Google reader is an excellent tool for staying up to date on in various aras of interest. What I most enjoyed about this perticular assignment was that completing this assignment helped me in completing other assignements in other classes while also enabbling me to pursue personal interests as well. The blogs I followed for this assignment were http://willrichardson.com , http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org , http://www.freetech4teachers.com , http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com , http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks , http://www.artofteachingscience.org/ , http://learningstylesevidence.blogspot.com/ . I enjoyed keeping up with the free books I could download to my kindle on the amason site. My favorite blog, however, was the Learning Styles Evidence blog. My favorite blog post is on this site is NLP begat VAKOG, VAKOG begat VAK, VAK begat VARK. This post helped me answer several questions I have had about the connection between Neuro-linguistic Programing (NLP) and the discussion of Learning styles among educators. In my personal experience I knew the connection to be psychology.
My initial exposure to learning styles occurred in my educational psychology class in the early 80’s. Then the discussion centered around four styles based on the current understanding of the way our brains worked. Those who were right brained were concrete learners and those who were left brained were said to be abstract learners. Individuals who craved order were said to process information sequentially and those who were not were labeled random processors of information. These four aspects were combined into the four groupings of concrete sequential, abstract random, abstract sequential and concrete random. I did not fit neatly into any one group.
Through some personal research into Neuro-linguistic Programing (NLP) I became exposed to Fleming’s VARK model (Visual, Aural or Audio, Read/write, Kinesthetic). So far on the Learning Styles Evidence blog seems so far to be a balanced discussion about learning styles (neither ruling them in or out but reviewing only peer reviewed research) found on the blog. The authors purpose is explained in the original post. His seems to be a true academic search for the truth concerning learning styles.
The Google reader is a tool which will enable me to continue to do research on my own, continue to stay up to date with new technology and trends in science and twaching science while I pursue personal interests as well. This is a potentially powerful tool.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Social Bookmarks Wordle
The idea of social bookmarks was new to me. I must say that my first response was not positive in that I did not really see the need. Then I started completing this assignment and began to understand the significant help which organizing the bookmarked pages can have. Also, when I began to view the bookmarked pages of others I really began to understand the potential power of this tool.
Creating a “wordle” was also eye opening for me. Not only does using a wordle provide a clear means for understanding what you have considered to be important it also offers a wonderful means for creative expression.
I look forward to utilizing both these tools in my teaching both as a means for making assignments but also as resources which I will utilize for my own purposes professionally and personally.
Please click the link below to go to my science teacher stack at delicious.com.
Creating a “wordle” was also eye opening for me. Not only does using a wordle provide a clear means for understanding what you have considered to be important it also offers a wonderful means for creative expression.
I look forward to utilizing both these tools in my teaching both as a means for making assignments but also as resources which I will utilize for my own purposes professionally and personally.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Thinkport.org
Thinkport is an education website designed for the state of Maryland. Principally this study was designed to determine how technology-based educational resources could be best used to help students master core content. With the heightened emphasis in our nation on math and science education the group quickly began to focus on how to use games to help pre-algebra students successfully prepare to succeed in algebra.
One of their the successful games is the "Lure of the Labyrinth" which can be access at the following link http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/
Another application tha may prove helpful in teaching high school physical science , or environmental science is the graphic information systems (GIS). With this technology I was able to find an earthquake which occurred in our state (GA) on November 13, 2011. Such realtime information and interactive maps containing overlays of seismic information would be helpful in gaining student interest, and creating assignments for student research in teaching geology and geography. This technology could prove useful for any classroom application whenever there is the need for maps to be involved .
The Resources link under the Think Technology tab contains several items for teachers to utilize. There is the Newbie blog which helps those of us who are new to using this technology and games in general in the classroom, as well as articles about games and the underlying research is housed under Background papers.
This website contains a wealth of information. Although many of the links are broken, don't be discouraged. Keep clicking and exploring this website. You and your students will be glad you did.
One of their the successful games is the "Lure of the Labyrinth" which can be access at the following link http://labyrinth.thinkport.org/www/
Another application tha may prove helpful in teaching high school physical science , or environmental science is the graphic information systems (GIS). With this technology I was able to find an earthquake which occurred in our state (GA) on November 13, 2011. Such realtime information and interactive maps containing overlays of seismic information would be helpful in gaining student interest, and creating assignments for student research in teaching geology and geography. This technology could prove useful for any classroom application whenever there is the need for maps to be involved .
The Resources link under the Think Technology tab contains several items for teachers to utilize. There is the Newbie blog which helps those of us who are new to using this technology and games in general in the classroom, as well as articles about games and the underlying research is housed under Background papers.
This website contains a wealth of information. Although many of the links are broken, don't be discouraged. Keep clicking and exploring this website. You and your students will be glad you did.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Digital Citizenship
There are professional and practical reasons for educators to be a good digital citizens. Practicing good digital citizenship enables you to benefit to keep your identiy and personal data safe while surfing the internet, and assist you in protecting your computer from malware. You can also benefit professionally as you cite your sources and prevent yourself from any charge of plagarism as well as ensure that you never become sloppy in your practice of scholarship. Practically being a good digital citizen helps you guard your own identity and web presence which can help your career and save you money and time.
All educators can grow and protect themselves professionally by observing copyright and fair use laws as they make their own multimedia presentations which they use in class with their students. By so doing you will also help your students become aware that there are limts and rules which apply to how they can use the information they encounter while surfing the web. When teachers cite the information they use as they teach their classes their students also come to understand that you and they should take plagarism seriously. When you, the teacher, show your students that you are interested in maintaining a high level of scholarship personally, then they will become more interested as well.
A very practical benefit from being a good digital citizenship is the protection of your data safe while you surf the internet. While no one is ever 100% safe on the internet you can take steps to maximize your protection. Creating strong passwords and being aware of your digital footprint are important for your reputation. Having an awareness of how phishing and trojan horse attacks are carried out will help you keep your data and identity safe. Giving your students an awarness of cyberstalking and cyberbulling as well as principles for defending themselves while on the internet perform.
Practicing netiquette will also help educators model the practice and importance of proper digital citizenship for their students. When you, the teacher, practicie netiquette in all of your digital communication with parents and fellow educators you improve the reputation and professionallism for the entire teaching profession. This improved reputation gives you leverage that you can use to represent and help your students.
All educators can grow and protect themselves professionally by observing copyright and fair use laws as they make their own multimedia presentations which they use in class with their students. By so doing you will also help your students become aware that there are limts and rules which apply to how they can use the information they encounter while surfing the web. When teachers cite the information they use as they teach their classes their students also come to understand that you and they should take plagarism seriously. When you, the teacher, show your students that you are interested in maintaining a high level of scholarship personally, then they will become more interested as well.
A very practical benefit from being a good digital citizenship is the protection of your data safe while you surf the internet. While no one is ever 100% safe on the internet you can take steps to maximize your protection. Creating strong passwords and being aware of your digital footprint are important for your reputation. Having an awareness of how phishing and trojan horse attacks are carried out will help you keep your data and identity safe. Giving your students an awarness of cyberstalking and cyberbulling as well as principles for defending themselves while on the internet perform.
Practicing netiquette will also help educators model the practice and importance of proper digital citizenship for their students. When you, the teacher, practicie netiquette in all of your digital communication with parents and fellow educators you improve the reputation and professionallism for the entire teaching profession. This improved reputation gives you leverage that you can use to represent and help your students.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Software Reviews Online for Educational Software
In this blog post I review the following four websites and seek to determine which sites evaluate the largest number of titles, are most recently updated, include reviews submitted by site visitors and the site I would personally use to learn about software I was considering for my students.
SERB EvaluTech http://www.evalutech.serb.org/ is a bad URL use http://www.sreb.org/page/1168/evalutech.html instead.
While this website contains a wealth of information I found it difficult to navigate. The site claims to have more than 10,000 software reviews but you must know the title of the software for which you wish to read the review. While I was not able to access them at this point and found this website to be of little help for the purpose of obtaining software reviews, today, I would use this site to research individual titles which I was considering to use in my classes.
California Learning Resource Network http://www.clrn.org/home
This site is well organized and has 3,110 software reviews available in all subjects. Most recently reviewed items vary greatly, however. For examle software reviews in the performing arts subject ranged from 10/15/2009 until 1/31/2011. While the mathematics subject area had two software reviews dated 11/01/11. Reviews are performed by the CLRN staff based on the criteria which they list on their page, http://www.clrn.org/home/criteria.cfm. I would use this website as a source in detemining whether or not to purchase software for use in my classroom.
SuperKids http://www.superkids.com
This website is easy to use but appears to be designed more for parents and students than educators. A strength of the site is that SuperKids allows teachers, parents and students to submit reviews. The site is well organized and easy to navigate. A decided weakness, however, is that science is all lumped together instead of broken out by subject, and their seemd to be limited options for grades 9-12.
Education World http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/
This site allows reviews of classroom teachers and educational technology coordinators. This is a helpful website as a resource for teachers but less so as a software review website. The reviews are done by teachers but seem woelfully out of date ranging from 2003 to 2005. I would not use this site as a source for software reviews.
In Summary, the site which evaluates the largest number of titles is SERB EvaluTech. The site which has software reviews that are most recently updated is CLRN. SuperKids is a website that includes reviews submitted by site visitors. I would you use CLRN and SERB EvaluTech to learn about software which I was considering for students in my classes.
SERB EvaluTech http://www.evalutech.serb.org/ is a bad URL use http://www.sreb.org/page/1168/evalutech.html instead.
While this website contains a wealth of information I found it difficult to navigate. The site claims to have more than 10,000 software reviews but you must know the title of the software for which you wish to read the review. While I was not able to access them at this point and found this website to be of little help for the purpose of obtaining software reviews, today, I would use this site to research individual titles which I was considering to use in my classes.
California Learning Resource Network http://www.clrn.org/home
This site is well organized and has 3,110 software reviews available in all subjects. Most recently reviewed items vary greatly, however. For examle software reviews in the performing arts subject ranged from 10/15/2009 until 1/31/2011. While the mathematics subject area had two software reviews dated 11/01/11. Reviews are performed by the CLRN staff based on the criteria which they list on their page, http://www.clrn.org/home/criteria.cfm. I would use this website as a source in detemining whether or not to purchase software for use in my classroom.
SuperKids http://www.superkids.com
This website is easy to use but appears to be designed more for parents and students than educators. A strength of the site is that SuperKids allows teachers, parents and students to submit reviews. The site is well organized and easy to navigate. A decided weakness, however, is that science is all lumped together instead of broken out by subject, and their seemd to be limited options for grades 9-12.
Education World http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/
This site allows reviews of classroom teachers and educational technology coordinators. This is a helpful website as a resource for teachers but less so as a software review website. The reviews are done by teachers but seem woelfully out of date ranging from 2003 to 2005. I would not use this site as a source for software reviews.
In Summary, the site which evaluates the largest number of titles is SERB EvaluTech. The site which has software reviews that are most recently updated is CLRN. SuperKids is a website that includes reviews submitted by site visitors. I would you use CLRN and SERB EvaluTech to learn about software which I was considering for students in my classes.
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