Journal 6: "Smartboards"

A Smartboard is a public computer that is used in the classroom. It is basically an enlarged computer screen that is projected from another computer, which holds all of the information in which you are sharing, or in this case, projecting. It can be easily accessed from the enlarged computer screen, as it also serves as a touchscreen, allowing students to add their ideas on their own. I have learned from various posts that they are so beneficial in a classroom, as it pushes more students to participate and collaborate with their peers the ideas that they have. According to one particular lady's response in regards to the smartboard, she believes and has seen that students are quicker to spread their knowledge amongst others in a group format, rather than having to work individually and rely solely on one's own ideas to complete an assignment.
Through another thread that was added to the "smartboards" tool, it became apparent how much a classroom can benefit from this piece of technology, seeing that it is an easy way to organize ideas from a book, make concept maps, and even do math. And while it helps organize and put student ideas all together in an organized manner, they can also help in the case that the entire class has to use the internet and search for something educational.
I have actually been in a classroom that uses smartboards and I think that they are wonderful, because they really do force more students to be more engaged in their learning, while also bringing the students together to share and collaborate with each other about a number of different subjects.

Journal 5

"Making Field Trips Podtastic" by Aliece M. Weller, John C. Bickar, and Paul McGuinness

This article discusses the use of "hand held wireless technology" during class field trips and how students are more engaged in their learning through the use of these kinds of technologies. And while students are more likely to engage themselves in various parts of the museum, or wherever students may be visiting, through the use of such wireless technologies, it may take away from human interaction among students in a classroom. Although such isolation, using these hand held wireless technologies, may be intended under certain circumstances, it should not be the case for students. This is why educators should encourage students to collaborate and interact with their peers while also engaging themselves in their personal podcasts during field trips. Despite the problems that podcasting may create, as far as human interaction goes, it is still a great way to enhance student learning outside of the classroom and encourage student engagement on class field trips.

Questions:
1. Do you think podcasting on field trips is a good idea?
I think podcasting on field trips is a wonderful idea, because just as the article says, it is more likely for students to engage themselves in learning through the use of podcasts. I think that because podcasts can be fun and entertaining, students will show more interest and less boredom when learning in museums or other places that students might go to for field trips.

2. Do you agree with the article that podcasting is likely to lead to less human interaction?
Most definitely because the more engaged students are with their personal wireless devices, the less likely they are to collaborate and share their thoughts and ideas with their parents, which is very important for student learning. This is why I agree with the authors of this article when they say that it is important to encourage student interactions on field trips in addition to podcasts. Both the wireless devices and collaborating with peers will ensure that students will be learning that much more.

Journal 4

"Building a Better Podcast" by Matt Villano

This article discusses how many educators today are using iPods and a variety of other tools to increase student learning through the use of podcasting, an activity based on digital file sharing. But it is not the use of podcasts that is the issue here, it is the making of podcasts with official academic value that can be troublesome for educators. Fortunately, there are ways in which educators can prepare their students to create good podcasts. This can be done through creating a standard lesson for students to prevent content in a podcast that simply rambles on and is rather difficult for others to follow. Like a paper and a speech, podcasts also require a beginning, middle, and end. Preparation is key to a better podcast, because it enables students to take baby steps to the finished product, through research and working together with their peers. Not only does preparation allow for better podcast making, it also allows students to focus more on the content of their work and they are more likely to spend more time learning about a specific topic than tackling the technological aspects of podcasting. But there is more to podcasting than preparing for one, sound and editing must also be taken into consideration, because without either of these, creating a better podcast may be difficult to achieve.

Questions:
1. Would you use podcasting in your own classroom?
As of right now, I do not think that I would use podcasting in my own classroom, because I am not that familiar with this type of media/file sharing. However, because it seems to be an up and coming feature in the digital world, I imagine that it won't be too long before I learn more about it and experience more with podcasting. Despite the fact that I am not as familiar with podcasting as I would like to be, I think it is a great way to have students work together and create media-based files that they can share with other students.

2. Do you think podcasting is a good way to supplement lessons in a classroom?
I do think that podcasting is a great way to add to lesson plans, because it seems as though students would be more willing to learn with podcasts rather than strictly teacher-student lecturing. And just as the article mentions, teachers can record class lectures to create podcasts for students that may have missed classes due to illness. Such podcasts can prevent students who miss class from falling behind, which can be beneficial for everyone in a number of ways.

Journal 3

"Five Don'ts of Classroom Blogging" by Julie Sturgeon

Being in ED 422 and using classroom blogging, I am able to see how the "five don'ts of classroom blogging" that are mentioned in this article are important for academic blogging. If students who created blogs for a particular class were not given certain guidelines to follow, guaranteed things would not be as organized and problems would most likely arise. The article mentions how without given instruction on how to use classroom blogging appropriately, students would be more likely to use foul wordage and bully their peers, and while this may not be the case for students in a college course, grade school students would probably use classroom blogging inappropriately if there were no given guidelines. One thing that I am guilty of doing, that this article specifically says not to do, is confuse blogging with social networking, because I have always known blogs to be associated with things like MySpace and Facebook in one way or another. The last "don't" which states that blogging should not be left to the students was the one that I found to be the most important, because I honestly think that having the teacher/ professor post weekly blogs motivates students to post their own blog and be creative with it, just as Professor Heil has done for our class!!



Questions:
1. Would you use classroom blogging with your students?
Yes, because I feel that classroom blogging would allow students to be more motivated in their work and perhaps more creative since more than just the teacher would be seeing their work. I think it is important for students to put effort in their work, rather than finishing an assignment just to finish, and I think classroom blogging will push students to do so. I also feel that classroom blogging would be more fun, because students can get creative with it and go beyond the bare minimum of various assignments.

2. How would classroom blogging enhance student learning?
Classroom blogging could contribute to student learning in a variety of ways. Just like electronic discussion boards, students can share their ideas with their peers through their blogs. They can also help one another by providing comments on each other's blogs, giving students the opportunity to improve their work based on students' comments. And just as the article mentions, it can assist in student writing, as blogs can slowly but surely develop into paragraphs, which can then perhaps develop into an essay.

Journal 2

"Speaking Math: Using Chat in the Multicultural Math Classroom" by Janet Graham and Ted Hodgson

This article discusses how online discussions can benefit a classroom in many ways. In fact studies have even shown that online discussions provide some of the greatest improvements for student learning. Graham and Hodgson also mention how online discussion boards can help a group of diverse students come together to "become more affluent with the language of mathematics" or any other subject, for that matter. I think that online discussions for classrooms are a great idea, because just as the article says, it is a good way to have students collaborate with their peers on their own time. It also gives students the opportunity to get together and share their answers and ideas on electronic forums with groups that contain less people, for groups that have more people tend to come to less agreements with each other. And because online chatting and electronic forums are so popular nowadays, teachers/professors may see that students are more likely to participate in online discussions, not to mention how convenient they can be for students who have regular access to computers.



Questions:
1. Would you use electronic discussion tools in your own classroom?
I would definitely use online discussion boards in my own classroom, because speaking from experience, I know that they are and can be very helpful, whether you need answers or perhaps have answers for someone else. I think that they are great because they allow students to use it whenever they need to, which is something that can be very beneficial, especially for those who have super busy schedules. I also think students are more likely to ask questions on online discussion boards, thus allowing students to have a better understanding of certain things, rather than holding back their questions in an actual classroom and moving on without fully understanding something.

2. Do you think everyone can truly benefit from electronic discussion tools?
Yes and no. I think that if someone has regular access to a computer with internet access then they most definitely can reap the benefits of online chatting for class discussions. On the other hand, someone without regular access to a computer might not reap those benefits and online communicating for class discussions may be more trouble than it is worth for them. This is where electronic discussion tools in the classroom becomes beneficial for all the students in the classroom, because everyone will have access and the inconvenience of having to access a computer with internet is no longer an inconvenience, for the necessary tools to access online communicating will and should be provided in a classroom that uses such discussion tools.