Thursday, August 28, 2014

Blog Post #2

Image of many words that describe technology and teaching

1. Professor Dancealot
     The message of this video seems to be centered around the teacher and his techniques. During the video, the teacher was instructing dance by lecturing instead of immersing his students in it. When his students sat at their desks and listened to him describe the dances and demonstrate behind his desk, they were getting bored, distracted, and confused. The author of this video makes his conclusion known at the end when the students are asked to dance and don't know what they are doing. The boy even mentions that he thought he understood the notes he took, but clearly writing notes and actually performing are very different things. I agree with this conclusion, especially in elementary schools. If college students struggle with learning during a lecture day in and day out, then young children certainly wouldn't be able to stay focused and absorb the information correctly. It's really important to keep students engaged and make things hands-on so that your lesson is fun and informational at the same time.

2.Teaching in the 21st Century
     Kevin Roberts realizes that technology is very prevalent in the 21st Century in everyone's lives not only in the real world or workplace, but also in schools. He discusses that students may know how to use their phones, tablets, laptops, etc. but they may not know how to utilize all of the resources and information they can get from them. Roberts feels like teachers' responsibilities include teaching their students how to do this. I agree with Roberts because it is true that children are learning at a very young age how to use technology. It is important for teachers to help children use these resources for education purposes, not just for entertainment. As an educator, I will try to focus on using technology and walking my students through the steps of using different search engines, websites, and other forms of media to benefit their education to the fullest extent.

3. The Networked Student
     This video shows all the different skills he can use within media and technology. The majority of the video is describing how well informed he is about the internet and its many resources. However, towards the end of the video his teacher is mentioned. His teacher is his mentor and information source. This makes me feel like as a teacher I'm going to be really important to my students. Teachers have the ability to give children a small amount of information that can grow and spread to other subjects, skills, and other areas of their life.

4. Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
     Vicki Davis is trying to convey the message that using technology in public schools is a really big deal. She is also saying that it's important to let students teach themselves. She immerses them in skills and terms, and encourages them to research what she is talking about and do it themselves. I do agree with her argument because in the 21st Century technology is taking over in schools and it is very crucial that students know how to use it. What I agreed with most though, was the point that was made about living in a small, rural town and being connected to the rest of the world. Coming from a small town myself, this really made me realize just how big this is for those students. We often don't get a chance to get out much, and live in such close communities, so being able to communicate with people in other states and countries is really exciting. Not only do they get to learn about technology, but they're also getting to experience other cultures.

5. Who's Ahead in the Learning Race?
     I think that elementary students are indeed ahead in the learning race, but that's because they are growing up in a different time than undergrad and grad students did. When we were in elementary school, we used desktop computers that only had a few applications on them. Now that we're older and technology is advancing as we age, we're having to teach ourselves how to use it which includes being open-minded and dedicated to learning. Children, however, are starting at very early ages using iPhones, iPads, and other sources of media. Because children absorb information so well, they are able to use the electronics more effectively than adults are. I do think this can change, though. College students can catch up and surpass children in this learning race because of media classes. We can then use our knowledge to collaborate with our students and teach them more effectively.

6. Flipping the Classroom
     The concept of "flipping the classroom" is not new to me, but the term itself is. I think this is a great idea as long as every student is cooperating and participating. I think it will be useful to me as a teacher because I feel like over the next few years when I become a teacher, this will be what I'm working with.

7. Bringing the Locker Room into the Classroom
     I thought this was really interesting because in a way classmates are a lot like teammates. I can use this in my teaching by looking at myself as a coach, but letting my students be leaders too. I don't want to be the center of attention all the time, and I think it's important for students to feel like they can share their ideas and opinions and it will matter.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Blog Post #1

1. What have I heard about EDM310?
I've heard that it is a lot of work, but that it's not hard. Everyone says that as long as you're able to follow directions and stay on top of the work, that it all starts to make sense quickly and that sometimes it's even a lot of fun.

2. What fears do I have about EDM310?
I'm mostly afraid that I'm going to be confused throughout the entire semester. Also I'm scared I'll struggle with planning and time management so I won't get behind or leave any work out accidentally.

3. Compare and contrast another class I've had with EDM310
The most recent computer-based class I remember taking was my senior year of high school. That class and EDM310 are similar because we worked solely on computers and the internet. The two classes are very different because my high school class was graphic designing where we learned to use photoshop, and in this class we will of course be using blogs, video chatting, and other resources from the entertain to help with our future jobs.

4. What will be the most difficult thing for me in EDM310?
The most difficult thing as I mentioned earlier I think will be keeping up with all of the work and dedicating a large amount of time to the class and all of my other classes. I also think the HTML codes will be a problem for me for a little while until I get it all figured out.

5. What is the best way to address those problems?
Don't be afraid to ask questions if I need help! I'll also make use of the lab hours or just google things if I need help immediately.

6. What other questions do I have?
So far I don't have any other questions! I just plan to keep an open mind and not get too stressed out, and if a question does arise I'll be sure to address it immediately.

Practice Blog Post

Outline
A. Who am I?
1. Where I'm from
2. Why I'm at USA
3. Personal/family info
4. Interests
B. Why do I want to be an educator?
1. I like helping people
2. I like being around kids
C. What does an educator do?
1. Teaches lifelong skills
2. Takes on many different roles in students' lives
3. Uses different resources to teach
D. What are my passions?
1. Dance
2. Travel
3. Spending time with family and friends


Practice Post

     My name is Laura Andrews. I'm a junior here at South Alabama. I was raised in Robertsdale, AL (about 20 miles north of Gulf Shores) and lived there all my life until I moved to Mobile for school. I chose to come to South because some of my friends at the time were coming to school here as well. About 3 months into our first semester, those friends and I had drifted apart, but I'm happy about my decision and have had a great experience here as far as my professors and classes goes.
     I'm my mother's only child, but my father has two boys that are 11 and 20 years older than me. My parents are now divorced and my dad lives several hours away leaving me with a lot of spare time with my mom's side of the family. I have two older cousins and three younger cousins that are more like siblings to me. I am also a godmother to the youngest of my cousins. My family lives within five minutes of each other, so you can imagine how often we're forced to see each other! Luckily we all get along very well. I don't take for granted the time we're able to spend together. There are a lot of things I'm interested in, but none of them take any importance over another. The things I'll talk about in my passions probably also double as interests, and they include dancing, traveling, and spending a lot of time with my friends and family. I mostly just really enjoy learning about anything and everything, and I always like to participate in things just for the experience or fun of it. Other interests include things involving the stars and planets (outer space is incredibly cool) and any sport, especially if the University of Alabama is involved!
I knew I wanted to be an educator a long time ago when I would play in my room teaching lessons to my stuffed animals and baby dolls after I got home from preschool, later in life I found my friend's mother is a teacher and we would play in her classroom after elementary school, and then when I got a older I was actually able to tutor younger students in classes below me. As I got older, however, I realized teachers' salaries aren't that substantial and they sometimes have trouble getting hired which scared me, so I came to South majoring in nursing. As a nurse I would be helping people and I knew that I could work with peds or in the NICU so that I could still be around children. I took the freshman seminar nursing class and realized about a month later that nursing definitely wasn't for me. I couldn't even look at a needle without feeling nauseas! So I decided to get over my fears and change my major to elementary education, and I believe it was my best decision in a long time.
     Educators have many different jobs to perform each day. Not only are they teaching on different subjects in the curriculum, but they also teach lifelong skills to their students. We spend a large portion of our life in schools, and I know I can say a lot of the things I've learned came from a teacher, not just my mother. With that being said, teachers have to take on many roles. Although it is not an educator's job to raise a child, they definitely are parent-figures in a lot of children's lives. In addition to that, teachers are mentors and even friends in some cases. Teachers also have to be learners. Even after we graduate, there will be new techniques and technology to learn about. Teachers have to utilize any resources available to keep students engaged and excited to come to school.
My passions are things that I'm not necessarily good at, or do a lot, but things that I love doing when I can or wishing I could do it! They include helping people and being around children first and foremost. I think children are the most entertaining people and you can learn so much from spending a little time with them. Other than that though, I love dancing. I danced in a studio for 13 years, and never was very good at it, but loved having it as an outlet to release some stress or express myself. I also love the idea of traveling. I haven't been to too many places yet, but my list is growing as well as my wish list! Lastly, as I said before I love spending time with my family and friends. This is especially true for my cousins because being a part of the little ones' lives is really important to me.


Photo sources: k.b. danz and my phone, taken by my mother