The Future....

THE FUTURE... the unknown. Of course when we thought of the future growing up, we thought of flying cars and touch screen tv's and well part of that is kind of coming true. There has been serious amounts of growth in terms of technology and what exactly we can use it for. Slowly but surely we are stemming out of the realm of it just being purely "entertainment" to now it being something that we can use educationally. Children, at the age of 4, are being handed an IPAD to keep them busy. Children are becoming interactive with a device rbasically right from birth and that device will most likely be with them their whole lives so it is important that during their developmental period that they learn how to use it effectively. And this is where teachers come in! I think eventually each student is going to bring their own device to school and/or teachers will have different types of devices for the students to use. I do not think it will be entirely technology based but I truly believe that there may be a initialy surge of everything technology. Eventually it will calm down and educators will find a good balance between hands on learning and technology based learning. 

The Horizon Report, reports of what exactly the key challenges are going to be for teachers in the next 5 years. I honestly believe that the upcoming educators will have the upperhand because we are being eduacted on these technological systems. Teachers that have been teaching for 30+ years may be less inclined to take a PD on technology in the classroom and/or really understand how to use it and how to use it effectively. 

The future is technology... balanced amounts of technology!

Final Project

The end is near!

 I have finally completed my final project and here it is! And honestly, upon explanation of the assignment, I thought I would have no idea how to do this but there I was in the library figuring it out... know the lingo... knowing the steps. One challenge I did find was that I found it extremely hard to keep each slide to 15 seconds of talking. I like to talk... I like to talk alot! Soooo this was difficult and sorry for the 7 minute final project but one semester in 5 minutes? Come on! Especially because I didn't know much before this. Now, I am going to be able to go into my new technology savvy and ready to go! Enjoy a good laugh with the below link!


http://youtu.be/aH9Xp8Qvf1w

My Connected World

My Connected World vs. 21st Students Connected World.. is there really a difference?

I am more into the educational apps and things but kinda similar?

Probably not okay.

Oh well!

Family Social Media Guard

We saw this video today in class and it really sparked my interest. Basically coca-cola has released this video where people wear "guard" so they are unable to see their phones and text messages. Therefore opening up their eyes to the world around them: family, friends, scenary and the worlds beauty. Makes me think if we, as humans, are actually losing sight of the beautiful world. I would counter act that thought with the idea that we almost want to view the world more when it comes to taking pictures and posting experiences on social media sites. yes, we are posting photos but are we actually living in the moment and experiencing these things? This idea really made me think. I think about a family dinner... will I have to void cell phones at the dinner table, am I going to either a) miss my child's experiences or b) catch them on my phone and be able to have their video for ever. technology can be detrimental to experience but it can also enhance it. something to think about....

Check out the video: its hilarious

http://youtu.be/NPn1_BOznuM

Are you on your phone too much? I believe we all are, but is it enhancing our experiences or taking away from them? Think about it. 

Show and Tell

UBERSENSE

Check this APP out! Primarily for any phys-ed type activities.. However if anyone ever tries to coach or do any sort of skill development or assessment this is a great APP. Basically, using this APP, you video a skill: for example setting a volleyball. The video can then be slowed down, fast forwarded and/or cued up next to a "pro" doing the skill. This will enable students to see themselves doing the skill and be able to pick out what it is they are doing right and what exactly they need to work on. For the visual learners this is a great tool. Also, just an idea, if you're doing a science experiment where you want to tape and slow down some sort of chemical reaction--> UBERSENSE can do that.

Check out the website for more information: http://www.ubersense.com/

One to One Computing Panel

One to one Computing Panel

Last week we had a panel of educators come in and speak with two of our education classes about technology in the classroom. First and foremost we had an educator come from Dakota Collegiate talk to us about technology in their school. They have completely bought in to the notion of having their own device in the classroom and he honestly believes that this is where education is headed. There was then a GREAT discussion on BYOD. The panel was able to give us great insight on how they do this. Some schools have their own IPADS for each classroom and created chargers specifically for their classrooms. The students are essentially responsible for their own IPAD. They are able to bring it home and work on it and download APPS onto it according to what we are learning in class. Questions were answered about damage deposits and I truly felt extremely informed with IPADS in the classroom and how exactly it all works. Do the students all have cases? Do some students only want to use their laptops? I honestly believe it is more handy to use an IPAD. Students can take video and it does work faster. Plus, I honestly believe because the student "owns" this device: hey learn responsibility and ownership. Basically, every presenter was extremely thorough and seemed to be very pro-technology and perhaps one day this is where it is going to go.

Food for thought: It would have been great to have more APPS and discussion on what kinds of things we can actually use the Ipads with in our classroom! 

Infographics

An Infographic or an information graphic is a way we can visually display information in an easily and understandable way that makes sense at a glance. Over the last few years people have been using Infographics to communicate a message, to simplify a presentation that has a lot of information in it. After looking at a few of the examples I immediately felt like infographics are right up my alley. I feel like when I see a presentation with solely hundreds of words and just plain back and white I do not pay attention to what it is saying. When I come across a write up that has short cue words, color and symbols or pictures I am immediately engaged to the pertaining topic.

I honestly truly think that these can and will be used in my classroom. Students are starting to learn more through technology and with technology comes visual representations, pictures, colors, patterns or step-by-step directions. Below I have located a Info graphic on Blogging in the classroom. I think when I get into my own classroom I will be using blogging as a means of reflection and assessment. Having such an info graphic present in the classroom would be a great way for students to visually see the steps and reasoning for blogging.

Above is an Infographic I made for phys-ed class in that different actions for particular sports are posted around the gym and the student takes their device and scan the QR code to see a demonstration of the particular skill.