Week 9: Podcasting

We learned the way to Podcast during today's class.  We need to use that information to make our own 30 second podcast and upload it online.  A podcast is interesting because it can be uploaded over and over and followers can continually download a person's podcast, either on their computer or their mp3 players.  Podcasts are mp3's so it is easy to download them.  We also looked at Mac's Garage Band, which allows for its users to easily create a podcast.  It is relatively simple to do since the program basically does it all.

I think that making a podcast can be useful in the classroom because it can be used to send students lectures and assignments.  If I am not able to go over something in class, then I can easily created a podcast, upload it onto a class website, and send it out to students.  Additionally, I think that podcasts are great for staying in contact with parents as well.  It is important for parents to be aware of what is happening in the classroom and this way I can have a "podcast newsletter" for the parents.  I can inform them of the general happenings in the classroom.  I think that a podcasts is a fun and effective way to reach both students and parents.

This video from YouTube discusses how podcasts can be used in the classroom.  The speaker takes into account that students are very well knowledgeable on new technological tools and that podcasts are great way to engage the students.  He mentions that podcasts are new and that they are still interesting enough to keep the students engaged, as opposed to having them read books all the time.  This video is good for teachers to look at to get some basic information about podcasts and it can be a stepping stone to finding out more information.
  

Week 8: Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is certainly a new and modern way to look at and present information.  Digital storytelling is important in a number of fields, such as business, education, technology, and entertainment.  Digital storytelling presents information in an exciting way and with so much information in the world, it becomes necessary to be creative in order to gain an audience and keep the audience engaged.  Using audio is often a part of digital storytelling which can help to capture an audience.  Audio has become increasingly popular in our society, especially with the use of mp3 players.  Today, music is able to be downloaded on phones and listened to.  Our technology has certainly come a long way from Walkman's.

I think that teaching incorporates a lot of digital storytelling.  As mentioned before in my previous blog, Smart Boards are becoming more and more common in classrooms.  They allow for teachers to present information in an efficient and effective way.  Smart Boards can also incorporate digital storytelling because they allow for teacher to include pictures, videos, and music in the learning experience.  Students can experience learning in a new and interesting way.  These new technological improvements can also help to engage students, because they can make their own digital stories and easily present them in class.

Here is great information on digital storytelling and how it can be included in education to facilitate learning.  A PDF file is available and it can be a great tool for teachers if they choose to teach through digital storytelling.  On page in particular is informative because it discusses the "learning power of digital storytelling."  There are also videos that teachers can look at to better prepare themselves and understand the effects of digital storytelling.    
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This is my Digital Story.  I used photos that I took from a few of my summer road trips to numerous National Parks in the West and Southwest.


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I will use digital storytelling because it is a creative way to organize information.  I think that in the teaching field, as in many other fields, information can often times get a little boring.  Using digital storytelling can spice up a presentation and make it enjoyable.  I am always interested to see what type of details are added to a presentation, and this can be in the form of pictures, videos, or even music.  I feel that digital storytelling allows for all three of these to be incorporated to make information fun to watch and listen to.

Week 7: Visual Literacy

This week we expanded on the visual literacy content we learned last week and also learned about digital storytelling.  We were shown a video about the importance of visual literacy and how everywhere we look we see images and most of these images tell a certain story.  We also learned that a digital story is a visual-narrative that tells a story through the use of images, videos, and music.  We were also taught how to make a digital story on our own using internet resources.  It is interesting how a few pictures can actually turn into a story and can be something really meaningful to people.  Furthermore, we will be making our own Photoshop project in which we manipulate images to make our own story.  This will incorporate both our knowledge of Photoshop and digital storytelling.

This information is important to the field of teaching because it incorporates a lot of creativity.  I believe that children should be able to show their creativity in all that they do and digital storytelling is certainly something that allows for this.  Digital storytelling is also great for presentation purposes.  When preparing a project, students can easily use images, music, and videos to make a presentation more interesting and exciting.  Also, digital storytelling is a great way to keep students interested.  It is a fun way to do assignments and a fun way to do and compile research.  

The website The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling is great at describing what digital storytelling is and how it related to the field of education.  There are numerous examples on this website that incorporate different school subjects.  The site also helps and prepares a person to make their own digital story.  There is also a section about Web 2.0, which we learned about earlier in this class.  This website is certainly educational and is very useful for educators.   
 

Week 6: Media and Information Literacy

We were introduced to visual literacy this week and the effects of images.  Even though images have no words, they do say a lot.  One example is the bathroom sign.  The figures of the male and female are universal for bathroom and no matter where a person is and in what country a person is, he or she will always know that the lady in the skirt and the gentleman symbolize the female and male bathrooms.  Images provide us with a lot of information without the actual words.  It is actually pretty amazing the effect that images have on our society.  We were then introduced to Photoshop.  We started out first Photoshop project and were shown how to use some of the different features. 

I believe that Photoshop is certainly important as far as creativity is concerned.  I would like for my students to use all of their resources and I think that Photoshop is certainly a resources that allows for them to experiment.  I think that Photoshop can also be used for a lot of class projects and it is a fun and exciting way to do assignments.

This video that I found on YouTube is great at explaining visual literacy and showing examples.  It goes with what we learned in class about how images can be read into and interpreted.  The video also explains in the end how it is important to teach children about visual literacy and reading these signs in order for proper growth and development.

Week 5: Tech Tools for Critical Thinking

During the 5th week of class, we learned how to use technological tools and apply them to our fields of study and professions.  First off, we looked at Webspiration and were taught how to construct maps and organize our thoughts.  This is definitely a useful tool, especially for outline making in order to write an essay.  It is also good for organizing ideas, especially for people who are spacial learners.  Going off of learning theories, we were also given information about the different learning theories.  These include Behaviorism, Information Process Theroy, and Constructivism.  These are further explained in the presentation, however, the main idea that I got from the video is that it is important to incorporate all different types of learning styles in order to reach all of your audience.  Moreover, we looked at what Open Source Software is and what its benefits are.  Open Source Software allows users to use the software and work the software in a way that benefits them.  This is especially important in order for people to share information and collaborate.  One such software is Wordle, which allows for easy organization.

I enjoyed looking over Wordle and its benefits for teachers and education.  I definitely see many uses for Wordle once I become a teacher.  I think that it is a great and creative way for students to organize their thoughts and their information.  In today's technological world, it is important for education to keep up and I think that such fun resources, like Wordle and Webspiration, are necessary in order for students to stay engaged.

I looked up the following video on YouTube because I found Wordle very interesting and wanted to know more about using it.  The video shows how to copy and paste the information that you want to incorporate and also how to play around with the settings, such as font, color, layout, to make the Wordle your own.

Social Tools for Education

Here is the Webspiration for Social Tools in Education.

Week 4: Copyright, Plagiarism, and Ethical Issues

This week we read about copyright laws as well as fair use and other ethical issues.  We read information on what exactly copyright laws are, what they are needed for, and why they are important.  I learned that copyright laws are necessary in order for authors to protect their original ideas.  It is important to give credit to the people who came up with the ideas.  In order to use peoples' information and their ideas users need to read up on fair use rights so that they understand what information they can use and how.

For me it is important to understand copyright laws, fair use, and plagiarism because I need to be able to teach students that plagiarism is wrong and teach them the correct ways in which to use resources.  If I do not understand the copyright rules then it is impossible for me to teach others.  Also, the tools and resources that I will use in class have certain copyright laws that I need to be aware of when planning my lessons and using other people's ides.   

I looked at a website that offers some general information about copyright laws and fair use for teachers.  This website related directly to what we learned in class as well as to the occupation that I want to pursue.