The article I found is called Educational Blogging by Stephen Downes. It takes about how fifth and sixth graders in Quebec City respond to blogging in the classroom. One of the students writes, "The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents. Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment." As you can this student finds blogging to be a very positive experience. Education bogging is growing daily. Not just in the classroom but outside as well. Teachers can use it to organize class discussions. People can use blogs to post many different things such as something special that has happened to them. It has almost become a diary for students. As you can see there are many positive aspects of blogging in the classroom.
I selected this artical because in class we had to select a question we wanted to know more about. It also realated well to elementary school students. The question I had was how can blogging be effectively used for education in today's society? I feel this article answers this well because the students themselves gave examples as to how they used blogging in their learning. It also showed teachers different ways they could incorporate it into their lessons.

Educational Blogging

FSU looks to incorporate technology in classes

This article is about how Florida State University (FSU) is trying to find new ways to bring technology into the classrooms. The faculty and staff have attended technology workshops. They have been instructed on how to use pod castings as well as the benefits of multimedia. The teachers say they know students rely more on lectures then they do textbooks. One teacher says, "Students readily admit they don't read the textbooks," said Joe Calhoun, economics professor. They attend class and take notes from professors' lectures." There are many benifits to this new integration. For example professors can put audio files online for students to download on their iPods or mp3 players so they can listen to it wherever they go.
In my opinion, I think it is a good idea for schools to encourage using technology in the classroom. The fact that they have workshops is a good idea to help teachers become more aware. There are so many ways in which multimedia can help in the classroom and it is important to start using them. However, I do not think they should rely so much on podcasts. Textbook are still an important part of the learning process.

FSU looks to incorporate technology in classes

PowerPoint in Teaching Diverse Populations

One aspect of technology I use in a lot of my classes is PowerPoint. In my teaching diverse populations class I put together a PowerPoint on my own. We had to do one a book we read about diversity in the school system. I have learned a lot about this technological feature through this class. There are a lot of features I learned that will help me enhance my future PowerPoint presentations.

Angel & Gulfline

Here at FGCU we use two online systems called Angel and Gulfline. Angel is a software were we can take online classes as well as submit things for other classes. Gulfline is the universities online database. It has our courses, our transcript, holds on our account, money payments, and more. These are a perfect example of how we use technology in our everyday routine. I have noticed teachers have been using them more and more lately.

E book Readings with Sammy

In my Intro to Computers in Education class I was asked to pick two e books to read with a child ages 4-11. I read my e books to my professors son named Sammy Walch. I went to the family resource center were professor Walch drops him off every morning. I was able to read the books with Sammy on the computer and gage his reaction. This way I could see how this compared to using regular books. I asked him open ended questions that allowed him to reflect on the experience. This activity was used to enhance the child's learning as well as to promote creativity.

I feel that I learned a lot from this activity. I was able to see how Sammy reacted to hearing the books on the computer as appose to reading them himself. I learned that e books can be very affective if you use them the right way. I feel every child at this age should have the opportunity to experience e books because it is a fun approach to learning how to read. One of the challanges I found with this activity was that I did not know anyone in the area with a child so it was hard to find someone I could relate to because I did not know them on a personal level. After specking to my public speaking teacher, he allowed me to work with Sammy. I learned that people have different ways in witch they learn and e books are an efficient way to cater to each students individual needs. It allowed me to see how you can use this technology both in and out of the classroom.

Experimental Psychology

Like most teachers who lecture, my Experimental Psychology teacher incorporates PowerPoint's into his lesson. He also uses different web sites to back up his statistical data. In this particular class we examine research from data we have gained from an experiment or observations. In class he shows us different experiments we can do online that measure a persons perception. This teaching method is not only interesting, it gives students the chance to interact with one another.

I learned that technology can be applied to many different classes. The possibilities are endless as to how you can use the computer in the classroom. This class is not one I expected to use the internet for. This experience showed me that there is a wide range of things the internet has to offer. Doing experiments online is hard because the data is presented differently. The way he teaches he expected us to all ready have a handle on the technology. Once I got the hang of it, it was easier then I thought.

Audacity

In Intro to Computers in Education I had to download a free software called Audacity. We used this program to record our voices using a microphone. We used this program to do projects such as, e books, the storytelling, the books we had to read such as Dr. Seuss, and a poem. With the use of the microphone our voices came to life. The program aloud us to crop out any unwanted material. It was very easy to use and a lot of fun to learn.
Through doing these activities I was made aware of this program. I did know there was a way to record the sound of your voice onto your computer. It was challenging to adjust the volume. Many times I had to start over because my voice was either to load or to soft. Sometimes it took me awhile just to record a small section. I overcame these challenges by practicing over and over till I got it right. I learned that if you hold the microphone at the right hight it sounds better. Overall I learned that if you keep trying you will eventually achieve your goal because practice makes perfect. I also learned if I put time and effort into a hard task the result is well worth it.

group exam

For my first exam in Intro to Computers in Ed. We were split into groups to work on and complete our exam. We were given institution's to imagine we were teachers of a fifth grade class. We were given 10 thousand dollars to use on technology for the activity that would be age appropriate to the students. We had to go to the library and speak to the librarian about how to locate article. We had to have a paper signed to prove we were there. I found an article that best related to the activity we were doing. We came to the conclusion to do a project based on social studies that incorporated blogging. I also had to go to the writing center to get help revising my paper.

I learned how to better work in groups when doing the exam. We had to take all of our ideas into one. I also had the opportunity to use technology to communicate with the other group members. It was hard to agree on the approach we were going to take as well as to get everyone together to work on it. We had a chat on the internet as a group to discus the project. We came to the conclusion that anyone that needed extra help went to the library. I learned that it was affective to use technology in certain ways in the classroom and sawthe different uses it has in society today.

Intro to Computers in Education Class

In my Intro to Computers in Education class I have come to understand how vital technology is in Education and learning as a future educator. There are many different ways we can bring technology into are future classrooms and this class has made me aware of them. Before taking this class I was not very computer savvy and did not feel comfortable using it in my learning process. No one had taught me to use different programs in the past that better integrated the computer into the classroom atmosphere. I now know computers can be a very valuable asset in helping students learn as well as help teachers provide them with a better understanding of the material. I feel each educator should gain an understanding of technology and use it to their advantage as I have learned to do through taking this class.

Story Board

When completing the first paper in Intro to Computers in education class I had to choose 5 significant experiences in my life to write about. After writing those I had to select two stories and convert them into a story board. For the first one I had to separate my story into nine parts and provide a picture that empathized the story. For the second story board I selected another story that had to be on a developed moral or lesson. It had to contain two columns and twelve rows. Instead of using images, I had to describe the images in one column and write the story in the other. I had to provide dialog between each of the characters in the story.

Before doing this assignment I was not aware you could use word to create tables. I also learned how to separate my story into the most important concepts. I was having issues selecting a story because I did not know how to divide it and leave only the most important parts. I also did not know how to put pictures into the table. I changed my story several times after I realized I could add more to it. I got together with fellow classmates who helped point me in the right direction. I learned that even though a task may seem overwhelming, if I keep trying ill get it right.

Digital Mosaic

In the recent story board I did I had to convert it into a listening game. I used Microsoft word to incorporate sound and image files into the project. I had to create a 3X3 table in word that converted the nine parts of my story board into text. I also had to include 9 individual sound files using audacity. My images that I used had to have no red eye and had measure 150x150 mega pixels.

I learned that this project can not be done last minute. It takes a lot of time to organize and required a lot of prior knowledge before I started. It was hard because my computer was not equipped with the right program to crop my pictures to be the right size. I went to the library and saved the pictures to a disk. However when I put them on my computer they were really tiny. I was told to use photo shop to edit the images but I did not have it. So I found a free version as a trial. However I was still not familiar with the program. I had e mailed professor Baylen who told me to make each picture to be 72 inches. This helped a lot and i figured out where to go from there. I learned not to be afraid to ask for help and to use the teacher as a recourse.