The Technophile: WebQuest

WebQuest	Strengths	Weaknesses
Grow School Greens	Green coloring of the page, Animated semi-truck.	Needs more simple information, needs more bullets to organize information.
Where is My Hero?	Good page color, simplistic overview of page.	Needs animation, needs something to really jump out off the page.
Underground Railroad	Simplistic homepage, emotional picture to show hardships.	None observed
Ice Cream	None observed	Page color could use changing, animation would help, ice cream could be more realistic.
Ancient Egypt	None	Needs something to catch attention, no color, black font with white background, nothing standing out for the reader to want to see.

1.) In my personal opinion i think the Grow School Greens and The Underground Railroad. I liked both of these sites because the images were either emotionally catching or eye catching animation. The material was easy to read and the bullets made it nice to organise and work through this project with time efficiency

2.) I think two worse websites would have to be the Ancient Egypt and The Ice Cream. The Ice Cream website did not supply the students with the scientific knowledge that i feel should be there. The Egyptian website was dull and boring. No eye catching animations or catchy colors.

3.) Best and worst means to me that it will catch the students attention and that they will want to do the project! They will want to learn and have fun while doing so.

Double Journal Entry

Quote: Lucas habitually dresses in jeans, sneakers, and work shirts -- a man looking like there is much work to be done. For the American educational system, he says, that work must begin now.

Response: The American educational system does have some ancient learning styles. I agree with George Lucas on this topic very much indeed. He makes some good suggestions when he discusses in his article of how to bring these lessons to the classroom. By incorporating a circle of communication, starting with music and painting, to the written communication and spoken communication, and end up with math which is the most precise of all. This will allow the student to learn more effectively. He brings to the table an idea of making a per4son excited by using the color red, or using a diagonal line, but if wanting to make a person calm you would use a straight line or a calmer color other than red, such as purple. George states that we as a nation want to spend most of our money towards our military rather than spending on education. He says “It's not a great idea to want to take over the world if you don't know what to do with it and how to run it. Nothing is accomplished through conquest. Everything is accomplished through education.”

Reference: Daly, James. "Life on the Screen: Visual Literacy in Education." Edutopia Sept. (2004). Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://www.edutopia.org/lucas-visual-literacy>. ;

3 Pictures

Double Journal Entry #11

Summarize: Governor of Illionois is accepting the law to make all sex offenders to be banned from social networking sites, such as Facebook. The writer of this article, Larry Magid, does not condon sex offenders, but makes valid points in why this law should not be passed. Larry goes on to say state many factual statistics that show that the people who have not been caught yet are far far more dangerous than those that have been caught already and put on the registered sex offenders list. He also goes to show that sexualy exploiting of teenagers on social networking sites is blown outof porportion. That only eight girls in four years have been harmed while 9,934 children were sexually abused in a single year in PA.

Evidence: Larry Magid shows many factual statistics to support his arguement throughout the article.
My opinion: I believe Mr Magid has a very strong arguement. After reading this article not only do i believe this law should not be passed, but i believe the governor should be using the time spent on this subject on approving a law that addresses a abetter subject than this. Im not saying that this subject isnt a bad one, but there are other subjects in this country that affect more peoples lives everyday than this one.

Wikipedia Article: Baseball

This article or section has multiple issues.	No
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.	Yes
The neutrality of this article is disputed.	No
The factual accuracy of this article is disputed.	No
This needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling.	No
This may contain material not appropriate for an encyclopedia.	No
This article only describes one highly specialized aspect of its associated subject.	Yes
This article requires authentication or verification by an expert.	Yes
This article or section needs to be updated.	No
This article may not provide balanced geographical coverage on a region.	No
This is missing citations or needs footnotes.	No
This article does not cite any references or sources.	No

2. Read through the article and see if it meets the following requirements:

Is it written in a clear and organized way?	Yes
Is the tone neutral (not taking sides)?	Yes
Are all important facts referenced (you're told where they come from)?	Yes
Does the information provided seem complete or does it look like there are gaps (or just one side of the story)?	Complete

Wikipedia Friend Not Foe

1.  Did the class activity about Wikipedia and this article change your opinion about the value of Wikipedia to society in general and education specifically? Yes, I have been told that Wikipedia is almost the devil of websites. Making it sound as if this website is almost only full of bad information. But, look further into the subject it is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. I would use Wikipedia as a website to get some of my information, but i would look to see if the information was correct or not by using another website.

2.  Describe how you might direct students to use Wikipedia in your future classroom? I would instruct my students to use the website just as a staple. For example to fin information to start a project off with. Sort of like a Boost to get their project started. Then allow them to use credible sources to site in the projects bibliography.

Wikipedia questions

a. What is Wikipedia? A site to give information about almost any topic.

b. How would you answer the question posed in this piece “How reliable can a source be when anyone can edit it?” It can not be as reliable as any other website that can not be edited by just one editor.

c. Who do the creators of Wikipedia place their trust in when it comes to weeding out misinformation? They rely on each other. They rely on experts to put in the right information

d. Why did founder Larry Sanger leave Wikipedia? He left due to the governance and credibility of the Wikipedia website

e. What would abuse or vandalism look like on a Wikipedia page? There is no sources to their information.

f. What do the statistics quoted in the third paragraph of this piece reveal? There are over 2 million articles on Wikipedia today and in 280 different languages. Wikipedia is on the top 10 most-visited sites on the Internet around the world and Google searches list Wikipedia entries on almost every search.

g. Why do you think Wikipedia is so successful? Because almost every google search has a wikipedia article.

h. Why might Wikipedia’s creators not want to accept advertising? Because it relies on donations instead of advertising

i. How does Wikiscanner help increase the reliability of Wikipedia entries? It scans the IP address to see if the information can be reliable.

Think Aloud

Presentation1

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Double Journal Entry

Quote: I realized that if I was ever going to learn to read I would have to teach myself.

Response: This quote has struck me very hard. I have met a younger boy who suffered from dyslexia. He would always just give up on reading anything or even typing a message on his cell phone. With no support from others he simply started to give up hope on ever learning to read. Today they have diagnosed his disability and are giving him the help that he needs. His grades have approved and he is starting to read more and more. This story of a boy reminded me so much of that young man.
Reference: Schultz, Philip. "Words Failed, Then Saved Me." New York Times 3 Sept. (2011). Print

Validating Websites

DHMO.org
Has someone taken responsibility for the content of this Web site?
Yes, Tom Way

Can you contact the company or author through a real world postal address or phone number?
No, None of the contact information was on the homepage of the site.

Are there any links to in-depth information about the author or organization?
Yes, There is some other in depth links on the sidebar for more information about the site, but not about the author

Is the information biased in any way?
No, Does not stress any opinion. Stresses the need to learn about Di hydrogen Monoxide.

Is emotion used as a means of persuasion?
No, It more stresses the need to discuss and learn about the gas

Does the site clearly state the topics that it intends to address?
Yes, Very clear. In the name of the website and all over the homepage is nothing but information about Di hydrogen Monoxide.

Is it important that the information you're looking for be absolutely current?
Yes, because it deals with a gas. New sciences could come out with new findings on this gas periodically

Is a reference date provided to show when the material was put online, or when it was last updated?
Yes, A date is submitted on the homepage to declare what date it was updated

Do the links work?
Yes, the links do work

Can I get the information faster offline?
Yes, If a person were to look through the encyclopedia for this such information it would difficult to find much credible information on this subject unless you were looking in a science book of some kind.

Does the online material I'm finding suit my needs?
In a way, It answers some simple questions about what it is and the FAQ's on Di hydrogen Monoxide, but still doesn't declare that I can trust the information on the site.
Am I able to verify this information?
Yes, by looking into other sites you could verify that this information is correct, but just from this site....no it can not be verified.

Double Journal Entry

Quote: Despite early studies suggesting that internet use leads to anti-social behavior, later findings indicate positive aspects of engaging in online socializing.

Reaction: I do believe that interaction via online or social networking sites do increase a person’s friend circle. For example; you meet a person in a face to face interaction, you trade each others facebook names, and then you can share photos taken from the night you met or share news through each of your walls. The possibilities are endless when it comes to social networking sites. Another factor to internet reactions is that, sadly, you can communicate with a complete stranger and not have the humiliation of being turned down in front of other people. If someone were to not talk to you via internet chat it is easier to cope with than being ignored in real face to face interaction.

Reference:

Bargh JA, 2002. McKenna KYA, Fitzsimons GM. 2002. "Can you see the real me? Activation and expression of the 'true self' on the Internet." Journal of Social Issues.

DiMaggio P, Hargittai E, Neuman WR, Robinson JP. 2001. "Social Implications of the internet." Annual Review of Sociology.

Howard PEN, Rainie L., Jones S. 2001. "Days and nights on the Internet." American Behavioral Science.

Kraut R, Patterson M, Lundmark V, Kiesler S, Mucopadhyay T, et al. 1998. "Internet paradox: a social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being." American Pyschology.

Kraut R, Kiesler S, Boneva B, Cummings J, Helgeson V, et al. 2002. "Internet paradox re-visited." Journal of Social Issues.

McKenna, KYA, Gree AS, Gleason MJ. 2002. "Relationship formation on the Internet: What's the big attraction?" Journal of Social Issue

Nie NH, Erbring L. 2000. "Internet and Society:A Preliminary Report. Stanford Institute of Quantitative Study Soc.

Voki

Arnold Pictures

1. What do you see? How does he look?  

I see a massive Arnold. His arms look as if he could crush cars with them.

 

2.  How does he make you feel? 

In this picture he looks like a criminal or someone who doesnt follow the rules.

 

3. What do you think about this person now? How does he make you feel?

I feel like if he is a good guy in the picture then he would make a good cop, but if he is a bad guy then i feel i would kinda frightened by his presence.

 

4. How does he look?  How do those "looks: influence how you feel?

He is wearing the sort of clothes that a hardened person would wear. Th kind that someone would not care iof they got ripped or worn at all. The opposite of a business suit.

 

5. What lifestyles, values, points of view are represented or omitted? 

Lifestyles would have to be the "careless" and "i dont follow the rules" attitude.

 

6. What are the differences between the two covers? What techniques are used to attract your attention? Pay attention to body language, clothing, camera angle, lighting, color, eye contact ect.
The caption says something about 20 inch arms and the camera angle is zoomed into the arms while he is flexing them. Everything about this picture is to do with muscle and trying to sell this fitness magazine.

 

1. What do you see? How does he look?  

I see a sophisticated business man. He looks very sharp

 

2.  How does he make you feel? 

He makes me feel like i would respect him if he were in office due to his attire. I would trust him.

 

3. What do you think about this person now? How does he make you feel?

I think he is doing a great job in office. He is being a great governor of California.

 

4. How does he look?  How do those "looks: influence how you feel?

He looks like he spent a lot of money on his outfit. He looks very good and very business like with his attire. It influences my decision to feel more comfortable around him than the first picture.

 

5. What lifestyles, values, points of view are represented or omitted? 

He looks as if represents a higher lifestyle, such as governors, presidetns, and other high officials. Not really the working man's attire is being represented in this picture.

 

6. What are the differences between the two covers? What techniques are used to attract your attention? Pay attention to body language, clothing, camera angle, lighting, color, eye contact ect.

The first one is more of a hard working man, while the second one looks as if he sits behind a desk. In the first photo the arms are meant to catch your attention while in the second photo he is pointing in the reader's direction to show they he is working for you in office.

Double Journal Entry #7

Quote:
Researchers find that reading for understanding online requires the same skills as offline reading, including using prior knowledge and making predictions, plus a set of additional critical-thinking skills that reflect the open-ended, continually changing online context.

Response:
This quote discusses something that i have tried to understand for years. Reading is reading. May it be on the Internet or in a book, it is still reading for a child. In all honesty i believe it is easier to flip through a web page than it is to find a book in the library and flip through its pages to find something you are looking for. The only bad part about web pages is that some/most are not very credible in their information. This is why i believe we should teach our children at a young age to decipher which pages are good for information and which ones are not. I believe this would benefit our future children's learning.

Reference:

David, Jane L. "Teaching media Literacy." Educational Leadership 66.6 Mar. (2009): 84-86. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Teaching-Media-Literacy.aspx.

Double Journal Entry #6

Quote:

Learning to look without drawing inferences is a powerful observational tool that can gather rich visual data for the observer.

Reaction:

This quote will have a lasting impression on me especially because of how often i see media pictures in everyday life. If you simply go to the grocery store you can see all sorts of media pictures on the front of magazines and news articles. Many of folks usually do exactly what i have done for so many years, They will look at the picture, read the caption below, and suddenly believe everything that was read. From this day forward I think i will analyze the pictures i see taken from media. I really enjoyed reading this article because of all the little things that were pointed out such as the picture of Theodore Roosevelt's picture in the background. This drawing a comparison to President Bush and President Roosevelt's Foreign Policy. something so little and unnoticeable could be so powerful of a message intertwined with the picture.

Reference:

Abilock, Debbie. "A Seven Power Lens On 21st Century Literacy." Multimedia Schools Nov. 2003. Web. 2 Oct. 2011. http://www.infotoday.com/mmschools.

President Obama Picture #2

Looking at this picture the three things that i would infer are as followed:
1.) President Obama is making a difficult decison about an issue
2.) President Obama is concerned with an issue and is taking considerable time to ponder on what to do about it
3.) Could be simply thinking about what he would like to eat for lunch/supper.

Questions
1.) Who else is in the room?
2,) What room is he in?
3.) During the briefing process. What all was he told?
4.) Is he really a good leader?
5.) Can he handle this crisis of the BP oil spill?

President Obama Picture #1

Things I would infer about this picture.....
1.) I would have to say that these gentleman feel confident on whatever they did or where ever they just came from. If they had to make a decision I believe they feel confident that they made the right choice.
2.) They are leaving a boat, so in my opinion they could have been resolving an issue with the oil spill in the gulf.
3.) This also could have been something to do with the Navy. This could have been President Obama and his crew of decision making hounds to deal with an issue inside the Navy.

Questions that were raised in my head?
1.) Where are they?
2.) Who are they? (other than the president of course)
3.) What is their mission?
4.) Why are they with the President?
5.) What type of ship is in the background?

Journal entry #5

Quote: One of the many reasons I enjoy being an educator during this time of unprecedented change is that the potential for revelation is great. To do my best revelation-hunting, I locate the eye of a hurricane, park, and look around with an open mind. When I do that, revelations come frequently.

Response: This is a quote that will be with me throughout my teaching career. I love it. The writer of this article started is paper off with this quote and then follows it with facts backing it up. I believe he completely right when e says that we are in a new age. The new age is among us, and we need to open up and realize it. The new age is the fourth R. Which is Art in our learning. We as teachers and future teachers need to open our minds up to this Fourth R and incorporate it into our teaching styles. He describes a 10th grader being able to use a computer but having trouble in other areas, but when h incorporates his Fourth R into the learning of this child the child became amazed and started learning by using it. Great subject and great point of view in this artile

Reference: Art Becomes the Next R - Educational Leadership Magazine, October 2000 Vol 58 No 2 p. 16-19

Lasting Impression Blog

My PhotoStory opens children's eyes to having a creative mind. It will also allow children to have creativity in their thinking. The quote that i choose to use was by Clay Patrick Bedford - “You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.”

The opportunities is endless. The list could go on for miles about how to use photostory in your classroom. One of the significant ways of using photostory in a classroom would be to have the children bring in pictures about the subject and make a digital photo story. This would incorporate children in photography, the learning content such as geometry or drug use, digital photo uploading, creative thinking, and much more just in one lesson!

Lasting Impression

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4kl143-CEQ

COMIX!!!

Double Journal Entry #3

Quote:
"She predicts that the number of “textisms” will stop growing as people continue to develop more proficiency in using handheld devices and as the devices continue to grow more sophisticated than simple telephone touch pads. She adds that part of the appeal of texting shorthands is their novelty, and that that will fade." - Naomi Baron

Response:
When texting first began on the flip cell phones i as a texter used many acronyms, but as technology started to advance even more with full keypads and touch screen auto correct iphones i noticed that my texting was more sophisticated than before. i noticed that instead of putting brb i would text be right back because it was just easier to do so. advancing technology is forming our texting language to more full texting of certain words. While i text another person and i notice that they are still using wbu? or other such things as brb, lol, lmbo, and etc. i lose interest in texting that person. All in all the advancing technology in cell phones is helping people become more accutom to not shortening their words.

Reference:

shea, ammon. "The keypad solution." The New York Times 22 Jan. 2010: mm20. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24FOB-onlanguage-t.html.

Learning Styles Week Three

  I have learned a lot about myself and the way i learn through this VARK Learning Style test. I do think it is accurate. It says that i am an aural learner. I learned that attending class is very beneficial to my learning style, which i agree with completely. another instance in the overview of an aural learner was that my notes may not be the great, which they are not, and to read my notes out loud to get the greatest impact out of them. I catch myself reading my notes out loud all the time so this Vark Learning Style  has confirmed a lot of my habits already.

Poll Everywhere and Wordle

In our classroom we used poll everywhere has an open question that everyone had a chance to participate and give other classmates responses. After we had our answers to our questions in poll everywhere we got a chance to use another useful learning tool named Wordle. Wordle is a text making box that creative with our answers.
The teacher in the first article used Wordle as a spelling tool. She used the creative inventiveness of using digital resources to benefit her and her classroom. One great way that caught the students minds was that it had bright colors, so in turn they would want to actually spell because it looks "cool." I believe that poll everywhere is one of the best uses of technology in the classrooms. Not only can you use it with just about any subject, but you can use it anywhere. PowerPoint which is another great technology learning tool can be incorporated into a poll everywhere question. This promotes student reflection to your question because they can actually use their cell phone in the classroom.

Double Journal Entry #2

Quote:
Before we despair that language is going to hell in a handcart, we should remember two lessons. First, normativeness in language goes through cycles, much like taste in music and politics. All is not lost.

Response:
I do agree with this article to a point. The amazing amount of LOL's and OMG's that are in text messaging and online instant messaging is incredible. I also am a victim of this linguistic attitude. I read this and started to notice how many emoticons and other shortening of words that i actually use in my day to day messaging. Needless to say i have started to "slow my roll" on using these in text messaging. This definitely has opened my eyes and mind to the new norm of language and how it is evolving. Good article.

Reference:
Baron, Naomi S. "Are Digital Media Changing Language." Educational Leadership 66.6 Mar. (2009): 42-46. Web. 2 Sept. 2011. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language%C2%A2.aspx>.

Wordle

My Poll

Click here and take my poll

Education needs a digital age upgrade - double journal entry 1

Quote:

Chances are just that good that, in spite of anything you do, little Oliver or Abigail won’t end up a doctor or lawyer — or, indeed, anything else you’ve ever heard of.   -Virginia Heffernan

Reaction:
I find this astonishing. It is hard for me to believe that 65% of the jobs that our children in elementary school will be doing i havent even heard of yet. After i heard this i started to think back to if my parent were younger.....would they have ever thought that computer would take over a simple assembly line job? or would they ever think that they could simply go online and type their name to find them (facebook)? I would love to look into the future and look at some of the jobs that will be taken over by computers and the jobs that will be available due to computers....

Reference:

Heffernan, Virginia. "Education Needs a Digital-Age Upgrade - NYTimes.com." Opinion - Opinionator - NYTimes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/education-needs-a-digital-age-upgrade/?hp.

 

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZbkz3stWMg

Life and Learning

Hello everyone my name is Wes Barr. I am from a small town in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia named Petersburg. Personally I would like to teach any grade in the elementary school especially fifth or sixth. I am a big fan of hands on learning. So, when i become a teacher i would like to do a lot of hands on learning in my classroom.