Wikis

I didn't really think that I would like the wiki assignment, but I think that it is probably one of easiest and coolest technologies that we have learned. A lot of people liked the website the most, but I think that having a class wiki would be awesome! Everyone could contribute something of their own and its REALLY easy to do. I would totally use this in my class to have students post reflections on assignments or, have them post something cool they found that relates to the class discussion...the possibilities are endless.

My Number 1!

I am most pleased with my work on the video that I made with iMovie. It was A LOT of fun to do, which I wasn't expecting, and I am really pleased with the work that I did.

Internet Safety

1. What were the most important things I learned from the readings?
That there are ways to try and prevent bad things from happening to you on the internet; there are ways to be safe, but nothing is a guarantee.

2. How will what I have read influence my actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?
I don't remember where I first heard or read about being safe on the internet, but I feel like a lot of what I read or saw were things that I already knew. So, I definitely feel that the earlier you understand how to be safe, and that its important to be safe on the internet the better. My children will definitely have strict rules about internet use.

3. How can I use what I have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
They have already heard about what I have learned, so I hope that it will help them with their understanding their efforts to be safe on the internet.

4. Am I aware of the benefits and dangers children face when online with cyber bullying and online predators? Do I know how to prevent cyberbullying?
Yes. There have been a lot of news stories about kids committing suicide because of cyberbullying. The only thing that I can think of is DO NOT let kids meet strangers on the internet and DO NOT let kids join social networking programs until they're old enough to discern their friends from bullies.

5. Where can I go for information and resources that can be used to teach internet safety?
There were quite a few sites like iSafe and PBS videos that can help teach internet safety.

6. What internet safety issues am I likely to face as a teacher and how will I address them?
Well, kids might use the internet at school to look up bad websites, or to connect with people online. Giving students assignments that use the internet will also give them more exposure and time online.

7. How can I leverage the power of the Internet so students can learn, but in a safe way?
Have assignments where students use internet sites that teach safety. Using secure sites for assignments.

IIC Competition

My favorite pitch for the IIC competition was Teaching Persuasive Essay: Diigomeister (Lit Video 4). This pitch was among one of the most explicit, clear, and focused of all of the pitches that I saw. They proposed that their students be introduced to writing persuasive essays with the technologies of Diigo and Mindmeister. Diigo is a collaborative resource that will provide opportunities for students to write essays while providing a receiving feedback from their peers. This will be extremely helpful to students because feedback and multiple drafts are very important in helping students improve their persuasive writing skills. Mindmeister is another collaborative tool, but this one provides a forum where students can outline their ideas and map their essays. This has lots of space and can be changed, and edited easily.

I thought that this group was very logical in the way that they presented their goal and their tools for accomplishing their goal. Many of the other pitches had way to much information and materials to model. It was difficult to remember what their objective was, and what technology you were learning about. The technologies this group presented were simple and had a specific task that would help the students accomplish their goals.