video creation, communication using technology, among many many other things. I feel that my favourite assignment during this course had to be the video creation. I felt that I was really able to let my creative side loose while exploring something brand new to me. I realized how easy it was to create something meaningful, enjoyable, and education all at the same time! This is something that I am looking forward to using the future and may even get the urge to use personally!

I had never really thought about using Skype in the classroom before, and to be honest, I never really thought it was possible or easy to do, however, after having a Skype session with Kathy Cassidy, I, once again, realized how easy it was to use and connect. A friend of mine and myself are teaching the same unit in our placements, at the same time, and we have decided that we will try to connect our classroom for further learning using Skype!! We are hoping that our classes will be able to develop questions to ask each other. I also just think that this would be a great tool to show the students that there are other people out there who are also learning about the same topics they are. I feel that, sometimes, students get lost in their work and don't think about the outside world. Skype is a great way to get the students excited about the topic and understand that there are others who care about this as well. I am extremely excited about this and I hope that it works out well!

Now, as for blogging. I loved blogging! I thought it was a great way for me to reflect on my learning and organize my thoughts about what we had learned. It is all too often that I learn something in school, and then forget about it by the end of the week. Blogging allowed me to look back on topics and discussions that I had encountered, and develop a further opinion about these. I would love to keep blogging during my placement, however, I already feel that I am lacking time. I found it difficult to even keep up with this blog throughout most of the semester, especially towards the end, when I had so many projects, assignments, and planning to do. Blogging is something that I would love to continue and for sure use in the future with my own class, although at this moment, I am up to my eyeballs in planning and curriculum documents that I am not sure when I will find the time to blog. I am even finding it difficult to find time to eat and sleep!

Overall, I think that I had a very successful second semester and first year in the Faculty of Education, and I wish all of my classmates good luck and all the best in their second placements!! (Have I wished you good luck yet?)

I will attempt to keep up with this blog, but in the words of Porky Pig..... (play video)

Negative Newspaper

So, the other day, I was searching for newspaper articles about technology in the classroom, just to gain a further understanding as to how people feel about the increase in technology used, and how I personally feel about it. I came across an article in the Winnipeg Free Press regarding the use of iPads in the classroom. The article explains how so many schools and divisions are trying to incorporate iPads in the place of textbooks, maps, charts etc, and to make iPads mandatory for all grade six to eight students. While I agree that there should be research conducted to understand the effects that technology has on student learning, and whether spending a lot of money on these handy devices are worth it, and not just another fad, this article was quite disturbing to me. I have previously stated that I was hesitant to use technology in the classroom, as I felt that technology is taking over the world too quickly and students aren't learning to read and write properly. After reading this article, I was able to look into my beliefs about technology, and realize that I actually enjoy the idea of technology in the classroom, and I do feel that it helps students to learn. This article states differently.

This article focuses on a book published in 2011 by Mike Schmoker. He states that "technology is unnecessary when it comes to improving student achievement and too much emphasis on technology can get in the way of these learning essentials" (being content-rich curriculum, reading and writing). This statement actually made me quite upset and uneasy. I have spent the last semester of school being taught that technology is the way of the future and that it greatly improves student learning. Because of my wide range of exposure to many different forms of technology, I strongly disagree with this statement. I feel that students are so involved in technology these days, that much of their interests involve the use of technology. Throughout my first year in education, we have learned that when students interests are piqued, they are more engaged, and therefore, they learn and remember more information. Therefore, I feel that student learning is enhanced by the use of technology.

The topic of iPads over textbooks is a major point in this article. It states that "some technology advocates suggest iPads are better than regular textbooks because they can provide more up-to-date information to students. This argument, however, overlooks the fact most sound textbook content is not outdated. The history of Canadian Confederation remains the same now as it was 10 years ago, as do most of the basic scientific concepts students need to understand". I completely agree with these "technology advocates" as to the easy access to more updated sources of information. Although the internet has a lot of unreliable information, if the students are taught how to properly use the internet to find reliable information, it is a quick and easy way to find this. I agree that the history of Canadian Confederation is the same, however, if all textbooks are available as an ebook, why does it matter if the book is in print form or in an electronic form? The student is going to receive the same information, just possibly at a more environmentally friendly form if used on an iPad.

Another issue that I have with this article is that it only touches on iPads, and no other forms of technology, however it generalizes technology as "bad for the classroom". What I would really like to know, is when was this study conducted? Who was studied? How long was the study? Did this study take place during a time when students are already using technology in the classroom? I feel that this article left out a lot of important details, and that everyone should ask these questions before jumping to conclusions or making assumptions about technology. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if a study was conducted when students are already using technology, wouldn't the results form a kind of a "plateau" as they are already used to the technology and have already learned a lot from using it? I am quite confused.

Anyway, enough with my rant about this article. I am going to stick to my newly formed views of technology, and say that I feel that technology is an important thing to have in the classroom. I have spent an entire school year and so much time experimenting with different forms of technology, and learning the importance of technology, to just throw all of my new formed beliefs out of the window and to close my mind to the idea of technology again. I am a strong believer that if used properly, technology can be a wonderful teaching tool, just as books, paper, and pencil can be.

If you would like to read this article yourself, go to http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/gadgets-in-classrooms-are-gimmicks-210369981.html?device=mobile

Sincerely,
An irritated teacher

Kathy Cassidy Connecting from the Start Chapter 2

I know that my commentary on chapter two is well overdue, but better late than never right!? In Kathy Cassidy's book Connecting from the Start, she discusses various topics regarding technology in the classroom. Last time I posted about this book, I discussed technology in general and the many uses that Kathy introduces the reader to. Chapter two is much more focused on connecting through Skype.

I, for one, have had experience using Skype in the past. I used to use Facetime to communicate with my sister in Ontario, but my stepmom introduced me to Skype which I felt had a much clearer picture. Now, in addition to communicating with my sister, I use Skype to communicate with my friend from Winnipeg and our friend who moved to Victoria. We even plan Disney Movie Skype dates!

Skype is a great way to involve your students with other students and classes around the world. Kathy explains how her students have had the opportunity to chat with students, do reader's theatre, and even compare activities with other students across the country and around the world, all in the name of learning. In addition to learning from other students around the world, Kathy explains how she has even used Skype to get an ill student involved in a special school occasion. This student was signed into Skype by their parent, who was also new to Skype, and was able to get involved and not miss an exciting event in the classroom. The best thing about Skype is that it is free!! And it is so easy to use!! Anyone can do it! I absolutely love the idea of using Skype in the classroom, however I do have one concern. That being, would students take advantage of this opportunity in order to stay home from school. We all know that there are students out there who would much rather stay at home "sick" than go to school, and just learn everything through the internet. If using Skype for this purpose was made a routine, I can see this becoming a problem. (Read on for Kathy's answer to this concern).

Now, if you are a teacher who is using Skype in the classroom, there are a few things that Kathy points out that you should always take into consideration.

1. Time. Time is extremely important when trying to Skype with another class or person. Once you find someone to Skype with, take into consideration their time zone. If you are in Brandon, Manitoba, and you have contacted a class in Sochi, Russia during the 2014 Winter Olympics, your time zones are completely different and an opportunity to Skype may be impossible. When it is 9:00am in Brandon, it is 7:00pm in Sochi. When it is 3:00pm in Brandon, it is 1:00am in Sochi. Because of these time difference, you will never have a chance to Skype with the classes during school hours. This is something that you need to keep in mind even if the time difference is two hours or even one hour.
2. Scheduling. This goes hand in hand with the time aspect of Skyping, When you plan a Skype session, make sure that you make a note of this session and DO NOT FORGET ABOUT IT. There is nothing more upsetting and unprofessional in the Skype world when someone forgets that they have a Skype meeting. This is upsetting to the students, and possibly leaves the teacher with an unplanned slot.
3. Goal of session. Make sure that you have a clear goal in mind when planning your Skype session. What do you want to discuss? What do you want the students to learn? Having a good plan and goal allows for a much more productive session.
4. Student behaviour. Discussing student behaviour ahead of time can eliminate unnecessary and unwanted stoppages in discussion time. Set out specific guidelines and rules that the students have to follow in order to continue on with Skype sessions.
5. Projector. If possible, hook your Skype up to a projector so that all students can see and can be involved in the discussion and the fascination with Skype.

In order to completely understand how Kathy uses Skype and the "Skype-ti-quette" recommended for communicating with others using Skype, read Kathy's book!! It is fantastic! She discusses everything from one time calls and sustained relationships, connecting with experts, becoming the expert in conversations, and using Skype with curriculum, among many many other ideas.

Ok, so now that I have given away too much of her book, we had the opportunity to use Skype in our university classroom last week with none other than Kathy Cassidy herself!! This was an exciting experience for all of us as we were able to gain so much more meaning out of our class textbook than we would have in any other class. The fact that we can ask questions and comment on a book that we are reading and is written by a "real" person and not some random at LMNOP publishing was great. Now, I raised the concern about students relying too much on Skype when they are sick and potentially taking advantage of this, and I was actually able to have my question answered by Kathy. I loved that she explained that this form of involvement is only used for special occasions in the classroom; something that students would be extremely upset if they missed, such as a guest visitor or a major project that they have been working on. The fact that she doesn't use Skype too often for students who are at home sick, doesn't allow this to become a routine, therefore, she explains that she has never had an issue with students taking advantage of this method of communication.

On behalf of the Early Years students at Brandon University, thank you to Kathy Cassidy for taking the time to answer our questions regarding technology in the classroom. As a class, we feel much more knowledgeable and more likely to use technology in our future classrooms. It's not as scary as it seems! Until next time America!

-Brittany

Been a long time

Ok. I know. I've been really bad at this blogging thing the past couple of weeks. But I have a few of what I think are pretty interesting topics to post about in the next couple of days. First, you must understand, that this past week was the second last week of school and assignments have been piling like crazy!! But now that the Brittany pity party train has left the station, let's get down to business.

The one main thing that I would like to discuss about this last week is digital storytelling. I know that I have already discussed this, however, I have had a lot more time to experiment with this and explore what it entails.  In two classes, I have had the opportunity to work with this many times. There have been three assignments with video editing, music editing, and slide show production in the past couple of weeks. The first assignment was the one story sentence that I had explained in a previous post. The other is a video editing assignment done in my ICT class, and the other is a slide show or video that tells a story, either your own made up story or a retelling of an existing story.

I had a LOT of fun with the video editing assignment in my ICT class. I completed this assignment with my friend Rae. There has been this phase that has gained a lot of attention again recently. Maybe you have heard of it. It's called Mario Kart. A game that I once played when I was young is now becoming popular among some people again. One day, Rae and I were sitting at her place after school playing Mario Kart with a delicious.... iced tea... and thought "wouldn't it be fun to use this assignment to create a Mario Kart movie preview?" So that's what we did. We printed and cut out pictures of Mario Kart characters, and used a method called "stop motion" combined with taped Mario Kart races. "Stop motion" is when you slightly move pieces and take a picture of their new location every time, and then put the picture together as a video and it looks like these pieces are moving.  For further information on stop motion, YouTube has quite a few videos. Anyway, we used a variety of methods to complete our video. We used pictures, videos, audio, and animations created by PowerPoint that were then created into a video clip that we then placed into our video. We even created our own "production" logo through Paint and Word. To put our entire video together, we used Movie Maker for Windows. I have had experience with iMovie in the past, however, with the lack and difficult access to a Mac computer, we decided to use Movie Maker. At first, I wasn't too fond of this, however, the more I used it, the more I realized what you could do with it. Now that I have experience with both, I feel that Movie Maker is just as good and easy to use as iMovie.

For my last assignment with digital storytelling, I decided to create a video to "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. I wanted to create my own story, however, with everything else going on, I lacked the motivation and creativity to come up with something that I really liked and wanted to use. Yes, I took the easy way out with using something already done. In my defence, I think it turned out great. To do this, I used PowerPoint. I found a nice light coloured background and used black text to tell the story one line at a time. After each slide, and every major event in the book, I had baby pictures of myself with my family. I paired a piano version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" with the presentation which I felt really added to the story. It is amazing what a little bit of music can do to set the mood of something. The only thing I would have changed with this assignment would have been the pictures. If I had thought about it before, I would have found baby pictures, pictures of when I was two years old, nine years old, a teenager etc to go along with the actual story. My mom and I got to looking through old pictures and used all of the ones that she said I should use, and a few more that I decided to put in (sorry mom, nice hair by the way).

My experiences with digital storytelling have all been positive and I think that this is something that I would use in my classroom. My CT in my first teaching placement created a classroom video every year instead of a paper year book. This averaged about 45 minutes long and contained picture and videos of everything the students did throughout the year. I thought that this was a lot of work, and I think I was right, but it seems totally worth it. Making videos is one of those things that I need to do well. I don't really stop until I feel that it is perfect. In that aspect, this is probably a bad, but amazing, project for me to take on, especially a 45 minute one. However, this is something that students may have forever and can watch whenever they want. Students love videos and seeing their accomplishments and memories.

I think I have rambled on long enough for one night. I will post with more interesting things tomorrow! Here's lookin' at you kid!

-Brittany

Kathy Cassidy and Connected from the Start Chapter 1

Ok, so yesterday I said that I was going to discuss our class textbook, and didn't. So, to make up for that, and my week of missing a post, I would like to discuss a  chapter from Kathy Cassidy's book Connected from the Start: Global Learning in the Primary Grades.

In chapter 1, Kathy asks the most obvious, yet most important, question regarding technology; why connect? She discusses how her class began connecting with another class in New Zealand at a time when communication through technology first began. It is difficult to think about what people did to communicate before the world of internet, Facebook, Skype, and even texting, among many other forms of social media and communication. With the quickly growing use of technology to connect with people around the world, the students were able to see similarities and differences between them and other students in New Zealand. Kathy was able to take full advantage of this communication tool and cover outcomes of her curricula. What really surprised me was the point that Kathy made about teachers claiming that they do not "have time" to connect with other classrooms because they are "too busy" covering the curriculum. Kathy uses technology as a way to teach the curriculum instead of an addition to it.

All of us know that technology is such a huge part of student's lives now, and any way that we can teach more efficiently with technology, should be done for the student's sake.  I love the fact that communicating through technology all over the world makes everything much more personal. Kathy explains how people may hear that there are volcanoes , however, when students are aware that volcanoes may be close to the school of other student's that they know, they may become concerned for their safety, therefore making this information personal and much more real.

Another point that Kathy makes that all teachers should be aware of, is that students learn much better when they interact with their classmates and other kids. The fact that students now have the ability to connect and learn from other students around the world, they are able to see how they are similar to others while also observing the differences in climate, speech, and schooling practices among many other things.

Now, I will admit, I used to be one who thought that teachers were relying too much on technology in the classroom and that when I became a teacher, I would teach the "old fashioned way" with writing instead of typing, and figuring out problems without using calculators. Since being in the Faculty of Education, I have greatly changed my views on this and feel that technology is an incredible tool when used properly in the classroom. One of the reasons that I was so hesitant to use technology is because of all of the "bad" and "unsafe" things that are out there. However, Kathy makes an incredible and eye opening point that "children who are isolated from social technologies will not learn HOW to be safe online". I have never really thought of this before. In the classroom, it is the teacher's responsibility to teach the students how to appropriately use technology and the internet. I loved the idea of the baby steps where the teacher models the expected behaviour and slowly allows the students to have more freedom once they are familiar with the teacher's expectations.

Going back to communication, when students have the opportunity to converse with other students around the world, questions constantly come up about what they see, hear and read. I feel that this is a great way for students to form their own questions and explore the answers of these questions. This actually seems like a good learning experience for both the students and the teacher. I can see myself using this tool to communicate and learn with other students while also coming up with questions of my own in addition to my student's. I love the idea of "accidentally" learning new things. I feel that when students accidentally come across new information and answer new questions, they tend to remember this information better because they are much more interested. This goes back to the idea that students are in charge of their own learning. When they have questions of their own, the answers are much more interesting.

Phew, that was a mouth full. Up next: Skype. Stay tuned for a commentary of chapter 2!!

-Brittany

So little time..

I know, I know. I missed writing a post last week. What can you expect from a busy student, server and someone trying to have a life all at the same time?! I promise that I will try to be better. Because I missed a post last week, I have TONNES to say this week from class projects and the class textbook, to funny technology pictures I have seen, among my other musings.

So this week in school, we have been doing a lot with "digital storytelling". What is digital storytelling do you ask? Well, it is quite frankly exactly what it sounds like. Using digital technology to tell a story. In order to do this, we have been creating many mini projects in class including videos and picture editing. The first mini project we had to do was create a video using our own personal photos. Being someone who loves to travel, I decided to make mine using pictures of many trips that me and my boyfriend had been on. Most of these were pictures of New York, Calgary, Las Vegas, Boston and Washington. The program that most of us used to create our videos was Animoto. I highly recommend this site! It was so simple to use as it was similar to that "click-drag-and-drop" process that I talked about when discussing my website on Weebly. The only issue with Animoto, is that it only allows you to make a 30 second video. BUT, if you are a teacher and sign up under the education tab, it allows you to make a 3 minute video, with 50 associated videos for your students!! Back to the digital storytelling, we have just been given the assignment to create a slideshow of pictures in order to tell the story using ONE sentence. This sounds confusing, I know, but it is simply a slideshow of your own pictures, with a word or small phrase on each slide, that makes a complete (yet not particularly a proper) sentence. As long as it tells a short "story" using your pictures, you are good to go!! Once mine is finished, I will upload it so you can see exactly what I mean. It is nice to finally see that something in one of my classes is linking to a project in a completely different class. Digital storytelling is going to be used in my English Language Arts Across the Curriculum class as well! I am extremely excited to see what ideas all of my classmates have come up with! (although the expectations of this assignment have not yet been made clear, am I right?)

CLICK HERE to see my Animoto video!!

Another mini project we have been doing a lot of in class is photo editing. There are so many programs out there to use!! I have looked through a lot of them, and I encourage you to do so as well so that you can find the right program for you. For my class project purposes, I used iPiccy. Again, It was very user friendly and produces a good product. A friend had suggested that I use this program and I don't regret it for a second! There are so many edits that you can use, it is impossible to not find what you are looking for. And, if you do something that you don't like, you can just close it and start again. I must admit, I did this A LOT!! I have never really done photo editing before so this was a new experience for me. I can't tell what a well edited picture looks like. For me, it is one of those things that looks good for a bit, and then you look at it for too long and you can hardly tell what it is. It doesn't help that I don't understand the levels of "saturation" "exposure" "noise" and all of that other photo editing jargon.

So time has run away on me once again, and I feel that I have rambled enough for one night. Since I apparently have so much to say, I will make another post tomorrow about the class textbook. It is honestly one of the best textbooks I have purchased in my 5 1/2 years in university, so I am actually pretty excited to talk about it. But before I leave you, I do have a picture that I found funny that I would like to share with you...

I thought that this picture was funny and freakishly accurate. This is exactly how everyone sees technology these days, especially the younger generations. But, for now, I will leave it at that, as this is a great transition into what I will talk about in my next blog!!

Until next time, remember to "keep fit and have fun"! (yes this was a BodyBreak reference.. I'm so Canadian..)

-Brittany

Week 3 in ICT

It's hard to believe that we are already three weeks into this semester. It's going to be over before we know it! I've finally been able to dive into the world of ICT and explore the development of websites. One of our assignments is to create a class website that we can use in the future, or even during our next teaching placement that is only six weeks away! I didn't realize how many programs are out there in order to create a well planned and organized website. Out of all of the options, I decided to use Weebly.

Weebly is great! There are so many options for templates, colours, styles, and purposes and the user can make it as simple or complex as they want. It is extremely user friendly as the website guides you through the steps to create your own website how you want it. Everything else that you place on your website is a "click-drag-drop" process which allows you to place pictures, text, videos, and everything else, exactly where you want it. Weebly also allows you to embed objects such as calendars that you can create from your own email or accounts such as Google. You can even set up a contact form that sends messages directly to your email when someone has a comment or question for you. If you are wanting to create your own website, whether it is for business, school, or personal purposes, I highly recommend using Weebly. What is the best part of it? Your first two websites are free!! As a teacher or student, this is fantastic!

To build your own website, go to www.weebly.com

Now, a little laugh about school..