Week 11 Group 6 Current Event

Current Event Topic: As future teachers it is important that you are comfortable learning from online resources. Take a look at the list of online publications found in page 262 of your textbook. Identify an online article that describes a teacher using technology to support global learning.

Group 6 Members: Warren Shaw, KayLee Taylor, & Maile Yap

     This week our source came from Warren. It wasn't found from the list in the textbook, but from online research of his own. Talk about teachers using online resources! :)

     The blog article is called "The Role of Technology in Global Learning" from The Guardian's section about Teaching and Learning in the Global Classroom from the Teacher Network. It is about how schools in England, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Iceland, Poland, Greece, Finland, Lithuania, Turkey, and the Czech Republic use the internet to partner with each other on projects. They use online resources like Skype, FlashMeeting, Audacity, and Photostory to chat and share ideas.

     An English school collaborated online with a school in Sweden to create an animation of the adventures of Erik the Viking. Schools from England, Germany, Sweden, Lithuania, and Turkey even got together to create a pet contest where each class posted a pet photo and everyone voted for their favorite. The teachers like the idea of online global learning because it teaches the students first-hand about global awareness and helps improve their IT skills. Teachers also benefit from the support of teachers in other countries and the sharing of curriculum ideas.

     One way that an English school is taking the support of global learning even further is through their communications with schools in Uganda and Afghanistan. They started off by communicating online via FlashMeeting; however, when the internet connection dropped (which happened frequently), they had to come up with a new way. They turned to Nokia, who financially supported the project. Together they came up with ways for the students to exchange text, picture, and video messages with each other. Mobile communications seemed to work better because sometimes parts of Uganda have better mobile signals that in England!

Task 3-2 Reflection

     This week we continued to work on Google Docs. As a group we were assigned to create a Student Learning Outcome (SLO).

Reflection:

1. What roles did the members of your team have this week?

     It was KayLee's turn this week to be facilitator for the current event forum discussion, while Warren and I were the contributors. I acted as Task 3 leader for this week again by setting up the Google Document to be worked on. 

2. Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute to the group?

     I set up the Google Document to be worked on and sent out an email to the group to arrange the best way to work on it. I also contributed to writing our group's SLO.

3. What worked well this week?

     This week our group tried a different way of communicating; through text. It worked better this way because we were able to communicate more efficiently, since not everyone checks their email every minute of the day.

4. What will you do differently next time?

     

     I actually think that this week went very well. We were able to start early and get the task done before the end of the week.

Task 3-1 Reflection

     This week we learned how to use Google Docs. As a group we were assigned to create a document addressing the benefits of Problem Based Learning (PBL).

Reflection:

1. What roles did the members of your team have this week?

     For this week's current event forum discussion, Warren was the facilitator and KayLee and I were the contributors. I acted as the Task 3 leader by creating the Google Document and sharing it with the rest of the group and instructor.

2. Given your role in the group this week, how did you contribute to the group?

    I created the Google Document, shared it with the group, tried to arrange a time for all members to work on it together, and started the document draft.

3. What worked well this week?

    Google Docs is a good tool to use when you work as a team because it saves instantly and automatically, and all members can access it at any time.

4. What will you do differently next time?

    Everyone has busy schedules and I think that most people take online classes so they can work on it at their own time. Therefore, it is hard for group members to work together in live time, especially during the week. I think if we have to work on it together in live time, we need a longer time period to turn it in. Otherwise, if we were to each write up and add to the document, we need to have a schedule planned out so that the document can be edited and completed in time.

Week 9 Group 6 Current Event

Current Event Topic: As a group select a type of academic software (Desktop publishing, Graphics, Reference, Tutorials and Drill-and-practice, Educational Games, Simulations, Authoring Systems, Special Needs, Integrated Learning Systems) from the textbook 8.1.  Discuss and narrow your choice down to one tool from that category that you think you may use or have used to support student learning.

Group 6 Members: Warren Shaw, KayLee Taylor, & Maile Yap

       Our group agreed that Educational Games are a very useful way to support student learning. For this we flashed back to our childhood and remembered games that we used to play...

       In elementary school a popular game to play was Oregon Trail. This game teaches students about 19th century pioneer life as they play as settlers making their way westbound on the Oregon Trail. Players are to hunt for food and take care of their wagon passengers on their long journey. They face difficulties like harsh weather and sickness/diseases. The goal of the game is to make it to Oregon with as many health passengers as possible and with enough money and possessions as possible.

       We believe that Educational Games are good learning tools because they can help teach schools subjects like social studies, science, spelling, and math, but to students it just seems like fun games. Children love to play games, why not take advantage of this tool? Educational Games can also help teach students to stay focused on accomplishing goals set by the games. However, from experience we suggest that teachers supervise the students because kids will be kids and kids like to fool around sometimes. ;)

Task 2: Deliverable: ScreenR Turnitin

     This is my second ScreenR video and I have to say that I am getting better at it. It only took me about 5 tries versus 10 tries for my last screencast. I have also learned to take advantage of the pause button.

     The web 2.0 tool that I picked was Turnitin. It is this great site where students can submit their papers (drafts and final versions) and where teachers can grade them online. Teachers can leave feedback for the student attached to the paper via text comment or voice comment. This creates a more efficient way for teachers to grade a larger number of papers due to the increase in classroom sizes. Students can also use it to view their peers' drafts and give feedback on how they can improve their papers. The main purpose of Turnitin is it's effort to educate and stop plagiarism. When each paper is submitted, it is scanned for plagiarism by comparing it to tons of  webpages, publications, and other student papers. 

    I think Turnitin is a great web 2.0 tool to have in the classroom, but would I use it in my own classroom? Probably not, because I plan on teaching Preschoolers and I don't think that I will have them write papers. If I were to teach middle school or high school, I would definitely use it.

    I usually search for websites and tools by just google-ing the keyword. I think it's a good way to do it, as long as you don't be lazy and pick the first one you see. Do some research on it. Look deeper into it. Narrow it down to a few then pick the your favorite. I skimmed through the links that Prof. Hirata suggested, but the ones that caught my interest seemed a bit... Sketchy. I found Turnitin through my 8th grade cousin. I just asked him what web 2.0 tools he uses in school. Sometimes I think that's a better way- experience. Through my cousin is also how I found another site called Edmodo that I suggested to my group for week 7's topic.

So, here is the link my my ScreenR video about Turnitin: http://www.screenr.com/bZL7