Multimedia and Hypermedia

The use of multimedia and hypermedia in the classroom is a great way to make lessons more engaging.  I teach 2nd grade and my students are fascinated with anything involving technology, but especially multimedia and hypermedia.  One thing that they particularly love to do is make is make Photostories of books that we read.  We'll read a book, such as The Enormous Turnip, and students will rewrite the book sequencing events.  They'll illustrate their pages and record themselves reading it.  I post the books on our class website or show in class and students can listen to and read their books over and over again!  Not only do they love doing this, but it builds fluency and comprehension skills as well.  I also like to import pictures and videos into my skills agenda each week so parents can see the activities we're doing in class.  Another way I'm able to use hypermedia is for my class "scrapbook."  Last year I had each student make a scrapbook to give to their parents at the end of the year.  I bought blank books and materials and took pictures throughout the year.  I printed the pictures and had students make a page for all of our special events.  This year I have access to more technology and am going to make a DVD scrapbook instead.  Using MovieMaker I'll import pictures, video, and music.  I'll have each student give one to their parents, just like they did with their book scrapbooks last year.  I think there will be pros and cons to the DVD vs. the scrapbook. The DVD will be cheaper, present nicer, and take less class time to make, but it will also take more teacher time and not be as sentimental since it's not made entirely by the child.  I'm interested in seeing the difference in reactions from parents.  

Great Websites to Use in the Classroom

Through our group and entire class discussion boards I've noticed that a lot of teachers are interested in websites that their students can use in the classroom.  So, I decided to list a few of my favorites and give a brief description.  Keep in mind I teach 2nd grade!  I'd love to hear if you have any recommended sites too!

• Math Magician - This is a fun site to practice basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts: http://www.westirondequoit.org/rogers/schaumbergweb/Oswego%20City%20School%20District%20Math%20Games.htm
• Buy It! - A Money Game: http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/java/buyit/BuyIt.html
  
• Math Baseball - You can pick the skill as well as the difficulty level: http://www.funbrain.com/math/index.html
• Raz-Kids - This site allows children to listen to , read, and record books as well as take quizzes.  It requires a subscription, but is well worth it: http://www.raz-kids.com/
• Starfall- Read books by phonics skill: http://www.starfall.com/
• Math Story - These are story problems that students solve on paper, but can then check their answer through the site: http://mathstory.com/storyindex.html
• Measure It! - Practice measuring in cm. or inches and change the difficulty level: http://www.funbrain.com/measure/index.html 
• Suffixes - A great way to practice multisyllabic words: http://www.tv411.org/lessons/cfm/vocabulary.cfm?str=vocabulary&num=10&act=4&que=1

Comments on Discussion Board for Digital Technologies Sort (Group Leader)

• I don't have any suggestions. Sorry! It seems like you're getting the emails, even though your address isn't showing up, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Maybe I'd just post it in the group discussion board in case we need it for the next group project. Have a great long weekend!
  
• Lindsay,
  Hi! I've attached our completed group project. Please check it and see if anything needs to be moved, especially the software. Also, can you please list your email on Blackboard? It will make it much easier so we can do group e-mails. Thanks!
  Aaryn
  
• I teach at Paine Primary in Trussville. I teach second grade. I will be the group leader on this first project, since I think I'm the only one it town this week! Just send me your lists if you haven't already and ideas for how you want it sorted. Thanks.
  Aaryn
  
• I have Anna and Paul’s list, but am waiting on Lyn and Lindsay’s to complete the group portion of our project. Lyn is out of town so we won’t be able to fully complete it until she gets back. I have emailed Dr. Wang for contact info. for Lindsay. Please send me your sorting ideas. I’ll sort what we have and send it out for you to check. I’ll add the others lists as they send it to me. Do you know where it needs to be posted when finalized? Is it just on the tech. list discussion board or is she going to open a separate discussion board for it? Thanks.
• 
  What ideas do you have for sorting? I am waiting on Lindsay's to sort - I haven't been able to contact her and Lyn is out of town so I'll sort what we have and add things as necessary, just let me know your sorting ideas. Thanks.
• If you email me your list of technologies and category separation ideas, I'll sort them and then email it back out for everyone to check before I post it. Please email it to me before you go out of town. Also, If you know Lindsay please tell her - her email is not listed on blackboard.
• Hi,
  We are a group for our next technology assignment. I was wondering how you wanted to separate the work. I'd prefer to do it all through email or phone if possible, but I'll meet if you'd like to. If we all email each other our lists of technologies and ideas for sorting (By Sun.?) I think it should be pretty easy to do since there will probably be a lot of overlap. Let me know what ideas you have! Also, Lindsay Greer's email was not listed in the roster. If you know her, please send this to her. Thanks.
  Aaryn
• 
  I have Anna and Paul’s list, but am waiting on Lyn and Lindsay’s to complete the group portion of our project. Lyn is out of town so we won’t be able to fully complete it until she gets back. I have emailed Dr. Wang for contact info. for Lindsay. Please send me your sorting ideas. I’ll sort what we have and send it out for you to check. I’ll add the others lists as they send it to me. Do you know where it needs to be posted when finalized? Is it just on the tech. list discussion board or is she going to open a separate discussion board for it? Thanks.
• We already began our conversations in the previous digital tech. forum before this one was opened. Please comment there so we can keep it all together. Thanks!
• Sounds great to me! If anyone else has a different idea, let me know. If not, I'll start on it tomorrow with the lists that I already have.
• Dr. Wang just posted that all of our communication must be through the group space. Since we communicated through email for our first project I copied any email communication we had into a document. Please include anything I might have missed.
• I really liked how group 5 sorted their technology, especially the categories of the software. You can tell someone in this group must work in special education, but the way they had things sorted for assistive technology would be useful for any teacher. It was also really organized easy to read.
• After reading the comments on the discussion board, I also realized how this would make things easier for a new teacher or someone who doesn't know a lot about technology. I think this is my favorite sort so far becasue of the clarity of it?
• I like how group 1 included their information in a chart. I didn't think to include broadband. That's an interesting way to look at technology. I wish that they would have included the software into their sort instead of just writing it at the bottom.
• Wow! Group 3 really did an in-depth job of sorting their information. The idea to have categories and subcategories allowed for you to really analyze their information. Since it was in Excel it made this document easy to adapt to your own needs if necessary. I actually found it a little confusing though. I would have prefered if they put all their information together to sort it instead of sorting it by each individual person. What do you think?
• 
  What is your favorite sort and why? Please reply ASAP so I can complile everything, in addition to our previous comments, and submit our summary Fri. Thanks.
  My favorite sort is group 5 b/c of the reasons I listed in the group 5 discussions we had. It was extremely clear, organized, and easy to understand. I liked the visual of the chart as well as the adaptability of it.
• I like how group 4's sort was straight to the point. Sometimes I think educators get too concerned with if something is "cute." This had all the necessary info. and was clear and concise.
• I love Macs. Our school was a Mac school too, until last year. They switched over this year and I'm so sad. I have a Mac at home and I love it!!!
• Please read our summary and see if you would like to add anything else.
• I just read someone else's post and they were a little more analytical than us. Should we add in some changes or leave it positive?

Distance Learning

Distance learning is a really interesting topic that is relatively new to the field of education, at least at the k-12 level.  Colleges have been doing it for some time now and the convenience is wonderful, as it is in this class.  But there are disadvantages it as well.  Sometimes human contact is necessary.  It's much more difficult to convey the meaning and feelings of your thoughts and questions through online posts.  A face and expression adds so much more!  All that said, I'm a huge advocate of distance learning.  I love being able to do my work at home in my pajamas at ten o'clock at night.  It's also great to not have to drive downtown and find a parking space.  The system I teach in has recently started distance learning classes at the high school, which is sometimes considered controversial.  However, it's allowing students to earn college credits, discover fields that they want to work in, and be challenged.  This is only the second year, but it's gaining popularity.  I'm interested to  see if it stays popular and if it prepares students equally as well for college.  Also at the elementary school I teach at we had a boy with cancer who was not able to attend school on a regular basis.  His teacher was able to podcast her lessons and provide online activities and lessons so that he would not fall behind while he was receiving treatment.  Although, distance learning can't replace that of an in-person teacher it definitely has it's place in education!

Discussion Board Comments for Affordances Project

• I'm going to do Powerpoint  vs. Posters.
  
• In your toolbar, click on table, then insert. Input the number of rows and columns you want. It will show up on your page. You can double-click on it to change the borders. This will be different if you have Office 2007. Let me know if you have any questions!
• That's a tricky one! Maybe you could just give specific examples of small group/one-on-one instruction, such as individualized phonics activities based on student reading need. This would be an easy way to expand on the ideas you already have.
• Great job Anna!  I noticed on the discussion boards that a lot of people in the class are pretty new to technology.  You might want to consider listing some examples of learning websites that are used in case I was able to open it at school today.  
• You did a fantastic job!  I like how you set up affordances, then learning activities directly after.  One affordance that Word also has is the ability to import clipart, tables, etc.  This affordance might be more applicable for older students, but it would allow them to go more in-depth into Word don't use the Internet as a classroom tool often.  This would also help show the application of the affordance more specifically. 
  
• I know that it's a javascript issue, but I'm not sure exactly how to fix it.  I'll ask my husband tonight and see if he can give you an easy fix.

Word Processing

I was really surprised to read about the debate over word processing in the classroom.  I think it's a very important skill for children to learn at an early age.  With more and more practice children will become automatic at typing and will be more comfortable with programs such as Microsoft Word.  This will save them lots of time and frustration in the future, such as in college when papers are required to be typed and formatted in certain ways.  I have friends who spend hours simply on formatting their papers because it wasn't ever explicitly taught to them.  This time could be better spent learning the material in depth.  It's also a skill that's valued by society.  I know the parents of my students not only expect written work, but work that's been typed as well.  Our school system even required us to take a test on our knowledge of Microsoft Word and then offered online classes specifically targeting your areas of weakness.

I can see other people's viewpoint on this though.  At what age do we really need to start teaching word processing skills?  How proficient should children's manuscript and cursive be before they begin word processing?  Should the skills be taught in isolation or integrated? How proficient are the teachers and are they offered professional development? These are questions that I don't have exact answers for, but should be taken into consideration when planning lessons that may require word processing.  Regardless of the concerns, word processing is a skill students must learn to be successful in the world they will grow up in (They even need it to text message their friends!).  As teachers we must integrate it into our classroom, as it is our obligation to prepare our students for the next chapter of their life to the best of our abilities.