Week 7: Two Tools

Chapter 5

Communicating with Technologies

     This chapter discusses how students (and adults) can exchange ideas on an individual basis, or as part of a group working together on a project.  It explains how we can use discussion boards; they can be asynchronous (not in real time) or synchronous (in real time).  This is an excellent way for students to work on social studies assignments.  We just read about the Great Depression, World War II, and the Baby Boom.   By using discussion boards, students are not limited to the time allotted in class for their assignments.  This way, they have time to think and make more significant contributions to the group.

     Students and teachers can collaborate using community websites such as www.epals.com or ThinkQuest (which is covered in chapter 6).  This tool is especially helpful to English Language Learners because they are given the opportunity to express themselves in English, and in turn, read the responses of others, also in English.  A valuable feature in ePALS is a built-in translator tool, so that users may convert messages to other languages!

     Another tool discussed in chapter 5 is VoiceThread.  This application allows users to communicate with one another at their convenience (asynchronous).  They may share files, photos, slide presentation, and video using VoiceThread. http://voicethread.com/

     VoiceThread consists of two options: 1) single screen  and 2) recording and navigation options.

Single screen may contain a single file.  Whereas, the second application can contain a collection of items such as files, video, etc.



Week 6: Delicious Link

http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el200904_clark.pdf

This article is from "Educational Leadership" .  The article is "The Case for Structured English Immersion" by Kevin Clark.  It is an excellent article that explains the use of English to teach English to speakers of other languages.  The first three states to initiate Structured English Immersion (SEI) are Arizona, California, and Massachusetts.  According to Mr. Clark,"...SEI programs shared two basic components: (1) teachers maximize instruction in English and (2) teachers use and teach English at a level appropriate to the abilities of the ELLs (English Language Learners) in the class (Ramirez, Yuen, & Ramey, 1991)."

Today, all core teachers in middle and high schools have students who are ELLs.  In middle school, all core teachers (and some elective teachers) are sent to a multiple-day workshop that trains teachers how to teach ELLs.  As our world continues to 'shrink' because of technology, it is important that students (and adults) learn a global language;  English is becoming our global language. 

Week 6 Delicious

http://www.goahead.org/
This is the Official David Crockett homepage.  It contains a link to a genealogy website.  Lots of events and conferences are included.  It's a good site to trace descendants of Davy Crockett.

Week 6 Delicious Results

Well, it looks like I need to go back and try again.  I received 367 responses, but none having to do with Texas history.  I will try again tomorrow.

Week 5 Reading Assignment: Chapter 2

I chose chapter 2,"Inquiring with Technologies".  This chapter explains how the internet has evolved over the decades.  How doing research on the internet "with a purpose" is vital for true learning.  It mentions how we need to articulate what we learn and how to use it in new ways.  This sounds like Bloom's Taxonomy, which still applies to how we learn.  I like the section where the authors go over the different search engines and directories; I particularly find 'Google Scholar' a valuable resource that I am already using for some of my research in another class.  With Google Scholar, you can go directly to journals, peer-reviewed papers, and other scholarly material. 

Other important topics include the legal aspect of doing and using research done by other scholars.  Such as 'Copyright, Fair Use, and Plagiarism" on pages 33-34.  The other sections that teach us about safety (for students especially), and Privacy are things that we, as teachers and students, must always keep in mind.

Another section concerns information we gather by using mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, etc.  The authors state that mobile devices are a cost effective way for students to gather information.

Reading this chapter has convinced me to upgrade my regular cell phone to a smartphone.  Every time I see somebody using theirs makes me realize how convenient these devices can be.

Structured English Immersion

After decades of relying on the bilingual education program in order that spanish-speaking children learn english, and after the increasing number of these students who are perpetual bilingual (in elementary school) then are placed in ESL (English as a Second Language) in middle school, it is time to try something new.

Three states who are moving forward in this direction are Arizona, California, and Massachusettes.  California uses the SEI (Structured English Immersion) program.  The focus is to teach english by speaking english (similar to an ESL program).  http://www.onenation.org/1198/110198c.html

There is still much debate over which program is better:  Bilingual Education or SEI (a form of ESL).
I believe that a program that gets results faster and is more effective for our children at least deserves a change in Texas.  Many parents I spoke with (when I was a bilingual teacher (for 7 years)), want their children to learn English quickly and effectively. http://janetlwhite.efoliomn.com/structuredenglishimmersion

Learning with Technology Blogs

While attending a function on Saturday, a fellow teacher (Spanish) commented that much is being lost today concerning education; specifically the classics and an emphasis on the liberal arts.  A comment about a need for ethics in technology was also made.  After returning to school this past fall, I disagree that we are losing ground in these areas.  What I learned since beginning my masters program (Instructional Specialist in Technology in Education), is that many educators who are knowledgeable in technology and learning theories do teach ethics in technology and the classics.  We are just behind and it will take time to catch up (as stated in the conclusion of chapter 1 in their book, 'Meaningful Learning with Techology' by J. L. Howland, D. Jonassen, and R. M. Marra).

The following website (which is really an abstract of a book) addresses the above topics.
http://www.mendeley.com/research/learning-with-technology-a-constructivist-perspective/

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has its own blogs.  This site is called 'Connect'.
http://www.iste.org/connect/iste-connects/blog-detail/11-06-26/The_Bring_Your_Own_Device_Debate.aspx