Media Collage vs. Text Centrism?

A few years ago, we called it 'learning to use computers'; now we call it 'digital literacy'. Either way, we are learning that digital media skills are imperative to our education and the ability to be competitive in the job market. And that applies to school students as well. I think students should gain experience in using technology in the learning process - just not exclusively. While students might disagree, writing is still a critical component of effective communication.

I agree with the assigned reading, that there should be a blend of traditional and emerging literacies. The more digital knowledge students acquire in the academic environment, the more comfortable they will be with it in the competitive work environment. This meets #3 of the NETS *T Technology Standards - Model Digital-Age Work and Learning.

I also think the video was a great example of:

1.)How creative students can be with assignments! It was evident that she did a lot of research to put together her proposition.

2.) How technology can be used to teach, inspire, and motivate people.

While writing is as important as ever, I agree with the teacher that thought students should be allowed to submit a video story in place of a written/research paper some of the time. As a teacher, I would assign written and digital projects so that my students could learn to communicate and write in various formats.

My Photo Story

Webquest on Webquest

Collectively, as a group we decided that webquests are an intriguing and resourceful tool. The majority of or group thought that Creative Encounters was the best webquest. It was extremely descriptive and provided critical thinking. The group agreed that Creative Encounters was great because of the group collaboration involved in solving the problems. A close second would have to be the one on John Wilkes Booth. This webquest promoted creativity and was very task orientied.
The one that we decided was the worst webquest was the one for Ancient Egypt. The site contained links that weren't working properly and the domain had expired. This site provided a lot of information on more than one topic making it more difficult to stay on task.

Resume

Please click here to see my resume

Times Like These

It's times like these that make me tear my hair out! I'm having trouble getting my resume link onto my blog. My resume is in googledocs, the resume link has been added (as a gadget), and the url appears on my blog. But when I click on it, it tells me my document does not exist. I had to give up getting my resume to fit a template....I could not maneuver around in the template and feel like I just wasted a lot of time on that. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thanks!

Hey...I might be catching on...!

Today's assignment was not as hard as I thought it sounded! It was kind of fun, actually. With a helpful push in the right direction, I was able to place a picture on my blog and in my gmail account. I've completed all of the assignment except for uploading my resume. I have one prepared but that part will have to wait until Monday. We will be attending a wedding out of town (my sister's, yeah!!) and I gave myself the weekend off. Hope you all have a great Labor Day Holiday!!

What's In A Name?

Our Assignment



Our assignment for this post was to check out various examples of students participating in blogging. The blog that I found most interesting was titled, "What's In A Name". The students were to research facts about their school, such as how it got its name, what were the school colors, and what their city was noted for, etc. They were to then post their work on the blog. Not only were the histories interesting, but I liked the fact that the students incorporated local history into a writing project.



ISTE Standards



As a teacher, I would focus on meeting the following 2 standards:



2 a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

I believe the "What's In A Name" blog meets this standard.



3 c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.



If you would like to check out the student blog, go to

http://technospudprojects.motime.com/

SG