What I've Learned in ITEC 7445

I have always wanted to know how to design and publish a web page, and now I know how.  I have learned what it takes to make it from scratch and how to use a template to tweak it to make it my own.  In the beginning, when learning HTML code, I was extremely overwhelmed.  I felt that I would never be able to make the beautiful, eye-catching pages that always caught my attention.  Thankfully, I also learned how to use sites with templates to get the desired effect that I was looking for.  I am so proud of what I have been able to create in my multi-media design project.  I used a Wix template for my project.  Once I figured out the editing tools, it became easy to operate.

My greatest accomplishment with my website came today!  I was able to figure out how to put my School Tube video on the site so that the students could view it at school without any problem.  The Wix site had provided a bit of a challenge at first because it appeared to only want to allow videos from YouTube, MetaCafe, or 5 min.  Today I was able to tweak the HTML code to get it just like I wanted it on my site.  When I went to view it, I crossed my fingers and then let out a squeal when it actually worked the way I wanted it to (it took a half a dozen times to get to that point).  I would not have known how to do that before this class.

Teaching Jing

Description: I taught my teammate, who is also taking grad classes, how to use Jing.

Standards: TF - V.A and D (Productivity and Professional Practice)

Semester: Spring 2011

Hours: 1 hour

Population: First grade teacher and fourth grade teacher

Reflection:  One of my first grade teammates is getting her specialist degree in technology development.  We have really been able to collaborate with each other about several different things we've learned in our classes.  She did not know about Jing, so we spent some time exploring and using Jing in different ways one afternoon.  She then went to another teacher and showed her how to use Jing for a project she was wanting to do with her students for an on-line tutoring class.  It's amazing how fast the really cool technology tools can travel.  I look forward to sharing more with them and to seeing how they decide to use Jing.

Oh Where, Oh Where is My Webquest Going?

I originally thought I would do a Webquest about animals and provide my 1st graders with information and video about animals that they could use to complete an animal "scavenger hunt", in a way.  After talking to some of my colleagues, I decided to go in a little different direction. Now, I'm allowing my students to continue learning about animals, but also making it more relateable to them and I'm tying my science standards in to my writing standards too.  My plan is for students to "Pick a Pet" (that's what I've decided to call my site) for their family based on information they find in the webquest.  I did limit the options based on most popular pets, so they do not have extended information on all kinds of pets.  The students will then use the information they found to write a persuasive argument to their parents about why they should get that pet.  I'm interested to see what they have to say.  I'm also interested to see how their parents respond.  I've decided to put a fun element in the site that allows for some virtual pets just in case mom and dad still say "no".

In the beginning I was unsure of what I should use to develop this site.  I like the idea of Google Sites, but was not entirely pleased with my end product when designing my portfolio shell.  I have decided to use a Wix page available through www.wix.com.  The art teacher's school page is through Wix and it looks really good.  It seems very user-friendly, which I love; and has so many different features available to make it look very appealing too.  I'm hoping that the multi-media features that are required for this project will be incorporated easily.  We'll soon find out.

Teaching my Teammates about Voice Thread

Description: I taught my first grade teammates about Voice Thread.

Standards: TF - II.D, E, F (Planning and Designing Environments and Experiences)

Semester:  Spring 2011

Hours: 1 hour

Population: First Grade Teachers

Reflection: When I first learned about Voice Thread I was so excited about all the possible uses we could have for it.  I feel that it is specifically effective for first grade students since they can very easily use their voice since typing is not a great option for them.  I showed my teammates how we had used the tool in our grad classes and then showed them examples of how we could use it based on examples from the Voice Thread site.  We decided we could use it to see what students had learned about the historical figures we learn about.  It can be a great tool of reflection in Science and Social Studies.  Then I discovered that it can be a great way to teach students reading fluency and reading with a voice. I showed my teachers most recently how my students used Voice Thread to read their advice they had written to kindergarten students about what they should know before coming to first grade.  The finished product was better than I expected.  Some of my teammates are planning to use Voice Thread in their classes now.

Creating a Wiki for the 21 Things

Description: I converted the moodle we used in class to a wiki page.

Standards: TF-I.A-B (Technology Operations and Concepts)
                 TF-II.B-F (Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences)
                 TF-V.A-D (Productivity and Professional Practice)
                 TF-VI.A,B,D,and F (Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues)

Semester: Spring 2011

Hours: 5 hours

Population: Grad School Colleagues, School Colleagues

Reflection: I learned so much in my ITEC 7430 class with the 21 Things.  The on-line class was set up in a Moodle page that required a login and password.  I knew that we would loose access to that page pretty soon after the class was over, so I wanted to make sure I still had access to the important tools we learned about in class.  Using one of the tools I learned about - wikis, I decided to use as a place where I could store all the converted information from the Moodle.  I had to make sure that anything linked to the Moodle page was no longer directed to that site.  I went to You Tube and found the same videos that were used in the Moodle and embedded them into the wiki.  By doing all this I have made sure that I have access to these tools in the future just in case I forget how to do something based on insufficient use.  I am very proud of the wiki I made.  I hope others will be able to use it too. You can find my wiki page at
http://internet-tools-in-the-classroom.wikispaces.com/.

Thing 21- More Ways to Share (SlideShare)

The last of our 21 Things was SlideShare.  The idea is that you create a Power Point presentation and then upload it to Slide Share which then takes your presentation and shares it with the world through it's site.  You can find presentations on any number of topics.  I was able to find presentations that could be used with teachers, presentations for my first graders, and much more.  As with any source of information (presented in slide shows in this case) you may have to look through a lot of presentations to find what you are looking for; and if you don't find what you are looking for, you'll have to make it yourself.  SlideShare was very easy to use.  I created my Power Point presentation and simply uploaded it to the SlideShare site.

Wordle presentation

View more presentations from ybates.

I also found a pretty good presentation on Web 2.0.

Thing 20 - Jing It!

The latest tool I've learned about is called Jing.  Jing allows you to capture screen images and then narrate or illustrate how something happens.  You can use Jing to capture one screen shot or you can record several screens through a video feature.  I like the video feature because you can talk about what is happening and next steps as you go.  This is great for a person that really needs visuals to know how to do something on the computer.  I feel that this is a great tool for using with teachers in professional learning situations.  It's been very helpful to have these in the on-line portions of my grad classes so I could see how something was supposed to happen.  

I created a screencast for parents on how to access and subscribe to our class blog.  You can see it for yourself at http://screencast.com/t/aiDZDCbOwr4.

I found that I got very frustrated in the beginning because the tutorial provided in the site was not as specific as I wanted or needed. Thankfully, there were several more tutorials on YouTube.  The one I found most helpful was Jing Part 3.  The basic, free Jing subscription does not have an editing feature, so you have to make sure you have everything lined up correctly and have practiced so that you get what you need in one take.  If not, you'll have to start all over from the beginning (I won't even tell you how many times I had to start over).  I appreciated the pause button so I could catch a breath or organize my thoughts and pages before moving on.  This takes some planning in order to get a good product that you will be proud to use.  

Once you're finished recording or capturing, you can save it to your computer or to a site that holds your work.  The site gives you a url that can be posted in your blog or webpage.  You can also post your creations to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Your creations will be saved on your personal channel that you receive when you sign up on Jing.  

I plan to explore Jing some more, but for the moment, I'm glad this assignment is finished.