Audio

     I thought that this chapter of Wes Fryer's book, Playing with Media, raised a lot of good points about the benefits of using audio recordings in the classroom. One benefit that I learned was that recording audio of someone is a lot less intimidating than doing video recording. I think that this is important to remember and something that I definitely agree with. I also liked the idea of using audio recording as a way of reflection rather than, for example, journal entries. This would benefit students who do not thrive at writing but still need a medium to articulate their thoughts. I also learned about many of the resources available on the web. I'm hoping to incorporate some of these resources into my classroom, such as StoryCorps, which is a great example of the power of audio.
     The three resources I looked at were StoryCorps, AudioBoom, and iPadio. StoryCorps is a website where you can listen to personal stories told by a wide range of people. I feel like StoryCorps could be used well in an English classroom to show the power of language, as the stories featured are very moving. This website could be paired with podcasts such as The Moth and Risk! in a storytelling unit, where students could also learn to be a good storyteller. AudioBoom is a website that easily allows you to upload video clips to share with others. In the book, Fryer uses an example of his daughter talking about a historical landmark they had visited. This showed how useful AudioBoom can be in sharing feelings and thoughts through audio recording. The last link I explored was iPadio. This website is a "phonecasting" website that allows users to livestream via the phone. I thought that this was very interesting because I had never heard of anything like it. I am interested to see if there's a way for me to use phonecasting in my future classroom.

Show and Tell

     This chapter discusses several ways in which teachers and share technology that they are using or products students have created with parents, students, and the community. There are many different websites that Fryer suggests are good to use for this purpose.
     One website that is suggested is Tumblr. I am an avid Tumblr user recreationally, so the use of Tumblr in the classroom is interesting to me. I think that there are many reasons not to use Tumblr that people who just use Tumblr as a blogging website are not aware of, such as the highly charged political culture that exists on Tumblr and the potential to see very inappropriate content on the website. However, since Tumblr is probably something many students are already comfortable using and enjoy using, attempting to use it to show and tell could be successful.
     Another website that Fryer suggests using is Facebook. Since Facebook is a social media site that virtually everyone uses, it is an easy way to reach a large audience. I think that Facebook can be used beneficially in the classroom in many ways, such as creating groups for classes where students can post questions about assignments or the teacher can post reminders. I can also see a teacher using Facebook to create a page or group that parents could like or join to communicate with them about technology being used in the classroom.
     Fryer also suggests that students make online digital portfolios using either Google Sites or Wikispaces. This is something that I have had to do in many classes, but the portfolios were never shared with anyone beyond the teacher and other students. I think that there is a lot of potential in this to share student work with parents in a way that they can check in on what their student is doing at any time, as compared to a physical portfolio which parents usually only see at conferences.

Digital Text

     In this chapter, I learned about Wikis and Blogs. Fryer talks about the differences between these platforms and how they can be used in the classroom. I learned about the differences between the two platforms, like how he calls a wiki more of an encylopedia and a blog like an online newspaper. Fryer also briefly discusses browsers and which ones are optimal for blogging. From this, I learned that Firefox and Chrome are best for blogging purposes, especially over Internet Explorer. I also learned that there are two types of blogs: client and web-based. A client blog is based and can only be run on one computer, while a web-based blog can be accessed anywhere and on any machine. Most blogging services now are web-based. One benefit of client blogs is that they often allow for greater customization.
     The links that I explored were Thingamablog, Kidblog, and WordPress. Thingamablog is a client based blogging service. This is different from a service like Blogger because the user must download the program to use Thingamablog. I found this service interesting because I have never experienced a client based blogging program. Although it looks confusing, the website provides a lot of support for users, with an FAQ, a forum, and a place to contact the creators. In contrast to Thingamablog, WordPress is a web-based blogging service much like Blogger is. I have seen many blogs that use WordPress and it seems like a good option that has a lot of customization. However, WordPress is more than a blogging service because it also allows users to make websites that are not blogs, such as websites for small businesses. The last blogging service I looked at was Kidblog. I enjoyed exploring Kidblog because it is made specifically for classroom use. It has a lot of privacy options that would probably be beneficial to use in the classroom, especially depending on the age of the students. As a teacher who is interested in incorporating blogging into my future classroom, I think it is important that I am aware of all the options students can use to create their blogs.

Images

     Chapter 5 of Wes Fryer's book focuses on where to find images. He argues that, despite its popularity, Google Images should be avoided when trying to find images. There are other websites that Fryer list that only show images that are free to use, unlike Google Images where the license of an image is impossible to find. I looked at three of these alternative image websites: flickr (www.flickr.com), Behold (www.behold.cc), and Compfight (www.compfight.com).
     Flickr has a very large amount of images that are free to use under creative commons. I like Flickr because it has such a wide variety of images and is relatively easy to use. All of the photos on the website are of high quality and would be useful for making a website or a presentation. Compared to Flickr, Behold and Compfight are much simpler and also more limited. All of the websites allow the user to check off what kind of license they would like the images they find to be under. This is very convenient compared to trying to find images that are free to use on the mass of images that appear when using Google Images.
     From this chapter and investigating these websites, I learned that it is easier to find images that are free to use than I had previously thought. I also was shown how much variety there is. Although it is more limited than finding any image off of Google Images, there are still a lot of images to choose from. I am glad that this chapter exposed me to these sources, because I had previously felt limited when looking for images that I was allowed to use for projects. I think I will be ale to use these websites in my classroom easily. I will require that students use images that are free to use under creative commons and will direct them to these websites to find such pictures. These websites are a very good source that I can pass along to my students.

Professional Development in Technology Integration

     I followed Kelly Tenkely's blog iLearn Technology in order to explore more about integrating technology into the classroom. Although her blog focuses on the use of technology, I found that she posts about many other topics that I find meaningful and relevant to my future as an educator. The way she writes her entries are very useful, as she often starts by introducing a technology and then explains how it can be used in a classroom. I found that many of these posts may not be relevant to my future classroom as they apply more to younger students. However, most of the technology could be adapted in a different way that could be used in my teaching. Although these posts were not related to technology, I really enjoyed what Kelly had to say about body image and self-confidence. I think that, as a teacher, it is important to instill confidence in students. At the high school and middle school level, where these issues typically arise, is where it is especially important to do this. There is one post on the blog about going "naked" for a day, meaning not wearing makeup. I think that a good way to instill confidence in others is to model that confidence yourself. Kelly also writes about general issues and views that come with being a teacher. In one post, she wrote about how teaching is not a job, it's a worldview. This is one of the issues that I have been thinking about in the past few weeks that have made me question whether teaching is something I really want to do. As I had to do things for teaching in my mentor teacher's classroom, I began to consider the amount of time that teaching will take away from my personal life. However, Kelly writes that teaching is a job that does not feel like a job. I hope that by the end of practicum I feel like teaching is not a burden that takes time away from my life, but something that I actually enjoy and want to do.

Video Thoughts

1. After making the MEL project, I found the section on animated video from text to be interesting. It gave many examples of websites to use to create a project like this. These are good resources to have because I have learned from experience how difficult and time consuming making a PowToon was. It is nice to be aware of alternative programs.

2. I thought the idea of no-edit videos was a good one. Because we don't have a lot of time to always be requiring students to make complicated, lengthy videos, an easy way to use this technology in the classroom is to have no-edit videos as homework. These videos can just be the student responding to a question, showing how to work through a problem, or any other quick task.

3. I like the concept of narrated slideshows. I liked that Fryer included names of apps that will help you do this. If my future classroom had iPads, these apps will be useful for my students.

4. I liked the tips for showing videos in the classroom, such as show short clips. Students may get bored if asked to sit through a long video.

Although I already have video projects in some of my lessons for Dr. Grace's class, I could incorporate video into other lessons or use them as hooks. If I could find a useful video teaching a concept, I could also show that video in class. This will give visual learners what they need to learn a concept, as compared to me lecturing at them. My final project for my unit it a video project, as well as a few others. However, it might be beneficial to give students an option of using one of the other techniques in this chapter, such as the narrated slideshows or screencasting.

Inspiration

     This link provides many examples of how Inspiration can be used in a classroom. There were many language arts specific examples, which I enjoyed and found easy to relate to. The example showing the MacBeth chart shows how themes of the play can be connected to the plot of the play. This concept for a map is very interesting and something that I would like to use in my classroom. Making a map like that would show people that themes and symbols in stories are not as abstract as they seem; they are really connected to the action in the story. This activity would be augmentation because it is using a computer program to replace using paper, but it provides you with great options such as adding images easily.

     Making something like the graph the websites shows for Mark Twain will help guide students through speaking parts in a presentation. Instead of making something like an index card, an Inspiration graph like this one can be presented, giving the audience something visual to look at and the presenter something to guide their thoughts. This activity would also be augmentation. While it is essentially the same as writing notes on an index card, it also serves to give the audience an idea and overview of what is happening during a presentation.

Wes Fryer on Copyright and Fair Use

            Fryer’s chapter regarding copyright laws and fair use was very brief and easy to understand. It gave a great overview for someone who needs to understand the laws, but not every intricate detail of them. While I already had learned much of this information from the comic, Fryer’s book clarified the concept if Fair Use for me by specifying that it was a legal defense rather than a right. It was also interesting that the chapter touched on the idea of using Wikipedia as a way to show copyright details to students, as Wikipedia was always vehemently not allowed when I was in high school and middle school. In general, I did not learn a lot of new information from this chapter, but it clarified many of the problems I had with the other copyright assignment. I liked that this gave a useful and easy to understand overview of what I will need to know as a teacher.

            This chapter included on examples of how these copyright laws affect the classroom and how to avoid violating them. Like I mentioned, one of these ideas is to encourage students to look at image copyright information on Wikipedia. To me, this activity sounds effective because I hope to model these laws for my students in my future classroom. I think what will greatly affect how my students handle copyrights in my classroom is if they are educated properly. I hope that I will be able to educate my students and compel them to give proper credit to the owners of material or to avoid the use of materials made by others. 

Copyright and Fair Use

            This comic is about the laws surrounding copyright and fair use that control what is protected from being used without permission.

            I learned a lot of history about copyright laws from this comic, as well as what the current laws are. This comic addresses both the advantages and disadvantages that copyright laws have on artists. While these laws may stifle the creativity of artists, such as documentarians, they also serve to protect them. These laws give artists full control over their works; however, the laws do not protect ideas, only the products of ideas. These laws can be a hassle, especially when artists unintentionally include copyrighted material in their works. This is something that can be allowed on the policy of fair use; however, these claims of having fair use often results in lawsuits that force artists to cut out whatever was being disputed or pay a hefty fine.

            This comic made me realize how prevalent copyright laws actually are. I also realized how complicated they are, with there being varying limits of how long a copyright lasts depending on what type of work it is and if the copyright is renewed, among other factors. Because of these intricacies, it almost seems as if incorporating the works of others into one’s own art would be more hassle than it is worth. I also think that the laws, while they are meant to protect all artists—even small, independent ones—give large corporations a lot of power. This is evident in some of the examples the comic references in its earlier pages, such as Fox demanding $10,000 dollars for a 4.5 second clip of The Simpsons playing in the background of a scene in a documentary.

            While these laws will not have as much as an impact on me as a teacher as they did on the documentarian featured in the comic, I will have to comply to them whenever I wish to use an image, song, or video. These copyright laws would also apply to students who want to incorporate some of these aspects into their work. Because of this, it is important that students be properly educated on copyright laws and how to cite materials they use.

Maine Memory Network

            On Maine Memory Network, I looked up my hometown, Windham, Maine, and saw many old pictures of it. I also decided to look up Farmington to see old pictures of the campus and students. It was interesting to see these artifacts of the past. I did not know that there was an easy way to access historical pictures and documents like this. I found this resource to be a great way to explore the past and relate it to one’s own personal history, such as their hometown or where their parents grew up.

            Even though this is a tool to view pieces of history, it could easily be incorporated into an English classroom. If my class was reading a piece of literature that is set in Maine, students could look up the town the story takes place in. They may be able to find artifacts from the date the story takes place, as well. This would help students visualize the reading and make the story feel real to them.

Google Earth

            I learned a lot more about using Google Earth from this assignment. I found it interesting that users can add photos to landmarks, such as at the Eiffel tower. I did not know that Google Earth allowed users to look at other locations, such as the moon and mars. When I used Google Earth to look at Mars, I saw that it told me where certain space missions have landed on Mars. I thought this tool was really fun to play around with and could have been useful for when I took Astronomy last semester.

            Google Maps can be used in and English classroom to map out the locations in books and other literature. There is a website called Google Lit Trips where students and teachers do this. This works either as an assignment to have students do or a teaching method. Having students look at these locations with Google Earth will make the story seem closer to life and will help them visualize the setting. The history slider may allow students to see a closer representation of what that place looked like closer to the setting of the story.

Wes Fryer Chapter 1

            This chapter explains why it is important to play with new technologies and incorporate them into learning. I found the digital landscape theory that Fryer presents to be quite interesting. He acknowledges the knowledge of technology that my generation was born into, and claims that for older generations, learning technology is a choice. Fryer goes on to explain that, while young generations have a lot of knowledge about how to casually use technology, they are often unable to do so in the classroom. I agree somewhat with this assertion. While many students do not know how to use more complicated programs or devices, I often find that teachers underestimate the knowledge of the students. In every computer class I have taken, the students have known just as much or more than the instructor, resulting in the class being a waste of time for the students. I believe that computer based classes should be more about taking something students are already familiar with and showing them new, meaningful, and practical ways to apply that technology to learning.

SAMR Model

TPACK is an acronym that stands for technological pedagogical content knowledge. This is a combination of all the different types of knowledge necessary to be a successful teacher. Technical knowledge is the knowledge of how to use technology and incorporate it into teaching, pedagogical knowledge is general knowledge of how to teach, and content knowledge is the knowledge a teacher should have of the subject he/she is teaching. TPACK is the combination of all of these in which a teacher can use technology and their knowledge of teaching and learning to effectively teach their content area.

SAMR is an acronym that represents the different ways a person could incorporate technology into their lives. The acronym stands for substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition. Each of these words represent a category of how teachers could incorporate technology into his/her classroom. Substitution means that something is being replaced by technology but there is no significant changes resulting from this replacement. Augmentation means that something is being replaced by technology but there is some changes or improvements resulting from this replacement. Modification means that a task can be completely changed by the use of technology and can be done completely differently. Redefinition means that technology is allowing the teacher or student to do something completely new that would not be possible without it.

            There are many examples of technology usage in the classroom that the SAMR model can be applied to. For example, in my EDU101 class last semester the professor had us create websites to post our assignments on. This would fall into the augmentation category of SAMR. This is because, while the websites were essentially replacing simply passing in the assignments on paper, there were also many improvements due to using the websites. For example, we could personalize the websites, we could control who could see it and share it with others if we choose, and it gave the professor the ability to leave comments and give us quick feedback rather than having to wait for the paper to be passed back to us.

            Another common usage of technology in the classroom is having students use GoogleDocs to collaborate on group projects. This would be using the modification aspect of SAMR. This is because the process of working on group projects can be totally changed by using GoogleDocs. Previously, all members of a group would have to be present to work on a project together or the project would have to be split up into different tasks and assigned to individuals. Now, all members of a group can access and make changes to the same document or slideshow. This completely modifies how group projects work.

            An example of technology in the classroom that simply replaces an older method of teaching is the usage of slideshow presentations in instruction. This is an example of substitution in the classroom. For some teachers, using slideshows replaces giving notes by writing on a whiteboard or chalkboard or by using an overhead projector. While the use of slideshows may come with some small benefits such as convenience, it is mostly simply another way to present information to students without many changes.

            Quizlet is a service that allows teachers or students to create digital flashcards. This service is an example of augmentation. While Quizlet allows the user to create flashcards just like is possible with notecards, it also gives additional options to help students study. These features include tests based around the user’s flashcards and a learn mode which helps the student remember the terms better. Because there are some improvements to the basic concept of flashcards, this service falls under augmentation.

            Another example of technology being used in the classroom comes from my AP European History class in high school. My teacher for the course liked to enhance her lectures by using YouTube videos from another history teacher who would create songs about the concepts we were learning about in class. Using these videos is an example of redefinition. This is because the teacher that made those videos was doing something that would not be possible without technology. Without using this technology, my teacher would have had no access to those videos to share with us and help us remember the material.

As We May Teach: SAMR and TPCK podcast by Dr. Ruben Puentedura

Apps for a Personal Passion

           I decided to find five apps that were based around music and would allow me to listen to new music based around my preferences or would just provide me good music to study to or listen to while working on something. The five apps I decided to explore were TuneIn Radio, Songza, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and Pandora. Although I have already used Pandora a lot, I felt it was important to include as I can compare the others with what I typically use.

            During this activity, I found that all of the apps have their own strengths and weaknesses. The first app I tried out was TuneIn Radio. This app surprised me as it was very unlike Pandora. TuneIn Radio connects the user to their local radio stations rather than crafting a station around the user’s interests. This turned out to be very interesting because, apart from the local stations, TuneIn also connects the user with radio stations from all over the country, as well as other countries. The app also has talk shows and podcasts available.

            Next, I looked at Songza. I really like Songza because it is so simple and focuses on finding music to suit your mood and situation rather than creating a station based on a song or artist. Songza gives different suggestions based on the day and time one is using it. For example, at night it will ask you if you want music to sleep to and in the morning it will offer you music to work out to. Once you choose one of these options it will ask a few more questions to gage your preferences and will then give you a playlist. This app is really cool and different than Pandora and I will probably download this on my phone to use.

            The next app I played with was iHeart Radio. I have heard of this app a lot and assumed it was quite popular. However, I was slightly disappointed by it. This app, like TuneIn, also provides local stations to listen to. iHeart Radio also provides stations from across the U.S., but not from other countries. This app also has a feature to create stations based around a song or an artist. However, it did not have any pre-existing stations based around genre to browse through. Overall, I found this service quite underwhelming and not at all unique.

            Spotify is another popular music app. What mostly sets Spotify apart from the rest of the apps I looked at is that it allows you to choose individual songs to listen to rather than just creating stations around that song. Spotify also allows you to make stations based around a song or artist if you wish to, as well as providing some pre-existing stations for different genres or moods. Spotify has a lot of great features; however, I find its interface to be confusing and not as user friendly as many of the other apps.

            Finally, Pandora is the last app I looked at. I find Pandora to be very simple and easy to use. Although it does not have as many features as some of the other apps, it is very good at creating stations based on your preferences and is extremely user friendly. It also makes station recommendations around what stations you already have.

            This activity helped me find some great music apps. I will definitely continue to use Pandora after this, but I will also continue to try out TuneIn Radio and Songza. I’m glad that I have explored other music apps as it will allow me to find more new music and add some variety to what I’m listening to. 

iPad Personalization

           Prior to this experience, I was already knowledgeable about how to use and personalize an iPad or other IOS devices. However, I did get to play around with some features that I have never tried out before. For example, I explored the accessibility options and found that the iPad provides some interesting ways to make use easier for certain people or to simply change up the look of the interface. I tried many of these options, such as invert colors, and found that even for users without need for these options they can be a fun way to personalize your device. I also appreciated the option for on and off labels on buttons, as sometimes it can be confusing trying to tell if something is toggled on or off.

            After this experience, I would be less likely to purchase an iPad. I felt that the device was too heavy and impractical for what I would probably use it for. I did this homework while lying in bed—which is where I would probably use a tablet to watch Netflix or browse social media—and I found it to be uncomfortable to use. Although my iPhone has a drastically smaller screen, it does everything I would want an iPad for and it is light and easy to just hold in one hand. For schoolwork or professional work, I find using my laptop to be a lot easier and a lot more practical.

            However, I see that iPads can be used for great things in the classroom. There are many educational apps that would be great for students to have access to. Despite this, I still think that it is more practical for students to be provided laptops than for them to be provided iPads. In my opinion, laptops are just more useful for a student’s typical needs, such as writing long papers, research, and making presentations. Having an iPad may also provide students with more opportunities to get off task than with a laptop, as even I got distracted by apps during the 20 minutes I was exploring the personalization settings of the device.