Online Learning

Tracking Collaboration

By: Jared Mader and Ben Smith

Using technology to collaborate on school topics. Many times students have questions or comments about their homework and don't have a way of asking when they are at home. Communication tools such as wikis, Google Docs, student e-mail, and chatting all allow for students to interact. Chatting in real time is another way to help students understand the material while at home. By scheduling chats students can converse with each other and with the teacher to reinforce their knowledge. Wiki and Google Docs give the teacher the ability to check the students progress and the time stamps record when the assignments were submitted. Not only do these communication devices allow for increased teacher involvement and discussions with fellow students, but it also provides ways to communicate with other students from other classes, schools and/or countries. 

There are other ways to have our students communicate through technology, texting, but this method doesn't help students develop the appropriate writing skills. Using wikis and wikispaces can also help teacher put up tutorials to help their student with their writing skills.

"By helping our students become more effective communicators, we are helping them grow into global contributors".

I think using these types of communication websites helps our quiet students become more involved in their learning as well. I don't think that all discussions should be handled in this way, but I do believe it is just another way we can encourage our students to grow, especially in this technology growing world.

Technology Tool For Teachers

Tech Integration in Social Studies
By: Mark Hofer and Judi Harris

This article is about integrating technology in the classroom. Hofer and Harris set up a system that allows teachers to pick the type of learning activity they want their students to preform; a project, unit, or a particular lesson, and then use the educational technologies. they provided a website to refer to for assignment suggestions, activitytypes.wmwikis.com. The website has sample activites and techonologies that come along with them. There are 42 available social study activities.

The types of technologies that are provided are using pod casts, using stock market games, using blogs and comic creators. These are all fun and unique ways teachers can incorporate technology into learning and if done correctly the students won't even realize they are learning. These assignments are not only used alone, but can be combined to make projects. Combining the techonoligies allows for more advanced learning.

I think this is a great article because it allows teachers a quick refrence to the different types of techonolgy avaiable out there. It can be hard to look for the newest technology trends and having a website available is a great way to keep informed.

Motivation For The 21st Century

Pamela Livingston ''Chatting it Up Online''

Pamela Livingston author of ''Chatting it Up Online'' is a teacher who is using technology to inspire her students. She used the help of other teachers in her school as well as online resources to bring professionals and her students together. She implemented the ''live chat'', a communication device on the Internet, to motivate her students to lean more. Livingston had a group of boys who were interested in learning more about a certain children's book author. Livingston gathered information from the Internet to set up a date to have the boys interview the author. She did this with a website called classroom.net, the website connects professional and students together though the Internet.

Before the students could have the interview Livingston needed to prepare. She gave many examples from her experience, such as: knowing chatting etiiquette, preparing the room for chat, and having questions prepared. She explained there were some glitches, but overall it was a good experience for the boys and that she would recommend other teachers doing it for their students.

Livingston mentioned in the beginning of her article that she did not want to disappoint her students, so, she waited to tell them the interview was available when she got the verification from the website. I believe that was very important in her teaching method, she wrote about how the ''live chat'' was better for the students because of the instant gratification and how the students had written a letter previously which had taken a lot longer for a response than expected. I believe that keeping those young minds constantly intrigued is the best policy and the letter, while exciting, is not as good at keeping their attention as a ''live chat''.
Which is why i believe being prepared was of the up most importance. One of Livingston's suggestions for being prepared was having the questions ready for the author, the most crucial preparation, in my opinion. The students were actively involved in their learning and they were able to ask the questions they most wanted to know. Which is why I think the chat was so successful.

I would use this leaning tool in my classroom by not only accessing authors of books, but of important people they are leaning about in class. I would also research live video chats if possible. Being prepared would be very important for these conversations because the students could be called upon individually by the interviewee, which could bring about certain behavior issues. Having smaller class sizes would probably be easier to manage in video chat while bigger classrooms could benefit the most from type chat.

net 4 is the L and L standard.

Safey First

Resources Abound For Setting Up Internet Safety Programs
By: Jennifer Hanson

Jennifer Hanson provides many resources that we as educators can use to help our students learn about how to be safe on the internet. She made a simple outline of the types of resources, for example: How to Maintain Internet Safety, Using the PTA, High School Leadership Organizations, Contacting Your Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, and Using Key District Resources. Hanson gives examples of how these resources are beneficial to internet safety. Using the PTA and High school leadership programs will allow for family and student involvement. By contacting the Project Safe Childhood coordinator it encourages communities to work together to educate not only students but parents about the danger of being online. It involves law enforcement, business, educators, and parents. These programs educate our communities so they can inform our students.

Hanson also gives tips on how to remind our students to be safe online. The tips include: how to choose and create appropriate screen names, thinking ahead when putting information on the internet, and how to get help if you are in trouble on the internet. She provides a website called cypertiponline.com if there is any bullying or you suspect any problems while online.

I think this is something all educators should be doing before they get their students online. All students should have some type of education about the dangers involved with the internet. Getting the community involved is a great idea because it promotes a more encouraging and trusting environment for our students. Getting high school students involved in younger children's education in not only beneficial for the elementary or middle school children, but the high school students academic and internet education as well. Many high school student are logging on to Myspace and Facebook and other social-networking sites and can get in a lot of trouble and by making them aware can help them with their internet usage as well.

Who New You Have To Be Media Literate?

Alligators in The Sewers? Really?
By Joy Egbert
Media Literacy is being able to understand what you have; read, heard, or seen in the media and to be able to analyze the information to determine its validity. Many students in our schools do not have the proper skills to determine what is false or true in the media, especially English Language Learners. These students need to be taught the necessary skills to analyze and evaluate the information they have been exposed to.

In her article Joy gives ideas on how to support our students understanding and media literacy. By reviewing vocabulary, going over sources, and learning how to use the internet to check the validity of a piece of news or information. There are also websites teachers can go to, to learn how to teach their students media literacy. Packets are available to guide the students in their quest for literacy and other websites to check their progress in finding the right answers.

This article sheds light on a topic that has growing over time. Many people, including myself, do not understand the medias' growing impact on young minds. And if students and teachers are not aware we will lose our intelligence. We need to teach our students how to analyze what they are exposed to so they can become intelligent adults and make rational decisions for their future. I think that going over the vocabulary for ELL is extremely helpful. Students who do not know the language are most susceptible to believing what they hear especially when they do not understand it. By reviewing the vocabulary we not only increase their media literacy but their reading literacy as well. I think that all teachers should use some sort of analyzing tool to help their students gain the knowledge they need to not only be media competent but to make rational decisions for their future.