CEDO 540 Entry Three

This week in I happened to have the experience of being involved in two surveys. The first was a Census Bureau survey that required me to keep and expense diary to help the government adjust the Consumer Price Index. The second was a long survey about technology usage and ability for the tech department at my school. I do not believe that I will be able to see the results or how the data will be interpreted for either survey but it was interesting to participate in both of them considering that I am currently enrolled in a class about collecting data.

On a side note I had students in my World Cultures classes do research and create Prezi's. They turned out so great! The kids really got into making them and took pride in their work. I knew it was a successful project because the kids seemed enthusiastic presenting them and I learned a lot myself from watching them. For anyone skeptical about the power and effectiveness of having students create digital projects I would direct them to view these and there minds will be changed quickly.

CEDO 540 Entry Two

Doing the guided practice this week helped get some ideas regarding statistics and using them in my profession. Historically I have always used the class average (mean) when looking at a particular groups performance but by doing that I have clearly limited what I could have learned from my data. I believe that having more hard data to support teaching strategies, particularly those using technology. What I have discovered is that many teachers and even students are skeptical of new ideas and having data that has been examined may help promote buy-in. The next thing I need to find out is what types of data I should collect and what types of questions to ask

CEDO 540 Entry One

After really enjoying the last two classes in the program (Digital Storytelling, Web 2.0 Tools) I will be honest and say I'm a little more suspicious/apprehensive about a stats class. It has been a while since I've had any type of mathematics class (first year of college to be specific) so remembering some of the vocab might be tough. Despite the fact that I initially do not have the excitement my attitude always is to be open-minded and to always find things that I can use or that will help me improve.

I look forward to finding ways that I can gather data to improve my teaching and potentially my collaboration with other teachers. I have been seeing a need to have hard data about how effective using technology has been in my classes. Several teachers in my department and school are suspicious as to whether or not technology actually improves student learning and it would validate what I do if I have some hard evidence. On a personal level it may also help me determine what is having a measurable impact and what is not for my students. I will need to learn what type of questions to ask, how to gather the data, and most importantly how to interpret and apply the data.

My most extensive experience with statistics has to do with sports stats. When I was a kid I learned a lot of math from studying and playing around with football statistics and basketball statistics. I've been able to use that going forward so hopefully I get some stuff from this class that does the same...

CEDO 535 Entry Six

Smart Goal:
I will create an interactive e-textbook for a unit in one of my classes that incorporates multiple web 2.0 technologies. This will be done using a web 2.0 application for information collection, content presentation, interaction, and feedback. After getting some more information regarding data collection I plan on creating a form for students to fill out regarding the effectiveness of the e-textbook. This will be done at some point during the current semester.

Other:
Regarding my post from last week about not going far enough using technology I heard about the crab theory at my inservice meeting on Monday of this week. While I have a lot of faith in fellow educators and truly believe most of them have their students best interests in mind there are times in which innovation and progression are slow to occur in the field and I think a large part of that is the crab theory.

CEDO 535 Entry Five

Reading the epilogue really got me into some deep thinkingj about the read/write web. I have tried in class many times to use these strategies. This year I have used Edmodo in my classes, had my students blog, and had them work collaboratively using Google Docs just to name a few. The results have been mixed. While some students seem to get into and enjoy these things, it has not been effective for some. I've spent a great deal of time reflecting on why it has not worked as well as I had hoped with all students. While there is no doubt that I will revise some activities that have not worked as expected, I truly believe that I have not went far enough.

Most of my closest colleagues are very hesitant to use and critical of technology and view teachers having students on computers a lot as " lazy". I will admit that this has caused me to hesitate to go as far as I would like to using web 2.0 applications. By no means have I not incorporated technology but on a far more limited scale than I would like. I start a new semester on Monday and one of my goals for the rest of the year is to move forward using web 2.0 tools more frequently and setting a culture that my students and colleagues will follow.

CEDO 535 Entry Four

First off, I am an absolute podcast addict. As I write this  I am listening to one of my favorite sports podcasters Bill Simmons. Since purchasing an Ipod touch a couple years ago I have been listening to podcasts almost every time I go somewhere and even when I mow my lawn, clean my house, and work out. Naturally I am interested in the possibility of creating my own podcasts.

Finding a free and easy to use tool to create them is the first step. I will be trying the options posted in the course work page and seeing if any of them fit my needs. I have long thought about trying to podcast material for my classes but have chosen to give my students links to other podcasts about the material. Creating my own may encourage more students to listen to it on a more regular basis. I am a little worried about how much time this will take as my schedule is absolutely crazy right now and will not slow down until late March so finding an easy and efficient way to do this is essential. Having students create podcasts is also an intriguing concept as well as a potential assessment. If creating my own goes well this is something I may try.

Vodcasting is also an interesting concept. Although I personally like listening to podcasts due to the fact I like to multitask creating a vodcast has many of the same benefits. This may be something for me to try and once again if it goes well and the school eventually gets the right technology having my students complete them may be an interesting option as well.

CEDO 535 Entry Three

Finally we are looking at RSS Readers. This has been a topic I have been looking forward to for one simple reason, efficiency. Technology tools and resources can become overwhelming very quickly and getting new information about it can be difficult to do. There are so many blogs with so many great ideas that it is very hard to constantly read and stay updated on them and when people get overwhelmed they tend to shut down. Having a central location for all of the information and blogs that I like to read and have access to can potentially solve a lot of mine and other people's time issues.
To make it more complicated I like reading websites and blogs about a variety of topics from sports, to history, to current events, to technology, to education, and more. Like most I have favorite pages that I check often and also there are others that I like but lose track of. And in some cases I lose the valuable material I could use.
So off I go to create an RSS Reader. Although I do not necessarily expect it to solve all my time management issues it is my hope it can help make me more efficient as I will make an effort to read it as part of my morning routine every day.