Some of my favorite tools are Google Docs and Google Reader because they are going to help me keep organized. Also, the Digital Story Telling was a very challenging and powerful tool. I am actually planning in using this video and the book that I used to create it; they are going to love seeing the digital version in small groups after reading in whole group.
I think is great how “11 Tools” stimulates teachers’ flexibility and drives us to learn how to take advantage of technological developments to facilitate education. This task has allowed me to understand that as teacher I have the responsibility of going beyond the traditional model of education, beyond the classroom and the mechanical learning.
I am sure that the use of this technology in the classroom will be very well received by the children and the learning process is going to be a lot of fun.
Today’s children must be educated with the skills and technological culture that they are going to need for the future. That’s why they need to be experts in the use of new technologies; they need new knowledge, their activities need to be promoted through innovation and technological skills. We, as teachers and parents need to stimulate them based on an education that goes beyond the school.
I am positively surprised for such a great training. I thought it was going to be something less challenging; but through all these hours I had been able to learn more than I expected. This training has allowed me to use the WEB technology 2.0. It was very well designed and full of good information to help me learn and create innovating ways to teach.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tool #11: Digital Citizenship
Technology is pervasive in today's society. We as parents and teachers have the responsibility of teaching the correct behavior when using technology.
1. I would teach them about the ethical use. I want to teach them to treat other people the way they want to be treated. Bullying can happen online too and kids need to understand and apply the concept of respect.
2. We always talk about safety in schools through fire drills, etc. Now we need to talk to them about online safety. I am going to teach my pre-k students about “strangers’ on the web. They are not supposed to give specific personal information.
3. I will teach my students not to abuse technology. They need to interact with people in real life too. They can not be just in front of technological devices and forget about people around them.
With the transformation of our classrooms we need to involve parents in the process as well.
1. I would teach them about the ethical use. I want to teach them to treat other people the way they want to be treated. Bullying can happen online too and kids need to understand and apply the concept of respect.
2. We always talk about safety in schools through fire drills, etc. Now we need to talk to them about online safety. I am going to teach my pre-k students about “strangers’ on the web. They are not supposed to give specific personal information.
3. I will teach my students not to abuse technology. They need to interact with people in real life too. They can not be just in front of technological devices and forget about people around them.
With the transformation of our classrooms we need to involve parents in the process as well.
Tool #10: Exploring Mobile Technology and Apps
I reviewed two free educational applications for the iPod Touch and the iPhone, respectively: Simple ABCs Plus and ABC Letters Tracing Lite.
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Simple ABCs Plus (http://appspace.com/apps/view/7170/simply-abcs-plus/) is “a simple-to-use flashcard Educational Application designed to assist in all phases of English Alphabet Learning.”
Some key features (adapted from promotional materials):
-Simulates ABC flashcards
-Includes pictures with every letter.
-Has ability to switch between upper and lowercase letters (a/A)
-Has ability to select the letters you want to review (i.e., just ABC or the entire alphabet)
-Allows reviews of the alphabet in a random or sequential fashion
-Let kids hear the letter spoken, its proper pronunciation, and a word that begins with the letter being reviewed.
ABC Letters Tracing Lite is a game that guides the children carefully to draw the letter. It allows kids to try again in case they make a mistake.
Some key features (adapted from promotional materials):
-It is interactive.
-It is encouraging through points scored.
-Most important: it offers no negative discouraging feedback to kids
More information may be found at http://appspace.com/apps/view/81321/abc-letters-tracing-lite/
Wow moment: Experiencing the iPod Touch Processor and Interface!
The touch processor lets you fingers move from place to place matching what your fingers are doing with what is happening on the screen.
Although the “touch- technology” is not new, its inclusion in a small device facilitates kids’ work and motivates new discoveries. It is perfectly suited to stimulate and satisfy the normal curiosity of kids.
Portable devices such as the iPod or iPhone will be playing an increasing role in education at all levels. The accessible audio and visual content presented in an attractive and conveniently sized package fosters an accelerated growth of educational content.
Nevertheless, the relative high cost of these tools may still impede wide access to low income parents and kids. This is an issue that requires further analysis and discussion in a society that promotes social inclusion and the widespread use of technology.
.png)
Simple ABCs Plus (http://appspace.com/apps/view/7170/simply-abcs-plus/) is “a simple-to-use flashcard Educational Application designed to assist in all phases of English Alphabet Learning.”
Some key features (adapted from promotional materials):
-Simulates ABC flashcards
-Includes pictures with every letter.
-Has ability to switch between upper and lowercase letters (a/A)
-Has ability to select the letters you want to review (i.e., just ABC or the entire alphabet)
-Allows reviews of the alphabet in a random or sequential fashion
-Let kids hear the letter spoken, its proper pronunciation, and a word that begins with the letter being reviewed.
ABC Letters Tracing Lite is a game that guides the children carefully to draw the letter. It allows kids to try again in case they make a mistake.
Some key features (adapted from promotional materials):
-It is interactive.
-It is encouraging through points scored.
-Most important: it offers no negative discouraging feedback to kids
More information may be found at http://appspace.com/apps/view/81321/abc-letters-tracing-lite/
Wow moment: Experiencing the iPod Touch Processor and Interface!
The touch processor lets you fingers move from place to place matching what your fingers are doing with what is happening on the screen.
Although the “touch- technology” is not new, its inclusion in a small device facilitates kids’ work and motivates new discoveries. It is perfectly suited to stimulate and satisfy the normal curiosity of kids.
Portable devices such as the iPod or iPhone will be playing an increasing role in education at all levels. The accessible audio and visual content presented in an attractive and conveniently sized package fosters an accelerated growth of educational content.
Nevertheless, the relative high cost of these tools may still impede wide access to low income parents and kids. This is an issue that requires further analysis and discussion in a society that promotes social inclusion and the widespread use of technology.
Tool # 9: Sharing Information Through Jing and Skype
Screencast from TechSmith may be used to collaborate on a project with other teammates or colleagues. Sharing information over the Internet can enhance an instructional experience by getting and sharing information and experiences with colleagues from all over the world.
Jing is a great and simple tool. It has multiple applications. It may be used to develop training instructions for parents of pre-K students or to send instructions to colleagues and friends. It may be used also to develop instructional materials “on the fly” thus making it a valuable and effective tool.
Jing may be used by pre-K students for cut and paste activities. It may be used, for instance for math training. Some examples include picking the largest/smallest item from a set, choosing a number from a collection, selecting colors from a palette or to identify and extract geometric shapes (squares, circles, triangles, etc) from a group.
The list of uses is only limited by the imagination.
Skype may be used as a videophone to communicate with parents and teachers across the world. It is simple and free in its basic mode. It is, therefore, affordable to parents and relatives living in other countries. Live information may be shared with parents, relatives and other groups of kids across the world. It can be used to motivate and acknowledge good performance or to alert about a situation that will require personal attention when a face-to-face meeting is not possible or expensive.
I have used Skype multiple times with friends and relatives overseas with excellent results.
As simple examples of Jing I have included below an screenshot confirming that I am now a user of Skype. Other uses of Jing are included in several posts of this blog.
Jing is a great and simple tool. It has multiple applications. It may be used to develop training instructions for parents of pre-K students or to send instructions to colleagues and friends. It may be used also to develop instructional materials “on the fly” thus making it a valuable and effective tool.
Jing may be used by pre-K students for cut and paste activities. It may be used, for instance for math training. Some examples include picking the largest/smallest item from a set, choosing a number from a collection, selecting colors from a palette or to identify and extract geometric shapes (squares, circles, triangles, etc) from a group.
The list of uses is only limited by the imagination.
Skype may be used as a videophone to communicate with parents and teachers across the world. It is simple and free in its basic mode. It is, therefore, affordable to parents and relatives living in other countries. Live information may be shared with parents, relatives and other groups of kids across the world. It can be used to motivate and acknowledge good performance or to alert about a situation that will require personal attention when a face-to-face meeting is not possible or expensive.
I have used Skype multiple times with friends and relatives overseas with excellent results.
As simple examples of Jing I have included below an screenshot confirming that I am now a user of Skype. Other uses of Jing are included in several posts of this blog.
Tool # 8: Video Resources
I chose two videos:
Counting Numbers 1 to 10
http://www.neok12.com/php/watch.php?v=zX740d6779470b6f4e474555&t=Numbers
and
Rhyme: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive
http://www.neok12.com/rhymes/rhy12345.htm
I chose a nursery rhyme because it has been shown that combining rhymes with music may aid in the educational development of a child. Some research indicates that musical rhymes improve better performance in Mathematics and Science.
Showing videos to kids is a great approach because it promotes their curiosity and fosters self-learning.
The two videos included here were taken from Neok12, (http://www.neok12.com/aboutus.htm), a web site dedicated to high quality, pre-screened, educational videos, games and lessons for K-12 school kids.
Counting Numbers 1 to 10
http://www.neok12.com/php/watch.php?v=zX740d6779470b6f4e474555&t=Numbers
and
Rhyme: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive
http://www.neok12.com/rhymes/rhy12345.htm
I chose a nursery rhyme because it has been shown that combining rhymes with music may aid in the educational development of a child. Some research indicates that musical rhymes improve better performance in Mathematics and Science.
Showing videos to kids is a great approach because it promotes their curiosity and fosters self-learning.
The two videos included here were taken from Neok12, (http://www.neok12.com/aboutus.htm), a web site dedicated to high quality, pre-screened, educational videos, games and lessons for K-12 school kids.
Tool # 7: Digital Storytelling
Digital Story Telling is a powerful tool to train, entertain and motivate pre-K students.
I designed a video for my students merging two ideas: math and partying! I used a party as the background to learn the number 4 (age 4, by the way, is average age of students in my class.)
Using graphics from a European textbook I superimposed free lively music for kids . The result is useful, entertaining and educational. See below.
Even though the video was not made by kids… it will certainly be used by kids!
I designed a video for my students merging two ideas: math and partying! I used a party as the background to learn the number 4 (age 4, by the way, is average age of students in my class.)
Using graphics from a European textbook I superimposed free lively music for kids . The result is useful, entertaining and educational. See below.
Even though the video was not made by kids… it will certainly be used by kids!
Tool # 6: Wikis
I created an account at http://teachersfirst.pbworks.com/ and had fun playing, creating and editing existing documents.
Wikis are great tools for anybody; it develops true teamwork skills and increases students’ engagement.
Teachers can collaborate on lesson plans, committees, preparation of field trips, parents’ meetings and as many school events as you can think about.
Pre-k students will need a lot of support using them, but they can participate giving opinions/descriptions of a field trip, favorite things, etc.
Also, before we create any wiki I think it is very important to have clarity about the policies related to students’ confidentiality.
Wikis are great tools for anybody; it develops true teamwork skills and increases students’ engagement.
Teachers can collaborate on lesson plans, committees, preparation of field trips, parents’ meetings and as many school events as you can think about.
Pre-k students will need a lot of support using them, but they can participate giving opinions/descriptions of a field trip, favorite things, etc.
Also, before we create any wiki I think it is very important to have clarity about the policies related to students’ confidentiality.
TOOL 5: Tagging and Social Bookmarking
This tool was a great learning experience. I joined http://delicious.com/
I love the fact that this service allows you to tag, save, manage and share Web pages all in one place; it is a very useful way to access a consolidated set of bookmarks from various computers.
I am planning on joining Diigo because I am the kind of reader who needs to highlight and use sticky notes. I know this is going to be one of my favorites. This web page is definitely going to look like most of my books J
Two new sites I found were:
http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/back-to-school.htm
http://www.mathplayground.com/patternblocks.html
I am planning on using both web pages with my kids. They are going to love the activities!
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Tool # 4: Cool Google Tools
I love these tools. They are time savers!
Google Docs makes team work more approachable. It is a very interesting way for a group to work in any document. No more overloaded e-mails. We can do great different activities at school. I created a presentation of my summer trip to Colombia and shared with some friends.
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Acc5Svc_-cdjZGM1ZHJuNmJfMmdjY2JzNmRi&hl=en&authkey=CJr19dMH
Google Reader is a great tool to keep up with blogs and news. You can share ideas with people from other blogs without having to visit individual blogs. I think it is pretty cool the fact that you only see unread items when you come back. Also, it is a great way of keeping track of interests and hobbies on the web. I subscribed to different educational blogs to follow and added one related to my hobbie.
Google Docs makes team work more approachable. It is a very interesting way for a group to work in any document. No more overloaded e-mails. We can do great different activities at school. I created a presentation of my summer trip to Colombia and shared with some friends.
https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0Acc5Svc_-cdjZGM1ZHJuNmJfMmdjY2JzNmRi&hl=en&authkey=CJr19dMH
Google Reader is a great tool to keep up with blogs and news. You can share ideas with people from other blogs without having to visit individual blogs. I think it is pretty cool the fact that you only see unread items when you come back. Also, it is a great way of keeping track of interests and hobbies on the web. I subscribed to different educational blogs to follow and added one related to my hobbie.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tool # 2: Building Community & Comments
Comments about building an online education community and participating in a PLN
Highlights from the commenting advice
I commented on the following people's blogs:
http://alexandra-barton.blogspot.com/
http://erinmvsblog.blogspot.com/
http://thelopezlowdown.blogspot.com/
http://meyermuse.blogspot.com/
http://estradatoolsforlearning.blogspot.com/
Participating in a Personal Learning Network could be one of the greatest experiences for an education community; it is a social net that democratize knowledge because we are breaking the boundaries of the traditional school system through technology. This net allows increasing quality processes.
People – teachers, students, parents, administrators and authorities- are getting closer; they can discuss about a common theme and/or goal and can help each other exchanging different ideas.
Highlights from the commenting advice
After reading different blogs and comments I have the feeling that many of us are ¨newbies¨. Personally, as a beginner when reading blogs in the past, I didn’t comment, but I think that this training and time will change my point of view.
The most important advice for me is inviting other people because it increases community participation and posting specific questions for other bloggers can be a great way of growing knowledge. Also, comments can be very meaningful; you can totally agree or disagree with other people opinions, which develop diversity and pluralism.
I commented on the following people's blogs:
http://alexandra-barton.blogspot.com/
http://erinmvsblog.blogspot.com/
http://thelopezlowdown.blogspot.com/
http://meyermuse.blogspot.com/
http://estradatoolsforlearning.blogspot.com/
Tool # 3: Image Generators & Mashups
I have chosen two image generators:COMIC STRIP GENERATOR and DUMPR.
At the portal Comic Strip Generator I found FotoTrix (www.FotoTrix.com) that offers a free photo mash-up: World's Greatest Photo Framer 2.0.
See samples on the right and below.
This picture generator/mash-up is great to create award and recognition notes with high motivational value. It may also be used to create attractive notes to parents. They are suitable for framing!
The second image generator DUMPR (http://www.dumpr.net/) may be used to support group activities. It is very easy to use thus making it particularly helpful with pre-kinder students. It may be used for celebrations, group activities and development of personalized notes and cards to parents. Below are two samples: Merry Christmas! and a Jigsaw Puzzle.
In addition to FotoTrix and Dumpr I also researched Glogster Edu (http://edu.glogster.com/). Even though I am not showing samples, I strongly encourage pre kinder teachers to use it to develop posters, blogs for kids and bulletin boards that are colorful and extremely simple to design.
(Picture credits: my two kids Natalia, 4, and Camilo, 1 )
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tool # 1: Blog Set-up and Registration
I have created my own BLOG! -Now I will be able to share my experiences with students, parents, colleagues and, in general, all members of Vanny World!
Meet my avatar. Isn't she cute?
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