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Response #3 Oregon Educational Technology Standards

Standard # 6--Use technology to live, learn, and work.

 Although my school is transitioning from Title 1 to a more middle class school, most of the students I teach are on free or reduced lunch. That means most of my students do not have access to computers in their homes. Fortunately our school has a great technology teacher, and my 5th graders get Tech twice a week learning how to do word processing, Powerpoint, editing photos, researching, safety, etc. However, I notice that there is not a lot of collaboration on projects. I also have been able to leave much of this teaching to the tech teacher. In order for my students to continue to grow their technology skills, and to collaborate with each other, I need to take a more active role in integrating technology into my classroom as part of the process of learning by using the mobile lab more regularly. I also need to keep one foot in communicating to families with technology, and one foot still using paper, phones, etc.

Web Tool #4 Quizzes--Edmodo

I chose Edmodo to work on making quizzes since it was familiar, and I could build on past knowledge. In order to create a quiz, I had to set up a new email address to register as a teacher. Once that was done, it was easy to click on quiz at the top of the page. It was very easy to write a question as a multiple choice, T or F question, fill in the blank, or short answer. My partner signed in as a student, took the test, and I could see how it scored. I had to go in and score the short answer myself. This tool could be used to give tests and have them automatically scored, and could even be sent to a gradebook if I had that set up. Again, however, every student would have to have an Edmodo blog. This seems less convenient for a self-contained classroom with younger kids and limited computers or mobile labs.

Web Tool #4 Avatar

Creating an Avatar was a lot of fun! The only problem I had was that I made an avatar that wasn't allowed to be published under the free sign-up. Then I had to quickly make up a new one which was tricky in the time left. Watching the other classmates' avatars I could begin to see how this could be used either in a blog, a newsletter, or even to introduce topics or rules. I could see kids cuing into a character in a different way than listening to the teacher. Plus, I could even change mine for different purposes if I really got into it. If I had my students do this, they could step a little outside themselves to create their own avatar. They could also create an original character and then write a character sketch which could be published online in a wiki or blog and shared with other students. It's too bad that there is a cost, but I will definitely keep it in mind.

Avatar

Web Tool #3 1/2--YouTube

Since I accidently reported on two tools from the same section, I am adding on to my last post by discussing YouTube.  YouTube videos can be used in a variety of ways to contribute to lessons.  There are specific YouTube videos on many many subjects.  Because they are short and at times entertaining, they are a good way to add visually and auditorily to the beginning, middle, or end of a lesson.  You tube videos are also useful for finding songs or raps that might compliment a topic such as "Phases of the Moon" or food web songs for science.  Kids love to sing along and its a good way to integrate the arts into lessons using music or visual art.  Popular song videos can be used in a variety of ways as transitions between subjects or to emphasize classroom community building if chosen with that purpose in mind. You could use You Tube videos to stretch thinking in new ways, an example is looking at "Walk Off the Earth" video where five musicians sing while all playing a single guitar.  Asking the kids how this video shows a group working together and what skills they are using.  Previewing is a must and searching can be time consuming, but there is a wealth of possibilities to draw from.

Web Tool #3 Wikis

I chose to explore wikis with my common theme of trying to improve opportunities for collaboration in my class.  I went to google.docs, and discovered that it is going to disappear in a number of months and was being replaced by Google Drive.  Google Drive is like Dropbox or iCloud.  Within Google Drive is the ability to write documents, power points, make graphs, or drawings that can be subsequently shared with whomever you choose and can be downloaded anywhere that Google Drive is downloaded and be added to or edited by anyone you choose.  It could still be great for wikis so multiple students could work on an assignment.  They could research at home and add pictures or info that could be used to present as a speech or report on any topic from this year's elections to writing a report on a particular state.  You can insert videos, pictures, as well into documents or power points.  After seeing this application, I think that with this one tool, you would not need several of the others!