Anthony Capps EDM 310 Blog

The Home Stretch Reflection

2011-05-02T16:41:00.003-05:00

For the next five minutes, you need to sit down, be quiet and read. You won’t have to read for long because in this reflection I will not be listing the new tricks I have learned to keep kids quiet or explaining how to skirt around the tough questions. Instead, I am going to share a brief synopsis of how my perspective has shifted from wanting to change lives to knowing how I will measure my success as a result of participating in my field experience with Ms. Ansliegh Answers at Saint Elmo Elementary.

Before participating at Saint Elmo, I spent a considerable amount of time in two other fourth grade classrooms at Forrest Hill Elementary and Elberta Middle School. Although these classes were different in regards to geography, race, and socioeconomics, they all led me to one question: how does respect effect the climate of the classroom? Every teacher has a different gauge for the respect that they demand and a different mode of demanding it. By comparing my own teacher workshop behavior with the students’ classroom behavior, I have learned that the only difference is that when adults talk out of turn, no one gets yelled at. This semester, I practiced giving my students the respect they deserve by rewarding them with small song and chit-chat moments, talking to them one-to-one about better decision making, and praising them publicly as an example for their classmates.
I quickly learned that respect isn’t enough, and it certainly is not lasting if it is not paired with confidence. Learning how to teach confidence was a painful process for me. I was developing elaborate lesson plans that were meant to generate new ideas, convey new knowledge, and inter-connect the subject matter. I learned quickly that complex lessons are actually thematic units, and they should be taught in digestible blocks. My pace was fast and defeating-- for them and me. Since then, I have learned a few techniques to help build confidence. Sometimes all it takes is passing out tests one page at a time, sometimes it means using three periods to cover the complex lesson, and other times it just comes down to assessing what the student struggles with and helping them to improve one aspect of their learning at a time.
My last lesson is the one I have yet to find a solution to, but believe to be the most significant. How does one teach another to love? Day in and day out, I witness racism, name-calling, as well as physical and verbal aggressions. How can we teach these kids the power behind their words and actions? How do we transform this ugliness into colorblind relationships, supportive comments, positive laughter, and pats-on-the-back? I am not expecting a perfect classroom, but I do want to know how to shape my own class experience into one that takes advantage of opportunities to learn and practice love.
These three lessons: respect, confidence, and love are the ones that I believe will ensure a strong foundation for academic excellence. This semester has been a good start, but my learning journey is by no means over. I plan to continue seeking out other model educators who share and practice the values I believe in, implementing strategies to improve my weaknesses, and remembering that mistakes are opportunities for growth. No matter how many standardized tests my students ace or how many science experiments go awry, I will measure my success at the end of each day by asking myself, Do my students know more about respect, confidence, and love for themselves and those around them than they did yesterday?

A Response to Shaun Johnson of the Huffington Post

2011-03-08T14:53:00.004-06:00

I read this post, http://tinyurl.com/4cka3dm about Teach for America in contrast to "Run of the Mill" educators as a result of @wmchamberlain tweeting his response. My comments about it are below. Please read the article and tell me what you think-- especially if you are a corps member, have ever been one, or hope to be one.

What is the purpose of this article? I don't mean to be rude, but I think that in order for me to understand why this is written, I need to read the specific "prevailin g educationa l reforms" you cited in your first line.

Without that first line, it sounds like this is intended to gain sympathy for "run of the mill" educators by criticizing the obviously effective work of TFA educators (http://tinyurl.com/4j5olnk). I don't mean to say that all "run of the mill" educators are ineffective. In fact, I am just now doing my teaching service hours now, and I hope to become an effective teacher "the old fashion way", but I do think that if our universities had the admissions criteria (or anything close to it) that TFA has, our education system would be in a better place before the "briefer trainings in pedagogy" even began.

I have read your pulled quotes several times now, and the first one (about the revolving door) is the only one that carries any water.

Higher degrees mean more training-- everything after "higher degrees" is a fallacy.

Expensive colleges mean more competitive admissions criteria (ideally). AND you only teach a group of students for one year. The idea that you can't make an enormous difference in that year is demeaning to our entire profession.

The last quote is just embarrassing. If we are trying to rally more support and positive opinion about our profession, why would we launch attacks at another branch of it, especially when the branch that we are attacking are leaving measurable tracks of success.

Finally, I want to address your closing statement:

"I won't join in valorizing corps members at the expense of dedicated educators who plan to make a career out of teaching."

Why is "valorizing" TFA in conflict with "run of the mill" educators?

Shaun Johnson's response:

"You are delusional if you believe that TFA candidates are not exempt from scrutiny in many cases. Additional ly, even though my last quote is sort of tongue in cheek, my students have every right to be outraged. They are working their tails off now, who may be one day teaching shoulder to shoulder with those who received training in a summer workshop."

My response:

I am not arguing that TFA candidates are able to side step criticism, I am arguing that they are not doing it magically. I mean to say that they are escaping scrutiny because they are effective. They deserve the recognition they receive. I don't think we are doing our profession a service by slamming one field of educators just because no one else seems to be doing so. Why aren't we helping to shine the spotlight on others' successes and learn from them.

We've built friendly UFO's

2011-02-11T16:47:00.004-06:00

"It's not an alien invasion. They're not coming from Mars to displace us. We're creating them to make ourselves smarter."

"Yes the computer may be able to defeat the humans in this game, as long as you don't have to explain the answer given. The computer does not understand why it answered the question the way it did." Comment on the video thread from Hollycow. I think this comment is what makes us superior to our creations. We are the creative powers, we elect what to build, to change, to eliminate. Those who fear the computer invasion are those who have limited the value of creativity. These people are everywhere. They are controlling our school systems, our government, and our media.

Today, I attended a workshop about the TALENTS teaching method. The main prompts they encourage us [upcoming teachers] to use is "many varied, different, and unusual (but not gross) ideas" regarding student production. Finally, our school systems are sharing the tools to fight the corruption of uniformity. For a while-- it took over everything, from our cafeteria food choices, to kids clothes, to worksheets, and so on... But now we as educators can encourage each other to promote unique, original, and purposeful ideas.

Let's use the tools that we have created to help us correct our derailed system of learning-- let us use computers and other technologies to inspire and equip our students with ideas that will help bring peace, productivity and advancement to our communities.

Dancing and Singing Club

2011-02-07T16:50:00.005-06:00

Today as I walked between the rows of my students' desks while they were working, I noticed Vaunia writing names down in a column titled, "Club Members". Vaunia is a 10 year old early bloomer. She is smart, obedient, and most noticeably, she is about a head taller than all of her peers. Vaunia is always doodling, reading goosebumps, and waving her hand in the air with an answer ready to be spewed. Unfortunately, because of her natural leader tendency and her size difference, every behavior mishap is overt. So I saw this as a golden opportunity to groom her leadership skills-- I didn't know what I was signing up for. When the students were finished with their assignment, I stuck a post-it note on her desk with a few questions about the purpose of their club. I told her to be ready to answer my questions by lunch. She was more than willing.

At lunch today, Vaunia and a group of about 6 other girls eagerly shared every aspiration they had for their, "Singing and Dancing Club". A few of them said they joined because they are preparing for American Idol. Others just liked being able to sing and dance when they had free play during P.E.

They must have seen my wheels turning because before I could ask them how they could develop their club more (and provide more opportunity for Vauni to become the leader she is bred to be), Jamie asked, "Mr. Capps, will you help us make a video singing and dancing like the one you made with Malaysia?"

And so it continues...

Now I have to wheel and deal with Ms. P to let me steal these kids for 30 minutes each Friday for rehearsals. The first thing on the agenda is showing them PS22 Choir. This is just one of many seeds I intend to plant to motivate MCPSS to allow us to publish these kids to the web and grant them the recognition they deserve.

A Special Recognition

2011-02-03T08:20:00.007-06:00

This semester, I have decided to highlight a new EDM310 student blog each week. I believe it is time to really start encouraging y'all to make this learning experience YOURS by personalizing your journey and contributing to all of ours in the same stroke.

This week, I want to give a special thank you to Brandon M. Caten for his investment into his blog. I have learned so much about a wide variety of things. Not only has he shared meaningful responses to the required posts, but he has also exposed his online audience to themes of equality, political engagement, and student life involvement around campus.

It's only week three of school, and Brandon bravely posted a video testimony of a high school student's powerful coming out experience to his blog for all of us to witness the power of one young person's voice. It has inspired me because I too just recently came out online in conjunction with the "It Get's Better" movement for struggling gay teens. This young lady displayed a courage unmatched by most. Please take the time to view and share her pivotal moment of empowerment by clicking here.

Brandon's contribution to the EDM310 experience didn't stop there. He has also posted a call to action in support of the National Endowment of the Arts legislation that is currently running its course through congress. As future educators should recognize the power of the arts in their ability to help us appreciate talent, unite communities, and promote individual expression. We should also realize that testing has all but completely pushed aside arts in the school systems. In Mobile County, students get to participate in art class 5 times a year, and music only five times as well. That is roughly once a month for half a year each. How is this enough to teach our kids the significance of art in our lives as adults? What kind of framework are we building if students think that cramming for tests 90 percent of the time is more important than self discovery and expression through the arts? If we can't enjoy arts in the schools, take up Brandon's call to action and spend 3 minutes filling out this electronic form to let your voice be heard by our legislators. For the survival of creativity, click here to participate.

Just when you thought this future music teacher and life-changer, Brandon, couldn't possibly have time to add one more thing to our learning experience in a week, HE DID! Brandon found a way for you to enjoy yourself locally and simultaneously support our Jaguar Talents by attending the show choir performance (which Brandon is responsible for founding and directing) on Monday, February 7 at 7:00 pm. See his page for me details by clicking here.

Once again, thank you Brandon for all the time that you have invested into your own, and our educational experience. I look forward to seeing more great work from you.

Effective and Ineffective Elementary Teachers

2011-01-24T17:51:00.003-06:00

Thank you Jamie Lynn and Corey for the interview, and Dr. Giles for the topic.

My Sentence... A work in progress

2010-11-05T12:27:00.000-05:00

Instructions for Using Screentoaster to Record Skype

2010-10-20T15:22:00.001-05:00

The Allure of the "Traditional Approach"

2010-09-28T11:36:00.004-05:00

In Carey's post, she states that in Utah, online classes weren't cutting it. Here at South, neither are traditional classes. What is lacking in these situations? Stephen and I come to some conclusions in the video below. Please feel free to check it out, and more importantly, join in on the conversation! How can you relate to Carey? Is reverting to what's comfortable the best solution? How can we improve online-class or in-class experiences? HELP US SOLVE THE MYSTERY!

Check out Carey's Blog by clicking here!

Mini Reflection

2010-09-02T17:07:00.001-05:00

This is a result for a reflective rant drawing from my experiences with EDM310 during the summer course and the last couple weeks of Fall.

From working for Dr. Strange with EDM 310 students, I have learned couple valuable lessons about myself which relate to your comment. The first is this-- I enjoy the struggle to find new information most days. I have not always been that way, but I am now. Many students do not know what it means to be confident in their struggle. It is important to let them DISCOVER the value in the battle to find an answer/solution/reason to their problem. You said that you to appreciate learning things by "doing research for yourself"-- I wonder how many people in EDM would honestly agree.

The second thing I have learned, is that it IS A CHALLENGE, not to just do something for a student in need. After you have explained something five times-- its easy to kneel down, go through the motions in 2.5 minutes and say, "okay, now you try." Instead, I should begin by asking, "what have you tried so far? Why hasn't it worked? What are you going to try next?"

This little reflection has set me on a mission to evolve, I hope you're ready for the change!

practice

2010-08-31T15:44:00.001-05:00

Beyond the content...

2010-07-31T23:30:00.004-05:00

Before the content within a blog, there is layout. I think these two related blogs have lot to say before you even begin to read the incredible posts. Check out the layout, and see how blog formats like these could enhance your viewers navigational experience through your materials.

Social Voice

Spencer's Scratch Pad

Just in case you didn't see it elsewhere...

2010-07-25T20:56:00.003-05:00

Check out Mr. Brian Crosby breaking expectations...

By the way... Does anyone know why this video is longer than 10 minutes?

Thank You

2010-07-25T15:25:00.004-05:00

This post is a special thank you to Mr. Chamberlain and Dr. Strange (and their families) for being so supportive and encouraging throughout my educational and now, career experience. I am a proud and grateful recipient of the Hadley Herrington Strange Scholarship and the William Chamberlain Award. Both of your helping hands have been inspiration enough for me to WANT to do and learn more, and your financial support certainly plays a large role in making that my WANT to's easier to DO. Thanks again Doc and Mr. Bill.

Also, thank you EDM 310 students of Summer 2010 for helping me make them think I was necessary. Y'all did a PHENOMENAL job this summer. Some of the work you produced has completely altered my ideas of expectations and feasibility. I can't tell you how many times I have forwarded links to my family (and a few friends who will tolerate it) to brag on y'all. Don't let your journey end with this semester, keep up the good work indefinitely!)

Finding Your Motivation

2010-07-14T22:32:00.005-05:00

I have heard time and time again how insightful your class has been this summer. EDM310 is growing and producing faster and more boldly than ever before. Some of you are using the tools y'all have learned about in your professional lives, some of you are already teaching these tools to schools and teachers out of the state, some of you are researching tools that we have yet to explore as a class, and others of you are making masterpiece productions of your assignments. Congratulations to you all. It is amazing to see the team work effort between y'all as a class.

Now I ask you all this: Why? Why are you so motivated? Why are you excelling so profoundly? Why is it harder for others of you to keep up? What have you noticed about the habits of classmates that are struggling? What have you noticed about the strategies of classroom bar-setters?

These are a few questions that fall under the umbrella of a little research I am doing on educational motivation. Any answers or comments y'all have will go a LONG way in helping me draw some meaningful conclusions.

Here's a little quote by Sir Ken Robinson that was published to CNN that got me thinking...

"Facilitating learning is like gardening. You cannot make a plant grow. It grows itself. What gardeners know is that there are certain conditions under which that will happen, and if the conditions aren't right-- nothing will grow. If the conditions are good everything grows. Great teachers know that. Their job is to create the conditions under which people will grow. Those conditions include: understanding the nature of talent and motivation, the need to feed people's spirits and energies." Sir Ken Robinson

Life in Perspective

2010-07-13T09:23:00.004-05:00

This morning I walked into the lab to be greeted by Steven and Dr. Strange. As I was preparing for my day, Dr. Strange coolly says, "Where should I begin? I have 7,000 emails to read." I thought I would share this with you guys because before this morning, I used to complain about the now, seemingly minimal junk mail that the Jaguar system sends me-- I now have a new appreciation for my 10-20 emails I am responsible for reading each day.

Before the invention of Email:

And after his great influx emails:

I hope y'all have a good day full of gratitude!

P.s. Follow the source tag on the young Dr. Strange picture to get a glimpse into his roots.

Reflecting on Reflections...

2010-07-12T10:46:00.003-05:00

This week, I was afforded an awesome opportunity to gain some insight. Two students asked me to film their Smartboard presentation and I was happy and eager to do so because these two ladies always have such an uplifting, giggly persona about them. At the end of the filming process, as I was about to take my leave, one of them asked for feedback. Knowing that Student A would appreciate honesty and frankness, I responded rather bluntly to her question, "Was it good?". I bluntly said, "no". First lesson learned...

1.) Know your audience and always consider everyone in the room. Although Student A could appreciate and possibly prefer the brutal honesty, I could tell by the expression on Student B's face that she needed a little more "constructive" in my criticism.

After I said no, I asked them if they could tell me why I might say that. I then asked them to think about the purpose of the video, which was to demonstrate how the Smartboard can enhance the learning experience. We decided that although their presentation was full of good content, it poorly met the project objective because they make use of Smartboard potential.

We continued to discuss what the project was lacking, which lead me to my next thought... Why? They informed me that they spent a fair amount of time looking for lessons and eventually settled for the one they created. They concluded that although Smartboards are great for certain subjects with young elementary students-- it was not effective as a tool for more mature minds. Having heard their thoughts, I shared what their presentation did demonstrate: Smartboards are not practical tools for upper level learning environments. Mistake number 2...

2.) When encouraging the reflection process, trim back the conclusions and encourage students to come up with their own restored purpose. I suggested that they add a reflection piece to their presentation and publish it as an argument as to why they feel Smartboards are ineffective for their area of study. If I had pushed them to trouble shoot more independently-- who knows what they would have come up with-- they may have even decided giving Smartboards another shot was easier than spinning their flop into a valuable production.

So now that I have written down my own reflection about this experience, I am left wondering, "How could I have directed them towards reflection without leading them to the product that I have in mind?" I don't want to lead them to my vision because theirs might be more creative, and WILL definitely offer insight into their own minds and capabilities. What do you think?

Today in EDM...

2010-07-06T12:27:00.004-05:00

I learned the the iPhone 4 weighs approximately 137 grams, which is equivalent to about 3 tasty chicken eggs. The iPhone 3GS is a whopping 8 grams heavier, which is about the size of one brown spotted turquoise quail egg. So next time you cook up breakfast, let your mind wander to the wonderful world of Apple.

Also, Google recognized Ms. Frida Kahlo for her artistic contribution to Mexican culture with her surrealist paintings. Enjoy her lovely ladies and their unibrows!

Gina Teaches My Sister Wordle

2010-06-30T11:44:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I brought my 13 year old sister Christina into class with me. In an effort to make use of a good opportunity for someone to teach what they have learned, I recruited Gina to choose what she wanted to teach AND teach it. I think choosing was the hardest part.

Gina did a great job teaching and taught me and Jamie Lynn a few things we had forgotten along the way. In every experience these is always something to learn. I had no expectation to learn the big lessons that I learned yesterday.

1.) The hardest part of teaching is finding a means to motivate. I think the easiest solution is to be enthusiastic-- make it known that you LOVE what you have to share. As far as I can tell, this is the only way to motivate unless you know something about your students. Which leads me to my second point...

2.) Be attentive. Paying attention to everything your students reveal about themselves can help make their experience relevant to their lives-- yet another means for motivating. Knowing your students will also help you gauge what kind of direction you should provide.

3.) Direction and instruction ARE different. Direction means developing goals and providing the tools necessary for your students to discover resources and paths to achieve them.
--Instruction is a step by step process with little room for creativity and lots of room for error. With that said, limit instruction and INCREASE DIRECTION!

The last and (I hope to be the most lasting) lesson I have learned is that learning can happen from any source and so can teaching-- age and experience are merely secondary factors in regards to learning exchanges.

Thank you Gina and Christina for the lesson, and of course, Jamie Lynn your presence made it that much more fun.

You can lead 'em to water, but you can't stop 'em from peein' in it-- Barry Gartman

2010-06-24T10:52:00.005-05:00

Here's proof that y'all didn't pee in the drinking water-- below is a compilation of the best resources that I have found by fishing through the EDM pool of knowledge. You might explore a few and add it to your PLE (personal learning environment).

feed://primarytech.globalteacher.org.au/feed/

Resources from Mrs. McGeady Helps elementary teachers integrate technology into the classroom.

http://web.nmc.org/5cardstory/play.php?suit=5card

Five Card Story gives you five random pictures that serve as prompts for student created storylines.

http://www.smories.com/

Smories is a movie database of stories that have been created by Five Card Draw prompts.

http://bubbl.us

Brainstorm online-- it's not as easy as it could be, but you can embed it, edit it, and print it.

Glogster: Check it OUT!

2010-06-23T14:09:00.006-05:00

Imagine what you could do with this production tool. Say goodbye to trifold English reports, Science projects, and History displays and say HELLO to glogger. Here is one that I created as an example from my trip to Colorado earlier this summer.

Be sure to also check out Glogster EDU where you can see great examples of students work!

Sara's Findings on SMARTboards

2010-06-23T11:13:00.009-05:00

Sara Hendrix wrote a post about SMARTboards that like the rest of EDM310, summarized the posts that Dr. Strange linked you to: Why Smart Boards Are a Dumb Initiative and Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards. However, she discovered a GREAT site for teachers who want to learn the positives of SMARTboards and how you can use them called Teachers Love SMARTboards and linked us to a blog post about SMARTboards and the Tips-and-Tricks Phenomenon. Here she, and later I, watched a slideshow with all kinds of "Tip-and Tricks" as shown below.

I am still not wholly convinced that SMARTboards are the best investment for our education tax dollars, but since so many of the classrooms that we will be teaching in are going to have them... I am thrilled to have this slideshow filled with all sorts of information and inspiration. Check it out!

A Great Kick Off for Creating Your PLN!

2010-06-23T09:53:00.002-05:00

How to get started with your PLN:

Leave comments on teachers, and students blogs. If you find them particularly interesting look them up, read what they have to say, and contact them using these sites:

Twitter, RSS Feeds, Blogging, Podcasts, Classmates, Teachers, Email, Youtube, Delicious, Evernote, Glogster, and Skype

Never be afraid to google a topic, which may lead you to a site, classroom, or person that you can add to your PLN.

Watch this Youtube video made by a 7th grader in Wendy Drexler's class. She calls her has a PLE (Personal Learning Environment), which not only encompasses the people in her PLN, but also research and production resources.

*I recommend watching it in full screen so you don't miss out on the details!

Here are some great resources for finding teachers to follow...

FreeTech4Teachers

Larry Ferlazzo EduBlog

Beth Still EduBlog

Connected Teachers on Google Docs

Instructions for Assignment 6 Number 2

2010-06-17T11:48:00.000-05:00

Disregard the email that I sent about the podcast assignment. These are the instructions that have been confirmed by Dr. Strange. Because the media world is leaning towards youtube, versus iTunes podcasts (very debate-able, Dr. Strange wants you to create a collaborative movie on one of the topics listed in the Spreadsheet that he shared with you. Sign up, you MUST do this with at least one partner-- It can be informative, debate format, interview format, etc. As long as it is collaborative, you are in the clear. You can even create your movies separately, combine them into one production and publish to your blog (If you do this, keep in mind that they should sound like ONE project with ONE goal).

The assignment IS DUE BY SUNDAY JUNE 20, however, this date is very flexible so do not panic. Find a partner, get together when you can-- brainstorm your topic, develop a script/storyline, produce, and publish. Remember, the purpose of this assignment is to give you further practice with producing and publishing movies. Be creative with your topic and production style, and be excited about the opportunity to learn! I promise it will help you feel less overwhelmed.

Stephen Teaches Response Summary Image Link

2010-06-15T09:50:00.005-05:00

A link to the written instructions that will get you through the first part of this video can be found by clicking here.

Assignment 5

2010-06-14T11:30:00.007-05:00

I will learn more about the expectations of Assignment Five found on page 11 of your instruction manual and add the information to this post. For now, here is an example of one way you can make a video. Dillon Rogers from EDM 310 Fall of 2009 made a video for Kaia, whom you will learn about this semester as well.

I know I have left this link in several of my comments on your blog posts, but for those of you I didn't get to-- here is a link to Eric Whitacre's Choir Blog where he explains how his ensemble unfolded. Check it out! It is inspiring to say the least.

Jamie Lynn and I are going to have a debate about the usefulness of online classes. I am going to create a form to see what yall think about it! Be sure to check back here to help us gather your input!

If you have problems with Timetoast when you embed your code, visit this link. THis can also be found by going to the class blog, looking in the archives for April 2010. It should read "Timetoast has a bug"

Gina's Summary Response

2010-06-10T11:35:00.010-05:00

To learn how to put a full response summary on your blog, go to my blog post titled, "Stephen Teaches Response Summary Image Link".

Setting the Bar

2010-06-09T09:29:00.006-05:00

Your fellow EDM classmate, Martha Yim, really set the bar high with her google presentation. By looking ahead and exploring the tools that y'all created accounts for on the first day, she was able to overlay audio and video into her presentation about the Kennedy Space Center by combining a Screentoast with her google presentation document. To watch her outstanding example of a presentation click on the screenshot as shown below.

I happen to know that Martha is very approachable, and has all kinds of knowledge ready to be pried from her finger mind. So explore her blog, get new ideas, and ask her how she produces what you find. Even more importantly, ask her what she's up to next! The suspense is killing me!

Presentation, C4C, C4T, and Questionnaire

2010-06-07T11:08:00.003-05:00

For an example of a presentation you can look at my presentation which is far from flawless, but might help give you an idea of what is expected. Dr. Strange outlines what he expects from y'all in your instruction manual at the top of page six. The video link is HERE as well.

Just as stated in your instruction manual on page 8, you are expected to, "3. Comments4Classmates starts. You will find in your Google Docs your first C4C assignment. These will continue through the end of the term. You will be assigned two classmates. Comment on their post due on the PREVIOUS assignment date. In other words, this assignment will cover the Blog Post on Did You Know?, Mr. Needleman, Vicki Davis and Sir Ken Robinson. In the unfortunate event that the person to whom you are assigned has not done their post on time, just email edm310help@gmail.com and include the name of your fellow student and No Post for ..." This is due every Wednesday and Sunday, just as the new assignments are started.

Your C4T is due each Wednesday. To find out which classmate/ teacher you are assigned, check your google docs. Dr. Strange has shared your assignment with you to view as a spreadsheet.

Instructional videos about your questionnaire are located on page 8 as well. For help on your questionnaire, I found this LINK most helpful.

Second Day of Classes

2010-06-03T10:26:00.015-05:00

Wordle Difficulty? Click here for screen capture instructions, or you can copy the embed code after you publish your Wordle to a Public Gallery.

Want to access staff blogs more easily?
1.) Log in to your blogger account
2.) Go to View Blog (for your EDM blog)
3.) In the upper right hand corner, select "customize"
4.) Look for "Add a gadget", select and a new window will appear
5.) Scroll through the list of gadgets and select "Link List"
6.) In the Title Bar, type "Important Links"
7.) add the URL's to which ever blogs you wish to have access to from your own blog
8.) Finally, submit your form and move your new Important Links gadget where ever you want it to appear in your blog

See Below for Tutorial-- I recommend pressing play, minimizing the screen, and following the audio instructions as you go. Or resizing your windows so you can see both simultaneously.

Youtube Video for bigger version

Alt= and Title= tags for the deaf and blind

Written Instructions
Video Instructions

I found these videos by
1.) going to EDM 310 Class Blog
2.) looking under the right hand column under Essential Links to Valuable Resources
3.) clicking EDM 310 Fall 2009.
4.) scrolling down to find "Instructional Videos by John H. Strange" in the right column
5.) In this list you will see "Blogger Lesson 2 alt= and title= and more" (link below)
6.) Above the Instr. Vid. Section you will see "Class Syllabus and Materials" and in that column you will find written instructions (below) called: "Accessibility for the Blind: Alt and Title Modifiers"

Barry Gartman and a few others asked how to check to see if your Alt= and Title tags were working, here are the instructions I shared with him.

To check to see that your Alt or Title Tags are present on all your images:

1.) Go to http://wave.webaim.org/ (link found on page 4 of the Instruction Manual)
2.) Type in the name of your Blog URL under "Enter a web site address"
-- You can also paste your HTML code for the picture and it will check it as well
3.) A new window will appear that looks similar to your Blog Page, only this one has symbols all over it.
4.) Hold your mouse over each of the symbols to see what each of them means if you are curious, but the main one to look out for looks like this

This means that there is no alt tag present
5.) If this appears you need to add an ALT tag to the image by following the instructions listed in the video link or written instructions link above.
Thank you Barry for bringing this question to my attention.

I just wanted to add a little reflective message for the day... Many of y'all exemplified incredible leadership and learner skills today. Your patience was astounding, and your perseverance was immeasurable. With that said, do not get discouraged by the frustrations that some of you felt today-- as you get used to Google and blogger... your EDM 310 experience will become easier (still thought and time demanding, but easier nonetheless). Keep up the great work, ask your peers, Google your questions, and contact us if you need any other help. The whole staff is ready and eager to learn how we can get y'all excited about what your about to embark on-- we can do that best by y'all helping us to see the discrepancies in what we are delivering so far-- so bring on your observations and concerns!

Instructions for Purchasing Foliotek

2010-06-02T09:49:00.009-05:00

This video will be available for a limited time, but if you forget how to purchase, just go to USA Online and select Foliotek Help in the left column, or follow these written instructions.

Purchasing Foliotek:

1.) Go to www.usouthal.edu
2.) Select USA Online, located in the bottom right corner of the window.
3.) Select ePortfolio, located in the center of the top of the window.
4.) After clicking ePortfolio, a new page will appear the allows you to purchase or extend your license. Select okay.
5.) Fill out your billing information and PRESTO! You're done.

First Day of Classes Summer 2010

2010-06-01T09:50:00.019-05:00

Class has almost started and we have already discovered something new about Delicious. You can sync your bookmarks by adding he google chrome or firefox extension.

If you have an apple, ask your fellow student Martha! She used to be a project manager at Apple in Silicon Valley, California.

Don't have firefox? You can consult your instruction manual, or click here to download it.

This class is NOT as intimidating as it may seem. What makes this class so unique and worth while is that it allows you to meet teachers around the world. You also get to follow the educational development of students within classroom world wide!

We encourage you to follow tangents. You are rewarded for your discoveries. One thing can and will lead to another-- follow it. Report on it. Use the tools you will learn about to produce something about it. This is truly a class for experiential learning. So EXPERIENCE it.

One thing that you can count on me doing is taking notes and recording thoughts that race through my mind throughout the class meetings. You should do the same in your own posts! You have a required amount, but you are welcome to add as many relevant posts as you would like.

Bring your laptop to class and check your gmail EVERYDAY. Once you learn how to effectively use igoogle (which is one of your projects), keeping up with the classwork will be much easier. I promise.

For your URL type in your last name, first name, EDM310 with NO SPACES example
cappsanthonyedm310

WORDLE HELP

Screenshots for Macs = Command+Shift+3 for the whole screen and Command+Shift+4 for part of the screen

Screenshot for PC's= alt+prnt scrn, save it, then open it up in paint or word processor... for more in depth instructions on PC's search print screen on my blog found in the upper left hand corner

HTML CODES FOR CONTACT ME SECTION

If you double click the video, it will open a bigger and more clear video in a new window. If that doesn't work follow this link: HTML Code Video

Blogging, a forum for Healthy Debate???

2010-05-27T11:16:00.003-05:00

I recently read Mr. C's post, Are We Having Real Conversations Using New Media? and followed his link to Philly Teacher's: Politics and Education post. Although the main post was not particularly engaging to me, Mr. Hauck from MS made a comment refuting the purpose and effectiveness of technology in the classroom.

Originally, I was enthralled by his idea that teachers integrating technology into the classroom encouraged tech addictions and furthers tech-makers' agendas. It wasn't until I continued reading the comment exchanges that his original ideas lost credibility for me. The tone of his words, the personal attacks, and the pushiness to continue the argument was all but flattering.

With that being said, it leads me to my main point. Be careful how you represent yourself online. In his response post, Mr. C expressed his wavering faith concerning online communication because it would seem that poor online etiquette is rampant. Online communication can be and is essential to expanding perspective, sharing ideas, critiquing productions, and exchanging cultural glimpses. However, all of this is only healthy and effective if we refrain from making personal attacks by maintaining professionalism and abiding by momma's philosophy, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all."

As I reviewed this, I realized that Mr. Hauck might perceive this as a personal attack on him. So the solution seems less clear than I would have thought. How do you support your point without hurting another's feelings as a result of limited textual expression? When words can be read so many ways, how can we bridge the gap between non-aggressive facial expressions and our fingertips?

Vacation not in vain

2010-05-26T22:51:00.001-05:00

Hi Ms. Caryl,

I hope you made it home safely! Pensacola was my final destination-- so my last leg was short and sweet.

I have been brainstorming further about the teacher-student teaming project that you inspired. Dr. Strange's class is superb in that any student who wishes to study a tangent that is related to the material is free (encouraged) to do so-- however, that opportunity is lost on many of his students because his curriculum is missing the intrinsic motivation that comes by creating one to one relationships with elementary students. Right now, he asks his students to participate in a project called comments for kids, which is great because it exposes aspiring teachers to online classrooms around the world. Unfortunately, many of the comments left by his students are relatively bland and often directed at a whole class instead of an individual-- thereby undermining the value of the project.

I am going to propose to him that we target classrooms that have individual students work available and team one college student with one elementary student all semester long. By doing this, I hope we will achieve more accountability and genuine responses that are created by deep thought and inspection of the students work and maybe the class site as a whole. This idea does create a problem which I am looking for feedback if you have any.

The problem is that by teaming one teacher to one student all semester long, you limit the exposure of your college students to other tech-savvy classrooms. A couple possible solutions I have thought of are as follows:

a.) Strange could reduce the frequency of the commenting aspect of comments4kids so that his students can prioritize one student instead of many, but still require his students to look through a different class blog each week.

b.) The Doc could ask his students to leave links to other related class rooms in the comments for their teamed student to emphasize the relevancy and global connectedness of their work for appropriate elementary submissions-- which would prove their research of other classes.

As you can see, I am still in the framework stage of this project idea. ANY helpful tips, insight, or foreseeable collapses are greatly appreciated.

I do appreciate your open support and kindness and look forward to hearing from you again. I am equally excited to hear about any volunteer excitement or novel/ artwork developments you have occur. Please do keep me updated.

Eager to succeed,

Anthony Capps

What blogging means to me...

2010-03-03T08:45:00.002-06:00

Last semester, without a shade of gray, I can honestly say I was on FIRE for school. I was constantly inspired and eager to work hard to see what was next. This semester is a whole different story. I mean, my grades are fine and I even have more dispensable time this semester. So what's the deal?

I woke up this morning and decided to look back-- what was the difference? Quickly, because in the back of my mind I have known this all along, I realized that I have not taken the time to invest in others' ideas. I have not been connecting with creative teachers from around the globe, I have not been watching 3rd grade productions about literature or netball, I HAVE NOT BEEN BLOGGING.

Well, there's some good news and some bad news. The bad news... I have wasted two months of opportunity, but the good news (I feel like I need a pulpit and the gospel in my hand), the good news is that it's not too late for me to reconnect. It never is!

And so, with that being said, today is the day that I update my blog, and explore for the first time in a few months. I hope that you come back to this blog and see what I have learned, and more importantly-- point me in the direction of something new.

Full steam ahead!

Mandatory Summary Post

2009-12-04T17:04:00.002-06:00

1.) Because I plan to always be an EDM 310 student, or at least a Technologically Literate Life Long Learner, the list of things I have I learned seems endless. Some things I learned, or payed closer attention to this semester versus last semester include, HTML codes, Wikis, Screencasts, Voicethread, more expansive Comment Techniques (adding links or pictures), Flicker, Delicious, Evernote, Comments4Kids,.. I want to learn more about HTML codes which I hope will lead me to understanding how to build a website of my own (if I ever find a worthy purpose). Delicious has helped me more than ever when it comes to remembering where I got different sources no matter what class I am researching for-- as my life expectations and requirements change I will appreciate this organizational tool as a diary of my interests simply because I will have a record of the websites that stuck out for me with personalized notes and tags.

2.) Despite the limitations of Smartboards, I think we should be more familiarized with their operation processes and potential since we will definitely encounter them in our teaching career.

3.) A lesson learned is never wasted.

4.) This class has been the most exciting class I have ever taken. Never before have I felt so connected and empowered. Likewise, I have never been so pushed for creativity and originality. I am still awaiting that idea that finally satisfies my craving for me to create something useful and un-heard-of.

5.) A very insightful classmate helped me overcome my writer's/ thinker's block which was caused by a fear of not really knowing who I was as a professional in terms of my Professional Blog assignment. She emailed me this note which may help you in your future additions to your Professional Blog: "It seems like the main purpose driving this assignment is reflection. So, while who we want to be and the values we want to represent in our professional life is tough to write down, is it because it's not far removed from the same elements in our life life. Or maybe that would be an easier approach for you; just cover up the word professional, it carries baggage like having to answer what we want to be when we grow up. As long as you exercise themes pertaining to Anthony's goals, beliefs, what you want to do, how your nature or experiences suit you to do it... he'd have to give you credit for all that soul searching right? Surely, he wouldn't want us to manufacture stuff just to sound like we have it all figured out. Just start writing, you might be surprised with what comes out. I'm talking to myself here, as well, I realize."

6.) No.

7.) I really liked the results of the group projects. Maybe you could have your students brainstorm the social implications of communication technology beyond the classroom. That's kind of a reach, I know-- but it's all I have.

8.) Yes, some, but still a work in progress.

9.) I want to use the tools I have learned of to become a more investigative student. I want to know the ins and outs of why things are the way they are-- inside and outside of the classroom. Blogs, production tools, and google make that job a whole lot easier.

Success and Compromise

2009-11-19T11:02:00.007-06:00

Yesterday I checked my Facebook live feed and saw that Lauren, a friend from California that I met during my time at the University of Hawaii, posted a Youtube video of PS22's Choir singing Lady Gaga's Just Dance. You can see that she and a few others didn't warmly embrace their choice of music.

Because I was lightly familiar with the Choir's background because I was exposed to one of their Stevie Nick's performances in my Educational Media class here at U. South Alabama, I brushed her comment off as a prejudice reaction. But then I got to thinking about the implications that these performances are creating. When does creating opportunities for celebrities to inspire and encourage our youth cross moral lines. These kids are being praised and encouraged to sing songs by celebrities like Kanye who are insulting other celebrities in their lyrics and on stage or by Lady Gaga who's lyrics promote alcohol recklessness and sexual promiscuity. Sure, these kids are talented-- but should their talent be exploited in order to gain the attention of people who earn their merit by singing about their partying lifestyles.

The bad sentiment that was building in my mind was further enforced when I watched two extremely talented kids singing "Run This Town" and "The Climb". Then, just when I was most impressed, the choir director prods one of the singer's young brother to "tell us a mean story about Tirzah." He then instigates a dialogue between the siblings consisting of tattle-tale and beating each other up. Of course their was no serious maliciousness going on-- but shouldn't teachers rise find positive ways to create relationships with their students and make them laugh?

At this point, I haven't decided whether or not I think it is healthy for the children to be exposed to some of these celebrities just because they are famous. On the one hand, these kids have already established many of these singers as heroes. They are going to listen and sing their lyrics beyond school walls regardless. Perhaps the encouragement that these celebrities are providing is just what these students need to gain the confidence that it takes to achieve success. Who knows?.. these children may even make make celebrities more aware of the impact that they are having on American youth.

To learn more about evolution of PS22 and how they got their start, click here. Watch the video below for an example of their indisputably positive educational performances. They are singing PEMDAS the Pirate which helps teach the mathematical order of operations.
SchoolTube - PS22 Chorus "The PEMDAS Parrot" by Zach Johnson

What do you think about the waves that PS22 are making? What conclusions have you drawn about American culture and education?

Class Notes on Project 11

2009-11-11T18:34:00.004-06:00

Maggie Tarver's Group: avs4u (converts window's movie maker), Dr. Alice Christie's Website--> subject directory--> geography (virtual field trip),

Jim's Group: Zinio

May's Group: Edublog, educampus, keeping kids safe by making all your students blogs available for edit

Laurin, Lauren, and Kimberly: Google search tips "quotations" and, or, not ~related to from now..to then phonebook: filetype: site:

Kamstudio, screentoaster

Ginger enlightened us with a chapter summation of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Voicethread and Dr. Wesch

2009-11-11T16:50:00.008-06:00

As we learned about in New Media Literacies, we have recreated Dr Wesch's presentation about Youtube to fit our needs for Voicethread. We believe that Voicethread has all the great collaboration benefits of Youtube, but provides a safe way for students to get prepared for a lesson or review a lesson by contributing to the conversation from the privacy of their own homes without the worry of embarrassment. Because the conversation is recorded and can be moderated, Voicethread is a great tool that allows teachers and students to build off of others comments and reflect on those comments as more and more knowledge is gained about the subject. Because Voicethread so easily allows it users to publish the presentation, it can be shared over multiple platforms that are appropriate to 21 century classrooms, like blogs.

Please feel free to add your own comments to this Voicethread, or to leave a comment on this post regarding your ideas for Voicethread use in education. Also, we focused on the positive sides of Voicethread-- don't feel ashamed to point out any holes!

Mr. Jabiz Raisdana on Skype

2009-11-05T12:29:00.011-06:00

Today Dr. Strange's TT 11:00 am class from Alabama got to skype with Jabiz Raisdana in Qatar. One of three things that really stuck out for me was his mention of International Schools Services, which is a resource for teachers who wish to teach abroad.

Mr. Jabiz also told us that creating a good PLN requires patience. He said his most effective strategy was by blogging with a voice-- meaning, personalize your responses, share your own life experiences, get engaged with others who are discussing things beyond the educational "echo."

Lastly, Jabiz left us with one good tip... When your passion for teaching expires, "Move on."

Dr. Strange has posted the skype session, be sure to check it out! Jabiz encourages us to follow his paper trail. Start here.

Time is What You Make of It, Intrepid Teacher

2009-10-28T18:56:00.008-05:00

On our Wednesday night class meeting, we learned of screentoaster, an online tool that allows you to capture the images on your computer screen, overlay them with a webcam image and narration, and add captions afterward. Screentoaster also allows you to save your document to your computer for further editing.

I decided to practice using screentoast by briefly addressing an enlightening blog post and its wave of comments called There's No Such Thing As Virtual: It Is All Teaching by Jabiz Raisdana.

Check it out! (Click the expand button to follow along more easily.)

Free online screencasting tool

ACCESS

2009-10-27T21:48:00.006-05:00

After researching ALEX, Alabama Learning Exchange, I was introduced to yet another Alabama initiative to enhance education. ACCESS Distance Learning is a new tool used to bridge the gap between high-quality public education and underfunding. ACCESS, an acronym for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, provides expanded learning opportunities for all students including those who want to take part in AP courses, students who failed a course and need remedial support, as well as those who want to take courses like Latin, Shakespeare, or Calculus which may not be offered at their home school.

Using technologies including web-cams, codec, interactive whiteboards, and much more, students are able to receive a more specialized, unique, and cutting edge education. The state is funding the implementation of ACCESS with over 70 grants for 124 public high schools.

I believe ACCESS is an awesome way to diversify the way students learning in the 21st century receive information. Students are becoming more and more adept to internet and computer technology. ACCESS not only bridges financial barriers, but also connects great opportunities to students who are more easily engaged with advanced technology than more traditional schooling.

To learn more about ACCESS you can use the link I provided above, or follow this link for a brief overview.

ALEX

2009-10-27T21:46:00.002-05:00

ALEX, an acronym for Alabama Learning Exchange, is an internet based innovation created to help supplement all aspects of education. ALEX is easy to navigate so that anyone involved in a student's education including teachers, students, administrators, and parents can access unlimited information. Such information includes classroom lesson plans, statewide department objectives, web-links to accredited research resources, grant opportunities, and so much more!

ALEX is an exciting tool for teachers because it helps to link teachers from across the state together in the development of engaging lesson plans. It also serves as a potential resource for administrative observation (administrators can review lesson plans as to ensure statewide criteria are being met).

Most progressively, ALEX provides an opportunity for Distance Learning. Distance Learning removes financial barriers from education, and provides a door for students to learn subject areas beyond the capabilities of their home school. Teaming up with yet another Albama initiative called ACCESS (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide) Distance Learning, students can engage in Advanced Placement courses, language courses, and others that may otherwise be unavailable do to underfunding or under-staffing of schools.

I believe ALEX and ACCESS Distance Learning are two initiatives that are going to help increase parent and teacher cooperation in their students success. Simultaneously connecting students to easy to use resources for education enrichment beyond the classroom experience. I look forward to integrating these programs into my classroom by exploring lesson plan possibilities, and connecting my future students to this education portal.

Am I Ready? A response to Wendy Drexler's Networked Student

2009-10-26T21:25:00.007-05:00

Wendy Drexler's Networked Student defines connectivism as: "a theory that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties. This network is made possible by various tools of technology. The tools are not as important as the connections made possible by them."

Technology or not, I think most educators would agree that learning occurs best when students ask relevant questions. The challenge for teachers is that we don't always have the answers, and then the challenge becomes that of the student once again. We need to teach students how to answer the question, "Well if you don't know the answer, then what resource should I consult to find out?" The foundation for successfully educating is to create a comfortable learning environment built on trust-- once a teacher has established that, they are ready to introduce their students to learning in a whole new way, by networking them.

One quote in particular stood out to me in this video because it is a crucial part of successful networking. Drexler's student says, "Comment on blogs to offer one's own informed point of view for discussion." Informed is the key word here. It is important to teach students to dig for answers themselves before they ask questions or leave comments. As a result, students will inform themselves about the topic enough to ask the meaningful questions thereby provoking deeper discussions.

However, it is important not to hinder a student's confidence, especially when it comes to asking questions. As the movie put it, "It never hurts to ask, people usually love to share their knowledge and experience-- especially when it comes to students."

My First Voicethread

2009-10-23T06:37:00.006-05:00

I created this Voicethread so that I could learn how to use it as a classroom tool. As I made the presentation, it turned into a reflection of my class experience thus far. I realized that Dr. Strange was teaching us how to be Networked Students and how the connectivism has played a role in my learning experience.

By using VoiceThread, my eyes have been opened to all kinds of possibilities within the classroom (especially for those who teach secondary education grade levels). However, I think VoiceThread could be better if it allowed the commentor to overlay his or her typed/drawn comments on top of the audio recording. For presentation purposes, it would flow better. Overall, it is great!

Believing, Inventing, and Implementing Technological Pedagogies

2009-10-20T11:18:00.006-05:00

In Richard E. Miller's presentation, he talks about post production. Mr. Miller says that today's society rightfully expects all meaningful productions to be beautiful compositions, "... that are compelling, that pay attention to the auditory details of the experience." I agree, but due to time restrictions I should warn you that this post has very limited post production editing. However, I do believe his video is important and I hope my notes that I am about to share with you are "compelling" enough to convince my world wide audience that these clips are worth watching.

This video was made December 28, 2008 in San Francisco. The fact that I am already watching it on the Gulf Coast is a testament to the rapid evolution of our creative culture. Miller asks, "How has writing in our culture changed?" and his simple, yet powerful answer is this, "We now have the capability of communicating instantly, globally." He expounds on this idea by describing the way in which people (students) are able to create literature collaboratively from multiple continents simultaneously thanks to shared document programs like Google Docs.

Miller goes even further with the notion of our rapidly evolving writing culture to say that writing is no longer enough. Sure, novels are still appreciated-- look at the wild success of the Harry Potter series, but then look at what they became-- The Harry Potter film series. Think about The Star Wars films... would they have been as wildly acclaimed without the combined creative genius of revolutionary screenwriters, directors, and producers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg?

We are now in a time when producing creative messages extends beyond entertainment; competitive business proposals are expected to be captivating, convincing, even interactive-- employers are using social networking sites and search engines to research their applicants-- scientists and economists who live on two or even three different continents are winning Nobel Peace Prizes because they can share multiple mediums of data instantly. This leads me to conclude that if the real world now requires technological savvy to create engaging compositions, we MUST confidently prepare our students for the evermore competitive lifestyles of today. Reading and writing is no longer adequate-- multimedia production is essential.

I really appreciated Miller's insight regarding incremental versus fundamental change when it comes to how we use technology (more specifically, the internet). He describes a time when people were what I loosely call "copy/ pasters." About ten years ago, people used the internet as a free, vast encyclopedia. They read what was available, pasted it into their minds and moved on to the next resource. Now, we are reading/watching, criticizing or praising publicly, and recreating a unique version that reflects our perception of the most current and relevant resources. Miller points out that internet enables us to see who is behind each publication and read what other people and companies are saying about it. Even better, we can compare it to an infinite amount of other resources with the click of a tab.

Everyone has something to contribute. The more people are exposed to, the more their wheels turn. The more ideas that are circulated, the faster our communities can change and our thoughts can flourish. Unfortunately, becoming an agent of change by recording one's thoughts uniquely on any given medium is not as easy as it sounds. Just as a musician must learn how to strum a guitar to make music, media producers must learn what Miller calls, "visual literacy." Students must learn how to compose for today's audience. We as teacher's of tomorrow must be able to teach our students this visual literacy.

Currently pedagogical resources for visual literacy are limited because of its relative modernity. Miller emphasizes, "The limits and the restrictions are largely ones we place on ourselves." He goes on to say that educators are responsible for creating and enabling,
1.) pedagogues that foster creativity and collaboration
2.) inspiring teachers of new media composing
3.) ubiquitous composing technology.

I believe it is an educator's responsibility to help their students discover what they love. In order to do so, we must digest Miller's notion that ideas belong to no one. My favorite part of his presentation is the small detail at the very end when his copyright symbols falls and breaks in two. It's scary to admit this in such a great and capitalistic society, but isn't that what humanity should strive for-- less competition and more collaboration?

***Notes and Quotes
1.) At 3 minute mark, Miller defines the movement from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. At the end of this presentation, he states his thesis argument that Rutger needs to build a space that enables students to learn how to produce multimedia compositions.
2.) I like that he encourages the use of local resources to compliment global (internet) resources.

Itunes U and Duke's Use of Ipods

2009-10-20T09:56:00.008-05:00

At its core, iTunes University is a pocketable resource to dozens of the nation's top colleges and universities. iTunes University in conjunction with an iPod or iPhone creates a hand-held learning resource. Just this morning, I listened to Get Smart with Smart Boards and an interview with Game Designer Jane McGonigal about ARG s on the way to school via my iPod through the speakers of my car. Without it, I would have been bobbing my head aimlessly to "Toes" by the Zac Brown Band. Instead, I was able to do homework during my commute-- multitasking at its best.

After distributing hundreds of 20 GB iPods to an incoming freshman class as part of a project to discover potential ways to innovate technology into the classrooms, Duke University found that students used the recording device, music database, and hard drive storage capability most. To me, the most handy part about distributing the iPods to students was that teachers were able to preload class lectures, foreign language content, historical speeches, relevant songs, and podcasts. Students could also use it to store mathematical equations and examples, particularly if the teacher recorded class notes on a smart-board or powerpoint.

I think the most significant conclusion I drew from reading about Duke's iPod Initiative and iTunes University is that my generation is expected to multitask now more than ever. Just like Karl Fisch with Did You Know 4.0, Duke University realizes that students must learn to be as efficient with their time as possible in order to be effective and successful. Duke's investment in new technologies for their students serves multiple purposes: to give students a gateway to become familiar with the technologies of tomorrow, to enable students to take learning beyond dorm rooms, libraries, and classrooms, as well as to support students in their uphill battle to do multiple things at once (like studying French while running on a tredmill).

***Notes and Questions
1.) What is a blackboard course management tool?
2.) Led me to research the iPod Touch on Wired, where I learned about the upcoming iPod Touch 3G. It has me eagerly anticipating the newer version!

Buzz Tracker

2009-10-20T09:02:00.005-05:00

I stumbled across Buzz Tracker on Dr. Alice Christie's website. Essentially, it is a way to see WHERE news is happening in relation to cities all over the world. Keeping students informed about what is happening in the world in conjunction with empowering them to be agents of positive change is a great way to motivate each child to strive for their best in everything they do. Buzz Tracker is a great new way to present international problems and inspiring stories that may help students realize what interests them.

Check it out and find out where's happening today!

Class Notes/ Thoughts

2009-10-14T19:32:00.004-05:00

How to make a video: See youtube, Story of a Sign

Professional Blog: technology literate, intellectual trail, set the stage for what I talk about (instead of the color of your shoelaces that day, etc.),
Talk about things that define you: McClung, Stay Positive!

Professional Blog, Project 11, Podcasts, and Class Blog are high priority.

Look up Dr. Strange's response to Jabiz's comment regarding the public nature of Dear Kaia.

Ginger: Lit Trip
Google tour: 20 destinations that I must add text notes too.
Dr. Strange: How do I get the history bar that shows you the changes over time in a place on google earth?

I am having trouble organizing my google reader-- people I cannot seem to find recently added people that I know I attempted to follow... any cure?

Notes from a thread I read on Intrepid Teacher: Moodle, Blackboard, chatzy, facebook feed, Tokbox, ning, How does Mr Jabiz apply flickr to the classroom?

I want to create a posts called, Making Publi Education Public-- which addresses the concern of internet safety and student privacy.

Class notes and thoughts...

2009-10-07T19:01:00.003-05:00

to me: Check EDM Blog for syllabus changes
--elluminate??? course in canada (five minute teaching goal) smartboard on the web
--five minute max project (3rd objective for the last half of the semester)
--explicit video project-- I haven't used any type of video making things yet-- this may be another good opp for me to experience something new
--edublogs-- that's the blog system that Jabiz uses
--vimeo, youtube alternative
--fairhope teacher does fascinating stuff with smartboard
--watch google wave
from Karadimos: NPR text books digital or virtual text books that you can subscribe to
--Free, chris anderson
--school who sold their entire library, electronic library
to me: crunchtime on youtube (from a movie making course) example for our project 11
-- free app for iphone... att, vonage verizon mifi?
--think about what implications teaching in public has...
from Dr. Strange: when we get to google earth in week ten-- go to ALICE CHRISTIE's site and read her instructions
--primaryblogger.co.uk

web enhanced, signed up for all networks (picassa, igoogle, etc.)
help team- Fawcett & Capps
answering emails, commenting on blogs,
go to Financial Aid and get signed up for work-study

Blogs: an outlet for endless creativity

2009-10-06T22:08:00.005-05:00

I was just winding down my day by using my google reader gadget on igoogle to catch up on what my education mentors had posted throughout the past few days when I stumbled across Mr. C's video response for the blog Dear Kaia. I deducted (incorrectly) from the pictures in Mr. C's Class video response that Kaia was a girl in the desert of a war-torn/ impoverished country whom someone (perhaps her adopted father or sponsor) had created a blog to tell her story. This peaked my interest because I try to become more aware of social injustice through out the world. Nonetheless, I started digging through Kaia's blog to be pleasantly surprised by a wonderful documentary of a little girl who, at the age of three, has already experienced more than most people do in a lifetime. Her parents have done an amazing job using technology to help creatively store memories from her youth.

Jabiz, Kaia's father, is a 7,8,and 9 year teacher of students at the Compass International School in Doha, Qatar. So far as I can tell, he uses his professional blog, Intrepid Teacher, as a journal for other curious minds and educators. I am eager to further explore his site and ask him questions about what it is like to teach over seas? How he manages his time so effectively between school and family? Why he teaches in Qatar and what are some of the biggest contrasts between American and Qatar schools? I am sure more questions and answers will come after I explore his blog.

I mostly just wanted to share this find with y'all because I am so excited about the opportunities that blogging can provide for us. Before investing myself in this class, I struggled to reconcile two dreams-- in short, exploring other cultures and teaching. Blogging has helped provide a bridge between two seemingly distant goals.

Here's the video that helped lead me to Kaia's Blog which helped to further open my eyes. Thank you Mr. C and Class!

Alice Christie and the ARGuing Project: Tower of Babel

2009-10-06T11:50:00.017-05:00

This week, I explored Dr. Alice Christie's website. In it, I discovered a stew of resources that she has gathered throughout her forty-plus years of teaching. Her primary philosophies include: teaching teachers how to become lifelong learners and how to restructure their class space to encourage collaborative learning between themselves, their students, as well as other students and teachers world wide. Because technology has become such an enabling force for lifelong learners, her website focuses on incorporating technology in the class space. One of the most exciting things I came across was alternate game realities.

I followed link after link trying to learn more about ARGs (alternate game realities) and finally concluded that there is most certainly a novelty to the idea, but it just isn't teacher-time-budget friendly yet. The whole idea of an ARG is to create a collaborative game that connects a variety of classmates and resources in order to teach many things at once; most obviously the lesson-- albeit science, math, history, literature, art, music,.. It also teaches teamwork, how to reach out all over the world via internet, and how to use online tools. It also has the potential to get students to seek answers from libraries, museums, art gallas, community members, etc.

In my research, I came across the Tower of Babel ARG which was used by teachers across Europe to teach language education. The website I have linked shares the how's, what's, and testimonials from the teachers involved. I have posted below a conversation between one of the project's team members and myself so that you could see what is to come and how helpful they were.

Hello,

I am a student of Elementary Education at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, AL. I currently volunteer in two 4th grade classrooms and I witness disinterest among my students as a result of "old school" teaching techniques. I am very interested in learning more about ARG's designed for the Elementary level, more specifically ages 9-12, so that I can implement new teaching strategies in my future class room.

How can I become involved in an ARG project? Can I expect to see one designed for my age level kids?

Thank you for your time,

Anthony

P.S. You can also view my EDM 310 class blog at http://cappsaedm310fall2009.blogspot.com/

Dear Anthony

Thank you for your interest.

The project has just completed its final meeting and we will be placing on our website a number of papers, including a methodology that explains how educators can use an ARG in their schools and an evaluation of the effectiveness of our ARG on student motivation.

We will also be placing a paper with a number of 'Use case scenarios' that will suggest how flexible ARGs can be and that they can be adapted to all levels of education and subjects, including inter-disciplinary.

The platform that we constructed for our project, on a Moodle platform, is being offered for use to educators. A reasonable familiarity of Moodle is extremely helpful.

The project team are also offering consulting services to schools to help them use ARGs in their schools.

I can be contacted for further information by email or Skype.

Best regards

Joel Josephson
Partner ARGuing project

I think it is an incredible idea, and I hope that an easy to use program is created for teachers like myself to start applying this revolutionary teaching style in our classrooms.

Mr. McClung: First Year Lessons

2009-10-06T11:04:00.005-05:00

I really admired the way Mr. McClung began his blog post with a "stay postive" picture. I can only assume that his simple, yet effective way of setting the tone for his readers is telling of his creative teaching abilities.

His article emphasizes the need for first year teachers to keep our priorities in line-- open pathways for student learning. We must do this by keeping students engaged with exciting lessons, staying flexible if those lesson plans don't go exactly as planned, integrating technology into our learning experiences, setting examples for our students by looking for new ways to remain a lifelong learner, and using our communication skills to share exciting news, seek advice, and resolve problems.

All of Mr McClung's tips are helpful, but the one that stood out most to me was-- Be Flexible. I think that one of the important challenges I am going to face as a teacher is learning how to turn every stumbling block into a learning opportunity and doing it with a smile on my face. This is the most significant for me because I believe that mastering that skill will best help prepare our students for problems beyond academic walls. Moreover, teaching them how to master that skill is equally important in their growth.

***Notes
1.) When I commented Mr. McClung's post, I left him a question, "Technologically speaking, what was your most useful tool as a first year teacher (software, freeware, smartboard,.. anything)?"

Virgil Griffith, Wikipedia, NPR

2009-10-06T09:24:00.007-05:00

We have all heard of and likely used Wikipedia. In high school, it was great! It eliminated the need to read an entire book for english class, or spend hours in the library researching some biologist for science, or even learn about those eerie topics that are just to awkward to talk about with our parents. Yes, everything was great-- and then we got to college. Somewhere on every syllabus that we were handed on that first day it reads, "Do NOT use Wikipedia as a source for your work."

The warnings that we received came in response to the recent buzz that questioned the credibility of Wikipedia in comparison to a standard, print encyclopedia. Where does all that information come from? Well, Virgil Griffith of Caltech University has created
a Wikipedia Scanner that helps Wikipedia users recognize edits
that have been added or removed from a wiki and additionally, where they came from.

Griffith hopes his Wikipedia Scanner will help deter "vandalism" or biased edits from occurring.

After reading NPR's News Blog Who's Been Messin' with MY Wikipedia Entry, NPR's report Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia, and the corresponding Morning Edition audio-show transcript-- I concluded that Wikipedia is what it is and it is up to its users to use it appropriately. Thompson, NPR's audio-show correspondent and WIRED representative says, "The line we sort of frequently use at Wired magazine is that Wikipedia is a hundred times the information as a regular encyclopedia at 90 percent the accuracy. And for most things that's pretty good."

***Notes
1.) Before this assignment, I had never been exposed to WIRED. I am now enthralled by the site because it provides information on any and every piece of technology that I would ever be interested in-- and best of all, it does so in a language that I can understand!

Comments for Kids

2009-10-01T11:35:00.017-05:00

Anthony said...

Wow, your story was great-- especially the Halloween timing! I am also new to vocaroo-- thanks for the introduction. Your story is a great combination of audio, video, and text! The moral to your story seems very clear, great moms and good friends are the best!
October 28, 2009 6:40 PM

To help me keep organized, I have compiled all of my reflections from C4K into one blog post. I have sorted them by the date that I commented. The Blogs I have found most helpful for me are available on the right side column of my blog, under "Important Links".

September 6, 2009 4:56
How creative! I hope to become a teacher one day very soon, and I hope that my students can express that talents as well as you have with your Humpty Dumpty story, even if it does have a sad ending. :-(
This is a great example of children combining narration with background music and most impressively, animation.

September 9, 2009 4:39
Keep up the good work guys! By looking at your blog posts, I have learned so much about what I want to include in my future classroom. Your creations have been very inspiring! Thank you!
One student leads her class in thanking the EDM 310 students for our input on their blogs. I think this is a great example of building confidence in students and developing student/teacher relationships across the globe!

September 11, 2009 4:47
This is phenomenal! Y'all are so fortunate to be able to spend so much time expressing your limitless creativity with your amazing talents. I was exceptionally impressed with your animation-- it makes me wish I could have gone to the assembly myself!
I am studying at the University of South Alabama to become an elementary teacher. I am grateful that Dr. Strange tipped me off to your website. Please continue to inspire!
This is reporting at its best. The student of Point England collaboratively reported on an assembly they had about storytelling. They digitally animated their experiences and compiled them into one storyline to create a more complete report of the event. HOW EXCELLENT!

September 11, 2009 4:52
Congratulations! Netball looks a lot like basketball. I have played all my life, but I can't imagine playing without a backboard!
Great video April, the voice report flowed nicely into your background music.

This videocast opened up a whole new realm of ideas for possible implications in my future career. Most significantly, I think it would be fun to sponsor a journalism club that reported anything going on in our community that effects the student population: sports, festivals, theater, or academic competitions (geography bees, spelling bees, scholars bowl, etc.). They could also highlight community volunteers, exceptional students (character, grades, etc), student clubs, and club leaders. The student journalists could also interview our school leaders for updates about what may be coming to our school next (teacher layoffs, better cafeteria food, new funding, new technology, etc.).

September 16, 2009 9:15
Phenomenal! Each time I run across a blog like yours I become more and more inspired, motivated, and excited to become a teacher! Currently, I am a student at the University of South Alabama and I am taking EDM 310 (an educational media course) with Dr. Strange in order to attain my degree in elementary education.
I just wanted to thank your class for giving me such great insight to Roman architecture, Julius Casar, Cleopatra VII and gladiators. Your narrators were so expressive and clear! I especially appreciated the transitions, subtitles, and background music. Keep using your creative talents– y’all are fantastic!

As a future teacher, I do have a question about your scripting. If you have time, please email me at awc802@gmail.com or comment my blog. I would like to learn what method you used to assemble your script, select your narrators, and how much time it took to create a post like this. Thanks so much!

This comment was especially fruitful for me because the coordinating teacher of the class blog, Mrs. Carrie contacted me and answered all of my questions. She was very prompt and helpful. I eagerly await her class's next post so that I can see some more great work, and remain in touch with her, who I have found to be such a great learning resource.

October 2, 2009 6:26
Hi, my name is Anthony and I am a student of the University of South Alabama where I am studying to become an elementary teacher. I just wanted to say that this is so impressive. I wish I had the creative talents that Mr. Stu Duvall shared with y'all. Thanks for sharing his visit, it has my brain reeling for possible guest speakers for my future classroom here in Alabama!

I really appreciate the way Mr. Stu Duvall connected art, literature, and music to entertain the student of Point England. What a great way to teach students how to apply brainstorming, teamwork, and improvisation to create. I can't help but think that Sir Ken Robinson would appreciate how the Point clear students were able to use art and music alongside their writing and reading skills.

Karl Fisch and Did You Know 4.0

2009-09-24T11:32:00.010-05:00

Karl Fisch says that it is time for teachers to step out of their comfort zone and learn! He explicitly talks about becoming more tech savvy, but the learning certainly doesn't stop there. After teachers become technologically endless doors of opportunity open. ESL and Foreign Language teachers can skype native speaker classrooms. Social studies teachers can follow live events around the world with their class through twitter. Youtube enables students to witness history and science in the making-- albeit Presidential Addresses, NASA space shuttle launches, animal placement in wildlife refuges... the possibilities are limitless! Beyond expanding the windows in the classroom-- the internet allows children to practice spelling and math exercises with free online games! Once students feel comfortable documenting their learning process via blogs, podcasts, and photostreams-- their teacher might even step into the more challenging yet infinitely more creative realm of teaching studnts to build their own online realities (see Randy Pausch (college students) or Vicki Davis (middle school students) videos which can be found in my blog archives)!
Did You Know 4.0, like the previous version Did You Know 3.0 is a rich source of factoids about how technology and how it is changing the world. I decided to blend my response on Karl Fisch's Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? because the video show exposes the astounding technological literacy of Gen XY.

How to:Take a Screenshot

2009-09-23T20:17:00.008-05:00

Basically, you hold down the ALT key and press Print Screen (top right key on keyboard) then you open up Word Processor, Paint, etc. - right click and select paste. I opened it up in Paint instead of Word Processor. Hope this helps for your Wordle s and such!

WoRdLe--My Blog Gumbo

2009-09-23T19:46:00.009-05:00

Wordle is a colorful snapshot for web-audiences to preview your site at a glance! Try using new colors, shapes, and sizes!

Last but not least-- Randy Pausch

2009-09-20T20:17:00.005-05:00

As the audience stood for an ovation that signaled the end of Randy Pausch's Last speech, I immediately switched tabs to post a link on my blog to this video because I believe that everyone in every discipline should watch this man tell his story. I wish that I knew a more appropriate word than "inspiring" to describe the emotional response I felt while listening to him speak of his achievements, experiences, challenges, and the lessons he learned along the way.

Throughout his lecture, Randy Pausch related his experiences back to a few main philosophies that included what he called "head fakes... brick walls... and seeing the good in people." He first used football to define a "head fake". He says that people don't enroll their kids in football to learn a three point stance, forward pass plays, or field goal kicking skills. They enroll their children to help their kids learn bigger, more applicable character skill-sets like team work, strategizing, work ethic, etc. Essentially, for the kids its about the game, but for the grown-ups they will become, its about the skills they gained from playing it.

I really appreciated his philosophy about "brick walls". It was significant for me because as I watched this video I became more and more humbled. It made me reflect on how my academic laziness as a youth has become a self created obstacle for the goals I am striving for now. Simultaneously, it helped me to realize how important my hopeful career is-- the ealier I can help my students realize how important it is to ALWAYS put forth their best effort in everything they do, the less self made hurdles they will have to jump over later in life. I look at Randy and see everything he has done in his life and with a deep exhale I say, "Wow." However, it was when he showed us a photo of his childhood room which he painted in high school that I realized my forementioned brick wall. He had the confidence to write equations on his wall and paint elevators to no where. He was free to be himself at an age when (I presume because of my own experiences) most kids struggle to conform and become each other.

The last of the three most repeated philosophies that he shared with us, was that if you wait on somebody long enough, they will surprise and impress you. Look for the good in everyone, and if its hard to spot quickly, wait. I think this statement needs no more explaining. It only needs an open heart to recieve and live it.

***Notes, Questions and Quotes
1.) "Your critics are the ones who tell you they love you and care. You're in the most trouble when you see that you are doing wrong, and no one is telling you."
2.)"Experience is what you get when you don't get what youy wanted."
3.) I liked his acknowledgement of Captain Kirk's success as a leader regardless of his lack of specified skills.
4.)"The brick walls are there to show us our dedication/ how bad you want something."
5.)"The best gift an educator can give is to get somebody to be self reflective."
6.)"Get a feedback loop and listen to it."
7.)"Are you a tigger or an Eeyore?"
8.) Who is Andy Van Dam?
9.) Look up Caitlin Keller at Washington University (?) and her progress with integrating Alice into middle schools.

My Comment for Mrs. Kelly Hines

2009-09-17T12:41:00.004-05:00

In the blog post, It's Not About the Technology, Mrs. Kelly Hines elaborated on the title with four main points. She says that in order to generate effective learning,
"Teachers must be learners. Learning and teaching are not the same thing. Technology is useless without good teaching. Be a 21st century teacher without the technology."
The main idea of this article particularly impacted me because I spend 10 hours a week witnessing the success and tribulations of two different teachers and their classrooms. The successful teacher that I am referring to has 30 students in her 4th grade class. She is equipped with one computer which is barely capable of running the AR Test program and one laptop for her SmartBoard which has snail like processing speed. However, her classroom is still a success because she has built a partnership atmosphere between her students who are constantly buzzing with relevant input for class discussions-- albeit Math, Language, Literature, Science, and Social Studies. Her previous classes enjoyed music and art classes, but as a result of budget cuts she willingly came up with ways to incorporate music and art into her daily routines. It's amazing to see how quickly the students are learning despite the absence of sufficient technology.
Unfortunately, I also witness a classroom that thrives much less as a result of an outdated system of learning. The classroom atmosphere is silent and stale. The students spend most of their time warding off behavioral problems that accompany unused energy and boredom. This classroom is equipped with a quick processor for the smartboard and four computers. The building itself is a mere 8 years old (relatively new in terms of educational facilities). Just this morning the teacher I volunteer for expressed her love for the smartboard. I asked her if she learned how to use it in college or if she took some kind of tutorial when she got it-- neither of which occurred. The lack knowledge of its capabilities is evident. For her, the smartboard is nothing more than a touch screen transparency projector.
I believe the forementioned experiences that I have shared serve to highlight the points that Mrs. Hines made. We all must become what teachers should exemplify, life-long learners.

Technology can save us--> Technology alone can save us...

2009-09-17T11:27:00.008-05:00

The main point of A Vision of Students Today is clear: teachers must adopt new teaching techniques that include innovative technologies in order to keep their tech-savvy students engaged. While I find the purpose agreeable, my mind became wrapped up in unnecessary conflict as a result of the videography.
The movie begins by illuminating problems in our current education system at the university level, such as: scan-tron tests, large class sizes, distant teachers as well as uninviting, big, and expensive books. It also brings attention to the fact that we are expected to cram 26.5 hours worth of activities in 24 hours, illustrating that society demands us to become multitaskers. The following clips are the cause of my blurred anguish. One student holds up a piece of paper that says schools are not preparing us for all of these problems... the surrounding students simultaneously raise their paper with problems, but all of the papers are too out of focus to identify the problems that are written. The next student's note reads, "I did not create these problems, but they are my problems." Finally, here's the rub. The student messages that directly follow the girl's "my problems" statement describes how students Facebook through class and abuse laptop privileges.
My reaction is this; students must take responsibility for our own learning and teachers must provide up-to-date means of accessing information. This means that teachers must move beyond the mindset that teachers are the all knowing, all powerful source of information that can only be attained through dictation. Teachers must recognize the reality of today. Information is everywhere and technology is where it is stored and retrieved. Instead of teaching students the facts of the world, teachers should teach their students how and where find any abundance of information.
Furthermore, students should hold fast to their curiosity. They should use the information that they discover to create a new way of presenting it. This ideology serves two purposes, which are: students will retain the information longer and simultaneously create a new, fun and original pathway for other students to learn. According to Sir Ken Robinson, kids are the source of creativity. The younger they are, the more potent the originality of their ideas remain.

***Notes and quotes
1.) Personal favorite quote, "If students learn what they do, what are they learning sitting here?"
2.) Check out this youtube video of Marshall McLuhan on societal transformation via technology.
3.) From chalkboards to smartboards, Josiah F Bumstead would be proud. Watch the video below to learn why I think so!

Chalkboard Projects (when technology works, and when it doesn't)

View more documents from Hans Mundahl.

How to: Make Your Own Podcast

2009-09-16T20:55:00.008-05:00

I viewed four websites that were assigned to help me prepare for the creation of my own podcasts. Of the four, I wrote a description of the one I explored in depth, Langwitches Blog, and I wrote my quick notes and reactions for the other three The Educational Podcast Network, Practical Principals, and Eagl e's Nest Radio and Class Blog.

As I browsed Practical Principals I remembered my intention to look into Evernote. While briefly exploring the site, I listened to Scott and Melinda talk about their short summers as principals and their cyber friendship. It was entertaining so I decided to follow them on Twitter after discovering their Twitter name under their Twitter blog post and audio blog. Their blog has great links that are organized according to the topics that they discuss in their podcasts. The podcasts are irregularly posted, but still created often enough to keep tabs on.

My favorite part of this week's assignment was listening to the Eagle's Nest podcast on Rome. It was GREAT! The kids are always so inspiring. I commented the post and I asked a question about who actually created the script, how the narrator's were chosen, and how much time it actually took to produce. I hope to hear back from them soon. Also, I hope to include this as a part of my Project 6 Comments4Kids.

I didn't invest too much time looking around The Education Podcast Network because the website looked so starch. Likely, I will not remember to go back and look into it further because there were no pictures, only two font colors, and the structure was, well.... too structured. Seeing this has helped me hold a mirror up to my own blog (which has no pictures and no color as of now). As soon as possible I hope to jazz up my website, and I also plan to give EPN another chance.

Last but certainly not least, I want to highlight Langwitches! This is a website with a teacher target audience. It was so comprehensive in terms of its organization, information, and examples. I have not even thought about copyright issues until reading the post, Podcasting with 3rd Grade. This post uses the topic Florida endangered species as an example of great elementary podcasting. Not only did the post include examples of podcasts created by the students, but it also included the freeware that the students used to build their audio posts like: Kidpix and Audacity. Once again, the blog had a Twitter link that I used to help build my personal learning network for teaching techniques. Glancing to the left of this particular post, I saw another post related to "digital footprinting" which I learned is the result of someone googling your name and what matches are found. I never really thought about this as a potential resume type flag. But now that I am aware, I realize how important it is for me to be actively producing a trail that I can be proud of-- I want to be googled well. This is even more motivation for me to be active in my networks whether they are my residential community, school, work, or online affiliations (which can be any or all of the formentioned)!

To see an example of EDM 310 class podcasts visit It's Time for Technology Talk. I had the opportunity to interview Ms. Angela Rand and separately discuss Teacher Tube, TED, Smartboards and Edutopia with my classmates.

***Notes and questions
1.)The Kidpix link did not work, does anyone know a good link that will connect me to the right website?

EDM 310 Podcasts Critique

2009-09-08T11:46:00.003-05:00

For this assignment, I listened to three different podcasts: Useful Internet Sites for Elementary Teachers, Can Facebook Be Used as an Educational Tool?, and Technology Used in the Classroom at the University of South Alabama. Each of these podcasts were composed by former EDM 310 students who are also aspiring teachers. The podcasts can be found at http://edm310podcasts.blogspot.com/.
After listening to Kristin, Briana, and Andrea's Useful Internet Sites for Elementary Students-- the most appropriate response is, WOW! I hope to model my group's podcast after their wellpaced, informative, and clearly articulated podcast. The best part about their podcast is that they introduced so many new ideas, resources, and overviews. They discussed websites such as Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX), Stark Wall (sp?? which has peaked my interest, but Kristin did not enunciate well enough for me to look it up), Funbrain, and Scholastic. Each of the three group members took turns introducing the websites. Then, most effectively, they each told which facet of the website was most appealing or useful for them. As an avid listener of NPR, I think their podcasts should be broadcast on National Public Radio as a testimony to the many resources and innovations ready to be used in the classrooms of the 21 century.
The next podcast was less enjoyable for me. However, Can Facebook Be Used as an Educational Tool was relevant to another article I read thanks to my google reader application. Mr. Jarred Lamshed from Adelaide, Australia and contributor to the blog: At the Teacher's Desk, wrote that he effectively uses Facebook as a means of communication with 20 out of 29 parents of his students because he has found their response time with Facebook to be faster than traditional email. Although I do appreciate the friendship that I have with Sam (a co-host of the podcast), I was minimally stimulated by the audio podcast her group recorded. I think that this is because I was already very familiar with the topic, and they did not rotate speaking roles frequently enough.
The best thing about the least informative podcast that I listened to, Technology Used in the Classroom at the University of South Alabama, was the colloquial nature of the commentary. Sarah, Nick, and their third partner made you feel as if you were sitting on your living room couch having a mildly reflective conversation about school tools. Although it was not informative at all, I must give them kudos for keeping it so comfortable.

***Notes and questions for clarity
1.) What is the website that Kristin refers to that sounds like starkwall?
2.) I would like to learn more about the Courses Application for Facebook that Candace refers to even though I don't think Facebook is an appropriate tool for my classroom.

Class notes/ thoughts

2009-09-02T19:03:00.012-05:00

to me: I can find out what other people are bookmarking in Delicious: public figures, friends, other book-markers with same interests...

to Dr. Strange: How does a blackberry compare to an iphone?

to Dr. Strange: What is your Delicious username? How do you find a user easily? How do you change your username?

to Dr. Strange and the Lady in Pink that sits in the aisle seat in the row in front of me: What is Kendall/ Tendall/ or whatever?

to me: (in response to the Needlemen conference) Blogging empowers and motivates students by giving them a real audience outside of the class setting. Using skype allows students to be taught by people who are actually in the field; his examples included a bird scientist in Boston. Integrate a few things at a time when I first start teaching, he says, because it will help me keep afloat.

to me: (about Karl, inspired by Special Needs comment in Needlemen Skype) How can I get Karl to be more engaged in peer to peer work? How can I inspire him to say "yes", instead of my now least favorite word, "no". Maybe the website would be more appropriate for Simeon because Karl isn't not struggling to keep up academically, just socially.

to me: Look up the "Mobile Schools Now Equipped for the 21 Century" from the Mobile Register.

to Dr. Strange: How can I take a screen shot (like in Mr. C's Why Do I Blog post)?

Podcasts: the do's and dont's

2009-08-30T17:53:00.003-05:00

After listening to the conversational style of Get Smart with Smart Boards, it was really hard to stay awake during the solo efforts of the KidCast commentator. After only the first five minutes of listening to the Get Smart with Smart Boards, the hosts had me interested enough to simultaneously look up the topics they were discussing, like The Magic Gopher and Life Size Whale. The Magic Gopher is a website character that uses mathematical magic in a psychic game fashion. I could definitely see using the game as a classroom tool to get students interested in algebra or patterns.

One significant difference between the two shows was that Kidcast didn't offer any information that I couldn't have concluded on my own. Whereas, Get Smart with Smart Boards immediately introduced me to new ideas and resources that I could use in my future profession. This basic difference taught me a foundation principle for making my own podcast. Only make a podcast if you are equipped to inform your audience with new, original, and interesting information. Also, conversational style appealed to my personal preferences.

My favorite podcast was EdTechTalk. This podcast also had two hosts, but it was exceptoinal because they were interviewing three Google employees that specialized in different google docs departments. They introduced me to templates and google gadgets on spreadsheets.

Also, I went to their website and found the podcast that I had previously listened to in Itunes U. It was transcripted, which I like better, and in the transcript they used http://tinyurl.com/. Just at a glance, I saw Flickr being used, Itunes, chat rooms, and a blog being used. Ed Tech Talk is certainly multifaceted.

Vicki Davis: "Turning School Upside Down"

2009-08-22T23:58:00.004-05:00

The most significant piece of knowledge that I gained from watching this video is that Vicki Davis teaches in a rural south Georgia school. This particularly impacted my teaching goals because she has given teachers in the south inspiration. It is amazing to me that she was able to overcome the traditional barriers that you hear about southern schools having-- financial insufficiency, low national ranking, community isolation, etc.

Vicki used her passion for technology in the classroom to get students excited about meeting people from around the world and collaborating on projects together. It is even more astounding to me that Ms. Davis somehow managed to afford her students the opportunity to travel to the middle east for a technology conference of all things-- especially during these times when prejudices run rampant and dangers are eminent! How exciting!

I want to learn more about Digi Teen and The Flat Classroom Project.

"Creativity now is as important in education as literacy."-- Sir Ken Robinson

2009-08-22T22:52:00.006-05:00

The first statement that really sent my imagination reeling in this video was his observation of the academic hierarchy of learning. This hierarchy, Sir Robinson says, is headed by mathematics and closely followed by language, then the humanities, and finally the arts.
How can we, as teachers, incorporate dance, art, and music into more the more socially sensible subjects of mathematics and language? Why have worksheets and spelling drills become more predominant tools for teachers? How can we revolutionize these boring techniques?
Teachers, especially elementary teachers, are responsible for cultivating well-rounded, and successful pupils. We are meant to encourage their discovery of each of their unique talents and interests while simultaneously teaching them how to achieve high scores on state standards tests. If you take that little feat, and combine it with the fact that we are supposed to do this on a budget that induces large class sizes with limited or no reasonable access to up-to-date technologies and resources-- you should be come overwhelmed with questions and ideas for possible solutions to the many obvious hurtles we must face as teachers. (Blogging is a good way to communicate those solutions so that your peers can help troubleshoot and build upon them.)
One question/ thought that occurred to me as I spaced out while reading and listening to Sir Robinson's speech was this; Are we teachers allowed to coordinate fundraisers for in the classroom supplies? How is fund raising for a computer any different from asking children to bring glue or asking their parents to volunteer their time in the class setting? Does the computer (or whatever technology/ tool) belong to the teacher's classroom or can it be redistributed according to the will of the presiding principal?

In summary, this video is about cultivating creativity.

Tony's Tips

2009-08-22T22:43:00.006-05:00

Here are a few tips that might help you stay successful in Dr. Strange's class. You are welcome to comment any questions that you might be beneficial to others' and I will gladly answer them for you.

1. Use a planner to help you budget time for blogging! Keep on top of it because no matter how hard you try, catching up is NOT possible in this class. It is too fast pace. Plus, this is one of those rare classes that teaches you stuff that might actually carry into the real world-- you don't want to miss out on any of this action!

2. Use igoogle as your homepage. It helps me keep up with news, emails, etc all in a glance. I am a news reader-- therefore, adding the CNN, NPR, FOX, MSN, BBC, yada yada gadgets allows me to compare headlines and read articles sooo easily. This is my favorite thing about igoogle because-- before I even read the articles I can identify biases based on comparative headlines.

3. Add the Recent Comments Gadget to your blog by going to customize (top right corner), then layout, then add a gadget. It's a great notification system simlar to facebook notifications.

"Did you know?" Because I sure did!

2009-08-22T21:41:00.006-05:00

I viewed this video last semester, and it definitely impressed me. However, upon viewing it again this semester, I did not gain any new mind altering perspective shift. So, i decided to type it all out in an easy to read text version for three reasons: to reassure Dr. Strange that I did indeed watch it again, to offer an easy to read compilation of all the interesting facts gathered by Dr. Fisch, and to stimulate some more of my own deeply buried response.

Here goes... "Did you know?"

1. If you're 1 in a 1,000,000 in China... there are 1,300 people just like you.
IF THE U.S.A. HAD THAT MANY PEOPLE, WOULD OUR GOVERNMENT BE CAPABLE OF MAINTAINING ORDER AND CIVILITY?
2. China will soon become the #1 English speaking country in the world.
3. The 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's... is greater than the total population of the U.S. (Translation: India has more honors kids than America has kids.)
4. The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010... did not exist in 2004. (We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't exist yet... using technologies that haven't been invented... in order to solve problems we don't even know exist yet.)
THIS MAKES ME THINK THAT SCHOOLS ARE NOT STRICTLY NECESSARY TO PREPARE US FOR OUR CAREERS, BUT MORE SO TO HELP SHAPE US INTO PEOPLE WHO ARE CAPABLE OF SUCCEEDING IN A WORK ENVIRONMENT (I MEAN SCHOOLS ARE NOT ABOUT CAREER ORIENTED SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES, BUT MORE ABOUT TIME MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL ETIQUETTE).
5. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today's learner will have 10-14 jobs... by the age of 38.
WHAT DOES THIS STATISTIC TELL US ABOUT WORK ETHIC AND LOYALTY OF THE "ME" GENERATION?
6. 1 in 4 workers has been with their current employer for less than a year. 1 in 2 has been there less than five years.
7. 1 in 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.
I WONDER HOW THIS WILL EFFECT OUR DIVORCE RATE 5, 10, OR 15 YEARS FROM NOW?
8. There are over 200,000,000 users registered on Myspace. If Myspace were a country, it would be the 5th-largest in the world (between Indonesia and Brazil).
FACEBOOK IS BETTER.
9. The #1 ranked country in Broadband Internet penetration is... Bermuda, #19 U.S., #22 Japan.
WHERE IS BERMUDA?
10. We are living in exponential times. There are 31 billion searches on Google every month. In 2006, this number was 2.7 billion.(To whom were these questions addressed before B.G. (Before Google)?)
11. The first commercial text message was sent in December of 1992. Today, the number of text messages sent and received everyday, exceeds the total population of the planet.
12. Years it took to reach a market audience of 50 million: Radio 38 years, T.V. 13 years, internet 4 years, iPod 3 years, Facebook 2 years.
YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER THE SIZE OF TOTAL POPULATION IN REGARDS TO THE TIME EACH PRODUCT WAS MARKETED.
13. The number of internet devices in 1984 was 1,000. The number of internet devices in 1992 was 1,000,000. The number of internet devices in 2008 is 1,000,000,000.
14. There are about 540,000 words in the English language-- about 5X as many as in Shakespeare's time.
"GOOGLE IT"
15. It is estimated that a week's worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.
NO WONDER THEY DIDN'T NEED COMPUTER'S, BOOKS, OR PAPER... THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO REMEMBER!
16. It's estimated that 4 exabytes (4.0 x 10^19) of unique information will be generated this year. That is more than the previous 5,000 years.
17. The amount of new technical information is doubling every two years... For students starting a 4 year technical degree this means that... half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.
18. NTT Japan has successfully tested a fiber optic cable... that pushes 14 trillion bits per second down a single strand of fiber. That is 2,660 CDs or 210 phone calls every second. It is currently tripling every six months and is expected to do so for the next 20 years.
19. By 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the human brain. Predictions are that by 2049, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species.
I RECENTLY SAW ON TV A COMPUTER THAT CAN MOVE OBJECTS AND SAY WORDS BASED ON THE ELECTRICAL CURRENTS OF YOUR BRAIN. THEY ARE USING THIS TECHNOLOGY TO HELP ENABLE QUADRIPLEGICS. ROBOTS-- HOW FASCINATING?!
20. During the course of this presentation... 67 babies were born in the U.S., 274 were born in China, 395 babies were born in India, and 694,000 songs were downloaded illegally.
WILL HUMAN INTELLECT KEEP UP WITH POPULATION OVERLOAD? I THINK WE SHOULD MANUFACTURE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIZED CONDOMS TO HELP PREVENT US FROM FINDING OUT THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION TOO SOON.

"So what does it all mean?" It means that there were over twenty bits of facts presented in this presentation, and all of the BOLDFACED lettering is my commentary.

Class inspired thoughts/ Notes

2009-08-19T19:40:00.009-05:00

to: me-- I can now post from my igoogle homepage. Did it work?

to: Dr. Strange-- I want to set up forms for two students in particular, that if they submit their "homework" they receive instant gratification by "unlocking" a video: youtube, disney, etc.

to: DR. STRANGE-- I just added the recent comment gadget, and I want to have a notification system of sorts. Will this notify me when other comment on my blog posts, or is this just a list of my own comments? If this won't work for my intention, is there a gadget that does work?

to: me-- I need to create a presentation that is 14 slides long including title and question slide. Each slide must have a picture except for the title and question slide.

about: Karl and Simeon-- For instant notification concerning there submissions to the blog, I can go to "email notifications" and type in my email address, or Laura's, et cetera to "blog-sender". I can also use an RSS feeds system. For math problems, I can go to Google forms, create the questions and answers from their homework and create a multiple choice form that is to be "embedded" into the blog by selecting "more actions --> embed" then copy/paste the code into my the blog post on their page.

to: me-- I need a phone/ phone-plan that I can blog from/ access emails.

to: me-- Learn about "evernote" and figure out what he was talking about when he mentioned "personal learning network" in regards to twitter. Is there a way to create twitter categories for my followers/ people that I am following so that I can send questions to only certain people and/or make distinct personal comments from academic ones?

Who is Anthony?

2009-08-19T18:26:00.005-05:00

Dear World Wide Audience,

By now you have probably concluded correctly that my name is Anthony Capps. If you have read my "About Me" section, you also know that I am studying Elementary Education at the University of South Alabama. Below I have listed a few extra "fun facts" about me.

1. This is my second time taking Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class because by nature I am not a planner/ organized person-- therefore, I did not responsibly finish my blogs each week. Although this is unfortunate for me, my previous experience might prove to be helpful for you!

2. Last semester, I transferred from the University of Hawaii at Manoa on the island of Oahu. I LOVED it there, and to this day I long to go back. However, I am happy to be involved in the Education program here at the University of South Alabama because I feel it will help mold me into an excellent teacher.

3. Outside of school, I try to fill my time with things that I enjoy so I can stay happy, energetic, and sane! Some of these activities include working at the Cassebaum Farm in Lillian, attending St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Elberta, and volunteering as a teacher's assistant for Mrs. Alm's 4th grade class at Elberta Middle School.

4. During my free time I like to run, play any sport (particularly basketball, softball, soccer, and beach frisbee), kayak, and ride any of my family's four horses.

For more information about me, you can check out my facebook or find me in the back of Dr. Strange's class in Fairhope on Wednesday nights. I would be happy to answer any of your questions.