Great Power, Great Responsibility: Being Safe on the Internet

I felt that the four group presentations for online safety were very well done and very informative as well. I had heard about all four of the topics and knew some basic information about each one, but it was very insightful to get a little bit more of an in depth view of what each was about. As an educational unit, the four presentations were great. They were all very educational. These presentations could even be meshed into one big presentation that could be used to help high school and undergraduate university students as well, via some type of online safety presentation or workshop.

When designing lessons to teach Internet safety, I will definitely integrate everything I learned from each of these presentations, depending on what I am teaching them first. I feel that the cyber bullying and sexting lessons could go hand in hand. I would want to present those two as one and I would also want to teach them about phishing and pharming. One lesson would be to keep them safe, and the other would be to keep their information and computers safe. It is important to provide awareness for students with the emergence of such helpful technology. With the rise in the availability of computers and internets in school (and out of the class as well), students are having more and more positive attitudes toward using the internet for school (Hong, K.-S., Ridzuan, A. A., & Kuek, M.-K. (2003).

As far as the use of Wiggio goes, I feel that is a great technological tool, but does not serve the culture and community of Guam. Living on such a small island, it is a very uncommon thing for people to video chat with one another. A majority of the people I know with video chatting tools such as Skype or even FaceTime only utilize this tool for communicating with people who are not on island. For us, I feel that it is easier to just contact each other via phone, What’sApp, and the “old fashioned” meeting face to face. As you might have noticed in class when we were all experimenting with our conferencing tools, everyone seemed a bit awkward and apprehensive with having to video chat with one another. I will say though, that this might be good for high school students who may not be as mobile as adults.

The assignment overall, as a whole, was great. I feel that my classmates gave great presentations and that everyone was able to learn from each one of them. It was very cool to be able to focus on something like the Internet, which is a very powerful tool that sometimes gets taken for granted. I feel that some people are unaware of some of the dangers of the Internet, so as an educator, we should use our position to inform everyone. The Internet has drastically changed the way that children interact with the world (netsmartz.org). With that being said, we should encourage students to use this wonderful tool safely.

Hong, K.S., A. A., & Kuek, M.K. (2003). Students’ Attitudes Towards the Use of the Internet for Learning. Malaysia Educational Technology and Society, 6(2). 45-49

Net Smartz. Basic Internet Safety. Retrieved from www.netsmartz.org

The Eight Wonders of the World… Wide Web: My Assessment of Online Tools

MOODLE:

            My first experience with Moodle was in my first semester with Mrs. Abaday. At first, I didn’t know what it was exactly. I figured that it was something similar to a web group that my undergrad professors had utilized like a yahoo group or something. I later found out that it was more than that. Even with my classes this past semester and during summer, I am still learning new things about Moodle and discovering all the different things it’s capable of.

            Overall, I feel that Moodle is a very helpful tool between teacher and student; however, it does depend and vary on the experience the teacher has with the program. I have had several experiences with teachers who were not well versed with Moodle and were still requiring the use of it. This became more frustrating than it was helpful. If I were to rate Moodle on a five-star scale, I would give it a 4 out of 5. In my recent class with Dr. Sangueza, I was able to see a whole different layout of the website, and in your class, it was my first time to see hyperlinks in assignments. I give it four stars because of its ability to be so versatile and its positive effect it has on students on their academics.

FIREFOX:

            Personally, I have never been a big fan of the Firefox web browser. In my experience working at an Internet café, Firefox was the chosen web browser that we had decided to leave on all the computers in the shop. Within my first few times of using it, I had already decided that I wasn’t a fan. The first drawback for me was the interface. It was not visually appealing and I felt that the buttons and functions of the browser were not user friendly. Even after seeing the customizations of different browser skins, I still wasn’t convinced. Since I have always had some sort of bias against Firefox, I give it a 2 out of 5 stars. I guess it’s just not for me.

GOOGLE APPS:

            First of all, I love gmail. I have been using gmail for quite sometime, and am a convert from the old Hotmail email services. My first thought is that gmail is more professional. Not to rag anyone who uses Hotmail, but when I see gmail accounts as compared to Hotmail accounts, I tend to take them more seriously or approach them first. It is very easy to use and sign up for and I love how you can integrate it with almost anything (YouTube, blogs, etc.) The google apps are all very user friendly and have endless possibilities to what you can do with them (Google, 2014), as we’ve been learning. I give google apps five out of five stars.

LIVEBINDERS:

            LiveBinders was a brand new website for me this year. Based on the name, I had assumed it was going to be like a livetext, but in binder form; meaning we could hold more info or possibly organize it. After using LiveBinders for the first time, I would have to say that it is a pretty effective tool. The user interface looks a little boring at first, but you can customize it. I would use this as a tool in my class for students to create e-portfolios for assignments or even for them to organize presentations. I give LiveBinders five out of five stars.

YUGMA:

            As discussed in our group presentation, I am not too fond of Yugma. Though it has so many features, it is not ideal for use in the classroom of high school students. It is far too pricy and is centered mostly for businesses. I love the features it offers and how effective you can be with a single program, but I would rather use two or three programs for free to do what Yugma charges money for. I give Yugma a 2 out of 5 stars.

INCREDIBOX:

            Incredibox is by far my most favorite tool that I have been introduced to this semester. As a musician, drums to be specific, it was so fun to be able to experiment with the different sounds of each character to make a complete beat and melody. Controlling it during performances to change it up to make a live sound was fun too. The possibilities seemed endless for me, even if there were only a handful of stock sounds to choose from. The three different versions allowed for hours of fun for me. I give Incredibox 5 out of 5 stars.

iMovie:

            I love iMovie for is easy-to-use simplicity. As a user of Adobe Premier and Final Cut, I would have to say that iMovie is a good introduction for students to learn how to edit clips and make videos. The user interface is easy to navigate and is easy to get used to for first time users. This is a good tool to show your students when you want them to create videos or even to challenge their creativity for different projects. In using iMovie in your classroom you are not only teaching students how to make a movie, but you are teaching them the value and time spent in creating a project (Teaching with Tech, Beach). I would highly recommend it for classes and give it a 5 out of 5 stars.

Beach, J. iMovie (Educational Movie). Teaching with Tech. Retrieved from http://www.teachingwithtech.net/imovie/

Google. 2014. 35 Ways to Use Google Apps in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1igbuSO-r38J5ngdGgAr70JoS0hOFAJ0qm5CN9WGYLmc/present?slide=id.i547

Enabling Dreams for All Students

One of the most important parts of a lesson plan to help students with disabilities become active participants of the lesson are accommodations. A teacher should have training to be able to come up with alternative solutions for having these students complete their assignments like the rest of the class. I feel that it is the teacher’s responsibility to understand the needs of the students and to create ways in which to cater to these needs. For many students with disabilities—and for many without—the key to success in the classroom lies in having appropriate adaptations, accommodations, and modifications made to the instruction and other classroom activities (NICHCY 2010.)

            Accommodating to your students needs was definitely shown in this video. From the modified computers to help students type papers, to those handheld devices (which had personalization options for them as well), to the inverted musical instrument. All of these were excellent examples of being able to provide for the needs of different students. In this case, students with special education backgrounds.

            To help accommodate for students with disabilities in my class, I would first do some background research. I would maybe talk to the student to do a modified version of my student interest survey just to see how they are personally and what interests them socially and academically. I would also talk to their other or former teachers and of course, I would check the school CRT to get some information about the student and their disability to help me accommodate them better.

            In order to help me assess the appropriateness of my revisions, I would once again contact the CRT’s and even include my admin in the meeting, just so everyone can become familiar with the strategies I would plan to employ. I would also do some research to get ideas on teaching approaches. Teaching strategies would be based on student needs, formal exceptionalities determined by the Identification Placement and Review Committee, and diagnosed medical/psychological conditions (Ontario Teacher Foundation).

            Currently, I have two friends with children who are autistic. Both of their kids go to the same developmental school and are taught using videos and iPads quite often. One of them who I had asked about it, said that their child has developed in speech and cognitive skills. He is able to play the puzzle games and respond to the questions though his vocabulary is still limited. Even with his restricted vocabulary, he has developed significantly since using these applications.

NICHCY. Supports, Modifications, and Accommodations for Students. September 2010. Retrieved from http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/accommodations/

Ontario Teacher Foundation. Teaching Strategies for Students with Special Needs. Retrieved from http://www.teachspeced.ca/teaching-strategies-students-special-needs

Yugma Presentation

Video supplement used during our presentation on the Yugma webconferncing tool.

21st Century Lab Notebook Response

Right off the bat, this article caught my attention. Before I even began to read anything, I was looking at the pictures that were attached to the article. I thought it was super cool how the notebook was electronic and customizable to the user. The downfall of this is reality, especially in GovGuam schools. Even with all the potential of this technological device, I'm sure it will be some time before we see these making appearances in our local public schools. One thing that I wanted to know more about was its adaptability to other subjects. The article was science based and I wanted to read more about using it for other content areas to see if the possibilities that I am imagining are attainable.

Reflection #1: Online Educational Game

             In the golden era of technology, all aspects of life are being built around this ever-changing and rapidly advancing science; including education. Since technology has been evolving to improve the quality of life at all spectrums, why not have it help with learning? One of the most popular and synonymous terms with technology amongst children and teenagers are games.

Online educational games are becoming extremely popular amongst the entire realm of learners. From young learners in primary schools, to young adults at the collegiate level, and even adult students in post-graduate programs, online games and the integration of technology is becoming a valuable education tool that is starting to be used more often and more frequently. Online games are becoming more educationally effective for all its users. (Garzotto, 2007).

For this project, my group had decided to use a game called “Spelling Bees.” This was a game I had stumbled on while searching for ways to help ESL learners both with spelling and typing. In this game, up to four players can go head to head, competing in rounds where they have to spell words, which a narrator pronounces, and type them out as fast as they can with the correct spelling. Every time a word is spelled correctly, that person’s beehive gets bigger. The person with the biggest beehive at the end of the time wins.

With regards to creating our rubric, one of the most difficult challenges was trying to shave down and compress our information and find appropriate ways to grade it. To help with the creation process, we listed down several keywords and concepts that we liked such as “playability,” “educational value,” and “age appropriateness,” and gave it scores like “easy,” “medium,” and “difficult,” before we refined our rubric to its final stage. We had so many ideas and needed to break it down to make the rubric simpler to read, understand, and follow. We also stumbled upon a sort of writers block in trying to figure out terms we can describe our scoring with.

Though I teach math, this game would be appropriate for my students since they are ESL learners. Even with our math lessons, I always go over with vocabulary, as I feel that by learning what the words mean, my students will get a better grasp of the concept of the lesson and the directions in which they are to follow. Since most DOE schools have technology embedded within the school’s ESLR’s, this game would be a perfect way to incorporate technology in the classroom as a tool for learning, especially in the area of language arts. (Ayuyu, et al, 2010).

During the creation of our project, the most helpful tech tool that we used was the PowToons animation creator. After browsing through some of the suggested sites and tools that you recommended, we all agreed on using PowToons. It really caught our attention and the animation was the main seller for us.

            Overall, this presentation was both fun and educational. Playing with the different sites and widgets was good for expanding our technological capital. I found the game to be pretty fun and effective at an elementary standpoint. The repetitiveness of the game might get old for older students (pun intended). The one thing I struggled with was the pronunciation of the words. It was hard for me to hear what they were saying clearly.

REFERENCES

Franca Garzotto. 2007. Investigating the educational effectiveness of multiplayer online games for children. In Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Interaction design and children (IDC '07). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 29-36.

Ayuyu, R, Cepeda, E., Gutierrez, M., et al. 2010. Guam Department of Education, K-12 Standards and Performance Indicators.  Guam Department of Education. Retrieved June 15, 2014, from https://sites.google.com/a/gdoe.net/curriculum-and-instruction/home/content-standards-1/content-standards

Educational Online Game and Rubric

For our educational game, we chose a game titled "Spelling Bees." In this game, students race to type words as they hear it. If they spell the word correctly, their hive increases in size.

To help us grade the effectiveness of this game, we have employed a rubric in which we will use to base our grading. 

Here are the breakdowns of scoring for each group member.
Emm: 2 // 3 // 2 for a total of 7
Gavin: 3 // 2 // 2 for a total of 7 (see my blog post reflection for details)
Aries: 2 // 3 // 2 for a total of 7

Based on our rubric, we graded the game 21/29 for an overall grade of 78%