New Tech Standards & Requirements

The Oregon Ed Tech Standards (OETS) are a set of standards where the goal seems to be to have teachers and students become competent and and literate in the field of technology.  The standards outline ways that allow for technology to be incorporated into the classroom in ways that benefit learning.  These skills can then be used outside the classroom in other life long projects and events.

Following are the standards that stuck out to me the most and how I might implement them in my classroom:

• Creativity and Innovation:  Students can research the origins of constellations.  Using technology, students can use the program Stellarium to see the constellations in the sky with lines that connect all the stars, pictures of what the constellations are and labels for each constellation.  Students can create presentations on their findings using google presentations and use Stellarium to show what their constellation looks like with and without the lines.
• Communication and Collaboration:  Not only can students create a google doc for their group projects, they can also work on a project with people in a different state.  Students can work on projects outside of school hours without having to figure out where, when, or how they are all going to meet up because they can all work from their homes.  Students can also work with another class from a different state on a unit project.  For instance, if a class in Oregon is learning about New York, they can create a google do to get information about New York from every student in a sister class.  The New York class can then do a project on Oregon, getting information from all of the students in their sister class in Oregon.
• Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making:  Investigating environmental health, students will compose questions and hypotheses using critical thinking skills.  They can then use technology to research and test their hypotheses.  They can also engage people from other communities/states/countries to compare data using a google doc.  Based on the data in the shared google doc, the students can research local resources that may be able to help them solve their question(s).  Using that information, the students can create a presentation on the method/strategy they have decided would work best to solve their hypothesis.

One of the big challenges trying to met the educational technology standards is the access to technology.  Not all schools have technology for students to use often enough to become technologically literate.  Another challenge is having teachers who are capable of using technology and teach students how to use it; technology is always changing and evolving.  How do you know what is important enough to know to incorporate into learning and what to leave for students to explore on their own?  Ways these challenges might be overcome is to use whatever technology is available.  Use it for little things as well as big projects.  Let the students play with the technology that is available to them in the classroom and the school.  As a teacher, it is important to stay up to date on how technology is evolving and how it can be used in the classroom; use technology that is relevant to students and their work and what might be relevant in their futures.

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

My experience working with this spreadsheet was different then previous experiences working with various spreadsheets.  I think part of it was because I had a specific task I had to accomplish.  Another reason is because I was actually taught various functions to use that made creating the spreadsheet easier.  I've never had any instruction in how to use a spreadsheet so this how time I could have been using functions that make everything a whole lot easier and quicker.  Not to mention it looks pretty good too.  It did take me a bit to get going, but after getting the hang of it, it took no time at all to create this spreadsheet.  Now I can continue to use spreadsheets to keep myself organized without the process taking up so much time...yay!

Based on the data in the chart, the students, on average, did show growth over the last five tests. The growth for each student was fairly steady and consistant (with a couple of exceptions.)  As the year continued, I would expect that these same trends would continue also.  As a result of the score trends, I would, as a classroom teacher, see this growth and be excited about that.  But these students are still below the overall class average.  So I would want to try and get these students more help, maybe have them work with or study with some of the students that are above the overall average, to see if that would help there test scores improve.  I would continue to chart the students and see if any of my new methods helped with growth in test scores.

UStream - In A Dark, Dark Room

USteacm is a website that allows users to create videos and live broadcasts.  You can record video and/or voice if you choose.  It is an easy website to use:  go to http://www.ustream.tv/ and create an account.  Once you've created an account, you can create a broadcast and post it.  UStream also allows users to create channels for their videos; so videos that are related can easily be grouped together.  You can also give videos tags so that they are easier to find.  Once you have created an account, you also have the option of subscribing to other channels that may be of interest.
For my video, I decided to read a story, and with halloween up coming, I chose a story called, "In a dark, dark room."  I think that if I were used to this site and how it worked, recording book readings could be useful in a classroom or for a classroom blog.  A teacher could post readings on the blog for students to watch and listen to at home.  It could also be a way for students to practice reading and then they can watch their own performance and assess themselves.

Here is the link to the video:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17924539

or watch it here:




Video streaming by Ustream

Google Sheets

Google sheets is a free program within the Google Docs.  Essentially, Google sheets is like Excel, except that it can be used my multiple users simultaniously; even if they are in different locations.  You can insert data and create graphs and/or charts to show that data.  You can also easily insert pictures.

For my part in the Google sheets project, I played with the data that another member had put into the data sheet and I created a graph.  I did have a hard time getting all three of the cells I wanted to use represented on the graph; only two showed up.  I also gave a few ways that I think the Google sheets could be used for teacher and/or student use.  For example, teachers and students could use this tool to show assignment due dates, values, and scores.  This could make it so that the students are held more accountable for their own work because they have access to a record of their current grades.  This could also be extended to the parents so that they also have access and know how their student is doing all throughout the term/year.
An idea that I really liked that someone else in my group came up with was the idea of sharing the sheets with other teachers, especially with in secondary schools, so that teachers can know how their students are doing across the board.

Here are links to our spread sheet and our reflections:
http://tinyurl.com/sheetsreflection
http://tinyurl.com/spreadsheetplay

OTEN!

The keynote speaker at the 2011 OTEN conference was Joe Morelock who is the technology for the Canby school district.  He spoke about the success that the Canby district has had incorporating iPods and iPads into their schools.  In his presentation, he showed a lot of inspirational statistics that showed the positive impact that these tools have had on the students who use them. 
I attended two other presentations that covered simple, free, technology tools that can be used in the classroom and can be used by students at home to complete projects and have fun.

http://voicethread.com/share/2308689/

Del.icio.us Experience

Web2.0 is essentially a way for you to be able to store all your files on the internet so that you can access them at anytime, anywhere.  Some examples of Web2.0 is Google Docs, Blogger, Del.isio.us, Facebook, youtube, and skype.

Del.icio.us is a tool that allows you to bookmark any page and save those bookmarks online.  Just like a favorites page, del.icio.us also allows you to create stacks, or folders for all your bookmarked sites.  It also lets you tag the web pages with words that will help you find them quickly if you do not remember which folder you stored them in, or have not made folders for them at all.  You also have the ability to share your del.icio.us page so that others may be able to go to your page in search of good links. 

Some informational resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicious_(website)
http://delicious.com/
http://webtrends.about.com/od/delicious/gr/delicious_r.htm

Del.icio.us is a tool that can be used by teachers and students to maxamize work time by having all links that may be needed to work on or complete a project in one space.  It also allows for teachers to bookmark only those sites that they want their students to use.  Teachers and students can make a collective page where everyone adds useful sites for all to use.  Delicious could also be a resource that lets students compile a list of useful sites that may be beneficial to them throughout their schooling.

How blogs can be used in the classroom

Blogging in the classroom can be beneficial for students by allowing the teacher to update them on classroom events and activities and generally just keeping them informed and on the same page.  This can create a type of community in the classroom because everyone is up to date on the same things.  Blogging is also good for students to practice and improve their reading and writing skills in a non-threatening manner.  It also allows for students to contribute to class discussions in a manner that is, probably, more comfortable for many of them.  Students who may not feel comfortable talking in class can contribute to the same class discussions in a way that allows for them to express their opinions in a safe way.
Blogs can also be used as a way to keep in touch with parents and keep them up to date on what is going on in the classroom and around the school.  Teachers can also post examples of students work so parents can see the efforts of their students.  As well as being a way for teachers to keep in touch with parents, it is a way for administrators to keep in touch with parents.