Georgiastandards.org is More Than Just Setting the Standard June 25, 2009

Along with listing Georgia’s  standards of learning and curriculum, www.georgiastandards.org also provides several tools and resources for teachers, parents and students. There are links for preparation for standardized tests, such as the SAT, ACT, etc. for all parties, providing workshops for teachers and a link to a FREE online prep course for students!

When I originally heard of this site, I thought it was more of a tool for administrators, probably for teachers but not for parents and students. There is a good deal of information given that could provide beneficial to a parent and their student.

Frameworks is another valuable source for teachers and administrators I found on the site. Frameworks gives great guidelines to developing your own classroom lesson plans. It breaks down lessons in nine week increments as well as giving a grid of things to cover throughout the semester.

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Alvin Toffler June 24, 2009

I think that quote sums everything up perfectly. In today’s world everything is changing so fast. We are bombarded with so many images and sounds, it’s a wonder we can even keep up. I know from my own personal experience that with everything advancing so quickly I tend to lose my place with what is cutting edge and what isn’t.

This article, found on medialit.org, helps to educate the educator. With this fast paced world of ever changing media, educators need to be able to keep up with the climate we live in and learn to work with it. The article gives lesson plans, suggestions on collaborative learning, and teaching tips. It is up to us, the educators, to find the usefullness of this multi-media world, “learn, unlearn, and relearn,” all that we know and don’t know, and prepare our students to be flexible, decipher the usefullness of the media at hand, and to generate productive, thoughtful work and information from that media.

Wikipedia vs. Academia June 16, 2009

After comparing Wikipedia to your good old fashioned encyclopedia and also to Britannica.com, the discussion kept coming back to Wikipedia being the superior source to begin your search for information. We found that the hard copy of the encyclopedia was geared more towards the drier scientific information (and only gave us 3 paragraphs of information). Not very encouraging if you want to know if it is a plant you might want to grow in your garden. Britannica.com was too confusing to use from the beginning and also requires a subscription. Too many advertisement popups and reminders to subscribe made this site a little cumbersome and annoying.

Wikipedia was by far the best site to use. Not only does it give you immediate access to other information with just a click of the mouse to further pursue your research, but it also provides tabs at the top of the article so you can see how often the information is updated and when or if the information is as up-to-date as you would like to believe. One of the drawbacks of Wikipedia is that it is an ever changing organism. What might be there today could be gone tomorrow. Researchers beware and remember, ”if you can find it on Wikipedia, you can find it from a source that has been verified as factual.” Good advice Allison!  =)

Wikis in Education June 15, 2009

After reading chapter 4 in Richardson’s text, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, I am becoming more and more excited to try out the technology in a classroom. I was really surprised to find that South Africa has their entire curriculum on a wiki! Other creative ideas came from our home state of Georgia. I thought the idea of the “Flat Classroom,” hinging off of Thomas Friedman’s, The World is Flat, was an excellent idea and one that seems to have produce outstanding results. This is encouraging as a future educator.

However, I do worry about the implications of technology in the classroom. Will our future classrooms become virtual classrooms? Meaning, will we lose the effectiveness of the face-to-face interaction I believe students need to learn. I have felt the effect of this while taking an online class that didn’t sit well with me. It was hard to have meaningful discussions on a discussion board when there was no set time to log on and discuss the material at hand. That is the whole point of having an online class. You mold the time you spend online to your needs and schedule but I just couldn’t help feeling that something was missing and my extra however many hundreds of dollars I paid for the online course was a waste.

With all that being said, wikis are a great tool to use in collaborative learning and a way to reach out to gain new perspectives, whether it be another classroom thousands of miles away or with the person sitting right next to you. I really enjoyed the The Wiki Prayer Richardson shared at the end of the chapter! I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I read it. If I can remember this prayer I will be ok to wiki away the day with no worries!

Do not try this at home kids June 11, 2009

The weather is here, I wish you were beautiful… June 11, 2009

Playing around in class June 11, 2009

This is just a fun little exercise we’re doing to become more familiar with blogs in our Media and Technology class.

Weblogs Across America June 10, 2009

I found it interesting and exciting to see that even though a weblog might be designed as a tool for a specific class, say, in Atlanta, GA, students and teachers across the Nation are accessing and using the ideas found on weblogs for their own curriculum. In Will Richardson’s, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts,  he mentions his class’ weblog on The Secret Life of Bees has been accessed over 2.5 million times! Weblogs bring so much more to the table and give the student a richer quality of learning than if they sat in a classroom all day. This tool also gives the teacher more flexibility and another outlet to post assignments for their classes, giving greater access to parents and students who  might be out sick. I have seen weblogs in action at the high school graduated from and I find it disheartening to see that a lot of the teachers don’t use this as a gateway to get students involved in the class or even just to post information for easy access.

But teachers beware! When setting up weblogs fora class make sure all expectations are set and the students, parents and administration of the school understand the guidelines for the weblog. This also is a great way to teach students about privacy and what information should not be published.

Dark Ages June 9, 2009

I feel like I have just stepped out of the Dark Ages and into the brightly lit techie world of the 21st century. I’m 28! I should know how to do this “blogging” thing, right? Wrong. If it weren’t for this class I would be completely lost. Thanks Dr. C for making this easier!