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Thursday, October 4, 2007

More Wiki

The more and more we talk about the benefits of Wiki, the more familiar and supportive I am becoming with the concepts. I like how technology has become such a beneficial tool in the classroom, but I don't want it to replace a lot of the concepts in the classroom already. I just know with the technology advancing so fast, some parents don't wish their kids to be involved on the internet all the time.

Not only is that an issue, but finding access to a computer all the time to do homework, blogs, wiki updates, and other uses can be difficult for some students who can't find the resources. A lot more time-budgeting and sharing may be needed when using technology in the classroom.

I however, enjoy learning about the newer uses of the internet and its benefits for students. Atleast I am becoming more proficient...

Wiki Projects

I really like the idea of being creative with the wiki spaces because they will make the space much more appealing to the reader. This, in schools especially, is important. If a page is boring and too simple, students and parents alike will most likely become disinterested in its content and pay little to no attention to it. However, if it is made to be more fun, colorful, and interesting, more attention and positive feedback will be received.

Also, I am happy that we were taught how to incorporate sound and visuals to the page. This will help make the lessons and the information on the wiki space much more appealing and interesting, helping incorporate numerous types of learning.

On a whole, I like the idea of this project becuase it is something that we, as teachers will be able to use in the future. It is practical in the classroom and is multifacitive, applicable to students, teachers, administrators, and parents.

Wiki Project

I thought going into this project it could be helpful and would in some way help me for what I am going to be doing in the future. However, I have found some good sites for kids, but not too many of them could be directed in my field of study because most are based around a subject in school like writing or language arts, which is important, but doesnt do too much for those young children who are going to be having an operation some time soon. The only ones that are useful are the art ones where a child could go and create an art project to aleviate some stress and express what he or she is really feeling with out having to use words.

It is also hard because this is a large project that has a lot of expectations and requirements and we didnt get any time in class to work on it. It is hard to fit everything into my schedule especially with homework and stuff from other classes and I was really looking forward to having some time in class to work on it and ask questions and get some feed back before I went and worked on it on my own and was expected to turn it in. I want to do a good job on my project, but things this big take time and I think we need to have more time to do it in class so we can work with people and bounce ideas off of people other than ourselves.

projects and class time

I was a little upset with class today. I came in thinking we would spend the majority of class working on the wiki project but instead we barely even mentioned it. I had questions I wanted to ask but never had the opportunity. I would have prefered spending most of the time working on our project and then spending Tuesday learning about blogging. I feel that if a project was assigned and it requires a lot of work, that we should have class time, especially since it is due on Tuesday. I know that I have a lot of other things going on over the weekend as well as a lot of other homework to be doing and so I don't have the time to spend hours working on this project. I'm sure other people are busy as well and so it might have been nice to work on it in class. One of my major questions was where to find the reviews for the different softwares. Generally there is a specific site to go to and yet I can't seem to find it. I wish we had time in class to ask questions and to work on it, especially since we are working with others to do it. It would have been nice to talk to them about it.

Classroom Website

I am glad we are learning about wikispaces because I would really like to create a website for my class in the future. I know some teachers right now that have websites and I think it is very useful for students. The teachers post homework, links to helpful sites, and other classroom relevant material. There are so many different things you can do with this technology. It is very versatile. I think one of the major problems that people have with personal websites is keeping them updated. It will be very important for me to keep the classroom website up-to-date and relevant. Otherwise, students will start to ignore it and they may see me as unorganized. It is very important to keep up the things that you start and the things you tell your students to rely on.

Wiki project

I have enjoyed learning about Wiki this week. Wiki was another form of technology that I was not aware of before this class. It seems to me that the options for creating your own personal Wiki are endless which is exciting. I am excited to learn more about Wiki this weekend with the completion of our project. I am glad we were introduced to the vastness of Wiki this week because as it seems to be growing exponetially all the time, it is so important as future teachers that we are familiar with this. I can definately see myself creating a Wiki homepage for my classroom.

As for the blogging, I am still unsure how I feel about the idea. I understand that along with Wiki, blogging is growing as well. However, I still feel that blogging for students can be dangerous because it can be so easily manipulated. I am sure in the future there is going to be much better protection and advancements for blogging.

more wiki

This week I've realized how little I actually do know about the Internet. I'm glad that I have an opportunity to become more savvy and knowledgeable about such sites and applications as the wiki. I really like how you can incorporate almost anything onto your wiki page so easily. They really have made it very user friendly. I think the usability of this type of page makes it an even better resource for students. Adding their thoughts or projects to a wiki page or something similar would be very easy for them I think, because students are always on the cutting edge of technology anyway. When I was reading about the uses for wiki I came across the idea of a wiki as a student portfolio and I really thought that was an interesting idea. This would allow students to write their initial thoughts, say about a book, then link key concepts or new terms into their page to help clarify for themselves and others. Then this type of project also allows for a follow up section and they can see how their thoughts or ideas changed and progressed. I'm still trying to figure out how to best impliment a wiki but as I learn more I think it could potentially be very useful, again only if it's used in the correct way.

Math Softwares

I think the second part of our Wiki project will be very benefitial. Especially for math, there are so many programs out there and I know for sure that I am not aware of half of them. I have only worked with a few softwares briefly, but I would like the opportunity to explore more of what they offer. A lot of people may think that calculators are the only technology needed for math and that is certainly not true. There are several softwares that can not only do computations and generate graphs, but they can also just make the material easier to understand. Espeically for the visual learner seeing a graph generated can help further the understanding of what a graph is.

Wiki Websites

As we were going through all the links and websites today in class, I was amazed at the amount of information that is available. These resources are valuable, and I can picture useing them effectively in my future classroom.

For my AP Lit class in high school, we used a lot of technology including blogger.com and blackboard.com. Blogger was used mainly to present facts about major projects we did, but I am not sure if that is the best way to present. I like the idea of using the Wiki page to present literature projects because it can be more organized on a webpage than it could be on a blog.

I think a personal blog would be useful while reading literature. Students could use blogger as a journal to response to their readings. At the same time, they could comment on the peer's responses as well.

Blackboard.com is one of my favorite resources because it was extremely effective in my AP class. Not only is is easily accessible, but it allows for the continuation of class discussions online. Students can post new topics and also add to existing topics. English people...check it out!

Questions About Project on Software

Do I have to download three different math software in order to do this project? I don't like the idea of crowding my harddrive with extra software. Are there any computer on campus (like here in Buck or at the library) that already have a bunch of different math software downloaded on them? Having too many different software on my laptop will make my laptop run slower, which I am not looking forward to. Or is there a way I can review these software without actually downloading them?