Online Meeting

During the first meeting, I was a little late to the meeting and was unable to see the beginning of the chat. In return, I was completely lost throughout the entire meeting. I was confused when everyone was in the middle of discussing their hypothesis and null hypothesis, then as soon as I started to feel as if I knew what was going on, the meeting ended. I did think the chat made me aware of how confused I intially was in the assignment and got me to work harder to complete the assignment. I could use online chat with students who are sick for an extended period of time or out due to some other reason. Professionally chats could be used during conferences or just as we did in this class, to discuss results of research I was doing with collegues. The standards 3 and 5 again were touched because I could model digital learning for students through these chats, also I am expanding my professional growth by learning news ways to communicate and analyze data.

Research Overview

At the beginning of the research project, I did not think the assignment would be that hard but in the end I found it very challenging!I installed the Data Analysis Tool Pack without a problem but really struggled when it came to analyzing the data. It was hard for me to understand the NSD when looking at the chart. I also stuggled with the terms when I compared the two equal variance. By stuggling with this assignment, I feel that I really grew as a professional because I grealty relied on disucssions from my peers and from works that they posted. The APA part of the assignment was not as bad but I also struggled working with the tables and charts. I could not figure out how they went with the paper. The NETS standards were standard 5 and three, because I both modeled digital learning that I could expand on and teach my class and engaged in professional growth because it took a lot of self-monitoring and self-teaching to get through this assignment. The APA style of learning is not going to go away and is a great resouce to know about for future assignments.

Audacity 2

For the Audacity assignment, I only created one blog and documented my entire process through the one blog. Looking back on all the assignments, I found this one to be the most rewarding and the one where I had the opportunity to fully express myself and demonstrate my creative side. I loved Audacity and would greatly enjoy using this with older students in the classroom. I think students would enjoy getting to express themselves and learning how to convert youtube videos to MP3 files. This project allowed me to engage, facilitate, and inspire student learning and stated in the first NETS standard. If students were to find their own videos through both the benderconverter and youtube, then they could express songs, artists, or themes that greatly effect their lives. Modeling digital age work as in standard 3 is touched through this standard also because this was a very rigorous process for anyone educator to complete but once it has been completed once, a world of endless possibilities are opened.

YouTube Account

I have had a YouTube account for quite a while now. I do not use it that much but it is still a nessity to have in today's society. I think by having a YouTube Account as a teacher allows me to find videoes that can be useful for the school and my classroom, convert them, and view them in my classroom. It also allows me to view ideas that other professionals are using and explore possible research or ideas. My YouTube user name is elopez102702. I generally only post videos if it is for school purposes, not for leisure. NETS standard 1: facilitate digital learning and creativity, is reached by having this account because students can create videos and with parent permission, post them online. This allows the students to broaden students worldly experiences. Also Standard 3 Modeling Digit Work and Learning because the students and I are demonstrating fluency with technology by uploading and downloading videos.

APA NAEP

I found the NCES site, which comparison educational statistics, to be very interesting. The site allowed me to look at national comparisons for 4th, 8th, and 11th grade, which is nice so teachers at all levels had something to analyze. I was very disappointed in WV rankings, but unfortunatly was not surprised. I downloaded the Excel document and began analyzing the data. I first had to unmerge the cells, then sort state data from largest to smallest, find our rankings and report on them while creating a scatter plot. I found our state and colored it red to stand out from the green data points. Then I created a t-test using equal variance and found no significant difference based on the findings. This data allowed us to accept the null hypothesis that boys are smarter than girls in 8th grade math. Learning this data will allow me as a teacher to reinforce that girls are just as good in math and try to teach girls this in my class. Also, I will try to raise standards in math class and try to improve on WV scores. By writing another APA paper, I am furthering my professional development therefore touching on NETS standard 5, professional growth and leadership because we are evaluating and reflecting on current research. Also Standard 3 Model Digit Work and Learning, by communicating relevent information to parents, students, and peers.

Get A YouTube Video

The assignment asked the class to find a way to download a YouTube video onto our computers then back onto the internet. I first Googled the same question and a YouTube video was the first link I was directed to go to from the web. The video then gave a tutorial on how to save videos onto my desktop using Keepvid.I simply copied the URL then pasted onto that site, saved on my desktop then convertered it to a MP3 file all on the same site, much easier then Benderconverter. By knowing these ways to save videos, I can use very useful videos in my classroom. There are plenty of useful and educational videos that are blocked from school use which is a shame because many do not know about these tools. In my professional developement, I can not only find more tools but share them with collegues and teach them how to use videos. By showing videos, I can facilitate and inspire learning as in Standard 1. I can enhance student learning by watching these same tutorials that may break through to some students which I could not in my teaching and this is a real world issue. A lot of jobs or assignments may be better enhanced by a video the students could find on YoutTube. Also, Modeling Digital Age Work and Learning will be completed by knowing this information because I will be able to communicate relivant ideas to peers, students, and parents through videos.

Midterm Self-Assessment

During Mid-term, I completed a self-assessment and up to that point I felt like I deserved an A because not only have I worked hard to complete all my assignments but I have learned a lot. I loved learning about the Youtube converter (benderconverter) and I also liked the Jing. I love learning new free technologies that could be used in the classroom. I think after completing this survey, I realized how important self assessing is and how it can be important for students to do in my class. If students are held accountable for keeping track of their own grades then I feel they are more aware of how they are doing in the class. By completing this survey the NETS standards that were address is standard 5 Professional Growth and Leadership because we were assessing everything we learned in this class therefore reflecting on professional practice. Also standard 3 Model digit-age work and learning because I will be able to transfer the information to peers, students, parents, and community members.

Millennial Age

When completing the millenial survey, I thought I was going to have a pretty high number but it only came out to 78. I think this is because I do not text or post that much on social networks throughout the day. I think I am pretty knowledgable about technology though especially in comparison to many older teacher in the system. I think this survey will help me realize how much I can help others in the professional community. I think many teachers do not even text so when it comes to using technology in the classroom I can contribute a lot. I think in the class, I could have my students complete the same survey to see how "tech savy" the students are that are in the classroom. The standards which would have been addressed would be Stanard 5:Professional Growth because the better we understand our own strong points and weakness the better we can grow. By learning areas in technology that we are weak in allows us to seak more education towards that area. Standard 2 because this is a type of digital assessment to better understand our students and this informs our learning and teaching.

Wordle

I have been attempting to enter text from a famous speech since September and FINALLY got one to load by placing in the URL from my blog. A wordle finally appeared! This assignment took determination and dedication. I have attempted to get this Wordle to form on various computers but the image was never supported until now. I love Wordles in the classroom too because it allows students to see a new way to express themselves. The students could use this activity as a getting acquainted activity for the beginning of school. This could also be a good activity to be displayed after students write speeches for a class.

APA Paper

The APA paper was designed by collaborating with fellow classmates and using the Owl at Purdue website in order to write a "trial" research paper. The paper comprised of the procedure, method, results, and a table which displayed results. The paper was a little confusing to write because I was still confused about the standard deviation and the significant difference based on the T-test. This paper will help me for future professional developement because I will have better knowledge on formatting my papers that are completed for professional developement or school purposes. I will also be able to better help my students with citing papers they may need to submit in a Special Education classroom. The paper helped me learn how important it is to have peers to collaborate with and learn from when completing challenging assignments. The NETS standards is standard 3: Model Digital Age Work and learning because by learning better ways to communicate research, we can transfer knowledge of this and hopefully using new technology. Also we are comminicating effective ideas and research through Action Research Projects. Standard 5: Professional Growth and Leadership is another standard we are meeting because we are demonstrating self-renewal in teaching by relearning different ways to display data.

Ttest

During the Excel activity I stated two hypothesis, first one that girls would have more discussions posts that boys, null hypothesis being that girls would have less discussion posts that boys. My second hypothesis was that actual age affects millennial age, more specifically the older one is the younger their millennial age is going to be. Therefore the null hypothesis being that real age has no effect on millennial age. When beginning working on the ttest, I was completely overwhelmed and had no idea where to begin, then I watched the Jing screen cast and felt very confident in my ability to analyze the data. This will improve my teaching ability by being able to analyze test data from class to class or one year to the next. I might be struggling to figure out how to better improve low scores and realize my students from a previous year had low scores also. I like that once the Analysis Data add-on was added in, it would allow me to see if there was any significant difference. I enjoyed how it automatically found mean medium and mode because I will be doing this exact type of analysis for a FBA. Standards reached by this activity dealt with professional groawth mostly because by teachers learning more efficent ways to teach, the better teachers we become. Also the standard which discusses learning through digital means because not only can students compare their own scores but teacher can too.

Find/ Replace

When finding and replacing items in excel I learned how confusing this process could be. I first replaced all males and females but then quickly learned that I needed to replace females before males because it would replace half the word female to fe1. There is probably an easier way to do this but I could not figure out how to do it. I then replaced all personality types with letters and that became very confusing and overwhelming. I lastly replaced teaching/nonteaching and that was much easier. I then learned that the find and replace tool was best used for small comparisons. I think this tool would be great for students to compare test scores with out having to see other student's names. I think that this would also allow proffessionals to look at assessment data and looking for weaknesses and stregnths. The standards reached are standard 4 Promote and Model Digital Citienship and Responsibility because I can model safe, legal, and ethical use of digital technology by keeping names confidential. Also Standard 5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership because professionals and anaylze and interprete data without the release of names and so on. Evaluate and interpreting data for professional growth is all part of Excel data analysis.

Excel

I started to look for the Add-ins on my Excel 2007 based on the website provided through the class. I worked on Excel, struggling using the help feature and I finally stepped away from my computer for the night due to the frustration. I luckily went to post a discussion when someone shared the link to a site for Excel 2007. I found the Add-in Analysis data without any problems. I would have never thought that the link was only for one version of Office considering it did not say which one it was for or display pictures. I think pictures would be a very helpful tool in the classroom if we were to implement this type of teaching strategy. In my personal life, I found TONS of new Add-ins I could add to Excel and with little tutorials I will be able to use them to help me work more effently. I can learn toold to assists with grades, tests, data, Tech Steps and much more. Sometimes even though the items are on the may menu, when searching for them they become hard to find. When teaching lessons on computer units I will remember that tutorials may be the best way to show and then explain the unit. The standards this touches are Standard 5, to evaulate expand and research based on professional concepts. THe whole nature of this assignment is based on our Action Research project and analyzes faux results. Excel is so complex I think this is always a tool teachers can learn more and more on. The other standard is Standard 1, sovling real world problems. The tools in excel are used everyday in many jobs to solve real world problems and to make them much easier. Students could learn how to find new tools on the internet to make their school projects run much more smoothly.

personality 2

When completing the second personality test and answer all the true and false questions I came up with the exact same result. After kind of questioning my first thoughts, I realized I must know myself better than what I had originally thought. I will continue to use this knowledge to thrive on my strong points because I like the person that I am and I feel that I am a good person to work with. I guess that is why it says that people with the same personality get along with each other. I think it is good that I stick to my goals, but sometimes I need to follow the rules a little more to get them accomplished. I think when working with my students I should teach them ways to be organized and creative in their thinking. I think they should question everything and not take anything for what it says it is.

personality 1

When reading the first article about personality type I thought the comment, "Perception involves all the ways of becoming aware of things, people, happenings, or ideas. Judgment involves all the ways of coming to conclusions about what has been perceived. If people differ systematically in what they perceive and in how they reach conclusions, then it is only reasonable for them to differ correspondingly in their interests, reactions, values, motivations, and skills,” seemed a little extreme considering all the different personalities out there and the different personality codes. I think that maybe being different allows people to complement each other. I then completed the hypothetical personality code and came up with INTJ. I agree that I have a high drive to achieve goals but I do not feel that I am that creative with these goals. I often think to myself that I might also need a “pattern” to follow. I think I do see patterns with people in which I interact with and try to avoid the bad pattern. I do always carry through with commitments and never believe anything I read the first time. Over all I thought the personality trait was pretty true to me. My self assessment for temperament is Artisan. Although I did not think any of the four temperaments really described me, if I had to pick one I guess Artisan would be the one I would pick. I think this because as I said, I always get things accomplished but sometime I put it off and by doing that I have to “bend the rules” to get it accomplished.

Audacity

WOW! The audacity podcast was tough! I really enjoyed searching for all the music on YouTube then converting it to audio. I have been looking for a program that allows you to do such an activity. I had little trouble trimming the songs and moving the position in the podcast. When I began to run into trouble was adding my voice to the audio, for some reason I just could not find the big red recording dot in the middle of the page. After I found it I tried to let it record throughout the entire audio which was a terrible idea so I had to redo the recording which went by smoothly. I then ran into trouble downloading the Lame_encoder and finding it on my computer. Despite knowing that it was located under my programs I could not find my programs. Finally, when that was completed it was smooth sailing from there on out. In the end, I really enjoyed this activity and would be eager to try it in the classroom. As a professional, I could see using this activity in the classroom to teach music appreciation to students by lecturing in between songs, but also I thought this would be a good way to teach poetry or have students write there own poetry to the beat of a song then record their poems over the rhythm. I think this is a tool that could be used in web conferences too and this way other speakers, from all over the country could have their speeches recorded in the webcasts. This project defiantly could engage, facilitate, and inspire student learning and stated in the first NETS standard. If students were to find their own videos through both the benderconverter and youtube, then they could express songs, artists, or themes that greatly effect their lives. Modeling digital age work as in standard 3 is touched through this standard also because this was a very rigorous process for anyone educator to complete but once it has been completed once, a world of endless possibilities are opened.

Voice Thread

I loved the VoiceThread assignment! I thought this is going to be the new way of online schooling. I can't imagine how much more interesting it would be to comment on peers' voice thread compared to the dry and boring discussion we are mandated to do in many classes which rarely ever sparks a real discussion. I also agree with the fact that many online school, leave a feeling of disconnect from professors and peers the alike. I think by listening to a lecture online compared to reading a chapter would be much more interesting. (I feel I must add that I do love online schooling though). When beginning this assignment I loaded the first video link on my computer and found it very entertaining but I was not too sure I fully agreed with the speakers thoughts, then after watching the second video I thought that although the speaker may have been a bit of an extremist in many ways, he hooked me with the research study and the data about ADHD medicine. I then clicked the Voicethread link, created an account, and voiced my opinion. Very Simple and I love the fact that nothing needs to be downloaded onto my computer. I think this experience built on my knowledge as a student more than a professional in a sense because I feel the excitement of eventually taking classes were voicethread is the main source of communication. I do think this activity would allow teachers to set up stations for student when maybe working with a focus group. This could be done by giving instuctions or basic recaps of the previous day before students could begin with their assignment. In a sense, it would give teacher the ability to "lower the ratio" of student to teacher by teaching multuple groups at one time. I feel that given the video content in which we had to watch and learn from the most appropriate NETS standard would have to be Standard one: Facilitate and Inspire Learning and Creativity. Even though the voicethread assignment may not have been the most inspirational assignment for the classroom we have completed this far, it has inspired me to believe children still need creativity in the classroom and need time to learn from others. I believe one inspiring quote from the video is "Looking at other people's work in school is cheating...in the real world it's called collaboration." I think we should take a moment to think about that. And this defiantly touches Standard 2: Develope Digital Age Learning. This allows teachers to teach through means of texting, voicethreads, instant messaging, and animating, all in which are way to engage our students.

Benderconverter

In using the Benderconverter I had all kinds of problems downloading videos and it did not get any easy once the video was converted. I had trouble adding the video to a Power Point and to Google Doc. I do think the benderconverter is a great tool to be used in the classroom since there are so many wonderful resources on YouTube. I think the converter would be a lot easier If I had step by step instructions. I learned why many teachers do not use the converter due to this because it was so challenging. I believe NETS standard that mostly is learned from this exericise is stand 3: Model Digital work and Learning. This assignment definatly made me learn new ways incorporate the digital world into the classroom. I think this allowed me to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use resources to support my learning.

Jing 2

When creating my Jing 2 video I was a little nervous to begin the project because it seemed very overwhelming. I actually ended up greatly enjoying it and can only begin to imagine the possibilities in the classroom. I know that TechSteps are a major concern for many teacher and that just seems to be a great way for all students to learn various steps to take, in small and large groups. The fact that the videos are only 5 minutes long should not be that big of a problem either because scaffolding could be used to help learn smaller pieces at a time. I learned also that by creating a video, students could work in small stations and still recieve verbal directions on many different projects. By far, I feel this is the best device we have used for the classroom and I am eager to use it in mine. I believe this touches the NETS standard one because it inspires and innovates students to learn in both a face to face and virtual environment. Students could be taught a skill on TechSteps then record themselves and take auditory notes in order to remember how and what they did. Also Standard 2 because design learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity because students could create several videos themselves also, teachers could assess how they complete different assignments and their thought process through this to analyze and reteach if needed.

Jeopardy

When creating the Jeopardy game, I used content from a human body unit. I took the information from the class worksheets we used and I plan on using this as a culminating game to review for a test. I also thought about using it in order to assess prior knowledge. I did have problems deciding how to form the questions and answers I found it confusing how it did not show you what was already typed. Although I had created jeopardy games before this one is nice because it is saved on the web. I learned how to save the document and find it in the archive.
The NETS Standard mostly closely aligned with the objective I am aiming for is: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments-
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S
provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
This is because I would be using this tool as an assessment, both formative and summartive.

Jing Graphic

When beginning this assignment with Jing I was not sure what I was downloading and even had trouble with the tutorial. After finishing the assignment and creating my own image, I realized how useful this tool can be in the classroom. I think this is a great way to e-mail students study guides or to add comments to activities to be done as a class for example labeling systems of the body. I used my Jing Image to create a study guide for the circulatory system. I learned how to add text, boxes, and color to "snips" from the web. It would be more helpful than just snipping because I can add arrows to point out specific details and show key points to maps, pictures, text, ect.
The NETS standards I believe this most closely aligns with is Standard two: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers:
a. design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
I think this is using contemporary tools to maximize learning. By using pictures and technology students have not seen before or is not typical, students will be more actively engaged.

Self Portrait

I had some issues with positioning my facial features where I needed them to be and facing the right direction. I also had some issues removing items from the portrait after I didn't like how they looked. In the end, I just added the extra pieces into the abstract look. Also I liked the positioning being off a little for my portrait.

Snipping

Attached is a snip of a news report that covers Hurricane Irene. I first pulled up the newspaper artivle on the web, then used the Windows screen to pull up the Snipping Tool. I then began to drag the snippers over the entire object that I wanted to capture, then saved that image to My Pictures on my desktop. I learned that I can now capture images of the entire screen shot, including the web address for example and use this as a teaching tool for students. This could be used as a still image to discuss the video clip after it is shown. When using the snipping tool, I had little trouble learning how to use it. The only problem I had was when it first came up I thought I had to click "new" to start clipping and it was actually ready to work. Standard 3: Model Digital Work and Learning by demonstrating fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations is closely related to snipping because by showing students way to snip images, it is allowing them new ways to save images and create notes or study guides all by computer. Also Standard 2: Design and Develope Digital Learning and Assessment closely relates to Snipping because teacher could very easy have students create a project online like a diagram, then have them label and snip it to save to the computer.

Diigo

My Diigo Social Bookmark was a very good experience to begin the semester. I started downloading the site with out any problems from my computer and it took little time to have both the Diigo and Diigo add-on added to my computer. A browser add-on is an extension to websites, some may cause problems such as pop-ups but new add-ons through foxfire provide various opportunities. An example of a new browser add on is Google Related which shows related topics at the bottom on the screen such as vidoes, maps, or other articles. This would be useful for classroom activities and expanding on ideas for multimodal learning. I think it would be helpful to find related videos and maps all within one search. I generally do no use add-on on my computer due to the fear of the unknown. Unless professors give me the ok on these types of downloads, I'm always scared I will get a virus. I believe using Diigo most closely relates to professional growth and leadership, Standard 5:participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning, evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning, and contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community. I think this because by being able to look at other professional's comments on current topics it will help to get feedback on whether strategies work or they are just a money scam for instance. Also Standard 1 promotes understanding student thinking and by using the footnotes or highlighting tools, a teacher would be able to better understand student thinking on assignments for example dealing with research.

Introduction to 6305

In starting this class, I just read over the syllabus and course introduction. The course seems very demanding but very exciting and I am eager to start. I currently already have a Gmail accout and my user name is elopez102702. I also am currently using the same blog as I used in my undergraduate class. Although I have already taken an Instructional technology class, after taking the survery, I realized there was a lot to be learned from this class in order to skillfully implement technology into the classroom.