Comic Book Fun!

Class was actually a lot more fun that I anticipated it would be. I initially thought class was going to be a review on how to edit pictures in Picasa or something, however we got the opportunity to mess around with a really cool comic program. Comic Life is a truly wonderful tool in promoting creativity. As I was creating my comic book for geometry I found myself thinking of all kinds of different ways I could portray shapes and terms of geometry. The way I look at it if I started to think of all kinds of new ways to portray an idea with this program, just imagin what kids could do.
I really believe kids would absolutely love this program! It allows so many different forms of creativity and authenticy that it is hard to not enjoy what you are working on. If I had a program like this when I become a teacher I would have my studnets use it for all kinds of projects. Specifacilly for those subjects that tend to not be as exciting. (Like math.) By using this wonderful tool I think that I would be able to change attitudes and feelings about subjects that tend to be difficult.
Overall Comic Life is a great tool!

a. Discuss the potential benefits of the computer tutors.
b. Are there any concerns or weaknesses?
c. How would you better design those tutors?

This week in class we took some time to look over different web based tutors that are designed to help kids and teachers learn all kinds of different subjects. I believe that computer tutors have both, good things and bad things about them. Some of the good things I think come from computer tutors is that the activities are usually quite engaging. I think that kids who struggle to pay attention in class might really benefit from online tutors. With such a high level of engagement I believe kids who struggle to pay attention will find it easier to do so with an online tutor. I also think that the learning that goes on with most of the tutors use a variety of methods to target different learning styles. I believe that this is important because we are all different and as a result we all learn differently.
Some of the concerns I have with some of the activities are that some of the activities are too easy. When I say easy I mean that the answer to questions are too easily found. I believe that a little effort would be good for any student. Another concern I have with some of the online tutors is that the material presented is in a fashion that is difficult to understand. While most tutors were simple to use and navigate some were very difficult to understand what the site was trying to teach.
If I were to design an online tutor I would design it in a was so that kids have to search out the answer rather than be presented with one. I am a big fan of Piaget and one of his key ideas is that children construct their knowledge. My online tutor would be based on this idea. I would provide a website in which kids are presented with a problem then they would have to explore ideas and possibilities to find a solution.
In conclusion I think that tutors are a great tool to reinforce learning but I would never use a tutor to present new material.

Instructional Architect

Class today was pretty good. We had a guest lecture who talked to us about all of the good information and cool tools available on Instructional Architect. What I really like about IA is that their is a wide variety of lesson plans and web based sources available to teachers. I have seen websites like this before, however, they usually cost money and are not so freely available to the public. The tools that I thought were the most useful were the lesson plan developer and the resource manager. What I really liked about the lesson planner was that there were not all kinds of useless tools or categories that you had to fill in in order to make the lesson plan. This allowed the user to create a lesson plan very efficiently. I also liked the way the resource manager kept track of your noted sources; I felt like it was easy to use, read, and understand. After getting acquainted with WebQuest and Instructional Architect I would have to say that I will most likely use Instructional Architect when I have to develop and create my final lesson plan for the semester. I will also more than likely use IA in the future to find resources and tools to better develop my own lesson plans.

WebQuest

In class today we learned about and explored the website WebQuest.org. This is a pretty old website but some of the lesson plans and tools offered appear to be very helpful. The lesson plan I chose to explore was a Solar System Sweepstakes lesson. The basic idea of the lesson plan was to let your students become spokesmen for each planet in the Solar System. They had to come up with reasons why a person would want to go visit the planet that they are representing. Initially the activity seemed kind of boring to me but I found that as I got more into the more I enjoyed it. When I approached the task of advertising my planet I started out with general questions but as I started to look at why a person would want to visit my planet I realized I needed to provide more detailed information about the planet to make it more attractive. By the end of the lesson I had really refreshed my memory and I learned a few new things. Another aspect of this lesson that I really liked is that it can be geared to appeal to everyone.
What I like about the activities provided on WebQuest is that they really get kids involved with what they are learning. I think that the lessons provided on the website could provide some great scaffolding for any teachers lesson plan. In the future I plan on using WebQuest to get ideas for lessons, as well as to get ideas to develop them further. I think that WebQuest is a great tool and resource a teacher could use to better the education of his/her students.

Web site evaluations

Today in class we had the opportunity to go and explore some educational websites we found to be personally interesting and to complete some evaluations about those websites. I will say that initially I thought that this activity would be kind of a waste of time but after taking the different surveys I can see their merit.

1. What form(s) did you like/dislike? Why?
The form I personally liked the most was the Midlink Magazine Web Page Evaluation form. I felt that this evaluation form covered all important materials one should pay attention to in looking at a website. I also like how it is split into categories so as to illustrate to the user what areas a particular website might be strong or weak in. The form I liked the least was the form found on http://www.bv229.k12.ks.us/bvn_lmc/web_site_evaluation_form2.htm. This form in my opinion was too vague with its questions and really didn't do much to help the reader identify if the website being evaluated was a good website or bad website. (It creates a conclusion based on opinion rather than identification.)

2. Were there any hidden secrets about a website you discovered by using an evaluation form?
As I started to look at the websites more in depth I discovered that many of them never site where they got their information or even if their information is up to date. I also discovered that a lot of websites had organizations cited rather than personal authors. I think that these thing are important for a user to recognize because they may be looking at information that is out of date and is no longer valid or they may be looking at material posted by an author that might have some alterior motives.

3. What is the value of using a web site evaluation process?
I believe the value of website evaluations is that it gets the user to look at a website in greater detail and identify if that website is truly valid. I think that in order to make sure you are teaching the right stuff you had better be getting that stuff from a legitimate website and website evaluations help you identify those websites.

4. Are there times you would/would not use a formal evaluation
I think if I was just surfing the web I would not really worry about filling out any forms on a website because I am just having fun. However, if I had the responsibility to teach a classroom full of twenty five kids I would defiantly want to fill out a form to identify websites that were valid. I would want to do this for two reasons. First I would want to make sure I was teaching the correct information to my kids. Second, would be to be able to show administrators and parents, if concerned, where I was getting my material and that it was truly valid.
Overall this activity taught me to make sure I take a closer look at the details when I am looking at any website to determine if it is valid or not.

Spread Sheets and Forms

Well I was not in class on Monday but after talking with a few friends I was able to find out what was covered. It sounds like spread sheets and online surveys were the hot topic of the day. So I decided that I would go explore what all the fuss was about. Now I feel like I am pretty knowledgeable about spreadsheets but I had no idea that their was a form/survey tool on Google documents. I opened up the forms and created my own little survey. It is titled the best and I basically created a survey using questions from each option available on the software. I must say that I was really impressed with not only the fact that you can write so many different questions but you can also look at the data you receive from each answer on a Google generated spread sheet. Talk about AWESOME! I was blown away with the coolness of this tool. I could defiantly see my self using this tool in the future with my classrooms. Some of the ways I would use it would be to see if a particular assignments were too difficult. If parents are satisfied with what their child is learning in my class. And I would use it to find out what my kids would like to learn about. Anyway I am sad I was not able to be in class and see what everyone else did but I am really glad I went off on my own and explored it myself.

To check out my little survey go to:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cDBGTU50MEVkUnBaek9UQzBmYmtnT2c6MA..

Microsoft Word and Google Documents

Class today was more of a review for me but I still learned a few new tricks. At the beginning of class we discussed some of the tools available on Microsoft Word. One tool that we learned about that I had no idea existed was the "add comment" tool and the editor tool. These tools are very useful in that they allow the author to see the changes made to their document. I think that in the real world this would be very useful in helping say an author start to recognize areas where they need to improve their writing. In the classroom I could also imagine this tool being used to help students collaborate and check each others work. With the comments they could also provide input to help fellow student improve their work.
The other application we learned about was Google Doc's. I have used Google Doc's for some time, but this is the first time I have used it to collaborate with another person. I think that this is an awesome idea and needs to be used more in schools. What I think is so useful about this application is that you don't have to deal with multiple copies of a single document. The one document is in one place and everyone can see it. I think that the only draw back to this application is that a collaborator could possibly add or delete too much and since everyone is using the same document their is no way to see what the original document looked like. So their is a greater element of risk involved when using Google Doc's but I feel that the availability of the program to any user and the convince of the application make it worth it. If I were to use Google Doc's in my classroom I would first use it to teach my student to back up their documents. This is a practice that I believe everyone is going to have to learn better in the years to come as we get more and more into a digital world. The other application I would use it for would be in group projects. I would outline some simple rules for the students to follow and then have them work together to produce a final project. I think that Google Doc's would be a great tool to check on the students and make sure that they are doing what they are suppose to.
Overall today's class was pretty fun and I learned something new.