Article 3

This article discusses what some ed tech experts believed to be the best web 2.0 tools for enabling collaboration in teaching and learning.  Steve Hargadon is one of the experts highlighted in this article and he describes the effectiveness of having something as simple as a blog to be a very effective way of creating conversations on the web.  He mentions using them to communicate classroom work and activities, posting an assignment on the blog and having students reply to it, and assigning individual blogs to students as possibilities.  The next tool he liked was the idea of utilizing social networks.  He states how many people may not read a blog, but they will check out the instantaneous feedback of a social network.  He mentioned the social network ‘Ning’ as a very popular one for professionals to expand on their educational interests.  People used to only think about great ideas at conferences and now they are able to do it all the time and read different individuals input on topics.  The last tool he discussed was synchronous live platforms.  He mentions the Flat Classroom Project that allows for worldwide collaboration where students can share their work in many formats with all kinds of other students around the world. 

John Kuglin was another tech expert highlighted in the article who currently works for the US Department of Education.  He likes the idea of utilizing the cloud and how universal it is.  He highlighted using google docs in the classroom for students to easily collaborate and also be easily used as an assessment tool for teachers to communicate with their students.  The next tool Kuglin highlighted is SlideRocket which has become very popular in business presentations.  This form of presentation is easy to share and edit on the web and is very google friendly.  The last tool he discusses is School Fusion which allows students to build pages and serve as a website for students to grab their information.  It is also used as a great notification tool for parents when things are updated.

Leslie Fisher is the last tech expert in this article who was an employee at Apple.  Her first favorite tech tool was Twitter because of how it reaches the students fingers instantaneously so they can’t miss the information.  She also liked TypeWith.me, which was very similar to a google docs feature with many people collaborating on the doc at a time and also providing a time stamp of progress.  Her last tool was Ustream.  She liked how people could broadcast over the internet as long as they had a webcam. 

All of these tools seem to be very useful and I think it all comes down to what you like to use as a user.  There are almost too many tools out there to make it so complex and it can get difficult to sift through everything that is out there.  Many of these tools do similar things but just have little tweaks to them that make them different.  After thinking about all of these options I think it would be a good idea to poll my students at the beginning of the year to find out what forms of social media, and other technological communication they are most comfortable with using and use already.  It may also be a good idea to find out what they are using in their other classes to keep everything relatively uniform and much easier for the students to keep track. 

Demski, J. (2010). Ed Tech Experts Choose Top Tools. T.H.E. Journal,

   

     37(7), 32-37. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/201

   

     0/08/01/3-for-3.aspx

Article 2

This article describes the use of a senior project at the Tri-County Career Center (TCCC), a 2-year career and technical school that prepares junior and senior high school students for collegiate education or immediate entry into the workforce.  They offer College Tech Programs which include Health Technologies, Engineering (Drafting and Design), and Information Technology (Programming and Software Development, and Interactive Multimedia).  The Senior Project consists of four major components in the student’s particular tech program and covers an 8-month period of time.

The projects were thought of with the help of educators and business and industry professionals.  Newer technology allowed students to complete assignments in formats familiar to the students and they also provided field trips for students to learn more about their particular research idea.  Many became involved with these projects and thus state and federal funding for career and technical education made possible the purchase of the necessary technology to support the project.  Seniors had the software and resources they needed to complete their projects.  This availability caused there to be a technology component to the project.    However, there were two key difficulties with the technology piece: students did not have access to the necessary resources at home and having the time and money to train the academic instructors to incorporate the technology was difficult.  Placing students with mentors in the surrounding areas was also a challenge.  The outline for the senior projects changed every year and they noted that changes had not always been equivalent to improvement.  The communication with these local businesses has been extremely beneficial to the students as they have given them access to their facilities and helped the students get a leg up on more traditional students with whom they will be competing for employment. 

This idea of a senior project is very inspiring and exciting to me.  How neat would it be for students to be able to get that real-life experience while they are in school?  It can help them gain a better understanding of the world we live in and figure out what they may or may not want to do when they are ready to be a productive member of society.  I recall one of my experiences working in a steel factory to pay for college.  It helped me realize what the labor force was like and why I was spending all that time in school.  It was a very eye-opening experience. 

This idea is very exciting, but I wonder how long it would take to help organize everything with the community and local businesses.  I have a feeling it would be a huge project to undertake and make practical.  The logistics behind it would be a nightmare, but if there were enough people on board it would have a good chance of being successful.  It takes a village.

Haskell, K.S., & Haskell, T.O. (2008). What differences technology makes

   

     for a high school career center. Theory Into Practice,

   

     47(3), 252-258. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com.libr

   

     ary.aurora.edu/openurl?genre=article&id=doi:10.1080/00405840802154013

Article 1

This article describes a couple of tech tools that they have used to help students meet the common core state standards.  Sweetwater Union High School District in California uses a tool called Learning Upgrade in its special education classrooms that uses songs, video, and games to engage the students.  It helps individualize the learning for where the students are currently at and allows multiple means of representation.  C.T. Sewell Elementary School in Nevada uses myON and Accelerated Reader to address close reading.  Students read an excerpt through myON and are connected to Accelerated Reader to take a quick quiz to assess their level of understanding of what was just read.  Calcasieu Parish Public Schools in Louisiana uses an audio system called Flexcat to monitor and support students in group work.  The teacher is able to listen in on up to 6 pods conversations and assess their productivity and understanding.  They can pitch in to offer comments to the groups also.  Phoenixville Area School District in Pennsylvania uses Defined STEM that embeds assessments in the curriculum.  The problem can be as broad as ‘design a backpack’ and it incorporates these assessments to help students along their development.  Clear Lake Middle School in Iowa uses three assessment tools: Skills Iowa, My Access, and Naiku.  These tools branch across different curriculum and provide standards-based feedback to teachers.

I believe these tools can all be quite effective when used appropriately in the classroom.  I do a lot of group-work in the mathematics classroom and would be interested to see how well Flexcat works.  I am always circulating around the room to determine student's progress on a particular lesson, but it would be neat to always be able to 'tune in' with each group whenever I would like.  I like the idea of students being able to work in other locations and still being able to monitor their progress outside of the classroom.  

There are many great tools out there to help teachers improve student understanding and it is up to the educator to use a particular tool effectively.  It can be overwhelming to try and use too many tools, so I believe it is good to start with one or two that you have a vision of being effective in your learning environment and expanding your repertoire of knowledge from there.  It can also be very useful to see other teachers utilize tools that work well for them.  

Meyer, L. (2015). 5 tech tools that support common core. T H E Journal, 42(2), 19-20.  Retrieved from 

     http://web.a.ebscohost.com.library.aurora.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=bc169db0-efe3-4fee-8aca-4a388d1d6700%40sessionmgr4006

1st post!

Welcome to the blogging world!