Teaching With Technology Week 5 Reflection

This week’s lesson gave me a chance to put everything together that I have learned thus far and put it into collaboration effort with my teammates to create a final product. It was very rewarding to be able to see the final product. All that hard work has paid off. We also got to talk a lot more as a team and submit our reflections of our project together. I feel that I had a great team. This week’s lesson also brought to light the amount of collaboration which occurred in creating the whole lesson since the beginning. We collaborated on creating lessons and activities that would fit the needs of all learners from any backgrounds. We met their needs “By nature, both multimedia projects and cooperative learning groups require attention to detail in the planning process” (Pitler et al, 2007, p. 141). It was a lot of work and took many hours of collaboration, writing, and creation. Teaching with technology brought my partners and I, from all various backgrounds and ideas, to create a very nice finished product. This just shows that any teacher can get together with various ideas and create something to help all students. Teachers who broaden their horizons to help kids learn by implementing various technologies and web 2.0 tools are considered very respectable because it is something that Solomon and Schrum mention as an “uncommon” thing that needs to be changed in society. Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, pp. 141. Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, Chapter 7, 21st Century Skills, para. 11.

Photo Story on Plate Tectonics

Week 4 Reflection - Teaching With Technology

I learned a lot this week during the readings and videos of week 4. Although I could mention everything I learned, there is just one thing that stands out above all the rest; kids being tested in a variety of ways. This comes from the quote, "For an assessment to accurately reflect what students know and can do, those students must be giving their best effort.” I often share with colleagues that if the sun and the moon align perfectly many of my students will be successful on exams. Formal paper-pencil assessments provide the data required by many however often do not show a true representation of a child’s abilities. Many students suffer high levels of anxieties when taking standardized assessments." This quote came from Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning, chapter 7. The reason that this quote his me so much and got all of my attentions is because I am one of these kids. My whole life I have suffered with test anxiety. There has been one mode of testing while growing up and it has kicked my butt every time. It really tore me up when it came to teacher certification and principal certification. The more high risk the test, the more anxiety i get. Today there are a variety of ways that children can be assessed without having to take a standard test. The minds of our children, like mine, are not wired to take standardized test. We all need something more engaging and interactive. There should be multiple of opportunities of how kids should get to show what they know and do not know. Until we can fully implement that then we will never truly know what are kids know.

Plate Tectonic Book

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view&book=65206&page=1

Week 3 Lesson Reflection: Teaching With Technology

This week I read documents that dealt with UDL and how they benefit the children. It was not only about the UDL, but it was about how kids need the varied instruction to be successful in the classroom. “Providing multiple representations of patterns through a variety of media, formats, organizations, levels of detail, and degree of depth includes more learners by offering both choice and redundancy.” This is the quote that I had chosen to write about. I love this quote because it is so true to the success of our children. This is fantastic when it comes to student learning. There are too many teachers and lessons that are just focused on one way of doing something. By enabling the kids to have choice in their learning, you will find that they will be more engaged in their learning, as well as be an effective learner. The kids of today’s generation grow up with a lot of visual stimulation. They are used to graphics and moving around. We as teachers need to cater to their needs to help them reach their fullest potential. What is great about having kids learn and create things online is that there are literally thousands of resources and ideas of way to create projects. Students are not limited to just one way of doing something. They have options. By giving the kids options on how they want to learn something will bring great success to the classroom. Another thing that is great to help kids learn is the use of web 2.0 tools. I have been teaching my kids online for about 3 years now. I have implemented many web 2.0 tools into the lesson and have helped them to be successful. Not only have they been successful but they enjoyed their learning because they got to choose their style of learning. Great lesson this week, although the UDL was difficult. Like all my other posts, please visit https://sites.google.com/site/5364project/home to see how our project is coming a long.

Week 3 Reflection: UDL

I felt that this week was very difficult. I have written many lesson plans in the past and have felt they were well outlines. This week we learned about the UDL (Universal Learning Design) for creating lesson plans that will fully focus on reaching any and all children. This design was very thorough, which made it somewhat difficult. I felt that it was bit overkill in my opinion. But I am not the expert. I feel that I could create just as efficient and effective lesson plans without having to use that design. I have used many other formats in the past and have had great success as a teacher. I do understand however that there are certain teachers who do need this kind of lesson plan to ensure that they fully connect their lessons to all types of learners. I also believe that this would be a perfect format for those in college who want to become teachers, as well as first year teachers. Although I had a rough week when It came to lesson plans, it was not all that intense. I created an online book using my lesson. I found it to be very fun and engaging. I think that I will be able to implement this into my classroom and gain great success from my students. It is activities like this that I am always looking for to keep my kids wanting to learn. Like all my other posts, please visit https://sites.google.com/site/5364project/home to see how our project is coming a long. Here is the product of my UDL.

Teaching With Technology Week 2 Summary

I am really loving this class thus far because it is right up my alley with what i have been doing in my classroom. For the past 3 years I have implemented full technology into my classroom. As the years have progressed I have found newer ways for the kids to become engaged. This week's lesson was about the same thing. The lesson discussed of how we, as teachers, should find new and different ways for the kids to engage in their learning with technology and online. It was said that sticking with one way for kids to respond and learn is not going to be conducive to their learning. Also when I did my reading over "Teaching Every Student In The Digital Age", I read that there needs to be a lot less talking by the teachers. In the article it discussed how long speeches and lectures will lose the kids very quickly. This is very true because today's kids have grown up in a very stimulating environment. These kids grew up with television, video games, cell phones, social media sites, and progressive music. These kids need to have lessons and activities that are equivalent to what they have grown up with. I love how it has discussed all of these aspects. It is something I agree with 100% and is something that I implement in my classroom. I definitely think that many teachers today are too lazy to want to be inventive to help adapt to the kids level of learning. This puts our kids at a disadvantage.

Week 1 Learning

I found week 1 to be rather intriguing, mainly because of the constructivism theory. The main part that caught my attention was in the "Building Knowledge: constructivism in learning" when it was said that a person never learns anything from scratch. When a person learns something, it is already something that they have learned in the past, but are just building onto what they already have obtained. I never thought of this before. In a way I feel that this is very accurate. As teachers we are trained to teach kids a certain way, using various strategies, and make lessons that relate more personally to them. By creating various lessons that deal with cell phones or any other social media device, this will make a connection with our students. This will not only make a connection but it will "build" upon what they already know. I never thought about this before. It is a very genius theory. Another thing that was mentioned in this week's lesson was about connectivism. In the video "the Changing Nature of Knowledge", George Seimens explains that an individual needs to stay connected by staying current with what is going on in the world and in learning. When people lose touch of reality and fail to stay current, they have that inability to stay connected with not only reality, but with learning. It is important to always stay up to date. For instance, compare the older generation teacher to the current generation of teachers. Most of the older generation teachers have the inability and knowledge of today's current teaching practices and technology. This is due to the fact that some of these older generation teachers are more set in their ways and refuse to stay "current". With the newest generation of teachers they grew up with what our kids are growing up with so they are already up to date and know what it takes to reach these kids. Keeping up to date it very important teaching our kids and for gaining knowledge. Please look at my team page to see how we are starting to develop our future lessons. https://sites.google.com/site/5364project/home

Experience Using My Blogger

I have tried to use a blogging system before and have never really stayed on top of it. I originally did it to keep people updated on my family happenings. I got this idea from my brother when he was in Afghanistan and Dubai with his family. He updated his blogger almost every other day. Unfortunately I found it to be too time consuming for me. Since I have started my masters, there has been a requirement for me to have a wiki. At first I was a little hesitant but it has really started to be a part of my course. It has been a good way to document and to reflect on many of the things that I have been doing in my course. I would like to continue to use a wiki type system throughout my educational career and teaching career.

End of Course Reflections

I have gained a lot of knowledge while taking this class. I have always been tech savvy but when it came to video and audio, I was a novice. Then when it came to creating animation I had no idea. I have never experienced any type of projects using animation. I have always wanted to do animation, but had not clue. I loved being able to learn how to create animation. I loved being able to learn about layers, and how each of those can be altered to make it look like animation. When it the assignment where we had to create a poster Glogster, using the Four Principles of Design, I have used that program before, but not to the extent in which I did for that project. I learned how to use this program on a deeper level. It was very tough to create and learn, but I learned a lot more about it. But one of the things that I really knew nothing about and had a misconception about was what the Four Principal Designs were really about. One of the things I thought you were supposed to have on webpages were things that were similar in nature. After reading the pdf file that Robin Williams created, I discovered that when it comes to contrast, everything needs to be different, not similar in which I thought it needed to be. (Williams) When I was able to learn and reflect on what I have learned, I was able to create a masterpiece that was more along the guidelines of the true Four Principles of design. Another thing that I learned was from Lea, on her website LeaLea’s Blogblog, she mentioned that stereotyping is not always a bad thing. When we stereotype ourselves, it can be in a good way, as well as bad ways. (Alcantara, 2012) To complete the Glogster assignment, I used all of the ideas and advice from the readings and applied it. It was very tough but I used all the resources, did a little bit, went back to the information, and then kept working on my work. I made sure that I was doing everything correctly but checking back periodically. After I completed it I was not only exhausted, but I was also proud. I had gained something new and had created something new. It was an intrinsic motivation to keep working hard at learning more about the four principles. What was really nice was I was able to talk to not only the professor via email, but also other students as well about the assignment, as well as other concepts to help me understand everything. When it came to all of the information I learned, I feel that I will be able to use a majority of it with my kids, myself, and other spectrums of the educational and personal field. On one of the websites that I read, I saw something that really made an impact on how I will do things in the future. ” Text-to-speech is also a beneficial writing tool. It may be easier for students to recognize errors when listening versus reading a composition. By using text-to-speech to read back the text they have written, students may be able to revise more successfully.” (Center For Implementing Technology in The Education) This quote right here is very powerful. I feel that this is something that has been lacking in my classroom. I feel that this is the key to making my kids successful. I have even discussed this with my group members. They also feel the same and we have talked about how we can implement this into our curriculum. This class and my group members have made a big impact on how I perceive things. They have both helped me to look deeper into the things that I do. I know that looking to others for guidance is the way to lead life as a person and as an educator. The only thing that will stand in my way of trying to implement these things into my classroom are the administrators. I have, unfortunately, experienced some administrators that want to control what and how things are done in the classroom. If I can prove that everything I have done and will do is the best for our students then I feel they will eventually break and support me. I have been keeping up with my various studies and other project on my blog. To see these you can visit http://josephfergusonlamar.blogspot.com/. Works Cited Alcantara, L. (2012). The Art of Self-Branding: Part Two. Retrieved from lealea's blogblog: http://www.lealea.net/blog/comments/the-art-of-self-branding-part-two/ Center For Implementing Technology in The Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Joseph%20School%20Comp/Documents/Lamar%20University%20Master%20of%20Instructional%20Technology/Digital%20Graphics/Week%203/Multimedia%20Applications%20for%20the%20Classroom.htm Williams, R. (n.d.). The Non-Designer Design Book.

School Website

https://sites.google.com/site/5366groupproject/home This is to the group website that my group and I developed. This is the collaboration that my group and I had. Please click on the link below. Collaboration Site

Joseph Ferguson's Game Winner - Animation Project

This is my first animation creation ever. I found it pretty difficult to learn the various programs and to create layers and such. I am still very novice at this but I really want to learn to use this more and create a lot of really cool animation.

The Four Principles of Design

Analyzation of The Bodmin Gospels

Analyzation of The Bodmin Gospels By Joseph Ferguson http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/illmanus/other/zoomify74182.html When I first saw it I was very amazed, considering the age at which this book was created. There seemed to be some very complex There are complex ornamentations that includes spinning text, images, symbols, figures of humans, and then beast-like figures and animals that includes iconography, swirling script, figures of humans, animals and beasts that are intertwined in the borders and images. I also noticed that the manuscript was brighter compared to normal old text, with gold and silver being the main colors. This made the contrast look really nice to look at. It was not boring at all. The borders and graphics that were created are repetitive, with everything having a consistent pattern. Along with it having a repetitive pattern, the author tries to align his symbols, images and text, being almost centered and having nearly the same indention all around the page. The proximity of the images and symbols to that of the text is a little unorthodox to how things are done today, but was a very common thing during that era. For the author to make this book feel authentic and a matter of importance, he used complex and creative designs, illuminating images and symbols, and making it very therapeutic on the eyes. The manuscripts of today are very different than that of the past, but I feel the past manuscripts are much more creative because they did not have technology of any sorts back then. Everything came from their minds.

Assignment 5.9 Reflection

I currently teach my classes online and this video project was perfect for what I do. I would and have used video projects like this for kids to create newscasts, short films, music videos, etc. The kids love using video technology to learn. For now on I would also use video technology like this to teach my kids more. I want them to be able to have more free reign in their learning. In “How To Use Digital Story Telling In Your Classroom”, Jennifer New talks about how kids should be able to have more freedom to create their work, but to supervise them closely because some might not know how to work with freedom. (New, 2005) I feel that using power point and such are out of date. It is time to up it more and start implementing this type of stuff into the classroom. Another great thing that I learned was about cyber bullying. I absolutely hate bullying and was excited to learn about this topic more and to create a project on it. One of the things that stunned me was that more than 1 in 3 kids have experienced some sort of cyber bullying. (Cyber Bullying Statistics, 2010) Another startling statistic is that the victims of cyber bullying or just bullying are more than likely to get a low self-esteem and their chances of suicide increase. (Cyber Bullying Statistics, 2010) There are also about 160,000 kids who miss school everyday because they are afraid to be bullied, even cyber bullied. (Facts and Statistics, 2009) It was all very startling to me because I did not know the statistics when it came to cyber bullying. Knowing about all of this new information and being a teacher who teaching their kids online, I feel that I have more knowledge and a duty to teach my kids about proper etiquite when it comes to being online, as well as any other media device. This is my opportunity to be able to reach out to the kids more and tell them what I have learned about cyber bullying, its effects, and prevention. When we were originally given the tasks to pick a topic, we all immediately agreed that cyber bullying was the way to go. We all love the internet and other media devices. We all have wittnessed and experienced cyber bullying. We felt that this would be a great way to use our passion, previous knowledge, and creativity to learn new information so that we could create an amazing project. This is the first time that I had to work with a group in an internet setting. This made it very challenging for me because I was not face to face with my members. I am used to be in person and discussing everything. But we did a great job utilizing other resources to communicate with each other. We created a facebook page, wiki, texted eachother, and emailed eachother frequently. I also had a problem with control. I am used to taking on most of the workload and getting it done. I had a hard time letting others have control and completing certain tasks. I had to learn to work with my team members as an actual collaborate team. In the end we all worked very well together and did very well. This experience has taught be to be patient, trust others, and to work more as a team. I feel that I will be able to handle group projects a lot better in the future because of this past project. After working on this project I am curious about some things. How are we to actually assess that every person is putting in the right amount of effort as compared to everyone else? I know that we give eachother certain tasks, but when it comes down to it, some are having to do more than others. I know in my case I felt that I was being lazy because my task was at a later time. Another question I am curious about is if we should copyright all our information that we put on the web? I never thought about it before this project. I feel that it is a good idea but I am not sure if it is something we should do with all work. This is my first time being in this major. I was originally in educational leadership, but decided to switch majors. While being in educational leadership, I have obtained 86 hours of internship hours. These hours were shadowing 3 principals from 3 different schools. I have one principal that I am using as my main mentor and I have been getting most of the hours with her. I feel that I have learned how to talk to kids, as well as how to read kids more, just by talking to them. As a principal intern I was able to sit in on a lot of discipline conferences and also was able to conduct some on my own. It was a great learning experience. Not only have I shadowed principals, but I was also given the opportunity to implement some of my action research that is required for my degree. I have been successful with my implementation and have been commended many times by not only my principal, but my staff as well. This action research that I am referring to dealt with overhauling our in-school-suspension program. Our program was way too lenient and the kids had no problem getting in trouble and having ISS. They actually would rather be in ISS as opposed to the classroom. This is why I felt I should redo our program as an action research project. Since I have changed majors, I need to come up with a new action research project that will reflect my major. I am not sure at this point what I should do but I will come up with one soon. As for my previous one, it has been a success for the most part. The things that I like about it are that most kids no longer want to go to ISS and the kids are being held more accountable now. The thing that I would change is the person who runs it. We need someone who is tough, not a softy, which is the person we have. Bibliography Facts and Statistics. (2009). Retrieved from Make Beats, Not Beat Downs: http://www.makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org/facts_new.html Cyber Bullying Statistics. (2010). Retrieved from Bullying Statistics: http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html New, J. (2005, December 2). How To Use Digital Story Telling In Your Classroom. Iowa City, Iowa, United States.

Web Conference

Dr. Abernathy gave a web conference over the project. She stated how she would like the video to remain within or around 2 minutes. She did say that she would not count off much if it went a little over but if it was significantly over then it would not fit within the guidelines of the project. She also talked about how everyone in the group needs to reflect on what they have done, how they feel the project went, and what they would change if they could.

Cyber Bullying Video Project

Joseph Ferguson Video Podcast Tutorial

This a video podcast for a tutorial on video editing software. The video software that I used is the AVS Video Editor. This was actually pretty easy to work with except for one thing. When I used it as a screen capture while doing the podcast, I ran into a lot of trouble with the video and my audio being connected. I actually went through many takes trying to correct this. I actually ended up using the BSR video recorder. In the end everything turned out pretty good. I found it hard to do any type of tutorial within 2 minutes, or at least anything that was worth while. For the most part I really liked this software and look forward to doing some more investigating in the future with it.

Joseph Ferguson's Photo Story

This is a video I created for my Multimedia Video Technology class at Lamar University. When presented with the opportunity to create a story about something that brought me the most passion, I felt that this was a great opportunity for me to express something that I have been feeling for a long time. This was a way for me to outwardly express my thoughts and feelings in another way, other than just telling my family. I was able to actually use various images to represent my thoughts and feelings. When it came down to it, I was able to tell the story about how I came from a time in my life of being lost, to a time to where I finally found out what made my life complete. In the end, it was my family that brought all things together for me to bring the greatest joy in my life. I would encourage anyone and everyone to search for what would make them happiest and complete. It can be a fun, or even a rough journey. But in the end it is well worth it. Family is everything and was worth all the trials that I experienced along the way to get them.

Web Conference Summary, February 14, 2012

Dr. Atterway and Dr. Abernathy conducted a web conference with many students. It seemed to be very informative as Dr. Abernathy was talking a lot about the graduation that will take place in May, as well as what needs to be done to get prepared for that. Then something that Dr. Abernathy asked everyone was, "what is the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0?" I honestly did not know the answer to the question because I have only really experienced a Web 2.0 interface. I was informed that Web 1.0 is a ready only platform, whereas Web 2.0 is very interactive in which people participate in. She said that every person is valued and is able to contribute with this. Blogs, tweets, Facebook, etc. are all prime examples of this. Web 2.0 is also another great way to get our students involved in the classroom. We will have a question that asks us how we plan on implementing Web 2.0 tools into our campus and how we will make sure we maintain that with our staff. This will be a good way for us to reflect as future principals.

Action Plan

Stony Point High School and Texas STAR Summary

Star chart summary update for stony point high

View more presentations from burugby71.

Review of "Infrastructure" within the Texas Long Range Plan

When it comes to the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology, I would like to focus on the infrastructure aspect.  Before the progress of the plan in 2010, there were some goals that were put in place.  According to infrastructure section of the plan, they are saying that all infrastructures will have high speed internet availabilities.  The districts must also have enough server space and the capabilities for their teachers, students, parents, and everyone else a part of the district to access it.  There needs to be integrate of various programs such as voice, video, pictures, and other digital content.  The school district is required to meet the expectations of the higher achieving kids who are very tech savvy.  The school district must also assure that there will be qualified individuals to help assist those who are not familiar with these types of technology.  They will also be available for any type of support that is needed, whether it be teacher, parents, or students.  The committee believes that the infrastructure of a school is the key to making the following areas successful: learning and teaching, educator preparation and development, leadership, administration, and instructional support, and infrastructure for technology.  Kids need to have the opportunity and the capacity to be able to use and to learn at the highest aptitude using technology.  If their needs are met and there is success, then the infrastructure is where is should be.  According to the Progress Plan in 2010, there has been an increase of teachers and campuses going from the developing to the advanced area.  This shows that most of the districts and campuses are getting the available technology and applications that are needed for their campuses.  There has also been an increase in students having the capabilities to have various online classes, video conferencing, and many other online creations.  I think that this is a great thing and that there has been an increase.  This increase has definitely shown me the positive impacts on my campus.  I have seen in increased role of kids using certain online tools to engage in their learning.  I have also seen a new wide variety of learning technology that has been implemented into the classrooms.