Bye Everbody!!!!!!!

This class may be coming to an end, but that doesn't mean learning has to stop. I would like to encourage my fellow EDM 310 classmates to continue with learning and striving to be a tech literate teacher. So bye Dr. Strange and bye to all my classmates!!!! Hope to see you guys around campus, or better yet in a classroom!!!!



Sincerly,

Tresher J. Moorer

The New Tresher after EDM 310

In EDM 310, I learned how to be a all-round teacher. Now I know the importance of communication with students, being tech literate, and the importance of internet tools and sites. The most important things I learned in EDM 310 that I will continue to use are the following: blogs, Google Docs, YouTube, and presentation. In our class we learned way more than that, but those are the things that I enjoyed using the most. Honestly, there is nothing in this class that I would have liked to learn that I didn't. This class covered everything I thought I would learn and more. There is nothing I think I shouldn't have learned, but like I stated before I will only continue to use a select few. I always got excited about this class because I knew every class time I would be learning something new. There was nothing in the class that was "intellectually challenging." The only time I got bored in class is when I had to watch other people's presentations. Maybe for future class only the people who present that day should attend class. I would totally limit the amount of work given in class.I felt sometimes Dr. Strange forgot the students had other classes. Also, our post shouldn't have to be so lengthy. Don't get me wrong I always found time to do them, but it was hard. As of now, I rate myself as being a medium tech literate person because there is so much more for me to learn before I can be great. I will maintain and improve my technological literacy by staying up-to-date with technological advances.

Very Important Things a Teacher Must Know!

Our class assignment was to read three different list and choose two from each one we felt were most important.

The first list I read was Doug Johnson's "Seven Stupid Mistakes Teacher's Make with Technology". From that list I chose,"Believing that one's teaching style need not change to take full advantage of technology.",and "Thinking technology in schools will go away." Both of these statements have been an on-going topic in our EDM 310 class. I have read numerous agreements about why both of these statements are biased. Technology is rapidly growing everyday and any kind of educator should know this.

The second list was Doug Johnson's "Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology." From this list I chose,"Put kids in touch with the world.", and " Accept the role of co-leaner." Both of these statements I feel a lot of teachers don't do or have a problem with doing. A great man once said " I don't know, let's find out!" Every teacher should have that kind of attitude. If it weren't for Dr. Strange and my EDM 310 class I would have never got in touch with the world.

You can view both of those Here.

The third list was "New Classroom Rules" by Education Innovation. The two most important things from this list are " Come to school everyday", and "Come to School on Time." These are the MOST important things a student must do to succeed. You'll never get the opportunity to do anything if you not there. You can view the list Here.

Project 10 Videocast

Alicia Cooper and I produced a videocast presentation from our Google Docs Presentation. The name of our presentation was " New Ideas For Science Educators." We basically talked about the new technological tools from the computer that dealt with the science fields. You can hear our presentation here. We discussed our topic in a kind of "me against her" fashion. I stated a topic, and Alicia stated a topic also but she argued why her's was better. This project was a lot of fun, and a great way for us to find out information.

Project 6 Personal Learning Network

My most used PLN is Blogger.com. I also have a Twitter. On Blogger, I use my posts to connect with people all over the world. It was acquired through my EDM 310 Class as an assignment, but now it has become so much more! I received the opportunity to chat with kids in New Zea land, discuss topics with some of the top professors in technology, and find more information about modern technology. I check my PLN everyday,and I will most defiantly use my PLN in the future. I will also introduce it to my students when I become a teacher. If I were to never have had a PLN, I would have never debated with Karl Fisch, meet Dr. Wm Chamberlain, or even experienced the joy of getting a comment. I am so happy I do have a Personal Learning Network. You can view my PLN Here.

Project 11 Presentation

Alicia Cooper and I did our presentation on Prezi. According to the website, "Prezi is zooming sketches on a digital napkin. It's visualization and storytelling without slides. Your ideas live on stage and on the web." You can watch our presentation HERE. Let me know what you think. Prezi was okay to me, but I would prefer Power-point or Google Presentation. I feel this way because Prezi is not user friendly, but once you figure it out your fine.

What I found " At the Teacher's Desk"

According to the website, At the Teacher's Desk is "an experiment in professional learning, collaboration and sharing of ideas." You can look at the web page HERE!

This website is a great site to answer any technical questions. Also, it seems like if you post a question you will most definitely get a quick response. Plus, believe it or not, Dr. Strange is on there with his Teaching 2.0 post !!!!

Another post that was kind of scary and funny was the Pencils and Crayons to be Banned in Schools post. I wasn't sure if that was a joke or if it was factual. I hope the students at that school are great on the computer. Lol

This website is defiantly something all teachers should want to be apart of. The people on the site seem willing and ready to help any upcoming tech literate teacher prepare their career. Keep it up teachers!

Toward A New Future of Whatever - Michael Wesch

You can watch the video HERE!

I got a lot out of Dr. Wesch's speech. I think I'm still on the 90's " Whatever ( I don't care what you think)" state of mind. He is right everyone should want to be on the " I care. Let's do whatever it takes...by whatever means necessary" state of mind. I think I probably still think the way I do because I'm young, but as I grow and learn my opinions and thoughts change everyday. Unlike other people, I am very open to any kind of new idea.

In Dr. Wesch's video, he talked a lot about You-tube and the use of web cams. People tend to feel weird when their talking to the web cams and seeing themselves on the screen. I know I won't because I love to talk, and I love looking at myself. It wouldn't matter that I wouldn't be talking to anyone. LOL

Also, I did not know the word "whatever" had so many meanings. I will definitely think twice before using it again. I did not know people used You- tube in such touching ways either like the man who started hand messages to create unity. As a teacher, I will most definitely use You-tube in my classroom.

Why is it important to post your work?

You want to know why it's important to post your work. Well, I can give you four good reason why you should.



First example is a school from New York City. In their PS22 chorus, the children did a remake of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide", which is a 1967 band from London. You Can watch it here yourself. The tour manager Steive Nicks was so touched by the performance that he invited the class to perform the song at Madison Square Garden for the upcoming June 11th Fleetwood Mac show.


A second example is a little girl named Kaia. Here father took the initiative to post his daughter's work on a blog. Well, you might say " so what", but she is only three years old. She tells her story and shares her pictures on her blog. Her blog has been getting attention from all over the world. You can view it here.


Thirdly, you can communicate with people all over the world. You can use me as an example. Before I enrolled in EDM 310, I had no idea people were communicating on blog. Now that I am a blogger, I have had debates with some of the best in the education fields. I would have never experienced this if I wouldn't have started a blog. You can view my blog conversations here. Leave a comment please :)


And to conclude, putting work on the internet is the most current way to put information out.You should watch this.It is "Did you Know 4.0". The movie explains the rapid development of technology. The use of books, newspaper, magazines, and any other paper forms of press are becoming obsolete.

Believing, Inventing, and Implementing Technological Pedagogies

I have just read Anthony Capps' blog. He seemed to really know his stuff. I have to watch out for him. I do agree with media production, and I believe it's essential. Capps truly understands what Miller is trying to say. Check it out yourself Here.

Alabama State Initiatives and Programs

This week our assignment is to do research on some of my state's initiatives and programs. I will review the Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) and Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide (ACCESS).

According to the website, "ALEX, a project of the Alabama Department of Education, is designed to index and share many types of educational materials and information through a time-saving, one-stop resource for educators, parents, and students. The majority of these rich resources (lesson plans, Web links, and interactive activities) are located and connected to the Alabama Courses of Study by National Board Certified Teachers. By sharing the wealth of expertise and knowledge now available through ALEX, Alabama‘s best educators, and the youth of Alabama are poised to benefit from the best of the Web!ALEX is a work in progress. It will continually improve and expand based upon your input. Communicate with other professionals through Listservs, find lesson plans and interactive resources connected to Course of Study standards, benefit from best practices in Professional Learning, and follow links to bring quality learning to your students - Alabama‘s finest!" You can view the homepage Here.

This program will help me out a lot as a teacher because I will always have a constant supply of material. I will also be able to compare and contrast lesson plans and other material with the other teachers in Alabama.This also a good site for students to find information. It sort of reminds me of a Wikipedia for teachers in a sense.

According to the web page,"The ACCESS Distance Learning plan provides Alabama students with access to quality instruction and coursework by blending:

• Rigorous Web-based and Interactive Videoconferencing (IVC) courses taught by Alabama certified and highly qualified teachers

• A technical infrastructure to deliver approved Web-based courses and connect IVC labs via a statewide network

• Three regional support centers to hire, train, evaluate, and support e-teachers

• Statewide coordination, scheduling, and support for distance learning."

ACCESS is available to all Alabama public high school students. It is a great way for students to become tech literate. This is exactly what we need here in Alabama. This program has all the ingredients for success.Check it out Here for yourself.

Kaia

This is a wonder achievement for the future of teaching. I would have never thought a father would do a blog with his three year old daughter. This event will make history. This little girl has such a big future that she doesn't even realize she has yet!

You can check out her blog Here. You will be amazed! Her blog was used as a learning tool in our classroom and Dr. Chamberlain's classroom. In Dr. Chamberlain' s classroom, they created a video and a voice thread for her to listen and view. She is the future!!!!

Mrs. Goerend's Classroom:ISLAND

I have just got finished reading the story ISLAND by Emma in Mrs. Goerend's class. ISLAND stood for International Spit Like A Llama Day. She described how everyone would get to spit where they wanted,how janitors would have more work, and how much the teachers would love the day! It sounds like fun right??? Check it out for yourself Here! Emma has a very BIG imagination!!!!


Keep up the good work!!!!

New Media Literacies Project

One interesting source of information came from Here at http://newmedialiteracies.org/. These children "research initiative based within MIT's Comparative Media Studies program, explores how we might best equip young people with the social skills and cultural competencies required to become full participants in an emergent media landscape and raise public understanding about what it means to be literate in a globally interconnected, multicultural world."

I also found this This at The Center for Media Literacy. This is a site of different links about pages with information about the project.

Lastly I found this at Ypulse! This site gave a full length description of what the project was about!

The New Media Literacies by the NML Staff

The litteracy skills discussed in this video are fundemental for anyone working, living, and playing in todays world. Anyone who handles any form of technology in todays world will have to posess at least a few of these skills.Some of these skils we are possibly born with others are learned through disipline.

Due to the constant change and rapid advancements in new technollogy, many employers now require employees to pocess and be able to apply these skill in todays workforce. A employee must be able to gather intelligence and process it quickly.

I pocess a few of these skills such as my abilities to multitask,apply collective intelligence, and negotiate. I plan to master other skills of media literacy through practice and self disipline.I believe that by accquireing these skill i will be able to benifit myself, employer, and other in the future.

Watch the video here.

Watch The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

Whoa, I defiantly don't think I'm prepared to teach a student like that!!!!!! I didn't know people even learned like that! I knew people took online class, but not stuff like that. That method of study is very futuristic. Chick Here to watch the video!

In the video Mrs. Drexler stated several reasons why her students would need a network teacher.The students would need teachers
*For guidance
*A boost when they need help
*Information on how to filter out propaganda
*Asking respectfully for help from experts
*Practicing how to build a social network
* and more!

I can't believe she is about to try this with a middle school class. That means I might be teaching that student one day. I wonder how many students are taking advantage of this learning strategy? Is this new way of learning growing rapidly?

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2

You can view part one and part two of This Is How We Dream by Richard Miller Here.

In Part one, Mr. Miller went over fundamental changes and incremental changes. Mr. Miller spoke on how books were important. He stated now you can buy his first print on Amazon for 59 cent. He talked about how him and his colleagues collaborate on the web. He showed us how he used web research to easily write an article on the Virgina Tech murders.

Part one merged into the even more futuristic stuff in part two. Mr. Miller talked about producing multimedia with the web. He associated this with Humanities. He felt like stories should be more compelling, therefore, showing the pictures of a whale hunt in Alaska. He feels educators should share ideas freely. He also thinks this space age technology should be available to students.

I couldn't imagine learning something so far fetched. However, I would be willing. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think things are going to be getting that advance anytime soon. I can't believe that this kind of technology is out there! This class never ceases to amaze me.

Using iPods in Instruction

Duke University is a good example if how iPods are used in instruction. Hey, if South Alabama could give use a free iPod that would be great. Duke's students use them for lecture and assignments. Also when their model gets old they can trade them in for new ones. They rent them out for the year they are the university. Click here to see for yourself!

I also found this video called "IPods in the classroom bring curricula within reach" on how students where using iPods. Houston Community College Southeast professors partner with Austin High School students for mobile learning project on iPod Touch in the classrooms. The teacher talks against drawn out lecture, and the need for technology. She might remind you of you know who. ( Hint: EDM 310) Watch the video here! Video

iTune University

iTune's University can help me as a student and a teacher. It is an educational website on how Apple products are helpful in the classroom. The Nano seems to be a classroom favorite. I will might get one for Christmas. I can do everything. Click the More Info link for more details. More info.

Students with an Apple product can put information on their device instantly. The only thing about Apple products I don't like are the prices. They are so much higher than other companies. But they do seem to be good learning tools.

Dr. Christie's Post

I selected the Educational Technology tab on her site. This page shows all the helpful ways in which a teacher can keep their classroom up to date. Dr. Christie has material for grades K-12. She seems very interested in photography.

She had a site for everything a teacher would want to do. She had Microsoft and Apple sites. Lots of the sites dealt with exchanging ideas with other teachers across the globe. Her page is a great place to go for technological advancements!

"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung's article by far must have been the best one I've read so far about teaching. He touched on every important thing a teacher must must do! He also went about explaining things in a POSITIVE way without being rude . His article was very encouraging. He is the prime example of the kind of teacher I want to be.

I also liked how he always keeps his students best interest in mind. If things don't work a certain way, he takes a different approach. He also communicates and listens to his students. That is very essential to your students preforming well in a class. Classes where I feel connected, I tend to do better and make higher grades. Lastly, he states he is reasonable. Some teachers just set one expectation for all their students. We are each very different with different needs. Mr. McClung indeed ( and Dr. Strange lol) is the prefect example of a good teacher :)

Do you trust Wikipedia?

I can remember from high school my history and science teachers saying " Don't use Wikipedia as a source of information for your research project." Everybody knows Wikipedia is a very incompatible source of information. But, I guess I am contradicting myself because I still use it to look up things. That is probably so because it's the first link you see when you put your topic in a search engine.

As far as the Wikipedia Scanner, it is a good idea to have; however, anyone will still be able to edit things. Now that people know they are being traced, I'm sure they are going to come up with a tool to prevent the tracing. Come now, some computer wise will create something for this soon easily. Why shouldn't Wal- Mart, Diebold, politicians, and etc. edit information for their best interest? It's legal. The only way to prevent this is to hire people to put in the entries. By this, I mean have the entire reviewed before being posted. Wikipedia could pay for that through advertisements maybe. But, until Wikipedia provides better means of security, the site will never be an accurate source of information.

Team Two

I have just listened to and posted on three of the little children reading a sentence. Each child read very clear. They did a great job.

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

First, it was incredibility hard to watch and pay attention to this whole lecture. He had too many long stories. But, on the positive note, it is good he doesn't want people to feel sorry for him. He is right when he says he's in better shape than most of this audience because he sure has me beat.

It is amazing that in such little time he has fulfilled his childhood dreams. It takes other people years or even never to fulfill such dreams. My childhood dream was and is to become rich! Like Mr. Pausch said the only one holding me back is me.

I agree when he says brick walls are not meant to keep you out; they are there to keep out people who don't really want it. That saying couldn't be more true. For example it was really hard for me to pass calculus. That brick wall didn't keep me out, it made me work harder. I worked hard, and I didn't complain.

Lastly, Mr. Pausch rest in peace. I know you are in a better place. You are right! If I live my live right, the karma will take care of itself.

Tresher's Shoe Fetish

Did You Know 4.0

Wow, technology has went from good to scary!!!! We just saw 3.0 with its shocking statics. I must take it one thing at a time. All of this is so overwhelming. What are the paper producing companies going to do?
I'm just playing!!!! The increase in technology is great. I can't believe it is growing so rapidly. The most shocking thing stated was that Obama raised so much money over the Internet. You go Obama!!!! I wonder what Did You Know 10.0 is going to be like?

Room 16 and Year 5 Class Blogs

I have just finished commenting on both blog pages. Both were very creative in their own way. Room 16 took beautiful pictures on 9/9/09. The little girl Awhina was very descriptive on the procedure of the picture taking. In Year 5, The Fire of the Dragon was posted. It was a well written story, and it kept my attention. The children did a great job!

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

I read a post by Karl Fisch in which he asked whether it is okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher. Well, I know one thing for sure, his staff hates him!!!! I see he likes to start up controversy. But, I agree his theory. People should not be proud of saying they are" Bad with math," or that they " Can't read." Statements like that are not okay to admit. Those people should want to be educated.

But I do disagree with some of his theory. He shouldn't down grade teachers who aren't technologically literate either. I feel he has no room to talk about anyone. He is not the smartest person in the world, and I'm sure it is someone out there smarter than him who can question his job. If he is the smart man at work, he should want to help these people not talk about them. This kind of refers me back to Mrs. Hines article. If a teacher has been in the system for thirty plus years, they are probably older and use to teaching methods they learned in college!!!! He will see that karma is a witch!!!!!!

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

In the post to Mrs. Hines I stated, "I think you are absolutely right. A teacher must be able to teach adequately before he or she can use any type of technology. By me being a student, I have ran across teachers who can't teach, but that teacher wants to use power-points, computer programs, and ect. As a teacher I feel he or she must know every student's need and be able to teach that student with or without technology."

It was so ironic to have started on this assignment today. I felt this way before I actually read the article. One professor I have is a prime example of this. She made an elaborate power-point about the lesson for today. After the lecture, she gave an assignment. I go up to ask a question and she says" It was in the power-point go on my web site a get it." I was in amazement. What kind of educator doesn't like questions. Wow!!!!! We do need a new and better breed of educators, not better power-points.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

This movie was right on the target. The statistical facts they showed were similar to my college experiences. The last statement the movie said was that " technology can save us." I feel that is true. I think we as people wouldn't have half the problems we have if we used more technology.

However, there are some things in the movie I would have done differently. Some of the words in the movie I couldn't see, so I would have had a voice reading. Also, once that film directer told the problems, he should have continued the movie with solutions. He should have filmed how a life or school with technology would be like. But, for the most part, it was a good movie with a strong message.

Moturoa's Blog

I have just finished posting my comments on the five and four year old children blogs from Appleby School near Nelson, NZ. The posts that I was suppose to view were games the children posted to help with time table skills. They were good learning games. The other post was about the school fair the children had. I wish I could have been their!

Video in the Classroom Introduction

It is wonderful how Mr. Needleman is using technology to enhance his student's reading skills. Better yet, he proved his methods worked. Kids are really learning fast. When I was that age, I didn't know the advance software on computers. Boy! Time is sure advancing.

Last Semester's Podcasts

Well, before I start criticizing, I would like to say the last semester's podcasts were wonderful, and nobody did a bad job. But, to bad the assignment is to criticize, not to commend. I heard several problems I would improve and remove. The biggest one was reading directly off their paper or sounding rehearsed. A lot of the students didn't sound naturual, as if they were having a conversation. A conversation voice sounds a lot better than a robot voice.

The next thing was the quality of the information. Some podcasts just sounded one- hundred percent better than others. Some seemed very sure about their topic, while some were pausing. In, my podcast I am going to be happy, so when I speak you will hear the cheer in my voice. I will also know my topic and sound natural. Lastly, I will help my group members to make sure they're doing the same.


The research on podcasts was very interesting.They really explained how podcast and videocast were used in teaching. One went one to say " Children are familiar with podcast." I agree because I know I spend allot of time on the computer. Podcast and videocast allow children to watch or listen to lessons on the computer any time they want.

Podcasts and videocasts engages the students. I feel the students enjoy being on the computer; instead of listening to a boring lecture. There were two ways resource said it was done. One way was listening while doing an activity or listening in groups. Both ways are good because they keep the students attentive. I learned a lot from the material, so I should have an excellent podcast and videocast.

Podcasts

Podcasts, from what gathered, are great ways of communication and learning. You can listen to what people think about topics and learn new things. Most of them are even free or at little cost. According to Wikipedia, a podcast is a series of digital media files either audio or video, that is released episodically and downloaded through web syndication. We haven't learned video yet.

The audio podcasts that I watched all had some type of music in the background. Some of them even did advertisements. Although the podcasts we had to listen to were extremely uninteresting, I got the idea about what was going on in them. Some podcasts had several lessons under them, such as KidCast and SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. Those people must have a lot of fans ( I don't see how).

Audio podcast kind of reminds me of radio talk stations. I say that because there were two or more people talking on them, and they weren't serious at all, kind of playful. Some of them even talked about their family. I don't know, for some reason I had a different idea of what Podcast was going to be.

I would have never even know these existed if I was not in EDM 310. I wonder if they will be helpful to me or if I will continue using them after the semester is over! Who knows! Like Dr. Strange said the kids I teach will be way more technical than me, so I must keep up, get lost, or be like Mr. Winkle.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Wow! What a wonderful teacher. It is amazing how she is so fascinated with technology. She also makes learning fun for her students. I admire the idea that she bases her curriculum on the group of students she has. She also allows her students to teach her things too. She is the perfect example of how a teacher should be. She is up-to-date and spunky.

I feel Dr. Strange is going to be the same way. He seems to have the same high for technology as Mrs. Davis. Our class is going to be just as involved as that class in Georgia. By learning how to blog, twitter,etc. , our class is going to stay connected to the world. I can not wait to continue learning!

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

I generally agree with Sir Robinson about his views on creativity. Schools should make dance, art, drama, and singing on the same importance as math, science, and language. He is right when he states people have bodies,and they should be conditioned. His presentation was also very interesting. I like how he threw in jokes and stories to keep his viewers attention.

I didn't realize how schools and society were down grading creativity. Something should be done about this quickly. If it were not for creativity, human living would still be in the stone ages. We as people must make learning of all kinds on the same importance level. Without the help of our creative thinkers, technology would be nowhere!

Did You Know? 3.0 and Mr. Winkle Wakes

My first reaction to " Did You Know? 3.0" by Karl Fisch was a feeling of freight. It is really scary and amazing to think technology is growing so fast, especially in other countries. The United States must keep up with speed. It also upsets me to know the education that I'm learning in college right now will be outdated in three years. Surely, the University of South Alabama will keep their classes compatible with the new technology that is going to be current in those years.

Also, all of this learning at advance speeds means maybe more evil. What I mean by that is there might be new and better military strategies. Which means more terrorist attacks. The advance learning is greater in outside countries. Who knows what type of tactics India, Japan, etc. has to defeat other nations. It is a movie called Eagle Eye that sort of describes what I mean. You can watch the movie preview here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFrSFoHWKM8 ! What does all this mean? It means the U.S must continue to grow with learning, and realize it is always someone out there smarter than us!



My first reaction to Mr. Winkle Wakes was he should have stayed asleep. If he thinks school is his shelter from technology, he is very wrong. I wonder what class he was attending? Schools will soon be getting more advance. He needs to try to with the program.

Anyways, what was the meaning of that movie? What exactly was the point the maker was trying to make? I need to criticize the maker now! He should have added a better ending to the movie, so viewers wouldn't be lost or trying to figure out what he meant. Readers of my post help me out with this one. Let me know what you thought it meant!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1sCsl2MQY

It's all about me!

I am Tresher Joanne Moorer. I was born in Mobile, Al. I like to dance, talk on the phone, shop, and be with family. I chose to attend USA because it is close to home! Lastly, an interesting fact about me is that I like to meet new people.

I am a new blogger!

Hello,
I am Tresher Moorer and I am a new blogger. I hope you enjoy my post!