Hi class, welcome to Week 7 blog! Just a reminder that everyone has to blog at least once by Friday the 5th at midnight. Here are our questions for this week!
Q1: Based on the article 7.1, what does Open Education Resources mean to you? What are some of the other reactions to OER? How can you incorporate the ideas of OER in your future class?
Q2: Based on 7.2, what other ideas could you add to this wiki? What ideas did you like the best, why? Which ideas were new and interesting to you?
Q3: Based on 7.2 can you find examples or links of Topten 2.0 for young learners? What was your reasoning for choosing this link?
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Q1: I feel that Open Educational Resources are a great idea. Like the article mentions it can connect people from less developed countries to be able to access information and materials that may help them become more educated and help educate others such as their friends, family and, if they are a teacher, their students. I feel that OER also provides great resources for teachers who need new ideas or want to try something new. At oercommons.org you can review and rate the resources that are posted so you can receive feedback if you post any curriculum. An Article I found called, Open Educational Resources: The implications for educational development, did believe that OER was a positive thing as long as it was done right and fair. Their only objection was the legal implications such as copyright issues. I feel that if you do post your work on the internet you need to be aware that some people may copy you with out giving you credit and you need to be aware and that is a risk you take when posting your work for anyone to see.
ReplyDeleteA way in which you can use OER in a classroom is to develop a class website based on your curriculum and topics in the class. As a class you can keep the website up to date with new information the students have discovered. This also is a great resource for teachers when building lesson plans, being able to see how others put ideas together can give you inspiration and a push in the right direction.
Excellent and informative post Megan! oerscommons.org looks like a wonderful source, under OER Materials it has thousands of primary school resources which I'm sure will be helpful to us all! Thank you for sharing that! Great starting point for this weeks blog!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post Megan! Doing the extra research you did really took time and effort which gave us information that we can all benefit from. Developing a class website is a wonderful idea and will give students a chance to participate in gathering information on new technology. Like Jessica said way to begin the blog this week with such a strong response.. WAY TO GO!
ReplyDeleteMegan, Jessica and Laurenz: I really like all of your thoughts and ideas. Again, you showed how important it is to follow copyright guidelines because that can turn into a legal matter. I also really like your idea about using OER in your classroom by having a website, which as not only benefit students but teachers as well. I also really appreciate the website you posted...can anyone else find links that discuss OER? or links that realte to the top ten 2.0 for young learners?
ReplyDeleteQ2. The Topten 2.0 site gave many good technological tools for the classroom. I have never heard of most of them but they would all be beneficial for the students in the classroom. Ways of communication that may be helpful as well may be twitter for students to tweet about questions on homework, etc. Kerpoof seemed to be most interesting and i liked it the best.It allows children to use technology to create videos and ideas with sound in a fun and creative way. It is child oriented which i believe to be very important. Simplybox was also interesting to be because it helps even young learners with little reading capability and makes it easier to find websites for students and teachers!
ReplyDeleteJust a quick blurb-I've really noticed that in every blog and a lot of things we have been talking about in class that it always leads back to making a class website. I really feel as though one of the most effective ways to use technology in a classroom is to create a website where both students and parents are able to access it. Not only would they be able to have access to the class website but adding other fun and resourceful links could make the internet much more safe because students would not be sitting there googling trying to find websites.
ReplyDeleteCourtney:
ReplyDeleteThat is a great observation Courtney. Everything that we read, talk about, and do in class always leads back to an online way of communication. Students, teachers, parents/caregivers all being involved with this is the best part. They all are able to edit and access this means of communication and can all benefit from it. I feel as though using this technological advanced communication not only will be successful, helpful, and useful, but it will also be fun and different then the normal ways of communicating. (letters home, announcements, conferences, phone calls, etc.)Lastly you mention something about the students not having to google everything now because they are able to go to this website for resources and help. This also keeps our students and children safe of the "bad" parts that are out there of the internet.
Hey Gang! After checking out the sites from the link “Top Ten Best Tools for Earlier Learners” I found a website I really liked called Kerpoof. It’s a really fun website that will allow your students to make movies, pictures, stories etc. I really recommend checking it out. I also found a really great link which has great ideas and fun ways to incorporate Kerpoof in your classroom in both math and language arts. It gives examples for many different grade levels too. http://www.kerpoof.com/edu/Texas_Standards.pdf
ReplyDeleteHope you can find some good stuff to use in your future classroom!
I love the idea that Courtney mention of getting parents involved with the websites but we have to just be careful for those families and are not fortunate enough to have computers or feel threatened by technology. So you must always have a backup that involves parents who are not able to participate in the website.
ReplyDeleteAlex great website!
Can anyone else find some good websites to use? Post as many as you want!
Meg and Alex great find on those websites! They are def great to know about and keep in mind for teaching. I found this website http://edu.glogster.com/ its another educational website that shares work and ideas from all over the world. It is controlled by teachers and is a great learning tool that integrates diverse course subjects that include math, science, history, art, photography, music, and more. It's great for individual learner portfolios, unique alternative assessments, and differentiated instructional activities. The students will love it because it allows them to be self creative, have a positive learner-teacher relationship, and even team work and collaboration opportunities. There are many other positive aspects of using this website that will make the classwork much more enjoyable for the students and motivate them to learn and try new things.
ReplyDeleteQ1. Open Education Resources means that resourceful information would be available to people, who may not have had opportunities like this before. On a large scale I think of the pollution going on around the world as 3rd world countries become more industrialized. It sounded like from the article Open Educational Resources Serve the World that USU OCW program has Soil-Based Hazardous Waste Management information. What if these other countries could learn from our mistakes? I agree with Megan that is will also be a great resource for teachers to use to stay on top of the latest research or for students to use as a resource. Being able to access the information is a really wonderful thing.
ReplyDeleteQ3. I thought that Skype.com was really neat. It could be used with another class and have pen pals set up. The children could “meet” using the webcam features, and then stay in touch. The students could even collaborate on projects or homework together using the IM feature. It just seemed like such a natural fit with today’s students being digital natives and the pen pal theme that has been around for a long time.
ReplyDeleteQ2: What i liked best about this wiki is the top ten list. I beleive that this is a great tool to let people know abouit helpful interactive websites and they all seem pretty easy to use which is always good for students. And the best part about all of those sites is that they are free which is always good when you dont have to spend money on something. I think all of the ten websited would be very helpful when it comes to kids being creative with technology. I actually went to the Kerpoof site just to see if it was easy to use and it was actually very easy to use, which will be good for younger students. Overall i really liked this wiki and think that is is very helpful.
ReplyDeleteEveryones comments about free and open educational resources have been GREAT so far! I really like how everyone is exploring the different websites they could use in their future classrooms and sharing ideas about how to incorporate them into classroom learning. If anyone has any more ideas or suggestions please feel free to share them with us. Margie I really liked your idea about using skype as "pen pals". I think the students would enjoy that way more than writing letters.
ReplyDeleteJen, Jen, and Margie, it's awesome that you found other relevant websites and resources and have tried some of them out to let us all know how they work and what you thought of them!
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else tried any of the TopTen 2.0 Tools?
Q3. I really liked a few of the websites in the TopTen 2.0. I really liked the idea of Skype in the classroom because students could be interactive with just about anyone in the world. I like Margie's idea of having "pen pals", using the webcam would take it to a whole other level. By using it in the classroom, teachers would be able to use technology while teaching students the safety aspects as well. Another website that I would like to use in a classroom would be Glogster. You can make interactive posters which would really improve presentations. I remember being bored with the same old reports that kids gave in school and with glogster students would be able to grab their classmates attention. I just seems like a really fun way to share ideas and information. You could use it in the classroom with any subject. The last site that I liked was kerpoof. I liked this site because it is accessible to young children and fairly easy to use. Students would have a lot of fun creating movies and stories. You can incorporate kerpoof into many subjects. This site also has ideas on lesson that you could use in your classrooms.
ReplyDeleteJen--your right, the best part about these sites is that they're free!!
I really agree with alot of the comments that have made so far! Courtney made a great point that most discussions that we have been having lead directly back to making a class website everytime! I feel like this shows that a class website really would be a great way to connect students teachers and parents. I've also been looking at the websites that people have been posting and really enjoy the Kerpoof website. It has alot of fun activities, and the appearance would be very attractive to the kids. Lastly, I thought Margie's idea of taking the typical "pen pal" idea and using it with Skype would be a great idea! I know a ton of people use skype to talk with their friends and I'm sure the students would be really excited to actually see their pen pal and use the webcam to communicate!
ReplyDeleteMargie, I absolutely loved your idea about the Skype pen pals. That's such a great idea and I think it would be a lot of fun. Plus, skype is very easy to use! I really enjoyed the Storybird website. It is pretty simple to use and I think children would really love using it. The pictures are fun and colorful and will help students creativity flow. I made a couple pages and it was really quite easy. This would a lot of fun if students had to make a Storybird and then present it to the class.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Good responese everyone. Margie, everyone seems to LOVE your idea of Skype Pen Pals. Kristi, yes, I agree that Glogster is a great way to improve the quality of presentations. As future teachers I think we are all realizing the benefits of using technology as a tool in education. And these websites really arent difficult or complex at all. I dont understand why every teacher isn't taking full advantage of them in their classroom.
ReplyDeleteAlex is correct everybody does seem to love the idea of skype pen pals. I do agree with others that people should get parents more involved with technology and the websites and resources out there if it is possible. Sometimes in every classroom the teacher may not have the opportunity or the ability to get every child so involved with technology however I do think that more can be done and more should be
ReplyDeleteI love all of the ideas that everyone has come up with as well. I really like the skype idea because i feel as though it is more personal then just a pen and paper letter. I personally skype with friends from home or people that I dont get to see often and it is a blast! The one thing that i would say when trying to set up this skyping pen pal interaction would be to try and make sure to still integrate the actual letters into the pen pals. I feel as though the main purpose of the pen pals is to have the children practice their writing but in a fun way to make it not seem as much like work. So if there is a way for the children to intergrate both the writing and the technology part of the pen pals then i think that this would be a great idea to use in our future classrooms!
ReplyDeleteQ2- Taking a look at the top ten for young learners website there were a lot of things that I really liked and some things that I found a little confusing. As I was browsing through the website I noticed that it was a little hard to follow. The main page had the great information about the top ten "applications" that the young learners can use in their education. However, I fel that the site could have been a little more user friendly with that aspect. I did enjoy browsing through many of the applications because I haven't seen many of these before. I wouldn't say that I am a computer wiz but I do know how to use the basic applications that allow me to submit assignments for school. With these great applications the stduents today are going to be way ahead of my generation in bringing technology into the classroom. I really enjoyed learning about the storybird application because it is something that I have never seen before and I would have really enjoyed using in school. Through the application the students can work with fellow students or their parents at home and creat their own story. After creating the story they can print it out to read or they can read right from their computer. I really liked this application because it brings enjoyment into the classroom. In many cases students don't feel connected to their work so they don't really want to do the assignment. However, with this application the students are creating something of their own and they can really show pride in their accomplishments when presenting or handing in to the teacher. Overall, I felt that the webpage was very informative with all the new applications that students are using today!!
ReplyDeleteSarah- I really liked your comment about skype. I don't know much about the application but I really liked your idea about incorporating the writing and the technology into the learning process. Its almost as if the students have something to look forward to when they begin their pen pal writing. They know that they soon will be able to use the skype application in addition to their written assignment!!
ReplyDeleteQ2. After looking at the top ten for young learners site I realized how many applications and websites there are out there for students that I didnt even realize. I liked how they were all listed in order with links and discriptions so it was easy to understand. I didn't really think that Skype would be in this list, but if the students can use it in class with a pen pal like mentioned before in the blog that is a great idea! Or they could use it with other classmates at home if they are having difficulty with homework or questions. One application that I really enjoyed was the storybird one. It seemed like an easy interesting way for students to make storys or books online that will be easy to share with other students.
ReplyDeleteQ2. I really found all of the TopTen ideas for young learners to be extremley interesting! I have seen the majority of these before but, found some new great ideas which I think would be great to use in the classroom. I really liked the storyboard idea, I think it is a great way to differentiate the material in your classroom for anyone who prefers using technology over pen and paper, and is a great way to share ideas.Students could choose to make up their own stories about anything they desire or could even write stories based on activities they have been doing in class. I think using this tool in the classrom would be a great idea for students to share their stories with the rest of the world, an a great way to connect technology with their everyday school work.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Topten 2.0 site gave many good technological tools for the classroom. I ffeel thats these tools will be helpful to not only the teacher but the students as well. It will allow for many options so the students will always be engaged
ReplyDeleteI love Margie's idea of using skype for pen pals, i would have loved doing that when i was in elementary school. I really like the kerpoof website, i think it would be a fun way for students to learn. They could each make their own project about a topic and when they are finished everyone could show theirs to the class.
ReplyDeleteKelly, good idea about having students present their projects on kerpoof to the class. This would definitely encourage students to do their best on projects and be proud of their accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteMargie skype is such a great idea. It gives the students one-on-one action with other students there age from different places in the country or even out of the country. Kari great idea on using skype within the classroom is the students need help with homework.
ReplyDeleteGreat Blogs this week.
Q3: I also really like the idea of using skype along with a class website. I think skype is a great alternative for students to use instead of emailing or bloging their homework questions to their friends/classmates. I think that skype gives students more of an opportunity for students to explain their homework problems to each other in more depth and they are also able to show each other what exactly they are talking about. I also know a little girl who has cancer and is unable to be in the actual classroom, so she skypes with her teacher during the school day to keep in touch with what they are learning and it also her a chance to stay in touch with her classmates.
ReplyDelete