Post #5-Online Safety

Our blog topic this week is about online safety. A few years ago I saw an SNL skit on NBC that I was reminded of by this topic. It was a skit about a MySpace teaching class. There was a plethora of people in the classroom learning how to use MySpace. The people ranged from parents wanting to learn about what their children were doing on MySpace to teens learning about exactly what it was. There was one man in the classroom that was clearly trying to pretend he was younger to attract underage girls. Although this was the funny part of the skit, it has become a very serious topic on the Internet.
The Internet can be an extremely scary or an extremely safe place depending on how a person goes about using it. There are so many stories shown on the news, including an entire show called ‘To Catch a Predator”, devoted to the dangers of the Internet. Sometimes these fears get so out of hand that they become blown way out of proportion. I am not saying that it isn’t okay to be scared of the Internet because that fear makes people more aware of their actions. The problem is that people allow this fear to get in their way of exploring new and exciting things. There is so much information out there on the Internet to be found and so many things to experience that it would be a waste to avoid a computer because of safety issues.
According to KidsHealth.org, “A federal law, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), was created to help protect kids online. It's designed to keep anyone from obtaining a child's personal information without a parent knowing about it and agreeing to it first.” With the proper precautions and the right attitude, the scary things online can be avoided and we can all use the Internet in a positive way.

Post #4 - Social Networking

When I first read about what our blog assignment was, two phrases popped out at me. These two phrases were “social networking” and “professional development”. I knew what both phrases meant, but what I never thought about was how they can work together. Professional development refers to the skills and knowledge a person can obtain that are applicable to personal life and advancing careers. Social networking is a web 2.0 tool that can be very helpful with progressing your professional development. My last blog was written on a web 2.0 tool that I found which was new to me. Although that tool does not relate to professional development or social networking, I found it on a great website that had many tools to share!

The first social networking tool that I found was: DocStoc
The website is: http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=Docstoc

DocStoc is a free online document exchange database and social networking site. It allows users to store, search and share any type of document. These documents can be anything from Word, Excel, pdfs or PowerPoints. It is a similar website to Flickr.com for posting pictures and YouTube.com for posting videos. On this site not only are users able to post their own documents, but they are able to categorize and use other documents that have been posted.

The second social networking too that I found was: Stickapps
The website is: http://www.stickapps.com/

Stickapps is a web 2.0 tool that provides instant messenger and chat room solutions for a plethora of online communities. It has a variety of options to choose from regarding what type of online communication you wish to use. All applications are web cam accessible too. They are customizable and easy to use. With this tool, you are able to widen your social network and also hold conferences online with colleagues or friends.

The final social networking tool that I came across was: ooVoo
The website is: http://www.oovoo.com/

ooVoo is a video chat application. It is similar to Skype and iChat except better! On ooVoo a person can chat with up to six different people. All you need is a web came and a microphone to participate. Not only can you talk in real time with people in many countries, but you can also leave video messages and video call recordings. Video chatting is the future and ooVoo is just one more application that is easily available on the internet.

Post #3 - Web 2.0 Tool

For this blogging assignment, my class was asked to find a web 2.0 tool that could be used in a classroom. We have not only talked about a lot of tools in the classroom, but we have also used many different tools. Each student keeps their own blogs, we respond to discussions on Ning, and we have had multiple interactions with authors and teachers via Skype. Before this class I was not aware of the multitude of programs on the Web. Many of these programs are meant for person or social uses, but most are great tools that can be put into use in the classroom. In order to find a web 2.0 tool that we have not discussed in class, I decided to use Google. I found my Web 2.0 tool choice on a blog where a teacher recommended it. The tool I have chosen is “Gradefix”.
According to gradefix, “Gradefix intelligently organizes and prioritizes all of your homework so you are always on top of it.” On the blog, it was written that, “Students that use Gradefix create a study schedule used to best spread out and prioritize homework throughout the week in hopes to decrease stress and improve grades.” When I read this, I was immediately hooked. But before I could really write about it, I had to check it out for myself. I logged onto the site and looked to the right side where it listed five great reasons for using Gradefix. These were:
1. Better Grades
2. Higher Retention
3. Easy to Use
4. Procrastinator’s Paradise
5. Use Online, Use Anywhere
These grasped my attention because they are all things that I look for when thinking about my grades and being organized. I took the 60seconds that it required to sign up. I figured the best way to see if it was a useful tool was to use it myself. I looked at my planner and filled in the applicable spots on the web page regarding my classes and homework needs. I was also able to incorporate my work schedule into my class schedule. Gradefix immediately created a schedule for me to follow for studying and getting my work done. The schedule gave specific times and ranked my most important assignments depending on when they were due. There are also alarms that are sent to your email reminding you what there is to be done and when assignments are due. I can most definitely see myself using this in the future to stay organized.
In regards to bringing this web 2.0 tool into the classroom, I think it would be helpful for keeping kids on track. There are so many students out there who need help getting their work finished. A daily planner is not always a tool that works, but this application may. It is a free web tool that takes only 60 seconds to sign up for. It can keep any student on track, even the teacher.

Post #2 - Blogging

First off, I would like to say that I thought our Skype Chat with Will Richardson was very helpful. It is always nice to be able to ask questions to someone who has had enough experience to answer them. I think he had some really great ideas and some very interesting things to say about blogging and incorporating blogging into the classroom. Blogs are a great concept to include in your classroom settings. One use for a blog that I plan on using in my own classroom later in life is for journaling. Each day, maybe for homework or even during the classroom time, there will be a topic or a question of the day that the students will be required to answer in their own personal blog. These blogs will be connected together so that students can read each other’s entries and so that I can review them as well. This will not only improve their writing and reading skills, but it will help them connect and learn more about each other. The topics can vary from questions regarding their personal lives outside of school or to questions regarding lessons being taught in the classroom.

Another great idea that was brought up during our discussion with Will Richardson dealt with connecting with other students both around the country and around the world. The Internet is a huge open door and classrooms should always be taking advantage of this. When I was in second grade, each student in my class had a pen pal. We would write letters to other students across the country once a month. The only problem was, we had to wait about a month or so to receive their responses. With the Internet at hand, students can receive responses in minutes instead of weeks.

There is so much information our there that can be used in the classroom ranging everywhere from researching for papers to staying in contact with the outside world. For every lesson that is to be taught in school, there is sure to be an accompanying technological concept that can be taught or utilized as well.

Post #1 - NETs

Although I was not able to make it to class last week, I was able to read over the handouts posted on the Wiki Spaces page. The first thing I noticed was the cast difference in the standards between 2007, 2008, and 2009. A year seems like a small amount of time in the long run, but when it comes to technology a year can seem like a century. Each set of standards was given to a different set of people; students, teachers, and administration.

One of the questions posed to us was, “If you were to rank or re-rank the NETS for students, how would you rank them and why? Which would be the most important and why?” In my opinion I would rank Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making as my most important standard. This is because these three skills are not only important and useful in the area of technology, but they are great tools to use in everyday life. These skills are difficult to grasp and are constantly growing within a person. The next student standard I would rank is Communication and Collaboration. The most significant concept of this standard for me is, “…to support individual learning and contribute to learning of others.” Students are always able to gain more information from one another and encouraging that is a huge part of being a great teacher. The next standard on my list is, Creativity and Innovation. This standard expresses how important it is for students to not only use their existing knowledge in the classroom when it comes to technology, but it encourages the students to also generate new concepts and ideas. These new concepts and ideas and be incorporated into the Communication and Collaboration standard where the students can teach other what they have learned. The fourth standard for my list is, Research and Information Fluency. Since these are technology-based standards, students will not be able to gain a true appreciation for learning if they are not ‘fluent’ in technology concepts and lingo. I believe that the last two standards listed, Digital Citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts are in the correct order, and therefore I would not change them in my rank of the standards.

Another question that was brought to our attention was, “Why are the NETs important to use as a planning springboard?” The reason that these NETs are important to use as a planning springboard is because they are the standards of teaching technology in the classroom. They guide the administration to inspire and help out the teachers who need to guide and inspire the students who in turn guide and inspire themselves in the classroom. Each concept provided in the NETs standards is thoroughly explained so as the teacher is able to plan a lesson to teach the students. These standards allow lessons to be taught and lesson plans to be made in a way that is productive in teaching and learning.