Weekly Report & Reflection #7

Hello everyone!
I hope you are having a good week, mine just flew! Last night I went out for Halloween as a pumpkin and tonight I will be going out as the queen of spades. It should be a fun night!

Google. (CC) 2014

This week, we learn about the ever so fascinating Google docs. This is the best online tool I have used so far.  Google docs allows you to create online documents, presentations, spread sheets, etc that can be viewed from any computer, as long as you remember your password ;). Now, it gets better! Not only can you view this document, but you have the opportunity to share the document with fellow group mates (for a group project) where they can also access the document from any computer at any time, even at the same time as you. This is a great tool for group projects in education at any level. Collaboratively, students can work together on a project, and do not have to be together. For example, in a placement that I did this semester, a high school data management teacher put together a project with the physics teacher where students from each of the classes were to work together on a physics experiment. The students in the physics class would do an experiment and post their results that they found on a Google doc. Then, the students from the data management class would then analyze the results on the Google docs and create a Google spreadsheet of information. The students would use Google docs to collaborate their information, and finally make a Google slides presentation. Such a neat idea and really engaged students in collaboration of work.

Google forms is another key tool that can be used for various activities. At first I was unsure what Google forms was, so I did some research. Google forms can be used for birthday invitations, survey polls, student quizzes etc, and can be connected to a Google spreadsheet where the data collected from the forms, can be inputted immediately on Google spreadsheet. For example, if a high school was voting for a new school president, every student can go on their Google docs and vote on a shared Google form. Then the information will go to a spread sheet and tally the votes from the students in the school. How neat!

Another way Google forms can be used is for invitations. You can send any online invitations (Birthday, weddings, etc.) and people can reply. In the work place environment, you can send out an invitation for a conference or a work party, to know who can attend and who can not instead of asking each person individually.

I would definitely add this tool to my PLE as a collaborative and socializing tool. It is a fantastic tool that goes beyond the traditional group work and makes it easier for everyone to come together. This is a tool that I have not only started using in this class but, for my other classes as well and introduced my friends to it.


Here is my Feedly feed of interest for the week. It is an article on a web tool called thinklink and how it can be connected to online collage tools to make interactive collages.
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/10/5-tools-to-combine-with-thinglink-for.html#.VFOhAlulYVghttp://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/10/5-tools-to-combine-with-thinglink-for.html#.VFOhAlulYVg

Thanks for reading!
Missemilyp

Weekly Report & Reflection #6

Hey everyone!
This week has been a long week. I had to make a big decision on where I would like to go next year for teachers college, and I decided Hamilton! It is exciting and and nerve racking, but I am excited for whats next in store for me.

This week we were introduced to a 2.0 web tool called Evernote. To be honest when I saw that the elephant was the 'logo' for Evernote I got all giddy inside because elephants are my favorite animal! (A little bit more information about myself). I was excited to start this new tool and to do so I began by using the tutorial for Evernote on how to use it. It was fantastic and showed me step by step on how to use Evernote to the best of my ability.

Evernote, (CC) 2014

I found while learning about Evernote, that it was a bit overwhelming in how much this curating tool could actually do. I found that it could become very confusing if you just jumped right in a tried the tool out on your own. The first thing and most valuable thing that I learned from Evernote is that it can literally do anything and everything that your computer does to save your documents. However, Evernote is even better because you can access your documents from any computer, where ever you are. As a student who is constantly commuting back and forth to school, I do not have the energy or strength to carry my laptop everywhere I go. This tool makes it easier to access any document you want from anywhere you are. This tool can also make completing homework easier for any student. Having the ability to access work from anywhere, allows more time for students to focus on their work an become diligent in completing it on time.

The second aspect that I really enjoyed about Evernote is that you can organize your information into specific notes and upload or 'web clip' information into specific notes with the clip of a button. By being able to organize information right away when saving material you find on the web such as a URL, your life can become a lot more organized.  I found this made researching for my topic a lot easier because all the information that I found was in one place. In addition, Evernote makes sharing notes easy, so that when you are doing education activities or research with a group (Just like ADED1P32) your partners can see what you found.  This can make research projects very collaborative, informative, and allows everyone to participate without doubling up on information.

Throughout the course I have been learning a lot about digital literacy. The most important thing that I have learned is that all the web 2.0 tools are designed to make your life easier, and create you into a digitally literate citizen. As a future teacher, I can really benefit from this course because I  am finding ways to use the web to my advantage, and beginning to understand how everything works on a whole new level. For example, this week I learned how to evaluate online resources. While researching for my articles, I kept the article 'Internet Detective' from session 4 in mind because I did not want to waste time trying to search through unneeded or invaluable information. This is something I would have never done before this course because it was unknown to me. Every week I have come to a forked road in how to use each tool. Some weeks I have become more stuck then others, but the point is that I am learning how to embrace technology education and have fun with it. I have learned a lot about digital literacy and I will continue to learn more as the course continues.

This week, my Feedly feed of interest is an article on the creative Halloween costumes, in spirit of next Friday :) enjoy!
http://www.collegeblender.com/awesome-costume-ideas-halloween-year/

If you have not followed me on twitter yet, feel free to follow away!
@EmilyPedersen06

Thanks for reading!
Missemilyp

Weekly Report & Reflection #5

Hello!
Once again it has been a successful week. It has been very busy finishing off assignments and writing midterms, however, the storm is over and I get to fully enjoy my reading week with little home work... YA! I look forward to doing my observation placement this week for education and seeing my old teachers again, it should be a good time.

Twitter, (CC) 2014

This week session 5 was all about micro blogging with twitter. Before starting the course I had my doubts about twitter because I thought it was only for people to express unneeded emotions via the internet. However, I judged a book by its cover and I am glad I got to know this new friend of mine twitter. Twitter is a fantastic tool where you can add and follow people with similar interests to you. This week I started following some brilliant educators who post really interesting articles on education. Twitter is a great resource to have while in school because information people share can help you with research and keep you up to date with the most recent information on the web 2.0. If you like an article someone has posted, you can re-tweet it and share them in the post. By doing this you create a resource for yourself and teaches you how to give credit to where credit is do.

Before I jumped right into using Twitter and finding people to follow and tweeting about anything, I wanted to get to know about twitter, understood how it worked and what I could use it for to benefit my PLN. The Twitter hand Book for Teachers lead a great introduction about twitter and the importance of the hash tag. In order to create and harness a personal learning network it is important to create tweets that are not like spam and are educationally relevant and professional. As quoted by the article "Hash tags have become a popular way to create interest-networks within Twitter." They are a way to categorize ideas and topics. That being said, this article taught me why it is important to use #ADED1P32 at the end of my tweets regarding the course, because I can categorize ideas and topics related to people in my PLN. 

CAREEREALISM, (CC) 2012

Twitter is more then a place to share emotions about your life, it is a place to create a bigger PLN by following new people who share information about topics that interest them as well as you. The video How to build you PLN, explained a PLN as a place where both the student learns and contributes to the process. When students connect to their PLN, they expect learning to happen, both their own learning and people in their learning network. If someone finds interest in your posts on Twitter they can begin to follow you and together you can create a resource for each other and learn from one another. Once you begin to follow a person, you are able see their followers and those who also share your same interests.  Therefore, you can begin to follow more people and create a larger PLN. The more people you follow, the more you learn what the digital world has to offer. It is a fantastic social media site that offers a fantastic opportunity for learning.

This week, my Feedly feed of interest is a blog about using robots to support social and content goals within the classroom
http://www.edutopia.org//blog/learning-robots-content-mastery-sel-sam-patterson

Here is my twitter name and feel free to follow me as I would like to create more resources for my self and a bigger PLN
@EmilyPedersen06

Thanks for reading,
Missemilyp

Where do YOU Exist in the Education System

Education means learning. Education consists of subjects that students must learn to become active citizens in our society. Without math, you cannot simply add your grocery bill as you shop or understand the concept of taxes, without English, you cannot read etc.. All play a role in a developing society and is essential to learn. Now, this leads me to the question... why do we only focus on writing in our education courses when there are many aspects to education? I understand that professors need to know that we understand what is going on in the class, but there are other ways to prove your understanding. Remember it is education... so far it seems as though those who have a strong literacy back round are the ones who are benefiting. What about the science students?

This brings me to blogging. I am a science person, I do not express myself easily, nor do I feel comfortable doing it. Being graded on something that is not comforting to me is hard emotionally. I am a private person and being told that I have to break into my inner feelings and write a blog about topics I truly have opinions about, is probably the hardest and most uncomfortable thing I have done. Assessment wise, how are blogs graded? I am a logical person who writes the in a scientific manner, I do not know much about flow because I haven't taken an English class in four years. The blogs I have heard (like my group members) have been deep, enriching, very personal, and very good. I struggle with being graded on something that I feel is breaking my personal boundaries.  Like mentioned in chapter two of the text, everyone has different learning preferences and it is up to the student and teacher to work on this. It addressed how important it is for teachers to consider the learning styles of all their students and allow them to be successful in their intelligence area. This type of learning is only allowing those with linguistic back rounds to show their intelligences, but what about science people? We are part of the education system to and why are we not allowed to show where are intelligences are by doing creative tasks in a math or science way. I have not done anything but writing in any of the education classes I have been in. This has put me at a disadvantage because I am not a good writer, there is not a even playing field.

This question does not only apply to the science students of University but also to the younger generations who also enjoy science. There seems to me that there has been a developing negative connotation around the sciences. Many times while in high school I had teachers tell me that they do not think that math is the right route for me. They told me that it is very difficult and that I should really be sure that this would be the right route for me. They also look at me in disgust..like "really... math? English is better, I can't do math." This hurt, and it still hurts because I am concerned for students like me today still feeling the same pain. Just because a teacher says to me that "they cannot do math" and "English is better" does not mean they should not reveal their negative attitude towards the subject. They should be a true educator and empower the student in their decision. The duty of an educator is to foster learning in a unbiased environment where students are free to make their own decisions with the guidance of the teachers but without the teachers giving them the answer. However, this has not been the case. Teachers are making the decisions for the students based on their own opinions with the use of a guidance discovery model, teachers ask students questions until they say the right answer. This does not empower the student.

As a teacher you need to create a being, a human being. But you will not create an independent human being if you teach them the "know" of the curriculum with biased opinions. You need to create a environment that lets the students "do" what needs to be done to create their own knowledge and create their own being from their experience. A teachers job is not to do the students work and tell them where they should go in life, it is their job to be their and support them along the way.

Media Temple. (CC) 2014

Thanks for reading,
Missemilyp

resources: 

Weekly Report & Reflection blog post #4

Hello everyone!
So I would just like to start off my blog and say that I have finally been able to sync my Feedly with my browser! It has been a long learning experience but I finally figured it out. This taught me a lesson. You have to be patient when working with technology. It may not always go your way when you want it to go your way, but over time, with new knowledge and experience you will be able to accomplish what you want. That is what learning with digital tools is all about. I used my PLE and found resources that allowed me to guide my personal experience and be successful... I feel empowered!

I also have to add that I figured out how to make my Diigo a toolbar on my browser. This also took me all week to do.... BUT the difference between myself this week and last week is that I am making faster progress and using my PLE more efficiently. I have enjoyed using Diigo and it will definitely be a tool I use from now on. I specifically enjoyed using the book markings tool. You can high light and use sticky notes to aid in you educational experience. All I thought of when using this tool is how much simpler research will become. Having the ability to save any document you wish on the internet to a cloud that you can access from any computer can change lives! If I do research and do not feel like saving all the files to my computer and / or printing them out I have the ability to high light, add to the document personally by adding posted notes and creating active shapes that can help me as a visual learner to remember my research with the click of a button. I noticed that this digital tool also allows you to never forget where you got a piece of research from. I have had many times where I have lost an article or journal online that I had received information from and struggled to re-find the source. As part of being a digital citizen, you must give credit where credit should be given, otherwise you will be plagiarizing another persons work. This digital tool can allow for effective digital citizenship.

This type of tool could be categorized in my PLE under organizing content. The entire purpose of this digital tool is to organize information that you find on the web so that it is easy to access later. I have attached a copy of my updated PLE and you can see under organization I have added Diigo. I have also added Feedly, Blogger and Scoop it to my PLE. I classified Feedly under organizing content as well because it has to deal with gathering information so that you can find information later on a topic of interest at your convenience. Blogger and Scoop it are definitely under the category of synthesizing and creating because they both gather information and create something concrete that you have discovered. Having the ability to add to my PLE is becoming more important to me as the week goes on. Looking into the future, I have a lot of assignments approaching, and having more resources to help me through these tasks will make the experience that much easier. This is what the Web 2.0 is all about.

Pedersen, E. (CC) 2014

This week my Feedly feed of interest is a TED talks video about education removing creativity from children of our generation. It is humorous and insightful and I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did.

Sir K. Robinson. (2007, 01, 06). Schools kill creativity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Thank you for reading,
Missemilyp