Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Waiting for "Superman"
Last night I was reading a really interesting article in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/06/why-blame-the-teachers?ref=education) and one of the authors mentioned the movie "Waiting for "Superman"". I had never heard of this movie, and then I felt dumb for being out of the loop. But I quickly found a place where I could watch it online. Although I know you must take documentaries with a grain of salt, this movie gave me a lot to think about. One of the major things I couldn't understand was why we don't talk about these issues in any of my education classes! I know I am only a junior, but I hope MSU will educate us on unions and every other option we have out there in terms of schools to teach at and teaching philosophies that are out there. The movie focused on children in inner-city schools entering raffles to be accepted into charter schools in their area, because the public school they would be moving to was not up to anyones educational standard. By the end of the movie only two of the children are accepted and the other children must make due with the "failure factories" they are placed in. I think the charter school system seems like a good idea, but I haven't been educated on what them. This movie was the first time I gained any information on them. Why hasn't this been brought up before? I just can't believe this and I feel like the college of ed. has failed me in this area. I want to learn about these different options and I especially want to learn about my options with my union choices or anything about the teachers union really. But more on the union issue later...
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
TECH BLOG
Iclicker
This week the technology I decided to explore was the Iclicker. The Iclicker a a device used in many college classrooms. The Iclicker is white with only a few buttons on it. The simplicity of it is part of what makes it great. I have seen it used in classrooms just for attendance and also for answering real questions throughout the lecture. I had never heard of an Iclicker before I came to MSU, but since then I have used in a few classrooms and have become a big fan of them.
In the classroom: Although this tool is not ideal for an elementary setting, it is perfect for large lecture halls. I think using it for only attendance is a waste of its true potential. If people are clicking in, why not find out if they are learning as well? Overall I think Iclickers should be used in more college classes to hold students accountable for attendance and participation.
I'm not sure how this specific technology relates to TPCK, because there is not much technology the user must be a aware of, all they have to do is push a button. But I do think it is a great tool that could change the face college lectures.
This week the technology I decided to explore was the Iclicker. The Iclicker a a device used in many college classrooms. The Iclicker is white with only a few buttons on it. The simplicity of it is part of what makes it great. I have seen it used in classrooms just for attendance and also for answering real questions throughout the lecture. I had never heard of an Iclicker before I came to MSU, but since then I have used in a few classrooms and have become a big fan of them.
In the classroom: Although this tool is not ideal for an elementary setting, it is perfect for large lecture halls. I think using it for only attendance is a waste of its true potential. If people are clicking in, why not find out if they are learning as well? Overall I think Iclickers should be used in more college classes to hold students accountable for attendance and participation.
I'm not sure how this specific technology relates to TPCK, because there is not much technology the user must be a aware of, all they have to do is push a button. But I do think it is a great tool that could change the face college lectures.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
My Own Creative Commons!
Attribution: Andrea http://www.flickr.com/photos/59284172@N05/5431066148/
My Flickr account is now protected with creative commons!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Whoops! Somehow this didn't make it on the last post, but this is the image mentioned!
Photo Attribution: By Jengod (English Wikipedia) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo Attribution: By Jengod (English Wikipedia) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Copyright
This week part of our lab was focused on Copyright and Creative Commons. I had never heard of Creative Commons before, but I think it's a fantastic idea! Of course some people don't want to share their photos or music, but some people are looking to collaborate with others. The fact that this is an option is great for many in the music industry. One of my favorite artists right now is Girl Talk, he is a guy who doesn't make his own music, but mash-ups of other songs. And then he puts entire albums on his website that we can download for free. I'm assuming since he's allowed to do this many of the songs he uses are protected under creative commons. I also think the idea of creative commons is pertinent to teachers, because often videos or pictures from the internet are used in classrooms. As an educator I should know my rights when I use information from the internet. If I want to use a map of Michigan in a geography lesson and show how Michigan became the shape it is, I can use this map under Creative Commons. 
Page URL:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan-territory-1836.png File URL: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Michigan-territory-1836.png Attribution: By Jengod (English Wikipedia) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Page URL:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan-territory-1836.png File URL: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Michigan-territory-1836.png Attribution: By Jengod (English Wikipedia) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), GFDL (<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html" class="external free" rel="nofollow">http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html</a>), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Monday, February 7, 2011
I never, ever thought I would get a twitter, even after both of my roommates raved about how much they love it. And through this course I was forced to make my very own twitter, and face the ridicule of my roommates. So far I have absolutely loved it. (but don't tell anyone!) I have enjoyed it, but as of right now I do not see it as a helpful or useful resource. Hopefully by the end of the semester this class will change my mind, but right now I'm having troubling seeing it used educationally.
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