Photo Sharing Tools

The end of the semester is quickly approaching, so here I am looking back at all of the things we've done in our Education Technology class. I think on of the most fun sections in the class was on Photo Sharing and photo editing. If I would have reflected during the that chapter, I might have said that I thought photo sharing was something I would never use as a teacher. I'm still a little unconvinced as to how often I may use this in my classroom, BUT I definitely feel prepared should I ever need to.

In our class we worked with Animoto, Smilebox and the Picnik/Picasa combo through Google. By favorite was Picnik/Picasa. As we continued with our projects throughout the semester, I found this tool to be very helpful! Picnik allows you to edit pictures (crop, rotate, add captions, etc.) very easily and with Picasa through google, you can easily save and organize your pictures on the web. This was particularly helpful when working on projects because I could easily upload pictures, edit them, and save them online, making them easy to access from anywhere I may need.

As for Animoto and Smilebox, I don't know that I will use these as much in the future. Smilebox is a really neat tool, however, the tool (to be used to its full potential) must be downloaded onto a computer, which is something I'm not particularly interested in. Smilebox does have a lot of different options for editing though, so if I ever needed to be super fancy. And concerning Animoto, I don't know how often I will use this in my career, but I was extremely excited to hear about this video making tool. Based on my experience with the digital story project (Windows Movie Maker), I would like to try working with Animoto in the future. Although I know there aren't nearly as many options, Animoto sereiously decreases the number of the decision the user has to make, which I'm sure I will be very interested in as my teacher career begins.

Overall, I really enjoyed the photo sharing section of this class much more than expected and I am now seeing more and more application for these tools in my own classroom!

Windows Movie Maker vs iMovie

So I have to say, if I were to make movies for use in my classroom, I would try to use iMovie next time. From all previous experiences, I feel like Mac programs are typically easier to use and you spend less time looking for what you want or need as compared with PC programs. For this project, I used Windows Movie Maker. Although I did like the "Workspace" pane, which held all photos, videos, music clips, and housed transitions, there were way to many things that I felt were much more complicated than necessary. I was particularly frustrated with adding text throughout my video. There were only a few options (maybe 3 of 20) which would allow you to place text somewhere other than in the center of an image. Obviously I used those, because I didn't want to type write over the center of my images. When I began my digital story, I had intended to place multiple words around the edges of my images, having them fade out one by one. If these is a way to do this in Windows Movie Maker, it is beyond my, and frankly would have consumer far too much of my time to make the difference. I was also displeased with the options for rolling credits. If I had it my way, my credits would have been spaced much closer together, so that it wouldn't take up so much of the time on my video. This was also a problem with the text I was trying to display on the 'Careers' section of my video. Overall, I was a little disappointed at all of the changes and sacrifices I had to make from my original vision. However, I am proud of the finished project - just wish I had known how time consuming it would have been to work out all the kinks and even get it to that point!

Comments on other experiences with Windows Movie Maker or iMovie are encouraged and welcomed! :)

My Digital Story

 

This video is something that I may use at the beginning of a semester to engage students and remind them that there is a reason they are learning this all this math stuff. I feel like this is one of the biggest questions I hear students ask in their math classes: "Why do I have to learn this? I'm never going to use it!" As teachers, I think we often get frustrated by this constant questioning and often get lazy in our answers: "Because I said so.... So you can get into college.... You need it to graduate." But these answers won't motivate most of our students, and if they do, they will only do so marginally. I think students need real answers! Some of what they learn in my algebra class, they will never use in their daily lives. Case in point: when was the last time you had to divide polynomials using the synthetic method? However, one of my biggest goals for my future students is that they understand math (in some form or fashion) will apply to their daily lives and will help them be more successful and independent people. Even if you go straight to the NFL after a year at college, wouldn't you want to know that you're not being cheated out of your money?

So that was my intent with this video. Certainly, it does not address the aspirations of every student I will have, and it wasn't intended to. But I would like to start the year off by informing students that I will make every attempt possible to connect this material to their lives and show them why it is valuable for them to study math - if for nothing else than it builds that problem solving and logical processing abilities.

Webquests & Inquiry Based Learning

Quite a while back, our class talked about and explored the use of Webquests and Inquiry Based Learning in the classroom. Overall, I think that this approach to learning could be very beneficial to students, especially with respect to long term retention. Webquests, specifically, seem to be a great way to create cross-curricular lessons which address a number of different standards in all different areas of learning. In particular, this lends to the opportunity for more real-world type learning experiences for students. Some of my favorite Webquests on the top sites questgarden.com and bestwebquest.com, we those that required students to participate in activities that would directly apply to them in their real lives, such as creating a floor plan, designing a budget for owning your own car, or even understanding the interest you pay and/or get paid on borrowed/invested money. As a high school math teacher, I know there will be many topics I teach my students that they will probably never use in their day to day lives (like graphing ellipses or finding the area under a curve) BUT there are still a number of math skills I would consider essential for their success in life. When students leave my class, I would really like for them to remember something about algebra or geometry. But if I have to choose, I would much rather them learn the logical thinking and real life skills they will need to really be successful and responsible adults throughout their lives. From this aspect, I think Webquests are a great way to bring real application into the classroom.
My only complaints about Webquests and Inquiry Based Learning are based on the issues of time and necessity. I never want to do things in my classroom just for the sake of doing them. I don't want students wasting my time, so why should I waste theirs with busy work and deny them learning. I think Webquests and inquiry based learning projects should have clear objectives and be very well defined if they are to promote real learning. Students should be fully aware of the learning objectives and teachers should make sure learning matches standards that are needing to be addressed as well. Despite how much I may like a project I've designed or how good I think it is for their learning, if students are not able to make the same relevant connections to their own lives, they will just see the assignment as one more thing to do, unrelated to any important learning or skill they will use again. Additionally, these types of projects often require a longer period of time to achieve a standard than would traditional teaching. While I really do like the idea of giving students the opportunity to learn and find answers for themselves, poorly designed activities can lead to lots of excess (and possibly wasted) time that we as teachers can't afford to lose. Despite these setbacks, however, I believed thoughtfully designed inquiry based activities can really enhance student learning and motivation in the classroom!

Here's to Jumping Back on the Wagon...

Ok, now's the time for honesty - the moment of truth. I have failed to stay consistent in my posting. I really like the idea of blogs, but I just don't think I'm much of a blogger. Maybe that's because I haven't pushed myself to keep posting and make it a habit. Psychologists seem to agree that it takes 66 days for the average person to develop/create a habit. Oh to have the diligence to stick with something for 66 days!

So, despite my behavior, I believe I've had a change of heart concerning the blogs. Let me explain. Initially, part of my failure to post may have been attributed to the fact that I didn't really see blogging as a useful tool. As with many of the tools and resources we explore in our technology 486 class, I didn't think blogging was something I would ever use in my classroom or as part of my teaching career. As it stands today, I still don't know if blogging is something I will use in my classroom (i.e. for my students or my parents). While I certainly want to be able to share information with both of these parties, I believe a classroom website would be more practical. Especially do to the fact that I would be able to keep all other class related info there as well.

However, as I begin talking to current teachers and trying to figure out where I stand on various different issues, I thing blogging could be a great resource as I begin building my teaching career. So many teachers have great wisdom to share about their experiences - what to do, what NOT to do, what worked for them, etc. The teacher I am observing now has told me numerous times to speak to as many teachers as I can throughout my career. And while I certainly won't agree or even relate to everything I may be told, that doesn't mean that it won't benefit me to hear it! So, if for nothing else that opening my mind to others' experiences and hoping someone else can learn from my own, I'm jumping back on the wagon. From here on out, I will fight my urge toward inconsistency!

Interactive Spreadsheets!

Inspiration: Solving Systems of Equations

So recently in my technology class, we spent some time working with the Inspiration software. From my understanding, Inspiration is intended to make the building/creating of concept maps and flow carts a little simpler. The program itself is really neat, with a number of different options for creating a unique display of information. What I found most helpful was the outline feature. Just like when you create a powerpoint, there is the option to input information in an outline view. The helped me because I could organize my thoughts in an outline, then simply click a button to create a web, tree or pyramid of information. It is also very easy to insert images or pictures onto a map, unlike it might be if you tried to create a similar product using Word or another familiar product for creating documents. 

Although I had a lot of fun discovering all of the nifty thinks to do with this project, it is in complete opposition with how I learn. Personally, I don't really like concept maps. There's too much information, that for me, seems far too disorganized or scattered across the board. I'm a linear thinker - so for me, a list of ordered steps seems to make much more sense. Perhaps this is why I enjoyed being able to first create the outline and then have the compute arrange it all for me! Despite my personal disinterest in organizing information this way, I know some students I have will enjoy the non-linear representation of the information and may better be able to organize a number of different methods for doing something in this fashion. For this reason, I won't completely rule out Inspiration in my own classroom - but I don't think it will be a common staple for me.