New Tech Standards & Requirements

All teachers should familiarize themselves with the tech standards in order to stay current and be able to take advantage of the benefits of technology. The first one that stood out to me as particularly important is "creativity and innovation". Technology offers many tools and means to create original products and projects. Teachers can take a traditional lesson, like letter writing, and use technology to reinvent it into letter writing using email. Students can reach a broader range of people, results are faster and multimedia (pictures, videos, etc) can be integrated. This example also fits in under "communication and collaboration". Computers allow for numerous communication opportunities, that otherwise may not be possible. I love the idea of using technology to learn about different cultures. Sister classrooms/schools is a great way to do this. Classroom websites and blogs are a quick and efficient way to reach parents and the outside community. I've had the opportunity to use Google docs a lot lately and really love the way my classmates and I are able to collaborate on various documents and projects.

Another standard I intend to focus on is "critical thinking, problem solving and decision making". I really like the idea of using the internet to research a current news issue and make an analysis to begin possible solutions. Thinking further, these solutions could be made into a podcast and published for everyone to hear or a collaborative research project presented with multimedia. Many students aren't exposed to newspapers and online journals and papers are a good way to introduce this genre to students.

The biggest challenge I imagine facing when implementing these standards is just the time I may have to spend teaching basic technology skills and introducing various tools. I also imagine technology problem solving may be time consuming as well. However, both of these are initial problems and with time and practice will decrease. One way I can further decrease the time spent learning and problem solving is by creating Screenr demos of the various applications and tools we will be learning. This way students can first watch a demo and their questions may be answered without having to contact the teacher.  

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets...Ahh! Actually, I had a fairly easy time using Google Spreadsheets, but did have a few moments of, "how in the world do I do this?" The average function was easy to use. I had difficulty making the chart because it took me a while to figure out how to fit every students' name on it. At first I wanted a line graph, because I think they show trends the best but the students names couldn't fit so I opted for a basic bar graph. The other part I couldn't figure out (and still haven't) is how to label the horizontal axis (Students).

When analyzing this data, the first thing that jumps out at me is how similar the test scores are for these 12 students. Except for Walter and Katherine, the other students' scores gradually rose. And everyone except Queen and Katherine did significantly better on the last (10th) test. Maybe that test was easier than the others or maybe the students improved, like every teacher hopes. As a teacher, I would make sure the test improvement growth was an accurate interpretation that the students had actually improved. I would also refer Walter, Katherine and Queen for extra support.

Please check out my spreadsheet skills.

Multi-Media Project

Screenr is really, really cool and easy to use. It is a Web 2.0 program that allows you to quickly make a recording of your voice, while at the same time recording what is on your computer screen. After you create your recording you can post it online through YouTube, Facebook or basic email. You can sign up for an account through your Google account.



How might a teacher or student use Screenr? There are numerous ways to integrate this application into the classroom. A teacher could use Screenr to easily give a tutorial for a skill. For example, a teacher wants his or her students to create a blog. Screenr can be used to explain exactly how a blog is created. Students can also use Screenr as a component for class presentations.

Google Docs Group Project

My group explored and found out how to use Google's Picasa. This was my first time using Picasa. I always use iPhoto to organize my pictures, but Picasa impressed me by the extent to which it found pictures all over my computer. During my research I found many ways to use Picasa in a classroom; my favorite being a quick way to organize a classroom slideshow for Parent's Night.

My contribution to this group project was under the second bullet list, how this tool may enhance learning or productivity. I added the last four bullets offering examples of how to actually use Picasa in a classroom.

Picasa Google Doc Project

Web 2.0 and 4Share

When asked in class if I knew what Web 2.0 was, I wasn't sure. But after doing some research, I realize I use Web 2.0 everyday; I was just unaware of the name. I was more familiar with the term "Cloud Computing" which is the same idea. The term Web 2.0 was coined in 1999, but really took off over the last seven years or so. This new web-based platform facilitates information-sharing and collaboration and is a way to access applications, services and files on the web without actually downloading them. There are a lot of characteristics and benefits to Web 2.0 but the main point to take away is the decreasing dependence on local computers. A couple of emerging examples of Web 2.0 are social networking sites and blogging. There is a comprehensive web chart (Figure 1) on O'Reilly.com that provides great additional information.                                                                                                                           



One way you can take advantage of Web 2.0 is to sign up for 4shared. It was created in 2005 and is a free online storage for any kinds of files you upload: music, video, photos, documents, etc. After uploading your files, you can also create folders and choose whether or not to share your files/folders. If you decide to choose, you can allow for collaboration with others or format your file as a read only to prevent any alterations. Where do these files go after you upload them? Good question. Your given a independent virtual drive of 10GB which is hosted on a high-speed server. For teachers, this is a valuable tool because it allows us to access our files across multiple computers. We are also able to upload files without worrying about running out of space on our home computers. Another effective function of 4share in a classroom is that teachers and students can share and collaborate on documents. Please check out the reviews of two 4shared users and go to 4shared to signed up!

Comment #7 by: barneydurant on 01 Jun 2011, 22:28 UTC
4shared Desktop has a intuitive interface that will be understandable for the most computer users. It's fast, helpful and nice looking :). Lets users to operate their 4shared account even easier. No need to use Internet browser for this purpose.

Comment #4 by: stevemcnamar on 24 May 2011, 15:08 UTC
Actually, it is one of the my favourite services in the web. Second one after google:) once my pc has been crashed and i have been lost all of my photos. 2 weeks before, i had upload all my files to 4shared , and even photos so this pc crash wasn't not so terrifying for me. thanks to 4shared.