Ten Steps to Better Web Research

Ten Steps to Better Web Research

Blog Post # 13

ALEX


I think this website is very easy to navigate. You can easily find your course of study and and the objectives for that course and it even gives you an option to print them out. The web sources are great, and again, it's very easy to find your specific area of teaching. I want to teach high school science, whether it's biology or zoology or genetics, and it links you to all sorts of websites you could view to help you teach the class. It's a lot of sites all on one page that pertain to a lot of things instead of just Googling something yourself and having millions of websites to look through. There are even lessons plans and a professional learning network. This seems to be a great tool for any teacher in Alabama.



ACCESS



I have witness the use of ACCESS at LeFlore Magnet High School. At first it seemed like a good idea, but the whole reason they have ACCESS is because they don't have enough teachers. Since they have an overflow of students and not enough teachers some kids at this high school have a lab black where they are taught by an online teacher. It's just like taking an online class at a college. The lectures are online, the power points are online, the quizzes are online and you email the teacher any questions or concerns.

Depending on what subject it is, I think I would be okee with an ACCESS lab class. For the subject I witnessed ACCESS, I thought it was horrible. It was for physical science and they got rid of one of the teachers, yet they can pay for the online teacher. In physical science there is chemistry and physics and those concepts are not like learning a story for history or English, or Spanish, even biology paints a story. I felt like those kids were being robbed. Mostly because this class if for freshmen and most freshmen aren't disciplined enough for a total online class. And from what I gathered, the proctor of the class doesn't have to be knowledgeable about the subject. I think ACCESS in conjecture with a regular classroom teacher would be very fun for the students though, like an online Lab for whatever class you take.

Comments for Kids #10 and #11

Hi Graham.
I'm a student from the University of South Alabama. In Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class we have the privilege of being able to peek at different student blogs from all around the world. This week I got to see yours. You did a fantastic job with your picture and memory sentence. When I was younger the sentence I was taught to remember the planets was: My Very Excited Mother Just Us Nine Pies. Pluto isn't a planet anymore so I guess my sentence doesn't match now-a-days =)
Continue to keep up the good work!

Graham's blog











Hey Chase.
I'm a student from the University of South Alabama. Do you like history? I enjoyed reading your blog about Columbus and how you felt about certain phrases because your right, a lot of things do change over time. It must have been really neat to Skype with an expert =)
Great blog post, keep up the good work.

Chase's Blog

Blog Post # 12

I think creating a Voki for your first blog post would have been fun. That way instead of typing out a paragraph for people to read, when they came to your blog, they could have watched a little interactive cartoon.


Get a Voki now!

C4K # 10

I made a Voki and left James K. a comment on his voki with my voki.





The Class Blog where you can scroll down and see and hear James K.'s voki and my mine.

A PLN Response from one of the Teachers

Hey Pauline,

Sorry it took so long to respond to the question you asked on my blog about the value of building a PLN. I actually turned your question into an entry. It won't be posted until this Saturday, but you can read it below.

I hope it helps!
Bill







In response to a recent blog post that I wrote about Twitter as a tool for learning, Pauline---a college student following my blog as a part of a class project---wrote:

I'm still working on my PLN, but I'm failing to see the importance of it. I think that most of the time when people have questions, they just research and read blogs and websites and so forth when the question arises.



I could be wrong, of course. I know that's how I think. I'm following a few people on twitter for my EDM class, but again, I'm failing to see why it's so important. Maybe you can explain it better?

Good questions, Pauline---and for many people who are new to building a PLN, their benefits might seem sketchy at best simply because we've become so comfortable with our current learning practices and processes.



I can tell you, though, that my own digital learning network has changed the way that I work. In fact, rarely a day goes by that I don't learn something---a teaching technique, how to use a new tool, what's happening in the world of education beyond my own building----from the people that I join together with online.



Let me point you to a few posts that I've written that might convince you to invest a bit more time into your PLN building efforts:

Twitter as a Tool for Professional Development
In this post, I give several practical reasons why I've decided to use Twitter to build a PLN. It's a great post if you're interested in an overview of why digital forums can be sources for real learning for teachers.

Lathered Brilliance, Superman Underoos and Social Media Spaces
In this post from my blog---which started with a few thoughts in the shower---I give a tangible example of how my own personal learning network made my life easier by pointing me immediately to thoughts and resources that I needed. It's connected to the idea that environments that build walls stifle innovation. PLNs are the ultimate wall-busters.


Why Teachers Should Try Twitter
In this article for Educational Leadership magazine, I work to explain how Twitter has served as a tool for customizing my professional development---tailoring it to meet my own professional needs----which is something that rarely happens in the typical school setting. I also introduce some of the nuts and bolts details behind how to go about building your PLN.

Technology Facilitates Connections
As I explain in this post, I believe that all true learning depends on connections between individuals. I push your thinking. You push mine. We both learn together. Those are skills that are enabled when one builds a PLN using digital tools because we can make our thinking transparent to more people, more often. What really drives me is a desire to start teaching my own students to use digital tools in the same way.

Twitter Hashtags for Educators
One of the reasons that I think many people underestimate Twitter is because they haven't figured out how to use hashtags to search for content that might be valuable to them. Even if you aren't actively networking in Twitter, you can still quickly find content connected to your work by searching through the links that I share in this post and in this post.

Does any of this make sense to you? I think if I had to summarize the importance of building a PLN, I"d say something like, "PLNs help teachers to refine their core beliefs, to test their newest hunches, to find likeminded peers, and to efficiently access a constant stream of valuable resources."


Radical readers, do you have any additional thoughts for Pauline? Why is your PLN important to you? What steps or strategies should someone interested in building a PLN take first? What other resources on PLNs can you share with her?


Let's fill up the comment section with a collection of our best thinking on the role that PLNs can play in the learning of today's teacher.










Regards,
Bill Ferriter

C4K # 8

Hi Braedon. My name is Pauline and I'm a student from the University of South Alabama. In Dr. Strange's class I got to watch a short video about your teacher Ms. Cassidy and how she teaches you guys a lot of neat stuff about using the internet and video cameras.
You're doing a great job with your blog. I used Vocaroo to record something before and put it in my blog also.
Keep up the good work.





Braedon's blog

Blog Post # 11

Wow, these kids blew me away. They are very tech savvy. They are being exposed to blogging and skyping and wikis and all sorts of things. Depending on what kind of school I teach at, meaning if everyone would have computer access or not, I would like to use blogs and wikis for the students to improve writing skills as well as exchanging scientific ideas with each other since that's what I would be teaching. If computer access wouldn't be plausible, I'm sure if we had a smart board we could skype other scientific experts as a whole class.



Skyping with Ms. Kathy



She does a lot with her first grade class. And she doesn't hold back anything from her students because of their age either. She teaches them and expects them to use it. I wouldn't have expected 5-7 year olds to be able to engage like her class engages with the rest of the world by using internet tools and videos and such. And that just proves to show how ignorant I am. I guess if I think about it, children a lot younger than my nieces and nephews seemed to be just as tech savvy as they are. I have no problem admitting that younger people are way better than me when it comes to computer stuff, I just didn't realize how young all these tech savvy people could be.

Set Me Free

Set Me Free ~ Casting Crowns

It hasn't always been this way
I remember brighter days
Before the dark ones came
Stole my mind
Wrapped my soul in chains

Now I live among the dead
Fighting voices in my head
Hoping someone hears me crying in the night
And carries me away

Set me free of the chains holding me
Is anybody out there hearing me?
Set me free

Morning breaks another day
Finds me crying in the rain
All alone with my demons I am
Who is this man that comes my way?
The dark ones shriek
They scream His name
Is this the One they say will set the captives free?
Jesus, rescue me

As the God man passes by
He looks straight through my eyes
And darkness cannot hide

Do you want to be free?
Lift your chains
I hold the key
All power on Heav'n and Earth belong to me

You are free
You are free
You are free

Blog Post # 10

Hi, I'm a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class.
I can understand how it seems like we are getting robbed here in the United States because of the way overall education is handled. I'm kind of a nerd, so I kind of like the lecture classes in my subject area, the biological sciences, but I can admit that I don't ever look forward to lectures from other teachers in different subject areas, I struggle to stay awake also. I think someone said that we're the only country that requires college students to be "well-rounded" everywhere else they just focus on their emphasis and are spared from buying expensive, useless textbooks and from falling asleep in class. Yeh, a college classroom is a pretty expensive napping place.
I agree with you also, I'm not one to drop out of school, b/c unfortunately that is just how the system is still set up in this country, but learning all the new technologies in this education transition will certainly give future teachers a leg up :)








Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home




Hi, I'm a student in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class here at the University of South Alabama.
I agree, that a student's total comprehension and understanding can't be strictly based off of drill and kill bubble tests.
And also how your solution was just to be flexible. I think if more educators were a little bit more flexible and open in their thinking and teaching, a lot of classrooms would change for the good, after all, everyone learns differently. I personally think hangman is a great way to memorize spelling words, one f my elementary teachers played that game with our class, it was fun and I thought it helped.
Great post.

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

My response to these questions can be summed up with these lyrics in this song

Legacy ~ Nichole Nordeman

I don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me
And I enjoy an accolade like the rest
You could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
Of all who's who and so-n-so's that used to be the best
At such'n'such ... it wouldn't matter much

I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an 'Atta boy' or 'Atta girl'
But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides
The temporary trappings of this world

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthy list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy

Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead, "Well Done" good and faithful one...

so what is my sentence?

I would like my sentence to be, "She wasn't afraid to share her faith as she pointed others to the Way in Yeshua HaMashiach." Did I plant more seeds than I did yesterday? Did I remember to water the seeds I planted already? G-d only knows, but I truly desire to be a better disciple today than yesterday :)