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.