Debora's Spring 2009 EDTS Blog

End of classes – part II

deboramarques — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:46:16 +0000

Summarizing my whole experience with EDTS, I can certainly say that I am extremely glad that I took this class. It was very helpful and enriching. I doubtfully believe I would have gained so much computer-related knowledge on my own. So I am grateful and would like to thank Professor Ransom for bringing so much into our lives. There are classmates that already knew at least half of the content taught in class (that was not my case). I hardly knew or had ever used any of the resources we dealt with throughout the semester. I don’t teach yet, but I intend to soon. Therefore, it would be great to start teaching using some of the technology I learned about. The least I could do was to fight to implement some of them in schools (fight for the ones that are not yet in use, the ones that are blocked). The only thing I lament about this course though is that I wish I had had more time to practice what we learned. Theory was well taught and clearly explained by our professor; on the other hand, I feel we had very little time to put theory into practice. And there was a lot of content for a short period of time. There were many times I was insecure and wasn’t quite sure what I was doing, if I was doing the right thing. So I was afraid of getting bad grades in our hands-on projects because I did not have enough time to practice them in class previously. My handouts and memories from what I had heard in class, were all I could rely on. Sometimes practice can be much harder and trickier than theory. In general, I enjoyed the class and would really recommend it to anyone who hasn’t taken it yet.

End of classes – Part I

deboramarques — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 01:22:29 +0000

The end of the semester is getting nearer. Classes are almost over. Summer is coming. At the same time that all this can be very exciting, I must confess it gives me butterflies as well. After an end there is always a new beginning. Beginnings require changing, learning, adapting. Now that I was so used to the class, it is going to end. Despite the fact some of my colleagues must be relieved with the end of the classes, believe me, I am not! When I registered for EDTS, I had no idea what to expect from this class. It ended up being way better than I could have ever expected. Even though I have some classmates who are technology experts already, I am not computer skilled at all, so taking this class helped me much more than anyone could have imagined. I am a little bit nervous leaving this class now because how am I going to keep updating myself with all the technological changes? I would never have found out all the resources we learned in class on my own. How would I ever have thought of recording my own voice, making my own podcast video by myself? I wouldn’t come up with that idea on my own. Isn’t it fantastic we can do it nowadays even from home? I thought I would have to go to a professional recording studio to make such thing. This garage band is so incredible; I can even insert Jingles in my recordings, hahaha! How do I look for new stuff that I do not even know they exist? I don’t think I can do it on my own. So that is what I am afraid of. How am I going to be a modern, updated teacher with such an ever-changing digital world? So this class was very meaningful, helpful, It came at a good time in my life to help me out, wish it continued throughout my grad program though…

Podcasting

deboramarques — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:17:47 +0000

How far can we go with technology? Podcasting whaaat?? What exactly is it? A digital recorder, portable television, radio, altogether in your pocket? I have a dream, I have a dream that one day this type of technology will be available in all public schools and not only at the most prosperous, prestigious ones. Every single American student should have access to this amazing resource, it should be in everyone’s hands. That is not reality though. Poor school districts hardly have a decent computer lab. It is really nice to find out about these digital equipments and be able to study their full potential/usage in grad school, especially their purpose towards education. We know utensils like this can help teachers and students benefit a lot in the teaching and learning process, at the same time that they have tons of fun. Trying garage band was really fun. For those who still do not know it, it is a source/software where you can make your own podcasting videos and so on. It is our duty as teachers to instruct our children to make good educational use out of it. Hopefully all American students will, some day.

Non-linear Power Point

deboramarques — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:58:16 +0000

I bet my EDTS professor as well as some of my classmates wonder what “world” I came from. Everything taught in class seems new to me, I am always impressed and amazed by all the technology presented to us (when I shouldn’t be! I feel bad at times because I seem to be the only person not familiar with all the information presented to us). But the truth is, I AM new to many of these resources and there is nothing I can do to deny that fact. Even though power point has been around for many years, this non-linear feature is brand new to me! And I love it! I had been to so many power point presentations before that were either too boring, noisy or flashy! But using power point in a non-linear way is fantastic. I think it is much more creative, and it gets the audience to interact and be genuinely more interested in the content introduced. I had never thought I would be able some day to either blog or make up my own power point presentation so early and in sophisticated, interesting ways. I do not regret a single bit for taking this class and I am actually truly glad for all I’ve seen and learned so far.

Teaching through blogs

deboramarques — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:08:26 +0000

Being literate in the twenty-first century means much more than knowing how to read and write. It means being able to download, burn, chat, save, blog, Skype, and so on. Students should be able to use modern technologies in the classrooms because that is part of the digital world they grow up in. They should have enough skills to know how to use these latest technologies. In such a technological world, educators are responsible for better preparing students to become citizens of a global digital society. Learning through technology tools, gives students several skills. Through blogs, students can learn in a very informal way. How can blogs be used to teach English? Blogs can be great resource centers, where teachers and students post materials. Students can show their projects on blogs. Parents can keep track of their children’s learning processes and finished products through blogs. Teachers can host online discussions. Through blogs, students can also work as contributors, authors and editors. Teachers can post class information, news, events, classroom calendars, etc on the blog. Teachers can also share lesson plans and exchange ideas with other peers. Teachers can post daily homework on blogs. Students can post questions for following classes on blogs. Students can post drafts for peer, collaborative editing. Blogging is a great way for students to share their thoughts and opinions about various class topics; they can exchange ideas in a daily basis. Teachers can post lecture summaries of their classes on blogs. Teachers can have team projects posted on their blogs, and so on. Presenting lecture-like classes and using chalkboards are characteristics that belong to the past. Nowadays, teaching means being part, knowing how to use, incorporating and instructing our students technologies of our current world.

Power Point

deboramarques — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:34:39 +0000

If you want to know my honest opinion about Power Point, I do think it is crippling our students. I believe one of the original purposes of Power Point was to help people present projects, speeches, among others. What happens in reality though is that “power point itself has been presenting projects to people” when it should be the other way around. People should use power point only as a tool to enrich or guide their presentations. But what many people do is that, they just throw a whole presentation, full texts in this instrument and let it do the job alone. I grew up giving presentations by myself without the support of electronic gadgets. I think at the same time technology helps, it cripples our students. If they had to do the job on their own, without the aid of computers, I bet they would develop much better oral skills, they would know better how to present themselves in public and so on. We as teachers have the obligation to make rules clear, specify what is acceptable in a power point presentation. Students must be told by us, teachers, what is expected from them, as well as what they should avoid in presentations. If they keep doing a bad job when it comes to these presentations, maybe we should not blame it directly on the students. Think it over.

Being part of a clique

deboramarques — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:46:47 +0000

Have you ever belonged to any “school tribe”? I have! Let me tell you a little bit about my own experience. When I first lived in Rochester in 1992, I was only fifteen. I was an exchange student looking forward to improving my oral English skills. I had a tough time trying to adjust myself and finding out where I fit in. The school I went to was very poor, and even though I was a minority member myself, still I struggled to find my spot under the sun. Black people rejected me for not being black, Latinos said I dressed differently and they made fun of the fact that I considered myself Hispanic when I did not know how to say a word in Spanish (my primary language is Portuguese). I ended up hanging out with the very few white people that belonged to that school. They were all rockers, head bangers, Gothics or whichever other term you want to name them. We got along well, we had “rock” in common. That was only a phase though, a fashionable wave. Soon after, I went back to being “normal”. Belonging to a clique, had a high price. At the same type you make friends, you gain enemies. And unfortunately people judge you improperly by your looks and not by whom you really are. What I would like teachers and parents to consider is not to judge a book by its cover. Give our teens a chance, give them more credit. Some of them are really good kids. Some are just temporarily hiding behind weird-looking shells.

Things a bit more fair

deboramarques — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:00:53 +0000

There was nothing I hated more in school other than group projects. It was so unfair. People that worked the hardest, ended up getting the same grades of those who contributed almost nothing to the project. There was nothing you could do in order to solve this problem either. If you ever told the teacher the real deal that was going on, you ran the risk of losing your friends friendship or being called a snitch forever. So all there was left for you to do was to work hard and basically give your lazy friends free merit for the work. It happened to me several times. My mom says I was born an old, responsible person. Unfortunately, that is how I am. Indeed I am a serious, honest, hardworking person and a bit perfectionist too. I want things done for yesterday, if you know what I mean. So I never waited or counted on my friends to accomplish any work, if something was to be done, I did it myself! Thank God those days are over and people like me won’t suffer with this type of thing anymore. With tools like Wiki, group projects can be done easily and in a very just, efficient way. Teachers are able to follow through the whole process and grade each student properly, according to their input or effort dedicated to the project. Don’t take me wrong, I am not a competitive person, all I care about is justice. Wiki is great for me now as a student and I am truly looking forward to working with it as a teacher.

What a waste of time

deboramarques — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:37:51 +0000

I can’t believe I would completely dislike Blogs a couple of years ago. I would look down at people who participated in Blogs and think they had nothing else to do furthermore they should all “get a life”. Isn’t it funny how much I’ve changed my opinion though? I really like Blogs today and I intend to have my own soon. Now I understand people’s motives for Blogging. Whether you write your own Blog or comment on other people’s Blogs, it is interesting and fun anyways! I understand that the reasons why people Blog can go beyond diversion. Some do it for fun, to share their lives with friends, family, in “journal-like” style compositions. Others take it more seriously and develop more of a “newspaper-like” formal, professional writing. Thing is, it doesn’t matter what your intention is, Blogging can certainly help you in several ways. I pursue a teaching career, so I believe Blogging could be a very useful and efficient tool in my profession. I could post materials and resources and share them with my students. I could also host discussions, share my lesson plans, exchange ideas with other peers, get feedback from students and teachers as well, get my students more interested in writing and etc. Why didn’t I think of it before??

deboramarques — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:45:54 +0000

I am extremely glad for the content discussed today: Digital and Information literacy. It was so helpful and it totally opened my eyes to important details I myself did not know about yet. Not knowing enough about internet and technology is a huge issue for me. We have a 4-year-old, born and totally connected to this high-tech era, he already uses the computer for games, or to watch his favorite movies on Utube, when I am a Utube virgin myself! I am completely concerned about him using the internet as he grows. I wish I could be great support to help him out throughout future researches or other school works. I would like to be there for him for anything, as well as to supervise, support him through computer use. But I felt so impotent, so powerless knowing so little…how can I help him when I hardly ever know anything about internet? If identifying phony websites can be a hard task for me at times, imagine for him when he is still very young and naïve? But today I feel empowered! I will pay attention to important details in a website, such as its author, the date it was last updated, and other important information I was not aware of. I truly believe I will be able to guide not only my son but specially my students through their researches and provide them with the support they need and deserve!