Images

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?  Just what does that old saying really mean, anyway?

The uses for images in the classroom are as varied and diverse as the people occupying those classrooms.  Images make great objects to illustrate copyright laws.  The ease at which images can be adjusted and altered by using programs like Photoshop and Fotoflexer brings up issues of media literacy

However, with the growth of Web 2.0 applications like Flickr and Pinterest that make it easier to upload and share those images, the potential for using images in the classroom has grown exponentially.  Students tired of creating PowerPoints?  They could create a virtual posterboard instead using Glogster instead.  Don't think your students are ready yet to create their own videos?  Have them create an awesome slideshow using Animoto.

Today you'll use cameras and the internet to produce three copyright-free images.  You'll manipulate them to create original images, then share them with your classmates.  You'll comment and evaluate  each others' creations.  Finally, you'll read and reflect on the various ways that image software could be used in your future classroom.

Enhancing Direct Instruction

This week we'll also take a look at the evolution of direct instruction in the classroom for the 21st Century.  The widespread availability of technology that allows multimedia streaming, anytime access for students, and almost unlimited resources for teachers has given rise to new twists on old issues (like copyright laws) and radical approaches to teacher driven instruction. You'll examine the implications of these new strategies, explore the educational applications of lots of software, and create your own teacher lesson using the newest of presentation platforms.

P.S.  Have you had any ideas yet about a possible topic for your mini-research paper?

We're going to cover a lot of ground in class today, and you'll probably need to spend a bit of time on your own this week to more fully explore the concepts introduced to you- even veteran educators face a dazzling variety of challenges everyday.  However, as new teachers, you'll be faced with the enormous additional task of creating an organizational system to manage your classroom.  This takes on many facets:  student work collection, grading systems and assessment, behavior challenges, parent communication, professional development, etc.  The list of jobs that you will be expected to successfully juggle from Day One is daunting.

Fortunately, your more veteran colleagues will have plenty of tips for you.  Today's lesson will introduce, discuss, and apply technology to those practical considerations that you'll have to address in your future classroom.

It's also getting close to research paper time.  Don't forget to look at the rubric for your Tech Ed in the News Paper due on May 7 by classtime.  You'll will email me your finished paper and I'll add my comments via track changes.  Need some ideas?  Think about the weekly class topics or use the internet to search and find great sites like Edutopia, Classroom 2.0., or Edudemic.

Week Two- Collaboration and Communication

Welcome, everyone.  I'm glad to see that we're all back for Week 2.

Last week we created our blogs and added some useful links to them.  We'll take some time at the start of class and let you revisit them, as well as providing some feedback for your peers.  This is the time to help each other with issues that have arisen over the past week, plus begin the process of revision and tweaking to make your blog as professional and useful as possible. Think about the characteristics of what a good teacher blog would have- what is its purpose?

This week we will continue to utilize our blogs, adding  Wikis and RSS feeds into the mix and give you some time to explore the potential of both of these in school settings.  Lastly, we'll explore an index of useful Web 2.0 tools, picking three useful applications and discussing their uses in the classroom.

Welcome!

I'd just like to welcome you all to the Spring Edition of Ed 270 Integrating Technology in Education! Throughout the next ten weeks, you will use a variety of different programs and platforms to explore the various means by which computers and the web have already become an integral part of an effective K-12 teacher's bag of tricks.

 Everything that you will explore and create is already in practice in classrooms across the country to meet state and federal teaching standards. Taking full advantage of internet and mobile platforms, creative and innovative teachers are already proving that technology does not have to be a distraction or a gimmicky add-on to traditional teaching practices. You'll examine your content area standards and begin to reflect upon ways that technology can open new doors to them. You'll explore the collaborative possibilities of the read/write web. You'll discover ways to more effectively manage your classroom. You'll investigate the constructivist possibilities of images and multimedia construction. You'll look to the future and predict the classroom of the next decade. You'll create your own lessons incorporating what you've learned in here. 

You're going to be busy in here, and that's a good thing. Along the way, you may occasionally run into what teachers like to call "technical difficulties." It is best if you select a happy place and always remember how to go there in case of computer stress. Go to your happy place...no worries....go to your happy place... The intent of this class is to take the fear out of technology integration, as well as refine your reflective and problem-solving skills that inevitability accompany high-tech in the classroom. No worries.