Techforlearning

Quick post of day one’s agenda for all my Business classes. Content objectives are center. But I do believe students can carry computer and internet skills integrated in our course over to other classes, people, and hobbies. Therefore learning the technology is important. So, day one is the day to orientate students to the tools we will be using for the course. It is amazing how quickly they understand how Firefox helps organize their leariing with the web. No windows open all over the place. Just swift mastery of data. Comment to add to my outline.

1. Course Overview
   1. Content Objectives
   2. Projects overview
      1. Audio Recordings
      2. Videos
      3. Slideshows
      4. Others particular to course
   3. Final Projects and Exam
   4. Supplies- jump drive
2. Wireless Overview
   1. Assign students laptop #s
   2. Discuss various seating arrangements
   3. Laptop daily deployment and return procedures
3. Course Tools
   1. Course Website
   2. Firefox
      1. Toolbars
      2. Integrated Search Engine
      3. Extensions
         1. Quicknote
         2. Text Size toolbar
         3. Colorful Tabs
         4. Highlighter
         5. Dictionary Tooltip
   3. Google Docs
      1. Set up account
   4. Resources
      1. Advertising Age Magazine
      2. USA Today RSS News
      3. Business first
      4. Buffalo News RSS
   5. Ice Breaker Activity
   6. Lesson 1 of course

   Stay tuned to see posted lessons………..:):):):)

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Today a colleague of mine, Ann, and I were discussing how to set up a blog with a familiar blogging software included in our district web site solution to discuss best practices in block scheduling with our school faculty. The blogging software is limited in that the dialogue box where you type your post does not offer a special area to title the post. The software offers only the option to title the the blog itself which can have many topics. The post dialogue box does not allow you to format text or add hyperlinks for posts either.

So, we had to fix the look of the blog so that each post was not just separated by a date of post. We wanted each post to have its own title.

To give the post a title we typed a little bit of html code in the dialogue box where we type our post. We typed <b> then typed the title of our post. We typed a <p> to skip a double space or block then typed our actual thoughts.

This resulted in our post having a bolded title, a space, then our posted thoughts.

After our post we added a few links using html. We added the links using html code < a href=”url”>the name of the link</a>.

Here is the actual code we used to tweak the blogging software.

<b>Block Scheduling and Professional Practices</b>
<p>The goal of this <b>post</b> is to create a dialogue amongst our faculty about quality instruction, and expose everyone to <i>professional practices related to teaching in the block.</i> Professional, scholarly articles have been provided. When commenting, tell us what you think of the attached articles as they relate to your own experiences teaching in the block.<p>
<a href=”http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/asobol/files/analysis%20of%20research%20on%20block%20scheduling.pdf”>Article #1</a>
<p>
<a href=”http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/asobol/files/blockscheduling.pdf”>Article #2</a>

The more html code teachers know the more flexibilty they will have in their design when confronted with the limitations of their web page software.:)

Click here Alden HS Faculty Blog to see the actual blog post.

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Ok here is my summary (finally!) of day three… of the

HSNF Conference

Connecting Session

By the way …if text is blue–click it- its a link

Questions for us teachers…

• How are we going to use the tools we have?
• What is the core curriculum?
• What is the best way to find out what kids have learned?

Next

Groups have to finish this sentence..

“Students learn best when”..

Some answers were when lessons are:

1. engaging
2. relevant
3. personal
4. Student are given ownership of the content

21st Century Learner Learns Best because

• Engaging students schema
• Constructivist theory of learning can now be really implemented. We now have all the web tools to truly do it.
  • Resources are all there on th web and have been created by other teachers
  • Rip Mix Learn – use best minds resources and make lesson plans
  • Students are going to expect more of us

Ways to use Blogs/Wikis/Podcasts

Each content area shared ideas of how to use tools in different ways.

Technology:

• Reverse mentoring:
  • students help tech-phobic teacher while teacher helps kids with content.

Science

• podcasts
  • create glossary
  • create instructional video put on own wiki or blog
  • have Wiki Wednesday:
  • write own science articles on blog

English

• journal about novels
• blogs with other districts

Wikis

• create a class soundtrack
• wiki with literary elements with pictorals
• jigsaw: visit each groups wiki and deepen the response to questions
• elluminate: meet up with students around globe
• Second Life create: avatar and create plays
• Flickr: take picture and create story using six words with capture, work with Art classes and post around school. Create hotspot over picture label and identify picture. Narrate what is going on in picture with hotspots.

Business Education

• connect with students in other countries and get take on current events
• Use wikis to educate teens and community on consumer/credit info
• Business problem of the day: creative problem solution for a entrepreneurship unit

Foreign Language:

• Students created podcasts in that language
• Students fill in chapter outline together
• Twitter: language practice
• elluminate: talk with college students and native speakers

Physical Education:

• collaborative fitness portfolio

Social Studies

• Blog: Have a simulated dinner conversation between historical figures

Math

• collaborative review chapters
• set up time for students to blog (write and discuss) about math problems

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I will start teaching with laptops this fall. I am excited to change from stationary seating. That is the first thing that pops into my head of why I am excited. I will be able to give students the opportunity to work collaboratively with different people. I am going to strive to make that happen this year. It will allow for a lot more audio recording for students because of their ability to move. I am going to use student recording/teaching with audio in different ways this year to help to with the comprehension of vocabulary, ” pass the mike” discussion, ” and podcasting for starters. Any others ideas for using mics and audio in class, comment away.

Students in my classes have always been able to learn using technology. It changes now though because of the mobility they will have. My classes have always had the benefit (sort of) of a “one to one” classroom, except that they can’t take the computers home and have them in all their classes. Ok, so there is still a big difference. I really want to take the opportunity and have students become aware of their learning and all that “one to one” computing can do by differentiating instruction. I will keep you posted on how it is going by posting my wireless lessons.

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