1. What is going through his mind in this photo?

2. Is he really concerned about a serious topic or just thinking about anything else?

3. Considering the Article Title, why do Americans automatically assume that the nation is in trouble when looking at the expression on his face?

Photograph 1

1. What decision did they just make, that they are walking with such confidence?
2. Why isn't there more security by Obama?
3. Who are the men walking with Obama?

Quote:

“I am referring to the fact that the multimedia environment of the Web, as well as much of what we experience through our computers, requires students to think and communicate as designers and artists.”

Reaction

Thinking about this quote, I’ve come to realize that computers actually do make us think creatively as designers and artists. The photo story project for example, we all wanted to be creative and the video itself that we created is considered art. Even when we blog or tweet, we are using our heads to compose and think of something creative so that it will stand out to people who read it. I do agree with Jason when he considers technology an art form. We can use it in so many ways as in being creative and voicing our opinions. Technology is a form of art in my opinion.

Link:

Cite:

Ohler, J. (2000, October). Art becomes the next r. Educational Leadership Magazine, 58(2), 16-19. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vCKbHYY-gzXtLXnLak8i_hoV7TPAOfxNIamNrkWW3Pc/edit?pli=1#

Digital Story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6Kn2wF1Y0A

My digital story project is based around a quote from John F. Kennedy, "Let us think of education, as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream, which fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation." My main point was to focus on some of the past, but realize what the future may hold. I really like the photo story project and I know when I am a teacher, I'll be using this tool. It's really easy and fun to compose and I know students will enjoy it.
I believe that the ISTE.NETS-T and my video both promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, and creative processes.
I feel like teachers can use this tool as a tool for research and instead of writing a paper, this would be a useful alternative that is more fun than just writing a boring paper.
Wanting to be a math teacher, I could certainly use this tool to put up multiplication problems and have the kids try to answer the questions fast before the next question pops up. There are so many ideas that can come from this great idea and I can't wait to explore more possibilities.

Double Journal Entry 4 Digital Storytelling

Quote:

Digital stories need to be used to strengthen students’ critical thinking, report writing, and media literacy skills.

Reaction:

A lot of current teachers may not agree with me, but I do believe that as technology moves forward, digital stories should take the place of research papers. Now I don’t feel this way, because I don’t feel like kids should know how to compose research papers, I just feel like digital stories are just a part of the media in today’s society. Composing a digital story does make students think critically and helps them learn in different ways that are more exciting than just a boring paper. A rare amount of people would like to sit down and right a paper for school, but if the assignment is to make a video about a research topic, students would actually enjoy doing their assignment and they would still learn just as much if not more.

Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIkJnwD8OxE

Citation:

Ohler, J. (2005). The world of digital storytelling. Retrieved from http://www.jasonohler.com/pdfs/digitalStorytellingArticle1-2006.pdf

Cartoon

Learning Styles

After taking the learning styles test, I have come to realize that I am an Aural learner. I've never really thought about what kind of learner I was before taking this test. This tool is really accurate, becuase I could relate to a lot of the methods. Some of the methods of an Aural learner are to attend class, class discussions and to talk to other people about new ideas. Honestly this explains me pretty well. I do not like missing class like a normal college student. Using VARK has really opened my eyes to what kind of learner I am.

NVR 2 L8 - Journal Entry #3

Quote:

For most of the history of the language, English speakers took a lackadaisical approach to spelling; the notion that a word should always be spelled the same way is a much more recent invention than the language itself. The standardization of English spelling began in the 16th century, and although it is unclear at exactly what point our spelling became set, what is certain is that ever since it happened, people have complained that the rules of spelling, such as they are, just don’t make sense.

Reaction:

I will be the first one to tell you that the English Language does not make much sense at all. I feel like it should be easier to compose sentences without being grammatically incorrect. On the other hand, I don’t feel like we need to start teaching “text” language as a primary language. Yes, there are some exceptions like not hyphenating a word or making two words like dog house into doghouse.  Personally I spell everything out and put comas where needed, but when I text I rarely put apostrophes. People text acronyms and abbreviate words to save their selves time. I like  that  Naomi Baron said that the number of “textisms” will decrease as technology moves forward and develops better keypads for texting.

Link:

Source:

Shea, Ammon. "The Keypad Solution." New York Times. 22 Jan 2010: n. page. Web. 7 Sep. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html>.

Poll Everywhere & Wordle

In our activity with Poll Everywhere, everyone had to create a question then post it to our blog so that everyone could see the question. Then we had to reply to 5 other students questions by going to their blog. After we recieved responses, we copied our question and answers to Wordle. That tool let us be creative with the layout of our question and answers.

The teacher that used the Wordle for spelling and vocabulary recieved great feedback from his kids. The kids in his class seemed to really enjoy using computers for school work. The teacher that used Poll Everywhere in the classroom had terrific results with his kids. The kids were so shocked that they could use their cell phone to answer a question. Both of these tools can help children learn as well as use technology to its full potential.

Double Journal Entry 2

Quote:

Technology enhances our ability to manipulate our communication with others. As the arsenal of control devices continues to grow, we increasingly come to see language not as an opportunity for interpersonal dialogue but as a system we can maneuver for individual gain.

Reaction:

I love the fact that we can control communication with technology. We don’t think about it, but when we get a text message, we don’t have to reply. Or when we get a phone call from someone we don’t want to talk to, we can just simply ignore the call. The words “manipulate” and “maneuver” are good words describing what we are capable of with technology. I don’t like how the “whatever” shift is becoming more common in today’s society. My opinion on the matter is that I feel that language classes should always be mandatory no matter where technology takes us. Accidental spelling errors are one thing, but when someone cannot compose a proper sentence is where I draw the line.

Resource:

Baron, N.S. (2009). Are digital media changing language?. Educational Leadership, 66(6), Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language%C2%A2.aspx

Link:

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