Tech Task # 7: Cellphones in the classroom

The other day we listened to a session given by Liz Kolb. She talked to us about using cellphones in the classroom and gave us examples of how people have been doing this of recently. She gave us amazing ideas and tools that would allow a teacher to incorporate the use of cellphones in the classroom at different grade levels. She gave us ideas such as radio podcasts, recording oneself for presentations, for texting in summaries  of lessons or readings, or texting in answers to polls or questions. She gave us different ways we can use texting during the school year as well as during summer break. Liz also provided us with various sites to help us with this task. Here are a few of the ones I really liked:

1. www.hipcast.com 
2. www.wiffiti.com 
3. www.remind101.com
4. www.ipadio.com
5. www.polltogo.com 

I think that the idea that I would like to try the most is the Qrcodes. I feel like this would be a fun way to incorporate the use of cellphones into every subject area, and it also gets students away from just reading textbooks. Some ideas that I would like to try with Qrcodes are:

1. English: For spelling I think it would be fun to have Qrcode on the spelling list that provided students with the verbal pronunciation of the word along with the definition and spelling of the word said out loud. This could be helpful for those students who are auditory learners while they are studying for tests.
2. Literature: A fun idea for this would be to have a Qrcode on the books you have in the classroom. For each book there could be a description of the book from a students point of view. This could help students find books more quickly. Another idea for Qrcodes on books could be comprehension questions verbally read to them. They could then either record their answers or write them down which would be a way of assessing whether or not students are understanding what they are reading and to what degree.
3. Math: For math class a Qrcode could be useful for test reviews. If you are giving students some type of review to do for a quiz or exam  to take home you can have a Qrcode at the bottom. This allows for the students to do the review then use the Qrocde to check their answers and the work that is needed to get the answer. They then know if they are doing it properly or not.
4. Social: For social,it would be cool to have a worksheet with Qcodes on it that will take the students to a site with extra information or even pictures or videos that help explain the concept that they are learning about.
5. Health: For this subject, you could have Qrcodes connected to different posters or sheets that take the students to sites about healthy food or the body. It could go to diagrams of the body and have videos of how the body works. It could also have videos on friendship or bullying when those topics are being discussed. 
6. Physed: This would work well for if a teacher wants to do a circuit during gym class to allow students to work on the skills they are learning. There could be a piece of paper with a Qrcode on it for each station. It can take them to a video that shows what they will do at each station and how to do it properly.
7. Science: This would be fun for showing students how different things work. It can be connected to different videos of experiments that are online or pictures. For example, when learning about lightning students could use the Qrcode on their homework sheet that shows them pictures and videos of lightning, then a video of an experiment that allows them to make their own lightning.

These are a few ideas I had for different subject areas. Anyone else have any ideas they can think of for certain subjects or topics?

Teach Task 6, Part 2: ds106

The second tool I looked at after Alan Levine's session was ds106. I thought this was a fun site to use. It was pretty easy to navigate around and the assignments were interesting and fun to do as well.

The site would be fun to do with different grades, but it might not be as easy for younger students. The younger students may need more assistance, so either you need to do it with only a few students at once or have some older students in to help. Older students would easily be able to do these assignments on their own. It would be fun to do art projects and have students pick one of the visual assignments then have it printed. It would also be fun for them to experiment with the different types of assignments and the tools that they could use for them.

Here is the description for the first assignment I tried out.

• Have you ever heard and song and a particular lyric stood out to you right away?  I think all of us have had the feeling at least once.  For this assignment use one of those lyrics that stood out to you and make it into a visual.  Use some kind of background that represents the lyric and place the lyrics over it in some way.  Be creative! But make sure that your visual product evokes the same kind feeling that the lyric of the song does.

Here is what I came up with!

And the instructions for the second assignment:

• Color splash is a technique to emphasize details- you remove all color from a photo, and then restore original color to a single object, e.g. a green apple on a table. Think of the Girl in the red dress from Schindler's List.
  
  You can do this in a number of ways with photo editing software or using mobile apps. The answer lies in the Google

Here's what I came up with for this one!

Tech Task 6, Part 1: Five Card Flickr

After listening to Alan Levine's session from my Ecmp class on Wednesday, I took a look at some of the story telling/ story making devices he shared with us. The first site I looked at was Five Card Flickr. I though the site was really to use and pretty much any age could do this. It is very straight forward and allows for you to create a story in your own mind. The best part is that you can have so many different stories with the same five pictures.

This would be a great tool to use with any grade level. It would be fun to see what students would come up with for stories. You could either create the sequence of the pictures and allow each student to tell their own story or you could allow students to pick their own 5 pictures and create a story to them.

Here are the two links to the stories I created.

http://5card.cogdogblog.com//show.php?id=32086

http://5card.cogdogblog.com//show.php?id=32087

Stay tuned for part 2!

Teach Task #5: All About Identity

Last night I watched a session with George Couros about online identity. It was really informing and I learned a lot. I realized that an online identity can either help you in ways or hinder you in ways, such as helping you get a job or not. It made me think about my own and how I can help create a good online identity for myself. It also helped me realize how important it is to help our future students create a good online identity for themselves from the start.

Part 2:

I googled my first and last name and this was the first few hits that came up.

I clicked on most of them to see where it went, and realized that none of the hits on the first page had anything to do with me. They were all on other people named Marley Riddell. Even on the second page of hits only 2 had to do with me, connecting to my blog and my google account.

It made me realize I don't have much of an online identity which is probably because I have my privacy settings really high. I think this is best for my personal accounts like facebook and realized that this will benefit me. I can now start creating a professional online identity and don't need to worry about my own personal stuff coming up first.

Part 3:

I have created an about.me page and linked my twitter, blog and google account to it.

Tech Task #4: Be a Better Blogger

After listening to Sue Water's session on becoming a better blogger I made some changes to both the setup of my blog as well as to my post Tech Task #3: Why School?.

Blog Setup

To try and make my blog more appealing and easier for others to read I changed a couple things.

1. Background: I changed the design of my background and made it so that it would be white behind my posts rather than being able to see the design. This made it easier to see what the post said. I also made it so that the size of the post was wider, making it so that the design was covering less of the page.
2. Text: I changed the text size of my posts bigger as well as changed them to a darker color on a white background. I also made the title of my blog and the separate posts bigger and bold so they stand out

Post Edits

I also changed some details about my last Tech Task post. 

1. Paragraphs: I separated my post into smaller paragraphs, making it more reader friendly. I also put an extra space between paragraphs so it was less crowded.
2. Headers: I put in headers to help readers follow where my thoughts were going.
3. Links: I added different links to my text. I put in links to our Ecmp page, Will Richardson's blog and video, Khanacademy, Knewton and Mark Klassen's twitter page as I discussed these people or sites in my post.
4. Images: I added an image in to catch readers attention and give it some more appeal.

I hope that these modifications help make my blog and posts more appealing and easier to read! I will definitely try to follow these tips in my future posts as well.

Tech Task #3: Why School?

After listening to my Ecmp 355 session with Will Richardson and watching his video Why School?, it is hard not to think about the role of technology in schools and learning today as well as the new role of teachers and schools. 

Technology's Role

I think that technology has a major role in children's learning and that as teachers we need to embrace it. We need to incorporate technology into our teaching and help students learn more than what we can teach them alone. Using technology can also help students see that as a teacher, we're still learning too. Use the internet to find facts that you don't know or find something that a student asked about. We need to show students what they can do with technology that is available to them and show them that they can learn so much from the internet.

Students need to realize that teachers don't necessarily have to be just in their school or classroom. They can have teachers from around the world by going online. They need to know where they can find sites such as Khanacademy or Knewton, that can help with topics or subjects they are struggling with. I think it is important for students to fully understand the opportunities that the internet and other technologies can provide for them.

A Teacher's Role

As teachers, I think that our role is to prepare our students for the real world and show them all their opportunities. We need to build relationships with our students and assist them in their learning, whether it be from a lesson we give or something they have found and learnt through the internet. I feel that our role is to help students with finding who they are and helping them form their morals as well as guiding them on how to use, and act within, the online world. We need to help them learn through their lived experiences and learn alongside them.

I think that we need to invite technology into our classrooms and use it to both ours and our students advantages so they can see it's true potential and know how to use it in a successful way. As Mark Klassen said in Will Richardson's video, "...those connections make it possible for me to gain a bigger audience which means more feedback and greater learning..." By bringing technology into our schools, and allowing students to use it in their learning process we are raising their number of resources and people to learn from and giving them a better chance for more of it.

Tech Task #2, Part 2: Google Drive

I have only used Google Docs once before for another class. I was with a partner and we couldn't meet so thought we would try that out. I found that it had worked pretty well. It made it possible to work on it together from a distance. For this tech task I thought I would check out the spreadsheet and presentation apps on google drive as well, since I hadn't used them yet. I explored how to make them, and different features you can use while creating them. I feel like they would both be extremely useful when working in a school.
If you collaborate often with others or need to schedule out your week you could use a spreadsheet. They are easy to make and can  be used for both schooling and personally. The presentation app would be very useful if you and another teacher are working on a lesson or something together. Again, you can work on it together from a distance but then you would both also have it when you needed it. It would be good for when students are missing as well. If there are students who aren't there or a student who may have some type of serious illness and has to miss quite a bit of school you can communicate and have someway of showing what you did each day. It may not get them completely caught up but at least they would have an idea and can form questions to ask when they get back. There are so many uses that google can be used for and i'm looking forward to finding them and trying them out.

Tech Task #2, Part 1: Google form

This is my second attempt. Here is my google form. I've linked the URL to the word form. Hope it works this time!

Tech task #1- Who are you?

Hey everyone!
My name is Marley Riddell and I grew up on a farm in Bethune Saskatchewan. I have a large family consisting of a dad and step mom, a mom and step dad, 2 older sisters, a younger brother and 2 younger step brothers. I love spending time with my family and friends whenever possible, which can sometimes be hard with my busy schedule from work and school. Some things I enjoy doing in my free time are reading, playing volleyball and being outdoors.
I am currently living in Regina while going to university in the Prek-5 Education program (3rd year). I have always wanted to be a teacher and that has only increased since starting the program and doing my pre-internship this year.This summer I will be working at the University of Regina for the Summer Sports School program, I will be working with kids and teaching them how to play different sports both indoor and out.
I am looking forward to, but also very nervous for, this class and learning how I can include technology in my teaching to help enrich and make it better. I know very little about technology so it will be extremely helpful for my teaching in years to come.