The first presentation that I looked at was Jim, Cheryl's , Rosaleta etc. on the 23 things to incorporate technology in our classes. First, I went to the site from the wiki becuase I didn't know what it was about. I like this site because for me it brings two things together, namely, a reason for me to practice using technology and professional development. I fouund the presentation really simple and straight forward. I liked how they made technology kind of simple ( if that's even possible) . Listing links for creating blogs and wikis are something that I would be willing to try. I'm not really overwhelmed by these and i would actually give them a go. They kind of managed to make technology easy....
I also like the mention of the delicious account, becuase I acutally mentioned this in my blog as something that I could do with/for the students.
One thought that I do want to mention about technology and PD is that i think for many teachers this is a good pairing. From some reading that I did for Sal's class last year, it looks like many teachers don't really particpate in PD sessions that they attend. What I have read stated that workshops are often not really an active thing, or that teachers don't take the information learned back to the classroom. they sit there for the presentation, but that's the end of if. I really find this a hard concept to wrap my mind around from a pharmacy perspective, but I think that through technology, PD can be chosen for areas that interest teachers, would allow for me flexibility in terms of time committment and would make it more likely for the teacher to actually bring the information back to the classroom. As I mentioned, we have PD for pharmacists and technology and online programs have really helped me becuase there aren't too many programs offered in North Battleford, so most mean driving and time off work. I have joined several online sites that offer pharamacist PD ( we call then CEU's - continuing education units) and I really like them. I guess it's this whole attitude of HAVING to do PD that I struggle with. I really like the courses that I take and am not sure why other's don't. I guess this is the carry over to teacher's PD and the possiblity that some don't get the most from the courses they attend. Such is life, but technology could really be a help here.
I also think that through technology, the opportunities and application for future learning are endless. technology is a bridge that can connect you to anywhere or thing. I think that technology is also a tool that changes with society, so that as our environment changes, so does our learning . each reflects the other and that's a really simple way to stay current. Staying current is a big deal in pharmacy too and I see the connection with education.
the second link that I took a look at was Duane's Leading the change from the k-12 Online Conference. to begin, he starts off with the first slide that web 2.0 is about student learning not just the tools but how to use them effectively. I really liked this right off the bat, becuase it's simple and connects to this class that we're taking. How many times has Marnie mentioned some version of this??? How to go!!! for me personally, I realy like this because i often really struggle with technology but if I can find something that works for me, baby steps is a good starting point.
He then continued with key factors, which again really connect to our class material - experiementation and collaboration. He then addressed safety when using web 2.0 I now know that this too is proabably a common concern amoung users. I checked out the examples that he listed and especially liked Animoto. It's pretty simple, yet has so many option availiable, that it ends up being pretty fancy, yet customized to your teaching need. I am kind of thinking that I might use this for me practicum introduction. At present, I just give a talk, but the video would work nicely at the start to kind of introduce the topic in a more student appreciated format. thanks!!
Finally, probably the thing i liked the most, are his connections to 21st century learning. GREAT and this has real connections to what I'm doing. thanks again!!
I think that this could definately be a future opportunity for me with online PD. Simple, varied, interesting. The only thing that I would like to have seen is more detail. I know that most people don't need/want this, but it's all just so challanging for me that I really do appreciate more info, but can see how I am in the minority in this case. thanks darcy
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Block 5 Web 2.0 Tools
Howdy one and all. I have to say that this has been the most challanging of all the block for me. Experiementing with web 2.0 tools is what I find most intimidating because I'm often just winning it and am very unsure of what to do. I'm kind of a structure person and this goes way outside of my comfort zone, but I guess that's learning hey?
Well, to begin with, the easiest of tools for me are blogs and wikis because I have used these in the past and am now somewhat familiar with them, but boy do I still remember the frustration and fear they involked initially. Thanks Sherron, JoAnne and Leanne for your patience.
I have also used a chat room but found the process kind of slow and somewhat frustrating becuase it didn't really meet up to my expectations. Skype turned out to be a much better format for what I was expecting. It was a little harder to initiate ( I had to down load the program) but even without voice, I acutally do like it. My little neices use skype, so we have now began to chat.
I also just joined facebook which is also something that I have resisted doing for quite sometime. My neices and sister have facebook pages and I just wasn't really interested. Now that I have acutally joined, what what a difference. While this isn't education related, I'm looking forward to getting pictures from my neice who is in Africa at present. Thanks for the courage to do this as well.
Finally, for my project, I created a ninehub site for my pharmacy technician class. I made up power point presentations in each class along with video and slide shows. Powerpoint is also something that I resisted doing because I couldn't see the point of doing more work for something that didn't need it (or so I thought). I once again have to say that after MANY frustrating moments, I actually see how the site is not only going to improve my instruction, but it will acutally save me time and work. THANKS!!!!
Just as a little update, I just found out how to use the share button on google documents. Boy is it ever a time saver. You just click on the share button on the top right hand side and then type in the addresses that you want it sent to. Gotta really like that one. Just as an fyi Also, just because I didn't specifically mention this, I used google documents to access the powerpoint presentation on the nine hub site. It was not too bad to use and I really liked this becuase going back in an updating information will be much less work in the future. All the google documents that I created are listed on the first page. Nice and organized. Gotta like that too. darcy
FYI the Link for the ninehub site is:
http://pharmtech.ninehub.com/login/index.php
A second tool that I found is teacher tube. I had heard about youtube ( we had looked at it during this fall and summer class. I found it to be pretty funny, but that it actually got you thinking about some things. I kind of liked the idea of teacher tube being more education specific then youtube. I should have known that someone would come up with the idea. I just googled teacher tube and their opening page started with a tutorial on how to use google documents. I had created an account inorder to put powerpoint presentations into my project's ninehub site and found it to be pretty good. It took me a few tries to actually get it right, but it wasn't too bad. When I saw this video on teacher tube, I clicked on it and boy it has even more stuff then I knew about. I found the video to be really simple and straight forward (Ya Hoo..). It has spread sheets also which I can really see being helpful with marks. Right now, I just keep hand written sheets of the marks and then just add them up at the end of the year. It works ok, but a spreadsheet would be way more organized. Google Documents also lets you upload other documents from your computer. I really like this idea too becuase all of my classs content is saved in emails and documents. This would really help save me alot of time . You can also connect links to your document which I think I'm gonna try too, becuase there are quite a few pharmacy sites that the students must be able to use. It would be nice to have them all organized and accessable.
I then went to the most viewed tabs and found the video by Karl Fisch that I talked about in another part of my blog. here's the link again. It's really kind of mind blowing, but I think that i might load it to present to the students when we start to talk about technology the student's future jobs as pharmacy technicians in how the work place looks today. It's good like I said becuase it ties into 21st century skills that I kind of focus on.
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=799aaa845e1c2e8a762b&page=1&viewtype=&category
** Please note that I can't get this site to be active from here. maybe becuase it's 2 lines?? If you want to see, and do if you have time, google it.
Finally, if you need a bit of a chuckle, look at the "Top Ten Things You Do Not Learn About Teaching in College". It's a Letterman spoof, but it's funny.
Next, I went to the Rock our World site. I didn't really know what it was, but it was the first one listed so thought that I'd give it a go. For those of you that don't know ( if there are any...) it's a site that connects k - 12 students around the world to share and meet each other in video chats. Doesn't really apply to me, but then I thought again, could I use it to connect pharmacy technician students and/or practicing grads as kind of a support/discussion site?? Pharmacy techcnians have new competencies that are coming on line really soon and the whole point is standardization. If I could use this site to connect the students with others in different programs, it could really help to alleviate some of their fears. I have found that most students are kind of leary about these new competencies ( I guess change is hard for students too??) and like I said, I could see this connection helping. Tech's have both national and provincial regulations that must be followed and student's often have a hard time with other province's regulations ( becuase they don't acutally pracitice within them) and it's usually the practicing that makes the regulations more understandable . even if I could just start small, I think it's worthwhile to look into with the help of the IT guy at the college. He has been really helpful in the past, so I think that I'll hit him up again???
Finally, I then clicked on the Digital Citizenship in Education site. I really liked this site because it connects to the previous block about evauluating the net as an information source, responsibiliites, etc. I'm not sure if it's for the students ( is it too basic for them??) but as I mentioned it sure was a really good review for me. I actually found it kind of mind boggling. I liked the digital health and wellness link. We do a addiction section in class when we cover narcotic analgesics and I could probably throw this connect into my nine hub site?? the digital literacy section was particulary good for me and it mirrors alot of the evaluation of the web as an information soure that we took in the last block. I think that when I talk about his to the students, if they have questions, then this would be a good additional source to the papers that I printed off from the block that we went through. the Shift Happens video is really mind blowing. Take a look at it if you have time. I'm guessing that most of you have already seen it, but it hit me kind of...
I also created a delicious account and boy is it mind boggling. there's just so much information, but I can see it's really going to help with organization. I think that maybe the students ( and me, but really them) could create accounts for the reference sites that they need to use in class. there are quite a few of them that the need to access in several of their classes and a delicious account could be an option. At the very least, it's been a really good organizational tool for me with my final project and for the students, we would kind of walk through the process so that they could do it for themselves in the workplace. We'd not only have the tool, but they'd know how to use the tool at work and the practicum. I think that new grands and students in the practicum are often overwhelmed with the amount of information that they need to memorize and the delicious account would help to organize their resources so they don't have to memorize, just access the correct sites.
Well, to begin with, the easiest of tools for me are blogs and wikis because I have used these in the past and am now somewhat familiar with them, but boy do I still remember the frustration and fear they involked initially. Thanks Sherron, JoAnne and Leanne for your patience.
I have also used a chat room but found the process kind of slow and somewhat frustrating becuase it didn't really meet up to my expectations. Skype turned out to be a much better format for what I was expecting. It was a little harder to initiate ( I had to down load the program) but even without voice, I acutally do like it. My little neices use skype, so we have now began to chat.
I also just joined facebook which is also something that I have resisted doing for quite sometime. My neices and sister have facebook pages and I just wasn't really interested. Now that I have acutally joined, what what a difference. While this isn't education related, I'm looking forward to getting pictures from my neice who is in Africa at present. Thanks for the courage to do this as well.
Finally, for my project, I created a ninehub site for my pharmacy technician class. I made up power point presentations in each class along with video and slide shows. Powerpoint is also something that I resisted doing because I couldn't see the point of doing more work for something that didn't need it (or so I thought). I once again have to say that after MANY frustrating moments, I actually see how the site is not only going to improve my instruction, but it will acutally save me time and work. THANKS!!!!
Just as a little update, I just found out how to use the share button on google documents. Boy is it ever a time saver. You just click on the share button on the top right hand side and then type in the addresses that you want it sent to. Gotta really like that one. Just as an fyi Also, just because I didn't specifically mention this, I used google documents to access the powerpoint presentation on the nine hub site. It was not too bad to use and I really liked this becuase going back in an updating information will be much less work in the future. All the google documents that I created are listed on the first page. Nice and organized. Gotta like that too. darcy
FYI the Link for the ninehub site is:
http://pharmtech.ninehub.com/login/index.php
A second tool that I found is teacher tube. I had heard about youtube ( we had looked at it during this fall and summer class. I found it to be pretty funny, but that it actually got you thinking about some things. I kind of liked the idea of teacher tube being more education specific then youtube. I should have known that someone would come up with the idea. I just googled teacher tube and their opening page started with a tutorial on how to use google documents. I had created an account inorder to put powerpoint presentations into my project's ninehub site and found it to be pretty good. It took me a few tries to actually get it right, but it wasn't too bad. When I saw this video on teacher tube, I clicked on it and boy it has even more stuff then I knew about. I found the video to be really simple and straight forward (Ya Hoo..). It has spread sheets also which I can really see being helpful with marks. Right now, I just keep hand written sheets of the marks and then just add them up at the end of the year. It works ok, but a spreadsheet would be way more organized. Google Documents also lets you upload other documents from your computer. I really like this idea too becuase all of my classs content is saved in emails and documents. This would really help save me alot of time . You can also connect links to your document which I think I'm gonna try too, becuase there are quite a few pharmacy sites that the students must be able to use. It would be nice to have them all organized and accessable.
I then went to the most viewed tabs and found the video by Karl Fisch that I talked about in another part of my blog. here's the link again. It's really kind of mind blowing, but I think that i might load it to present to the students when we start to talk about technology the student's future jobs as pharmacy technicians in how the work place looks today. It's good like I said becuase it ties into 21st century skills that I kind of focus on.
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=799aaa845e1c2e8a762b&page=1&viewtype=&category
** Please note that I can't get this site to be active from here. maybe becuase it's 2 lines?? If you want to see, and do if you have time, google it.
Finally, if you need a bit of a chuckle, look at the "Top Ten Things You Do Not Learn About Teaching in College". It's a Letterman spoof, but it's funny.
Next, I went to the Rock our World site. I didn't really know what it was, but it was the first one listed so thought that I'd give it a go. For those of you that don't know ( if there are any...) it's a site that connects k - 12 students around the world to share and meet each other in video chats. Doesn't really apply to me, but then I thought again, could I use it to connect pharmacy technician students and/or practicing grads as kind of a support/discussion site?? Pharmacy techcnians have new competencies that are coming on line really soon and the whole point is standardization. If I could use this site to connect the students with others in different programs, it could really help to alleviate some of their fears. I have found that most students are kind of leary about these new competencies ( I guess change is hard for students too??) and like I said, I could see this connection helping. Tech's have both national and provincial regulations that must be followed and student's often have a hard time with other province's regulations ( becuase they don't acutally pracitice within them) and it's usually the practicing that makes the regulations more understandable . even if I could just start small, I think it's worthwhile to look into with the help of the IT guy at the college. He has been really helpful in the past, so I think that I'll hit him up again???
Finally, I then clicked on the Digital Citizenship in Education site. I really liked this site because it connects to the previous block about evauluating the net as an information source, responsibiliites, etc. I'm not sure if it's for the students ( is it too basic for them??) but as I mentioned it sure was a really good review for me. I actually found it kind of mind boggling. I liked the digital health and wellness link. We do a addiction section in class when we cover narcotic analgesics and I could probably throw this connect into my nine hub site?? the digital literacy section was particulary good for me and it mirrors alot of the evaluation of the web as an information soure that we took in the last block. I think that when I talk about his to the students, if they have questions, then this would be a good additional source to the papers that I printed off from the block that we went through. the Shift Happens video is really mind blowing. Take a look at it if you have time. I'm guessing that most of you have already seen it, but it hit me kind of...
I also created a delicious account and boy is it mind boggling. there's just so much information, but I can see it's really going to help with organization. I think that maybe the students ( and me, but really them) could create accounts for the reference sites that they need to use in class. there are quite a few of them that the need to access in several of their classes and a delicious account could be an option. At the very least, it's been a really good organizational tool for me with my final project and for the students, we would kind of walk through the process so that they could do it for themselves in the workplace. We'd not only have the tool, but they'd know how to use the tool at work and the practicum. I think that new grands and students in the practicum are often overwhelmed with the amount of information that they need to memorize and the delicious account would help to organize their resources so they don't have to memorize, just access the correct sites.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
teacher tube "did you know" Karl Fisch
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=799aaa845e1c2e8a762b&page=1&viewtype=&category=
Sorry, I was just looking at this on teacher tube and I don't know how to actually bring the picture here, so i just pasted the site. If you have time please take a look at it. It starts out kind of mind blowing with #'s but it really does speak to me as a technical program instructor. It's right in line with technology and 21st century skills. I really liked it and thought someone else might too. darcy
Sorry, I was just looking at this on teacher tube and I don't know how to actually bring the picture here, so i just pasted the site. If you have time please take a look at it. It starts out kind of mind blowing with #'s but it really does speak to me as a technical program instructor. It's right in line with technology and 21st century skills. I really liked it and thought someone else might too. darcy
Monday, February 23, 2009
Block 6 Information Literacy Thoughts(Mind Boggles)
Well, I went through block 6 assingment #1 and I have to say that for me anyway, it is truely "Mind Boggleling". I started with the first optional assignment (the Infro Literacy Qiz). Unfortunately, right off the bat there was so much stuff that I didn't know. I am familiar with blogs and wikis from our classes, but the rest of the survey kind of went down hill fast for me. What's a boolean search term?? Man!!!! Even the different ends on address sites were new to me. I recognized them, but had no idea what they implied. I think that this would be a good quiz to take my students through at the start of the year. I'm pretty sure that they would know it, but if they didn't they might feel to "stupid" to actually say anything. This is a familiar feeling with me and the internet, so hopefully I'd recognize the "deer in the headlight look". Ie it takes one to know one. I know that I take my student's knowledge of technology for granted and perhaps I should reaccess this thought, plus as I have mentioned, it was a HUGH learning curve for me and some of my students (maybe the older ones??) might not be so sauve?? With the internet being for many, the major information source, the ability to authenticate it is major. I like the MAP acrinom becuase it's simple and I like simple for obvious reasons. I printed off the MAP slides and will keep those for future use too.
Next, I read the article "Developing critical Literacy Skills for the Internet". Just as fyi:
http://www.pwc.k12.nf.ca/internetliteracy
What I really liked in this article was the bit about not relying on filtering software but on teaching students ( and me obviously) critical literacy skills to empower them. This really hit home because 21st century skills of which literacy is one, is what my final project is about and this whole idea of evaluating the internet sources is new to me. I guess you really do learn something new everyday - if you're lucky. I guess that I can see now that it is really encumbant on my part to introduce this to my instruction so that my students can develop this skill's confidence so that they can take it with them to their practicums and jobs. I just never really thought about it.... Not much of an excuse, but it is the truth. For all the reading, etc that I've done, man I sure have alot left to go. Like I've mentioned before, I guess that a good starting place is recognizing this and being willing/able to move forward.
I also liked the part on intelectual property. This is kind of familiar to me in terms of plagerism, but I never thought about downloading mp3 players in this frame of reference. I guess too that I also appreciate the U of R's online library becuase I can now see with hindsight that it sure did alot of work for me.
Next, I read the article "Developing critical Literacy Skills for the Internet". Just as fyi:
http://www.pwc.k12.nf.ca/internetliteracy
What I really liked in this article was the bit about not relying on filtering software but on teaching students ( and me obviously) critical literacy skills to empower them. This really hit home because 21st century skills of which literacy is one, is what my final project is about and this whole idea of evaluating the internet sources is new to me. I guess you really do learn something new everyday - if you're lucky. I guess that I can see now that it is really encumbant on my part to introduce this to my instruction so that my students can develop this skill's confidence so that they can take it with them to their practicums and jobs. I just never really thought about it.... Not much of an excuse, but it is the truth. For all the reading, etc that I've done, man I sure have alot left to go. Like I've mentioned before, I guess that a good starting place is recognizing this and being willing/able to move forward.
I also liked the part on intelectual property. This is kind of familiar to me in terms of plagerism, but I never thought about downloading mp3 players in this frame of reference. I guess too that I also appreciate the U of R's online library becuase I can now see with hindsight that it sure did alot of work for me.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Clarence Fisher's Blog review continued
Howdy one and all again. This is this week's review of Clarence. He titles it "How Did You Know it's 60 Days Past Christmas" This is a comment about how you can figure out the reason for your students frustration. It's due to the 60 day free trail period of Window running out for your students. It's kind of funny, but it made me think of just how pervsive technology really is in so many lives. We don't even really think about it often, much less access the impact. It's kind of just taken for granted. What about those who don't have access to technology? How do they fair in the educational and work systems? How much of a disadvantage do they face? It's such a big advantage, but maybe for those who can't afford it, a hugh stumbling block. Just a thought. darcy
http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/
Howdy one and all again, I am now reveiwing his blog from this week. He started with a Ted video and says that he kind of wants to be able to see beyond current ideas of what technology is. Clarence writes that he thinks we need a new word that is free from connections to politics and big companies, so he comes up with the word edpunk. I'm not one who is real keen on making up labels for something that already exists, even though I do see his point of how much Microsoft and other hugh companies are really political machines that influence us in so many ways - many of which we don't even think about. Anyway, no more ranting. What I wanted to say is how Clarence's ideas really connect to the 2 literature reviews that I did on the blog this week. Wow, sometimes I have to say that these connections really blow my mind. I guese that I should expect them becuase that is kind of one of the points of this class. ( how to use technology to help us improve what we're doing, not just maintain the status quo. Just one more connection here for me and then I'm done. For my project for this class, Brent suggested a webpage. marnie then gave me a ninehub site to go to that let me post all my classes (each lecture) on the web for delivery to the students. At work, my coworkers have mentioned this several times to me but I always thought why do more work when what I have is doing ok right now? Well, unbeknost to me, once I got over the technical problems of using the site, I have to say that I really like it. It would be a real life saver at work, and once this initial imput is finished, I can see it acutally saving me time. As things change and I need to add new information, all I do is go to that lecture and add it in. NO more photocopying!!!!!!!!!!! Ya HOO!!!!! When I was talking with Marnie about what to do , she had questions about the importance of making the project about something that I would use. To be truthful, I thought yah, yah, yah. I'm just gonna do what needs to be done for this project and get out of this class with my skin still one. I guess that I have to say that this has been one of the most surprising things of this class in general. that technology can really help me, I just have to be open to it. I guess that I'm just one of those people that are dragged to the table kicking and screaming, but it's really all been pretty good at the end of the day. to go back to Clarence's post, the point of being open to new things ( no matter what you call them) is really a good thing. For me, it also helps me to remember what it's like to be student who always has new things throwen at them in my program. darcy
Howdy one and all , this is another review of Clarence's blog. Last week ( I had technical difficulties with editing my blog last week) he talked about classroom organization. How desk position can affect learning. I was really surprised when I read this. It makes sense to me, but I just never really thought about it before. When I went to school our desks were in rows and the teacher was at the front. Not real creative and it would be highly looked down apon today. It sets ups power structure, doesn't encourage free dialogue for just a few things. I do have to admit though,that my classroom has me at the front and desks in rows. I find this helpful with the technical information in my program becuase I usually the one dispensing the information to the students. What I try to do is question each student about what was covered in the previous class and in other classes to try to connect the classes together. However, despite what I have already said, here's the kicker. It's the lab portion of my program that is set up to mimic an acutal community pharmacy. Each student has a lab station that is like a workstation in a community pharamcy. The stations are close together so that I try to encourage team work amoungst the students. So, if I'm being honest, I guess I do consider classroom design to be import, just more so with the work related portion ( lab portion) of the class. I think that this maybe reflects my background as a practicing pharmacist. I think that at the end of the day, I still do teach from my position of comfort. Maybe I need to expand my viewpoint to that of a TEACHER as well. I just really have a hard time thinking of myself as a teacher. I still thinkk that I am a pharmacist who teaches. Maybe that's one really positive potential change of bias that this class could help me work on?? Teacher (pharmacist) teach thyself?? darcy
well, once again, it's time for clarence. He has a 30 point contact prestentation this week. it's about how he's getting student s to introduce what he calls simple technology into their assigments throught the smartset project. Ie youtube, flicker, etc. What I really liked is when he talked about the students using technology to learng in different ways. This has real connections to my thing of 21st century learning. Thinking outside the box, creativity, applying learning to new areas, are all skills that seem to be demand in the workplace, so we should be "teaching" them to our students. How to go clarence. i think that many teachers all circle around the same ideas, but that it's nice to have a place like clarence's blog to see what others are doing. It's kind of like a little collaboration. darcy
http://remoteaccess.typepad.com/
Howdy one and all again, I am now reveiwing his blog from this week. He started with a Ted video and says that he kind of wants to be able to see beyond current ideas of what technology is. Clarence writes that he thinks we need a new word that is free from connections to politics and big companies, so he comes up with the word edpunk. I'm not one who is real keen on making up labels for something that already exists, even though I do see his point of how much Microsoft and other hugh companies are really political machines that influence us in so many ways - many of which we don't even think about. Anyway, no more ranting. What I wanted to say is how Clarence's ideas really connect to the 2 literature reviews that I did on the blog this week. Wow, sometimes I have to say that these connections really blow my mind. I guese that I should expect them becuase that is kind of one of the points of this class. ( how to use technology to help us improve what we're doing, not just maintain the status quo. Just one more connection here for me and then I'm done. For my project for this class, Brent suggested a webpage. marnie then gave me a ninehub site to go to that let me post all my classes (each lecture) on the web for delivery to the students. At work, my coworkers have mentioned this several times to me but I always thought why do more work when what I have is doing ok right now? Well, unbeknost to me, once I got over the technical problems of using the site, I have to say that I really like it. It would be a real life saver at work, and once this initial imput is finished, I can see it acutally saving me time. As things change and I need to add new information, all I do is go to that lecture and add it in. NO more photocopying!!!!!!!!!!! Ya HOO!!!!! When I was talking with Marnie about what to do , she had questions about the importance of making the project about something that I would use. To be truthful, I thought yah, yah, yah. I'm just gonna do what needs to be done for this project and get out of this class with my skin still one. I guess that I have to say that this has been one of the most surprising things of this class in general. that technology can really help me, I just have to be open to it. I guess that I'm just one of those people that are dragged to the table kicking and screaming, but it's really all been pretty good at the end of the day. to go back to Clarence's post, the point of being open to new things ( no matter what you call them) is really a good thing. For me, it also helps me to remember what it's like to be student who always has new things throwen at them in my program. darcy
Howdy one and all , this is another review of Clarence's blog. Last week ( I had technical difficulties with editing my blog last week) he talked about classroom organization. How desk position can affect learning. I was really surprised when I read this. It makes sense to me, but I just never really thought about it before. When I went to school our desks were in rows and the teacher was at the front. Not real creative and it would be highly looked down apon today. It sets ups power structure, doesn't encourage free dialogue for just a few things. I do have to admit though,that my classroom has me at the front and desks in rows. I find this helpful with the technical information in my program becuase I usually the one dispensing the information to the students. What I try to do is question each student about what was covered in the previous class and in other classes to try to connect the classes together. However, despite what I have already said, here's the kicker. It's the lab portion of my program that is set up to mimic an acutal community pharmacy. Each student has a lab station that is like a workstation in a community pharamcy. The stations are close together so that I try to encourage team work amoungst the students. So, if I'm being honest, I guess I do consider classroom design to be import, just more so with the work related portion ( lab portion) of the class. I think that this maybe reflects my background as a practicing pharmacist. I think that at the end of the day, I still do teach from my position of comfort. Maybe I need to expand my viewpoint to that of a TEACHER as well. I just really have a hard time thinking of myself as a teacher. I still thinkk that I am a pharmacist who teaches. Maybe that's one really positive potential change of bias that this class could help me work on?? Teacher (pharmacist) teach thyself?? darcy
well, once again, it's time for clarence. He has a 30 point contact prestentation this week. it's about how he's getting student s to introduce what he calls simple technology into their assigments throught the smartset project. Ie youtube, flicker, etc. What I really liked is when he talked about the students using technology to learng in different ways. This has real connections to my thing of 21st century learning. Thinking outside the box, creativity, applying learning to new areas, are all skills that seem to be demand in the workplace, so we should be "teaching" them to our students. How to go clarence. i think that many teachers all circle around the same ideas, but that it's nice to have a place like clarence's blog to see what others are doing. It's kind of like a little collaboration. darcy
Literature Review
Computers in the Classroom Mindtools for Critical Thinking by David H. Jonassen 1996, Prentice-Hall
I found this book and really found it interesting becuase it not only connected our class concepts of constructivism and constructionism but also my area of interest of 21st century skills. The book talks about Mindtools which is as way of using computers to catch learners in the classroom and to help develop constructive higher order thinking tools. Mindtools provides the student/teacher with tools that then form a base that the critical thinking skills can be practiced and developed. It also goes into pedagogical criteria for evaluationg Mindtools. These criteria fall right in line with my final project. It also has a whole section on critical thinking skills that were really good for me. Not sure about the rest of you guys, but I thought that I would metion it and try to "entice" you guys into it???? Just a thought..... darcy
Technology in Education Sept. 2004
http://www.edweel.org/rc/issues/technology-in-education/index.html?rale=KQE5d7nM
I kind of liked this article too. Like the first article that I posted from the states (High School Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century) starts with some mind boggling percentages and stats. It begins with some really good access #'S ( 2/3'S of public schools in the states have internet access and that all schools should eventually have access. What a great way to level the playing field for all students. Maximize what technology can do for both students and teachers. Not all is so good though. The article continues that even with these advancements, there still seems to be a "digital divide" at home. I took this to mean that people don't have computers at home. This really surprised me. I thought that I was the only dinosaur that still didn't have a computer. Maybe things have changed since 2004 though??
What kind of got me with this article was that it said that teachers are still just using it to maintain their teaching, not really using technology to improve teaching. This kind of made me think about the quote that Marnie put on at the start of this block. Maybe things haven't really improved as much as we would like to think? Is this hopefulness or blindness?? darcy
Computers in the Classroom Mindtools for Critical Thinking by David H. Jonassen 1996, Prentice-Hall
I found this book and really found it interesting becuase it not only connected our class concepts of constructivism and constructionism but also my area of interest of 21st century skills. The book talks about Mindtools which is as way of using computers to catch learners in the classroom and to help develop constructive higher order thinking tools. Mindtools provides the student/teacher with tools that then form a base that the critical thinking skills can be practiced and developed. It also goes into pedagogical criteria for evaluationg Mindtools. These criteria fall right in line with my final project. It also has a whole section on critical thinking skills that were really good for me. Not sure about the rest of you guys, but I thought that I would metion it and try to "entice" you guys into it???? Just a thought..... darcy
Technology in Education Sept. 2004
http://www.edweel.org/rc/issues/technology-in-education/index.html?rale=KQE5d7nM
I kind of liked this article too. Like the first article that I posted from the states (High School Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century) starts with some mind boggling percentages and stats. It begins with some really good access #'S ( 2/3'S of public schools in the states have internet access and that all schools should eventually have access. What a great way to level the playing field for all students. Maximize what technology can do for both students and teachers. Not all is so good though. The article continues that even with these advancements, there still seems to be a "digital divide" at home. I took this to mean that people don't have computers at home. This really surprised me. I thought that I was the only dinosaur that still didn't have a computer. Maybe things have changed since 2004 though??
What kind of got me with this article was that it said that teachers are still just using it to maintain their teaching, not really using technology to improve teaching. This kind of made me think about the quote that Marnie put on at the start of this block. Maybe things haven't really improved as much as we would like to think? Is this hopefulness or blindness?? darcy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)