Online Class

I'm currently enrolled in an online English class. This week I have to make a presentation in an online classroom. I have to admit I'm still very nervous for this presentation. I've never taught a lesson through an online classroom, but am excited to see how well it works out. As I was procrastinating working on that presentation, I started thinking about how online classrooms could benefit elementary teachers.

The first thing that came to my mind was absences from school. If a student was gone from school, he/she could log in and either watch prerecorded lessons or watch a live lesson from his/her classroom. This would save the teacher a lot of time because he/she would not have spend time reteaching the lesson to the student. Of course, this brings up several questions like what if a student is too ill to participate or what about the students who don't have access to computers or internet. I will admit I don't have the answers to those questions. It could be a situation where whoever has the access and/or is not too sick to participate will do so.

Another idea that I thought of was use an online classroom to connect with students in other states or countries. How cool would it be to teach the students about Washington D.C. and be able to video chat with students who live in D.C.? I think students would love doing something like that. It would not only benefit my classroom, but another classroom as well. I think it would be neat to not only discuss each other's culture, but to discuss school topics. I think it provides the students with another perspective which is an important part of teaching.

These were just two of the ideas that I have came up with. Do any of you have any other ideas or have you seen suck technology used differently in classrooms?

Research Article Number One: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom

For this week's blog, I will sum up an article I read entitled "The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom" by David Huffaker. I was so happy to come across this article. The topic was almost too perfect!

The article started off by explaining a blog and the features of one. Huffaker then provided some statistics about the average age of most bloggers. I was surprised to find the average ages a lot younger than what I thought. In the first example, 51.5% of bloggers were between 13 and 19. Another statistic showed that 40.4% of bloggers are under the age of 20. Similarly, in the last example the largest distribution of blog users were under the age of 20 as well. I always thought most bloggers would be in their mid twenties.

From there, the author states the follwing as his hypothesis.

"This article hypothesizes that blogs can be an important addition to educational technology initiatives because they promote literacy through storytelling, allow collaborative learning, provide anytime-anywhere access, and remain fungible across academic disciplines. (Huffaker, 2005) "

Huffakerliertacy, but also prepares children for the technology driven world. He proceeds to discuss how blogs offer a best of both worlds situation. It not only has the children immersed in writing but also reading, and children do not need to have exceptional technical skills. It doesn't take much to be able to create a blog.

The author is a big believer in the impact of storytelling on children's literacy development. He explains that storytelling helps children's reading and writing skills grow, and that it does not stop during childhood. Adolescents and adults tell stories to make sense of the world, communicate feelings, develop relationships, use their imagination, and in a variety of other ways. He believes that the integration of storytelling in the classroom is something that teachers should really consider and what a better way to do this than to have students create a blog.

Huffaker begins to state all of the advantages of using weblogs in the classroom. The following is a list of the advantages he talks about.

encourages creativity

equitable for many age groups and genders

easy to implement

access anywhere with internet connection

both individualistic and collaborative

promote self expression

students can comment and give feedback to one another

multidisciplinary

These are just a few of the advantages that he listed. Huffaker then gave examples of some ways that blogs are used. The examples given were very similar to the ones we have discussed in class. The article did mention a specific blog that allowed for new teachers and mentors to share concerns and provide guidance. I thought that was a neat idea.

Huffaker sums up the article by again stating the importance of storytelling in literacy. He believes that blogs are an excellent way to foster this skill development. According to the research cited in this article, the amount of bloggers is only going to increase and Huffaker feels as though teachers need to realize this growth and harness learning through this new technology.

I think Huffaker has some really good points in his article. I found myself agreeing a lot with the information he present. However, I do believe that blogs have so much more to offer than what he listed. My classmates and I have discussed several ways in which blogs can be used. I do believe that storytelling is an important skill to foster and blogging could be an excellent way to do so, but I also believe there is so much more than can be done with a blog.

Huffaker, D. (2005). The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom.

AACE Journal, 13(2), 91-98.

Class Websites

Last week in class we took a look at a lot of websites that will be very beneficial when I start teaching. I was really intrigued with TeacherWeb and wanted to look more closely at it. I was really pleased with everything that it had to offer and felt that the $39 per year subscribtion is a very reasonable price. The website even has a school-wide option. There was no information about pricing for this option only an email address to send questions to.

The website has much to offer. One thing that I really liked was the class blog. We have dicussed several ways to use blogs within the classroom, and if you use this website for your class blog, the students wouldn't have to memorize another website, create an account for a blog site, etc. The teacher can also upload lesson plans for the students to view. This is very benifical if a student was absent one day. Another tool is the quiz and word search maker. A teacher can create those things and post it to the site. The quiz can even be taken online. This is all offered through the TeacherWeb website, and a teacher would no longer have go to another website to create these things.

The website is not only for student use, but parents can benefit from a class website as well. There is a calendar option in which a teacher can post upcoming events for parents to look at. The class page can also have a photo gallery for teachers to post pictures from class/field trips/special occasions, etc. I really like how this website offered a wish list function. Here a teacher can create a list of things that are needed for their classroom. This is so much easier than sending a note or email anytime you need something for your classroom. The teacher can also post his/her schedule to the website. I feel that this will help parents know when it's best to contact their child's teacher.

I could list so many more things that I liked about TeacherWeb, but I feel that I may write a novel. I'm sure it has it's downfalls, but without creating a website first hand it's hard to tell.  I know some of you who read this blog are teachers and may possibly have a class website or know a teacher who has one. What website/s do you use or have you heard of other teachers using? I know there are probably other good websites out there, and I'm curious to know what those are.

The wonders of an iPad

I absolutely love the iPad. I have had if for almost five months, but fell in love with it the very first day I got it. There is so much you can do with an iPad. I feel that I would be a fool to even try and list some of the best things about it because chances are I'll discover something even better by the time this class meets on Wednesday. It wasn't until we had an in-class discussion about iPads that I really started thinking about their potential within the classroom.

During our week off, I decided to search for learning centered applications. The first thing I thought of was the free application entitled iBooks. iBooks is basically a digital library. With this app you can purchase books and then the book will remain on your digital bookshelf for you to go back and read later. I was amazed to find so many free classic books. I thought about how I could use this app within my classroom, and I thought it would be a great way to purchase read aloud books. I wouldn't have to have a paper copy of the book. While some people may not like the move from paper books to digital, I really don't mind it. The amount of educational applications available is unbelievable. Here is a small list of what I found:

Fill in the missing letters
Tangrams
Alphabet recognition
Math flashcards
Spelling activities
Sentence builders
Story builders
Word matching
Biographies
US States location
BrainPOP movies
Science glossary
Money counting
Dictionaries
Time
Fractions
Grammar
Kid songs
Marine life
Star map
Letter forms
Animated books
Memory matching
Story books
Sign language

The list could go on. They even have apps for teachers! There are grade book apps, attendance apps, special education apps, seating chart apps, etc. I think that everyone should take some time and search the available applications. You will be amazed by what they have. Not all of the apps that they have are the greatest quality, but there are some really good apps out there.

I do think that although this technology is very new teachers will benefit from it tremendously. The number of applications available to teachers is only going to increase and hopefully become even more useful within the classroom. With this new technology available, I do have to add that we must not think of the technology first. Instead plan your lesson and then think about what technology or applications could compliment your lesson.