EDU 580 news

Here is my url for my webpage- Enjoy!!!

http://duketts.net/Martha_Breyette/index.html

                What are Wiki’s?

So what are Wiki’s?  “Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new pages and cross-links between internal pages on the fly”, taken from Google.

They are parts of websites; for instance, TV shows such as “LOST” have a wiki that allows anyone to contribute information.  Other ones are websites, such as Wikipedia. This is a source of information of any type or genre.  It is a good way for people to share information. It has allowed information to be accessible through a few strokes of the keyboard. It has changed the way we access information; we used to go to the library or look through reference books to access information. 

On the down side, now the written word is modifiable and capable of being manipulated as with anything digital. The sources of these wiki’s may not be checked or may lack references. This could allow for anyone, especially our students to access material that is not accurate.  We as educators must check our materials that we plan to use as we need to ensure authenticity and accuracy of our materials.

Students can benefit from these wiki’s by teachers having them do web quests on relevant subjects.  Or as teachers are outlining what is going to be covered in a unit the student could research this topic to learn relevant areas on their own. For instance, if the teacher was going to do a lesson on geography, students could access wiki’s to learn about the particular area. Then, as the students learn more about the area, they could contribute to some wiki’s embedded in websites to offer their opinion or learned facts about this topic.  Again the downside, what they contribute is their spoken word so some of information may not be completely accurate. This is the risk when persons are sharing information on a public forum.

Educators can also use these wiki’s to gain ideas on learning particular facts or stories about a topic which could be embedded into their lesson plans. The wiki software supports the idea of blogging as it encourages people to share information so therefore teachers could share insights on what topics were inspiring to students. It could also be a source for knowing what not to use or allowing educators to speak on the accuracy of the material.

As we move forward with digital technology, it is important that we research what we can or plan to use as not all sources prove to be beneficial.  The digital technology does allow for a quicker access to information however, there are some risks associated with accessing this information. 

I reviewed a virtual world website and learned many things. The website, www.secondlife.com, opened my eyes to a new internet experience. At first traversing the website was a little unnerving as I wasn’t sure what to expect. As I spent more time with this website I realized there could be some definite value as an educator. This website favors technology in that it allows expansion of imagination and creativity.  A student can re-define or recreate themselves to whatever image they want to be. This could prove to be a great tool for adolescents, especially those who are struggling with self esteem or self image. 

As I navigated more, I asked myself what other benefits this website could provide especially as an educator. This website offers information in geography as you can travel and explore different places and regions, i.e. Dublin, Ireland.  There is also the potential that this could be used for social studies to invoke discussions on populations and economics. There could be an interactive segment on supply and demand as this website offers you the ability to raise your own currency and spend on land or other purchases.  At first the students may be intrigued as early impressions would be that this is just a game or something “neat” to try however if applied with appropriate lesson plans this website could probe some higher order learning through the use of strategy and creativity. Scenarios could be posed and the students could use the website to problem solve such as differences in currency or occupations or even differences geographically.

I did question the explicit sexual content and would need to be controlled especially in the classroom as students could probe into areas of sexual content that would be unacceptable in the classroom. I also questioned how this could be used for science disciplines? I thought about the possibility of population growth but it would be difficult to simulate evolution or reproduction of areas.  There could be some discussion or application of anatomy through discussion of each student’s avatar and what they chose as physical characteristics and why.  This would support health and wellness activities as students could discuss issues with self image and why those concerns/issues exist.

I have come to realize through these digital domain reviews that there is a lot of information/ simulations/ websites out there available to us for each discipline. Not all information would be beneficial or appropriate for the classroom but it is up to us as educators to keep up in reviewing digital information for our disciplines and pay attention to the reviews that are out there as these may offer guidance in whether the information is applicable or not.   One of the best strategies we can have as educators is to continually assess our subject material for teaching and think of strategies/ technologies including digital, which will offer different learning approaches in the classroom. This will motivate more students and promote higher order thinking through problem solving, inductive thinking, and logic or strategy development.

The key is for us as educators is to not erase the human experience but enhance it in our teaching styles while incorporating technology in multiple forms that allows us to reach and help develop creativity in the minds of our students.

I found the discussion on assessments and task lists interesting. As an educator, it can be challenging to make a good assessment in which the student feels empowered and clear on the expectations for success. I also particularly liked  the tech reviews; I am learning more with each class as to what is available to us as educators and how it is our role to review what we can and critique the material for applicability and usability in our learning materials in the classroom. I still think it would be great to have a collaborative webpage for educators where they could leave links to their favorite reviewed materials so that others could benefit. This would allow each of us to learn more and work as a team in establishing our resources. Who knows- if we did this, maybe textbooks could become a thing of the past as we move forward. We could use our resource lists to pull from supplemental materials to teach lessons as we need to.

I found this class to be particularly interesting as the digital reviews were each unique and then the workshop on web-pages allowed for growth and development in this area. I had just done a review on a web-page tutorial so I have been thinking about trying to develop a professional web page. After tonight’s class and being exposed to more options, I definitely think this is an achieveable task.  I truly think that taking the time to personalize the web-page and including the right amount of content and organization is key.  It will be essential as educators to have a professional web-page and you want to keep the interest and attention of the readers. I really enjoyed this class as this was a goal of mine to learn about web-pages in this class.

I completed a couple of modules on the tutorial for web-pages found:  http://www.htmltutorials.ca/index.htm

This website offers a complete tutorial on building a web-page.  I completed the first two tutorials and found them very thorough in their explanations. I was able to read through them and follow along not feeling intimidated about the possibility of learning how to do technology.  I found these to be well written for the lay person and yet realistic so that anyone could achieve success.

I think this would definitely favor technology as this tutorial could be used in multiple disciplines. Students could create web-pages in their areas of study. This would allow for exchange of information and increased use of digital technology within the classroom. I think it would contribute to higher order thinking at least in that it would expand creativity and generate a new knowledge or understanding of computer use for the classroom and allow for students to develop them with their own “creative juices.”

I liked the fact that the tutorial was detailed and yet flowed smoothly from step to step so you could follow along.  The use of web-pages in the classroom creates a change from the norm in what children expect in the classroom. It would definitely alter the environment and we, as educators, would need to re-enforce that digital technology is a tool that can be utilized by educators but not to replace educators.   The use of the web page may also encourage students to exchange information more freely especially if they prefer the use of technology. In addition it might foster more information being sought for their discipline as they could be adding resources to their web-page on applicable areas of study.

I question though if the students will only be interested in the web-page for entertainment purposes. There will definitely be a need for some boundaries on the creation of the web-page and for what applications.   I question to if this would challenge or intimidate students in their learning process. As I mentioned the modules that I completed were simplistic enough that I could easily follow along so that is a positive benefit to this website.

I do believe that as educators we need to come into our own and develop our own style of teaching incorporate multiple styles of learning and the use of some digital technology as it is applicable.

Critical Review of an Educational Game/Program

I found a few options for biology games through: www.biologyjunction.com/biology_games.htm and www.quia.com/shared

The first website offers the opportunity to play jeopardy with different subject areas while the second offers activities such as drawing between columns with material that is related. As a novice to playing games on the computer I found these both interesting. The jeopardy game may appeal to some but it is a lot of words and without some form of motivation for learning or winning the game, this may disfavor learning with some of the students. The second website activity may appeal to others because you not only learn material but you can draw lines between relationships. The other added benefit to this game is you can always start a new game so if you feel like you are struggling you can start over with different material.

These games do lend themselves to problem solving as both involve the student thinking about what the best answer is. I struggle with how much higher order learning would be done however because the students could just memorize the material. I think the use of hyperlinks in addition to these games could prove beneficial. If the students could pick a topic from these games and create an art form (structure/ journal/ graphic design) of this subject that would foster higher learning and creativity. The student would be able to input their own thoughts and ideas on how to represent this subject thus fostering creativity and understanding of the material.

Some questions that I struggle with are how best to reach the students and foster higher learning but that is probably a question that all educators have. As I learn more about these digital technologies I am beginning to see possible applications in the classroom as tools to help tell the “story” of the subject area. I also wonder if students will see the value in using multiple mediums or if they will miss the boat. Many of them are growing up with digital technology as a means of entertainment; it will be key to show them that these same technologies can be used for educational applications. Both of these websites foster development of creativity depending upon how and when they are used. I don’t know though if they could be used independently without the use of other media to develop analytical thinking. Used independently the students may just see them as words and lose interest or rote memorize instead of trying to understand the material.

I  particularly enjoyed this exercise.  It was fun getting to experiment with wrapping text in word and embedding images in powerpoint.  We use powerpoint at work but only words are usually listed and I find it being lackluster.   The use of imagery is definitely a benefit especially if used by an educator as it helps to see/ learn the material in a different style.  Not every student learns or processes the information the same way so it is important to know your students and learn different applications that can be employed so you have the ability to reach all students.

I also thought the conversation about Jeckyl and Hyde was an interesting one. I think about how many students simply watch movies and don’t read books anymore.  This is not to say that the written word is the only medium but it is important I think as educators to show students that there are different mediums and they should challenge themselves by learning more about these.

I found a biology simulation program through www.merlot.org.  It was an educational simulation program titled “DNA from the Beginning”. It is an animated tutorial on DNA, genes, and heredity.  The science behind the concept is explained using multi-media such as animation, an image gallery, video interviews, and biographies. This type of tutorial establishes a visual perspective on DNA. This is an extension of the student’s body through sight of what they are learning about.  Words seconded by video and animation help to develop the creativity of understanding with the students. It allows for questioning of the material as it is not just written word.  However, there is a lot of wording still presented on the slides; my concern would be that the students would just accept the information and not fully process or understand. I think the use of animation, video, and or hands on labs would be beneficial to help the student analyze what they are processing. 

Being able to visualize the material does tend to favor shallow learning as it is right there in front of them however, it reinforces the material and with further discussion/ interactive experiments the students could start to challenge/ deepen their understanding of genes and heredity.  

I think it would be key if this tutorial was utilized to incorporate some hands on labs or activities (have the students make their own DNA or trace their own family tree through www.ancestry.com so that they can further analyze how this material is relevant to them.

The questions I raise are how do we utilize this information in sync with the curriculum presented and yet foster intuitive thinking in the students? How can we challenge the current way of thinking about learning so that we can have the students be the puzzle makers and the teachers are the facilitators?

I would encourage use of this material but I would not use this as a replacement for interactive studies. If the objective is for the students to understand the relationships between living processes, i.e., genes and DNA, then why not have them look at their own genes and DNA so it can be of relevance to them? The key is to motivate the students to want to learn so utilizing technology whether it is digital or other can be a positive if fostered.  If not, the students will be absorbed in the technology and lose sight of the goal of the lesson.

Today we were exposed to different modes of communication technology that are available to us. I surprisingly learned that I was using RSS feeds in my current profession and didn’t realize that is what it was…..   I guess that speaks to the lack of understanding in terminology. I think it will evolve or become more valuable as we technically critique these digital technologies so we can collate a beginning list of effective digital resources for the classroom.