Copyright Chaos

I think that the PowerPoint on copyrighting was very surprising. It gave me a whole new insight on copyrighting and how much of these guidelines are really not followed. I had no idea that so many things that I see all the time and think is okay is really considered copyright infringement. It makes me feel like it is safer to just ask before I use any type of work or pictures. Even though I feel like some of the copyright guidelines are a little extensive, I understand that it is important to follow them, especially in the classroom. In the classroom, you are the responsibility of the school and the board that you work in and your actions could make them liable.
Even though I think that most of the copyright guidelines are out of control, I do understand that people don't want their work stolen from them. As long as credit is given, I feel that it should not be that big of a deal. It's sad that everything boils down to money and that you really can't get anything for free. I think its very disheartening that people can't use work that would be overall helpful to them because they are restricted by these guidelines. I think that it should be easier for people to obtain this useful information.

Class 3/26/09

Even though I had already used the PhotoStory 3 software, being able to revisit this technology was very helpful. It had been awhile since I had used the software, so this lesson refreshed my memory. I think that Wendy did a great job with showing us how to do almost everything with the software, and was around for help if we had any questions. Her photostory that explains it was a great tutorial to start her presentation. There is so many uses for photostory both in and out of the classroom, and is definitely something I see myself using in the future.

Windows Movie Maker on the other hand, was a whole new program for me and I think that this software is open for so many possibilities. Having the technology to turn a recorded video into slides and be able to edit them is a way that anyone could easily make a professional style video on their own. Andrea's homemade video on how to make a pinwheel was easily transformed into an edited video that could be used in so many different ways.

Wikis

I knew I liked wikis last class, but being able to actually make one and see how easy it could be was very helpful. I really do think that I could use a wiki like this in my classroom. I have always thought that current events should be incorporated into the history curriculum, and I finally found a way that would really be interactive and easy for both the student and the teacher. This way, students can see what their peers have found and their reflections on that particular article. They can also comment on others posts encouraging feedback from peers. This feedback can be very helpful for students. Plus, it is also interesting to hear what others have to say about the topic that you chose.

3 group activity

I thought that this lesson was very interesting. Class flew by because we were all getting out of our seats and doing things rather than just sitting on the computer. I also felt like I was able to get enough time with each of the activities, since the whole class time was devoted to it. Being able to present our smartboard activities gave us practice on using the smartboard in the classroom. It was also nice to hear feedback from other students in the class.
The wiki is a pretty cool concept that I could see myself using in the classroom. I really liked the activity I found where the students rewrote song lyrics. The students can engage in activities with each other while sitting at their home computers. This technology really connects the students in the class in a fun way.

Class on Smartboards

I really enjoyed this class, because we had the opportunity to learn and use the smartboards. Although I have known about smartboards for a while, I had never been able to actually use one. I had no idea the extent of the options that smartboards give teachers to use in their classrooms, and they are really fun! I can definitely see where students and teachers would have fun using this technology in the classroom. It gives students the ability to learn in a fun and interactive way. It is disheartening to realize that all schools cannot afford smartboards, because they do not get the opportunity to benefit from all that they have to offer.
The tutorial that we watched was a very descriptive and useful way for us to learn how to use the smartboards. We were able to watch it step by step in the video and then figure it out for ourselves using the actual smartboard. This way of learning was very effective and I know have a good understanding of the basics of the smartboards.

Wendy, Kira, & Liz Podcast

Podcast.mp3
Our podcast is brief debate about the age of the earth (creationism vs. radiometric dating) sparked by a discussion of exponential functions.

2/12/09 Class

I thought today's class was very helpful. The site thinkfinity.org will be extremely useful when deciding what activities we can implement in our classrooms. Not only are there sites for every content area, there is also a site for lesson plans based on NYS standards. This could be very helpful to ensure that we are staying in line with the standards that NYS mandates. The activities that are available are really endless and these sites could help someone find ones that will be helpful to their specific needs. In my fieldwork I last semester, I observed a teacher who used a smartboard and an interactive museum site, which showed the houses that most of the poor lived in during the early 1900's. This site among others could have possibly been found on one of these sites and ended up being a very interesting lesson. The Intel for education site seems like it would also be very useful, because some of the tools seemed like they could be used in a variety of different content areas.