Week 5- Tech Tools for Critical Thinking

This week I learned how to use Webspiration and Inspiration. I watched a few short videos that showed how to make concept maps, and they also showed exampled of how they can be used in the classroom. I actually made a concept map that was on the social tools that can be used in education. Then I looked at a powerpoint presentation about different learning styles and theories. I took two quizzes that told me the best ways that I learn information. According to the quizzes I learn information best by using all three learning styles, kinesthetic, auditory and visual, all at once. I learn by sight, sound, and doing hands-on activities. I learn the best by doing hands-on activites though. I also learned how to use the online tool Wordle this week.

It was important that I learned how to use the Webspiration and Inspiration web tools this week. I could use these tools when I become a teacher. I could use Inspiration to make pre-writing concept maps with my class when I am teaching them how to brainstorm ideas for the stories that they write. It was also beneficial for me to learn about the different learning styles that there are so that I can make sure to incorporate activities that are geered toward each learning style when I have my own class. Children learn in many different ways, so it is important for the teacher to have a variety of teaching strategies to accomodate for each child.



This video from youtube describes the different learning styles: the kinesthetic learning style, the auditory learning style, and the visual learning style. It also informs you on how you can incorporate each learning style in your teaching so that every student is able to be engaged in what is being taught in the lesson. This video goes along with what I learned this week because it emphasizes the different learning styles that there are.

Week 2: Educational Technology

 During week 2 we reviewed how to log on to the course website, and we discussed our upcoming assignments posted in the syllabus. We also watched two videos discussing basic technology concepts. I created a gmail account which will be used later on in the course. The concept that I learned in this week was how to use a Mac OSX. I learned the differnces between a Mac and a PC, and I also learned how to use the different keys that a Mac has on its keyboard. We were required to set up the desktop of the Mac a certain way and take a snapshot of the desktop.

I think that it is very beneficial for me to learn how to use a Mac OSX for the education field because many of the teachers today are required to use Macintosh computers in their classrooms and hook them up to the smartboards. Much of learning in classrooms today, even elementary school classrooms, is technology based, and the teacher is required to know how to work each part of the high-tech equipment herself.



This video from youtube gives detailed information of how to use a Macintosh computer. It gives you step by step instructions of how to use the software and it descibes exactly what each icon does on the dock of a Mac. This video relates to what we learned this week about using the Mac OSX sofware.

Webspiration: Social Tools in Education

This is a link to my Webspiration concept map for Week 5.

http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/560733a35872

Week 4: Multimedia and Hypermedia

This week I looked at a powerpoint presentation concerning designing instructional media and I learned about the dos and don'ts of using powerpoint, and what you should use and what you should not use excessively. Then I looked at another powerpoint presentation on Multimedia and Hypermedia and was able to view two videos on youtube on these subjects. The videos were very graphic and they not only told you about what these terms meant, but they also showed you what they meant. I also learned about the different parts of the url of a website, and how you can figure out if a website is real or just created by someone unofficial.

  What I learned this week can be applied to my major because I can use what I learned about powerpoint and designing instruction media to make presentations to instruct my class one day. Also, I found it very important and interesting to learn about how you can find out the origin of a website and who created it. When I am a teacher and I ask the students to do a research paper, I want to make sure that they are using reliable sources in their papers.



This is a video that somewhat explains what multimedia is and it is a video that contains multimedia in it. The video does contain sound, animation, moving and still words and pictures so this video uses many types of media to convey its message to whomever is watching it. Through all of these types of media that are used that message can be more easily conveyed to the watcher because it allows the video to be more interesting and informative.

Embedding a video

Web Technology

This week I was able to look at Web 2.0 tools that can be used for communication, classroom tools, and for other usage. The tools that I looked at were Kidopo, Radiotime, and Learnboost. There were many different sites to use for fast communication amongst friends such as facebook, twitter, and myspace as well. Many of the tools and applications on this site could be used as short cuts and conveniences for different jobs. I also learned about copyrighting and what is protected in copyrighting and what is not by watching a power point presentation on it. I also learned about the No Child Left Behind Act, and just how important it is for teachers to know how to use technology and implement it into their classrooms.

Since my major is elementary education I would be able to use many of the tools that I looked at on Web 2.0. There was a way that you could work on your grade books online, and their were many fun and educational games and activities on Kidopo that I could use in my classroom as well. Learning about the No Child Left Behind Act could also help me through my career in education as well.

Here is a link to a speech that Barack Obama has made concerning the No Child Left Behind Act. In this video he explains what he is going to do in schools to make sure that there is sufficient funding for schools so that all children will hopefully be able to perform on grade level or close to grade level. I picked this video because it was on one of the topics that we were learning about this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsVimwm6xQ4