1 to 1 Learning

Fortunately, my employer is very close to implementing a 1 to 1 Learning program.  I say fortunately but its kind of scary to think about it from a IT standpoint and the management aspect.  

We would begin with our 6th grade students and then continue with each grade level the following academic years.  So it would take 7 years to get completely onboard with a 1 to 1 program.  At this point, its up the superintend to make the decision and its probably going to be a funding issue as well.  We would see some savings if we implemented the program but from my perspective we would be spending money to save money.  

I think the idea is great and its one that we should embrace.  It would make a big difference in the lives of students and I think they would benefit in the long run from such an endeavor.  

Digital Citizenship Takeaways

I think for me the biggest take away from Tuesday night's class was the information on copyright. It's amazing to think about how little I knew about copyright issues.  I'm certain that copyrights are violated many thousands of times a day.  It is very easy to grab images off the web and use them.  It's really too easy, but that is the world in which we live.  This makes me wonder about the integrity of some undergraduates these days.  They are probably ignorant of the issues just as I was and probably still are to some degree.

Critical Thinking

Since I'm not a teacher this is a challenging entry for my blog.  As far as implementing critical thinking goes, I thinks its an essential part of what educators need to be doing in their classrooms.  Developing these skills will help students solve real problems.  Unfortunately, with the demands of standards, testing, and government initiatives it is sometimes a drill and kill method.  The great teachers of the world easily accomplish getting students engaged in critical thinking but I believe its a challenge for them as well.

If I think about the problems that I've encountered and had to solve in my job or in my personal life, I've never been told to do it with out a resource.  I think part of critical thinking is being able to equip the students with knowledge to be able find the solution.  Learning how to use resources.  For example, I wanted to learn how to play a particular song on the mandolin.  I have books, videos, and recordings to use as a resource, but I have also learned countless tips from the Internet. 

Using Cool Tools

First, let me say that its been a crazy week at work because of a new email server that we have set up.  Our old server and software was old.  The software was about 8 years old and while it gave us a great service it just wasn't cutting it anymore.  So we opted to upgrade and have been busy touching every machine in the district to get it working correctly.  Its been a long week!

For me the cool tool that I use the most is Mindomo.  Its a great mind mapping program and it can be shared with other people over the web.  If I was teaching, I would most likely be using xtimeline.com, this is a great way to build time lines for class projects.

I've found several cool tools that are just fun to play around with like Wordle.  Building word clouds and just goofing off on the web.  

My Ponderings...

Here is a quick little entry contemplating my ponderings for the week.  So far everything is on track for implementation of my project.  I have to admit its been a challenge to find the time to work with a teacher and her class during the work week and be able to handle my own job responsibilities.  The first part of the week has been fall break so next week we (teacher and myself) should start with some preliminary implementation of the project.

I'm anxious about the final outcome of this project but I have a lot confidence in the students and the teacher that I'm working with on this project.

Enhancing Creativity

As I think about my project and what I might change to enhance creativity, I've started to wonder if I have chosen an appropriate project.  I'm still awaiting the feedback on my Pre Plan and that might give me a little more insight about that.  At any rate, I must move ever forward to fulfill the promise that I made to my client.  

Although, I do think the final body of work produced by the students will lend itself to the students' own creativity.  Creating a movie has a lot of potential for the students to be creative and to tell the story form their own perspective.  Also, its all about bugs.  I hoping that should help the students be creative as well.

Based on my client's timeline I will need to start implementation within the next couple of weeks in order to capture the entire lesson activity.

Project Status & Assessment Thoughts

From the beginning of this project, I've been wondering about how to assess the students.  During class on Tuesday, Titus had a great suggestion.  Since my the final artifact of the project will be a movie why not ask the students' their opinion.  Ask them what makes a good video and what they would look for in a good instructional video.  Since this is a gifted class, there is a good chance that they will probably have some really great ideas.

I think my project has some real challenges and since I'm not from a teaching background it could provide even more of a challenge for me personally.  The ironic thing is that yesterday I had a teacher at the middle school ask for help with a technology related project.  Her idea is pretty interesting, she has 14 eighth grade gifted students in her science class and she plans on taking them off the curriculum plan for the next 9 weeks.  Students will work in pairs and she is going to give them the standards and they will develop the lessons but they are going to make them into podcast that the students can use for review.  She wants me to show the first pair how to do a podcast then they will train the next pair of students.  She did something similar last year but didn't use the technology piece of it.  I think her idea is a perfect match for  LoTi Level 4 or higher activity.

More to come later....  

Go Dawgs!

LoTi, My Project, & Me

The blog for this week is going to focus on LoTi, My Project, & Me.  The LoTi standards are a bit confusing to me but as I begin to read more about them I get a better understanding.  I do find it difficult to reach the higher LoTi levels with students in early grades.  Its seems that the projects that are for middle grades and high school have a better chance of being a higher LoTi level.  It all boils down to the design of the lesson.  As with anything a good design goes a long way.

This week I plan to have a meeting with the teacher whom I'm working with about the project and what we need to do get this off the ground.  She has some ideas and I have some ideas so we just need to discuss our plans for this project.  Since I'm working with a teacher on this project, I'm having a 6200 flash backs and working with the client.

I think this is going to be the most challenging project I've worked on in my graduate studies. Primarily because this is going to be the one of the few times I work with students as opposed to teachers.  It should a FUN challenge.

Initial Project Idea

My initial idea for my EDIT 7500 involves a group of 4th and 5th grade students at Long Branch Elementary School.  I've already identified the teacher, Mrs. Bonnie, who teaches the resource and gifted classes.  I've spoken with about working with her class and she is very willing to assist. She suggested a topic, insects.  My initial thoughts involve working with students and doing something with insects and getting them to use Apple's iLife software, which includes iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, Garageband, and iWeb.  I'm thinking I will most likely get the students to do some internet research and make an iMovie and share with the rest of the school.

I'm open to suggestions and any recommendations from my blogging buddies.