Project Tomorrow Proposal

I've been having somewhat of a hard time with this assignment. It seems difficult for me to grasp the concept of it however I do have some ideas after doing some more thorough research.

I spent a significant amount of time looking through cogdogroo.com for some digital story ideas. I did not know where to even begin before looking through this website. I am hoping to create a type of digital story with a tool  that will create my story into a comic strip with thought bubbles or sounds. There are also other tools such as animoto and zooburst that I have thought about using as well.

For my project, I have been thinking about different individuals to interview. I want to start with my sister who is going to be a sophomore at John Carroll University. I also contemplated asking my younger cousin who will be in first grade this fall. Although he is young, he does have his own opinion about everything. He also continues to surprise me with the amount of technology he uses at home and how well he can use it (ex: desktop computer, laptop, tablet, cell phone, DVR system on the tv etc). I think it will be interesting to see the differences between these two students and what types of things they would like to have incorporated into the classroom. I have also thought about asking some high school students that I work with or students that attend different universities. I expect the responses to vary according to age range and level in school.

I have gathered a few sources and read through some interesting articles about how students use technology outside of school and how teachers are trying to incorporate these technologies inside of the classroom.  My first resource is an education week article. The theme of the article correlates to that of Perinsky when talking about students having to "power down" in class. In this article, a student explains that he would like to use his iPod while working in class because classical music helps him to concentrate. I think this is a valid point to incorporate into my research project. Many students like to work while listening to music, myself included.

Another resource of mine is an article from TechSmith. This article explains how technology helps the students to teach each other. Students can show each other how to operate programs or technologies or they can correct and give advice on each other's work using technology. I would like to ask my sister or another college student what they think about this and if it helps them to learn.

My third resource raised different points about technology in the classroom than the other two. This article  explains that bringing technology into the classroom creates different roles between the teacher and student. Sometimes the teacher acts as a guide for learning instead of a lecturer. Another important point is that sometimes the roles are reversed and the student teaches the teacher about something. The article explains that this is a huge confidence booster in students.

My fourth resource that I am using goes along with the third resource in the aspect of confidence boosting within the students. The article is from the Academic Impressions website. In the article, a professor incorporated Twitter into a language class. The teacher found that student's confidence was boosted when they could Twitter anonymously in the language they were learning. Students corrected each other's mistakes and it encouraged the students to communicate more in the language that they were learning.

I have a few other resources that I am going to incorporate into my project as well. Using the knowledge I have gained from these resources, I am hoping to interview my sister and possibly my younger cousin to see what their opinion would be.


Annotated Bibliography:
Ash, Katie, and Michelle Davis. "Students Sound Off on School Tech Use." Education Week:. 28 Jan. 
2010. Web. 31 May 2012. <http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/02/03/02kids.h03.html>.


"Lincoln Middle School Students Use Technology to Help Each Other Succeed." TechSmith. Web. 31 May 2012. <http://www.techsmith.com/education-customer-story-mathtrain.html>.

"In and Out of the Classroom: Using Social Media in Ways That Matter | Academic Impressions." In and Out of the Classroom: Using Social Media in Ways That Matter | Academic Impressions. Academic Impressions, 10 Jan. 2012. Web. 31 May 2012. <http://www.academicimpressions.com/news/and-out-classroom-using-social-media-ways-matter>.

Weblog 4

I have found many web 2.0 apps that I would like to integrate into my classroom. I think that these web apps will encourage learning by making it fun and different. My web apps will include many study tools such as quizzes, flashcards and reviews. Another app will allow communication between students and myself as well as parents and myself. My goal is to encourage learning in a different experience that will hopefully be more engaging.

The first web app that I am going to use is a Google calendar. On this calendar I have included test dates and due dates for assignments.
Grades are posted here along with a seating chart and attendance for parents to view. This website, learnboost.com also has a lesson plan maker and a means of communication for parents and students with me.
A flashcard app will be beneficial to students especially when learning and memorizing vocabulary and verb tenses.
Spanishpod.com is an app that will allow students to practice their Spanish vocabulary and practice their language skills.

Weblog 3: My website

My website will be designed for a Spanish class, middle school to high school grade levels. I have not had many teachers that have had their own website or if they did, I did not view the page very often. One thing I do find helpful is when teachers post the class syllabus online – whether it be on blackboard or on their own website. I also find it helpful when teachers post powerpoints, class notes or other handouts in class online. If I missed a class for whatever reason I could always go to their website or to Blackboard and find the necessary materials for the class that I missed. Many students misplace or lose papers as well.

A co-worker and former high school teacher I talked to explained to me that she never had a website for class. She told me that she does not think she would be able to create a website on her own without the help of someone. I find that many people feel this way. Before this class, I did not know that there were websites that actually helped you create your own website. She also told me that if she had a website she thinks that extra study tools would be necessary. If students are studying for an exam it would be beneficial to have study guides posted, quizzes and other resources. I have taken this into consideration and have come up with a few resources that I have helped me throughout my high school and college career. Studyspanish.com and spanishdict.com are really helpful.

Web 2.0 apps on my site: After browsing www.go2web20.net I have found some apps that I think will be helpful to students. For example in relation to the Spanish language – busuu, myhappyplanet, spanishpod and italki are all apps that aid in the learning of languages. They even allow you to practice your language skills with a native speaker! I also found apps to create quizzes and note cards – quizinator and knowtes.
I also plan to add a calendar, a grade book, some type of emailing system and my contact info on my website. I also plan to create the website bilingually. There will be Spanish text with English text to it or some type of a translate button. 

Introducing TPCK

The definition of technology itself was something that I had never looked up or defined. What I find most interesting about the definition is that it is used to produce desires and wants of humans.

Technology is protean - this means that it is usable in various ways. Something worth noting in this section is that technology is different for each person and it serves a different purpose for each person. Ex: technology can be a method of communication, designing, constructing, problem solving, etc.

Technology is functionally opaque - inner workings of technology are hidden from those who use them. I have found this to be most frustrating with those who have not grown up with technology throughout their whole life.

Technology is unstable - technology is constantly changing, the newest technology is outdated so quickly that it is impossible for us to keep up. As a result of this we must constantly learn and adapt to new programs and new devices. We also must be willing to continually learn about these technologies.

The wicked - teaching with technology is considered to be a wicked problem. This means that things are constantly changing. The technology changes therefore we must change and learn with it. It is not a constant like other subject areas. Because it is a wicked problem, the answer will always be changing and is considered "custom".  Wicked problem = full of complexity, ill-structured, requires an understanding of a variety of complex problems.

Intro for ED 586

Dave Matthews Band - Seven