My Last Post

Overall, I have learned a lot from this class. This is my first blog. I never even knew how to write a blog before this class. What I have learned about the most is podcasts. I did not even know what a podcast was until this class, and I think they're very educational and useful in the classroom. (I just don't like making one myself) Also, I learned how to use Google Docs which was interesting since I did not know about that either. However, I like using Microsoft Office better.

The only complaint I have about this class was the syllabus. It was too confusing to me, and then, we got a little behind in class which made it worse.

I'm a much more computer literate person now, and I enjoyed the class very much. The main reasons are the non-threatening atmosphere and Mr. Wakeman. I think everyone felt comfortable asking questions or for help from Mr. Wakeman. He's an excellent instructor because he was easy going, but when he was serious, he got right to the point. For the amount of material that had to be covered, I think he done an excellent job of teaching it.

More Educational Podcasts

Since I'm going to be a high school teacher, I chose to watch two podcasts for grades 9-12 from WGBH, a provider for iTunesU. The first one I watched was "How Body Responds to Exercise." The video podcast was about a group of people who wanted to run the Boston Marathon who trained over a year to do so.

The second podcast I watched was "A Night In The Coral Reef" which was about the underwater sea creatures who come out at night to feed and what the coral does at night.

I only watched these two but there are many other titles that can be used for many different school subjects. They are narrated in simple, everyday English which makes them easy to understand for students.

I would like to use some of these podcasts or others like them for my classroom one day when I'm a teacher. I plan to download some for K-5th grades to show to my children because they are very interesting.

The Edible Schoolyard and A Night in the Global Village

Created by Alice Waters, The Edible Schoolyard is an excellent educational tool which teaches middle school students very much. Parts of each core subject are learned through farming and cooking. The students plant, water, and harvest a garden in their schoolyard, and once the foods are harvested, they get to learn how to cook recipes using those foods.

A Night In The Global Village is another excellent teaching tool. This program allows students to experience a day in the life of people who struggle to survive. The students are divided into groups and given a very limited amount of supplies. One group starts out with nothing to trade since they are living as refugees. The students have to learn to negotiate with other groups without using a common language.

I think these are excellent programs for all students. However, I don't think I'll ever be able to use them as a teacher besides allowing my students to view these podcasts and others like them. Since I never knew such programs existed until today, I think it would be a great opporunity to get involved in one of those programs as a teacher with my students. These programs are excellent because the students are learning in a way that keeps their interests, and they are much more productive than lecturing.

Using iTunes University

Added to the long list of things I've learned the past three months is iTunes University. This allows students of colleges, universities, and grades K-12 to download and play school content such as lectures and school events. Also, these audio and video podcasts can be downloaded to iPods or iPhones for learning on the go.

In order to learn more about iTunes University, I looked at different iTunes pages from different colleges or universities. First, I looked at Westchester Community College's iTunes page. Some podcasts they have include campus videos, campus events, and faculty and student presentations. Ohio State University's iTunes page has tracks for many different aspects of the university from news and events to student life and even includes commencement ceremonies.

There are also schools or school districts on iTunes for kindergarten through twelfth grade. One that I looked at was New Jersey's Montclair Public Schools' page. Through this page, many different tracks can be downloaded such as New Jersey history, the Presidents, and Girls-Self Image. Additionally, I looked at Tennessee Department of Education's page which includes tracks on topics such as educator resources and program resources.

To get to iTunes University, go to iTunes and click on iTunes U. If you don't have iTunes, click here to download it at Apple's website. It's free. Overall, I don't think I'll ever use iTunes U as a student unless I ever have a class assignment that requires me to use it. As a future teacher, I think it'll be great to post video or audio lectures for students who need reinforcement on a certain class topic. To learn more about iTunes U on Apple's website, click here.

The Use of iPods in Education

In an attempt to increase the use of technology in higher education, Duke University gave free 20 gigabyte Apple iPods to all students enrolled in courses that required them. Beginning in 2004, all freshmen received these free iPods and upperclassmen were loaned these devices if enrolled in a class that requires one. Now, only students enrolled in classes that require them receive iPods.

I think it's a very useful tool for college students today. They can record lectures and interviews for research and study. Also, they can use them to store notes and other documents. However, there is a concern over the the use of the information recorded and whether or not copyright laws are being broken. With the iPods, any information can be placed on the internet for anyone to see or hear. Overall, I think the use of iPods in class will catch on to other colleges and universities across the country.

Dr. Alice Christie's Site

After researching the use of blogs in American classrooms, I decided that I'd like to have a class blog or website once I become a teacher. I think it's a very useful tool for students and parents of students, and Dr. Christie's site will be very helpful because she gives advice and links for web design.

First, I read her tips for a good web design such as limiting your screen to no more than five colors, using font large enough to read, writing text using everyday language, and always keeping your target audience in mind. Also, she gives links to sites that offer graphics, banners, fonts, and backgrounds. She even includes some that you can save directly from her Web Tool Kit.

Dr. Christie explains the importance of a photo's size and how to use text in photos. She also shows how to change the color and gradient of photos. In addition, she has links to examples of good and bad website designs. Also, she gives examples of good and bad web page names.

I like how she has a rubric for evaluating the usefulness of websites done by teachers, schools, districts, educational programs, and colleges/universities. This is an excellent tool for deciding whether your site is helpful and functional. Another great thing to know about is Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers. This tells educators how they can use copyrighted material.

Is Wikipedia Reliable?

First, I'd like to say I've only used Wikipedia when I didn't know where to start research for a paper or other assignment. The reason: every one of my instructors forbade his or her students from using the free online encyclopedia due to its reliability issues. Since anyone can add, delete, or edit an article, the accuracy of the information you receive is not guaranteed. However, that may be changing due to the Wikipedia Scanner created by Virgil Griffith.


This program connects the Wikipedia user who altered an article to an IP address which gives the location of the computer used to make the changes on Wikipedia. This should crack down on the number of people who change information to make themselves or the company they work for look better. On another note, those who edit articles on Wikipedia for their own benefit could easily use their computer outside their home or work place . By doing this, these individuals would be nearly impossible to trace. Therefore, I am still skeptic about using Wikipedia as a main source for research information.

My Thoughts on Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

First, I'd like to say that was so inspiring and very much worth the time to watch. Dr. Pausch was so enthusiastic and energetic that I forgot he only had months left to live.
Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, the title of his last lecture, was about how he accomplished his list of childhood dreams. Even though he ran into some "brick walls," he still managed to complete his list.

Everyone experiences "brick walls," those times when you think you've gone as far as you can. However, Dr. Pausch said those brick walls are to separate the people who really want something from those who don't. I like his quote: "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." That quote reminded me of the Rolling Stones' song, "You can't always get what you want," which I sing to my children when they ask for something they can't have.

There was one teaching method he talked about that really stuck in my mind. Dr. Pausch called it a "head fake," which is learning indirectly. An example he used was football as a child. Not only do children learn how to play football, they also learn things such as teamwork and sportsmanship. An example of my own is having my children in dance classes. They're learning how to dance, but they're also learning social skills such as learning how to meet new people and getting along with others.

Also, he talked about the importance of the way we word things. We should always know when to apologize and never give excuses. Helping others and having fun while learning are also important. Overall, the message I got from Dr. Pausch was to never give up. Dr. Pausch was a great inspiration to so many people. Even though his life was cut short, he has influenced many people and definitely will never be forgotten.

My Thoughts on Fisch's "Is it an English as a Second Language World?"

This blog, written by Karl Fisch on November 12, 2007, caught my eye after seeing his video, Did You Know. As he states it, Did You Know shows that the number of English speaking people in the world is growing, mainly people who learn English as a second language. To further understand his blog post, I clicked on a link and read "Whose Language?", an article by Michael Skapinker about the growing number of people learning English as a second language and the effect it has on how spoken English is changing.

While reading quotes from the article on Fisch's blog, I am amazed to find that the number of people who speak English as a first language is declining. However, the number of English speaking people is increasing due to so many learning English as a second or third language. The point of this blog and Skapinker's article is that as the number of non-native English speakers grow, the more the spoken language will change.

Since the point of learning a new language is to communicate, those learning English as a second or third language might not adhere to proper grammar. Therefore, the spoken language might be altered in some ways. This can also be examined by native English speakers working primarily with those who know English as a second or third language. As time passes, native speakers tend to naturally accomodate their spoken English to those who aren't native speakers in order to communicate better.

While altered spoken English is acceptable in many cases, proper English is required for those who want their work published in a scholarly journal. At this rate of change, it is not unreasonable to see these changes accepted in written English. Since non-native English speakers outnumber native English speakers three to one now, why not? As Fisch said in Did You Know, shift happens.

Arapahoe High School where Karl Fisch works.

Last Semester's Podcasts

Overall, last semester's EDM 310 podcasts were really good. I don't know if I could do better than any of those students because I would be so nervous knowing that people around the world could listen to it. However, I have learned from these podcasts to be well prepared and to speak clearly. Most of the students who done these podcasts were very prepared, and they all spoke clearly.

From the four podcasts I listened to, I only wrote down a couple things that I would make sure not to do during a podcast. First, I will try to make sure I don't sound like I'm reading. During one podcast I listened to, I could tell one of the students was reading while all the other students seemed to be actually having a conversation. Also, I will try not to say "um" too many times, and I will not mention drinking alcohol at all during a podcast like one student did.

There were also things I liked about the podcasts that were done last semester. First of all, most of the students seemed comfortable during their podcasts. All the students researched their topics very well and even voiced their own opinions on some topics. Also, they help to reinforce what I've learned so far in my EDM 310 class that I'm taking right now and to give me insight on topics I haven't learned about yet.

The podcasts I listened to can be found at the link above. The four podcasts I listened to were "Blogging" with Ashley Corley, Brooke Busby, and Kimberly Pierce; "Burp Back Education" with Patricia Robbins, Megan St.Amant, and Courtney Morris; "What I learned from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture" with Brandy Wimberly, Amanda Bentley and Daniel Griffin; and "College of Education Classes and Technology Used in Them" with Kathryn Bentley, Kerrie Owens and Hanna Nolan.

Podcasts

Even though I just learned what a blog is, I haven't even heard the word podcast until I began this class. Another great educational tool, podcasts are like radio shows available over the internet. People can subscribe to them, and there are audio and video podcasts. Also, I like that the podcasts I listened to were free.


The first podcast I listened to was SmartBoard Lessons. The way Joan Badger and Ben Hazzard talk reminded me of a radio morning show, and they keep listeners interested.
Another podcast I listened to was KidCast which gives tips and ideas on how to make podcasts for students and teachers.

Other educational podcasts I listened to are Connect Learning and EdTechTalk. Connect Learning is hosted and created by David Warlick. I like his approach because he goes to workshops and conferences across the country and interviews people there (primarily educators) about education. EdTechTalk takes a different approach because they allow people to participate through a chat room and Skype. Skype allows people to make calls over the Internet to anywhere in the world.


The other two podcasts I listened to are not related to education. The first is Macbreak Weekly which discusses news about Macintosh. I don't know anything about Macintosh because I have a PC, but these guys are so funny and entertaining that it kept my interest better than any podcast I've listened to yet. The other podcast is This Week in Photography. These podcasts are about different topics about photography. Both of these podcasts seem to be professionally done.

My Reaction to Fisch's Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

Karl Fisch's Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? is a post from a blog called the Fischbowl. This is an excellent post to read and many would agree since it won the Edublog award for most influential post of 2007. If you've seen Did You Know?, read this because the two go hand in hand. While Did You Know? explains why students of today should become computer literate, Is It Okay To Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher? explains that many teachers do not have the computer skills necessary to teach students computer literacy.

Computers are an essential piece of education, and many teachers (and people in general) do not know much about computers even though they've been used for years. For instance, the first time I used a computer I was in the second grade and we used a computer program that helped us learn double digit addition and subtraction. However, ten years later when I was in the twelth grade, the only time I used a computer was to write a research paper. That was in 2002, and after 10 years of using computers, all I knew about them was how to browse the Internet and write a paper using Microsoft Word.

Today, the need to become computer literate is very important since so many jobs and careers require at least some knowledge of technology; and with so many people owning personal computers now, there shouldn't be any reasons for being computer illiterate. However, even I am not as comfortable with computers as I should be. To be completely honest, I didn't know what a blog was until I began a class called Microcomputing Systems in Education, and I have learned so much just from the four classes I've been to.

Also, I understand what he means when he says that "many people appear to be rather proud of their technological ignorance." I wouldn't say that I am "proud" of not knowing much about computers, but I have felt like it was okay because so many people I know don't know much about computers either. However, now knowing the importance of using technology in education, I am eager to learn as much as I can so I can apply it in the classroom once I begin teaching.

Blogs in International Classrooms

After searching and looking at many blogs, I finally found an excellent blog by a teacher outside the United States. Mrs. McMahon is a kindergarten teacher from Alberta, Canada. Her blog, titled 2,4,5,8 Meet Me At the Garden Gate, gives parents great information on the progress their children are making in class. Mrs. McMahon posts blogs about class activities including games played, the chores each student is assigned in the classroom, and what they learned in the computer lab. Also, there are pictures of her students' classwork, links to games that promote learning, and a class calender.


Another school blog I think is good is from Nelson Central School in Nelson, New Zealand. From the school's website, you can access blogs for every classroom. The one that I'm using as an example is Room 7's Class Blog for third and fourth year students. It shows some of the students' classwork including potato plants they grew and athletic events. Some blog posts tell what the students are doing in class and have links for useful websites related to the topics. Also, there are links such as Astronomy for Kids and NASA Kids Club. This blog is an excellent way for parents to see what their children are doing in class.

Blogs in American Classrooms

Mr. Chamberlain's fifth grade class blog at Noel Elementary School is an excellent example of how blogs are used in education. This is where his students post comments to blogs on topics ranging from President Obama's inauguration to the current book they're reading called Holes by Louis Sachar. Not only do students post written comments, they post video comments as well. I was amazed by Mr. Chamberlain having his students post comments to an Australian teacher's blog on Holes since they are reading the book at the same time as the Australian students. Along with the blog posts, he has school links, a class calender, and class pictures on his blog page. If I was a parent of one of Mr. Chamberlain's students, I would be very pleased with his use of blogs.



Another good example of using blogs in the classroom is Mr. Miller's English 10 classroom blog at Branford High School. Mr. Miller has his students post comments to his blogs as part of their homework grades. Most of his posts are on reading assignments such as 1984 by George Orwell. Through these posts, students practice writing using correct grammar. Also, there are links for students to use including assignment due dates, their vocabulary list, and the classroom resource Wiki page.

My Reaction to Did You Know 2.0

I just finished watching Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod's video Did You Know 2.0. It is an amazing video that every American should see because it is filled with so much information that I never knew or even thought of such as all college graduates from India in 2006 can speak English.
This video shows how change happens over a relatively short period of time and everyone must adapt to it, even educators.

It explains how fast technology is developing and how things are changing around the world. These things will not only effect adults but the children in our society who need to be prepared through education for these changes. With other countries surpassing the United States in education, we need to keep up with the change and prepare students for the future such as offering students access to the most current technology.

Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide

As I mentioned in the Alabama Learning Exchange post, another state program to enhance education is Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, also known as ACCESS. In some rural or low-income areas, schools cannot offer classes such as advanced placement courses, advanced diploma courses, and some electives such as foreign language classes. Through online courses, interactive videoconferencing, and hybrid courses, ACCESS allows all public high school students the opportunity to take courses not available at their schools.


All three ways of taking courses are just as effective as learning in a normal classroom setting, meet state standards, and are taught by certified teachers. Online courses are taken during the school day and allow students to be taught coursework through the Internet. Interactive videoconferencing is a way to connect two or more classrooms from different schools through video and audio connections as shown in this picture. A hybrid course is a combination of two types of classes. For instance, a student can take a class which is a combination of an online class and a class in a regular classroom setting.

For students to be enrolled in these courses, they have to see their school guidance counselor first to see if they qualify for classes offered through ACCESS such as the advanced placement classes. Also, these courses are best for students who are computer literate, comfortable asking questions or for help, and who are independent learners. Along with the classes, there is software available for students to use for certain classes such as the ChemLab which offers lab simulations.

By offering classes that some students would normally not be able to take, ACCESS is an excellent program which allows all high school students in Alabama the opportunity to have the same quality education. I went to a high school in Mississippi, and I took a calculus course through interactive videoconferencing. The class was just as effective as a normal classroom setting, and it also allowed the students in my class to interact with students from another high school.

Alabama Learning Exchange

The Alabama Learning Exchange, called ALEX for short, is a fairly new program which allows teachers to post and share their lesson plans. Once teachers set up an ALEX account, they can use their personal workspace to create lesson plans using the template provided and store them for future use. Also, teachers can submit their lesson plans to be shared with other instructors throughout Alabama. Once their lesson plans have been submitted, they have to be approved before being posted for other teachers to view.

Other than providing lesson plans and personal workspace for teachers of all grades and subjects, ALEX also provides web links that are useful to teachers, administrators, and students. There are many sites listed that provide services such as an online translator, plans for dealing with school crises, and online projects for teachers to use. Students have access to sites that aim to reinforce what they have learned at school through online activities and games. Also, information is available about programs for teachers and administrators to improve their leadership skills and how to receive grants and awards offered to educators, and there is also a link to the Alabama Virtual Library which gives Alabama citizens access to library resources once they obtain an Alabama Virtual Library card.

Another state program that enriches education amongst Alabama's youth is Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide, known as ACCESS for short. This program is excellent for schools with limited course offerings such as advanced placement and certain elective classes. These courses can be offered as online classes or Interactive Videoconferencing, which is when one teacher is linked to one or more classrooms at other schools through video. Students who are good candidates for these courses are those who are computer literate, comfortable asking questions or for help, and independent learners.

After finding all this information very interesting, I hope Mississippi has similar programs for teachers. After I graduate from USA, I plan on getting my Mississippi Teaching License so I can teach in my hometown of Lucedale or in neighboring cities. However, I think ALEX and ACCESS are excellent programs that will improve the quality of education for every student in Alabama and will also open teachers to new and more effective teaching styles and techniques.

First Post

This is my favorite website to buy children's clothes from.

My name is Melissa Zebracki, and I'm from Lucedale, Mississippi. This is my first semester at the University of South Alabama, and I'm enjoying it so far. After completing my Associates degree this past December, I transferred to USA from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Honestly, I was very nervous about the transition from a community college to an university, but so far everything has been great.

I am an Education major and would like to teach high school English once I complete my degree here at USA. I'm kind of following in my mother's footsteps because she's a teacher. I love kids, and I think teaching is an excellent career choice for me.

Other than attending school, I am also a full-time mom. I have two children, Olivia and Mikel. Olivia, who we call Livie, is four and a half and can't wait to start school. She's a typical girl who loves baby dolls and going to dance class on Thursdays. Mikel, on the other hand, only worries about playing with his cars, trucks, and trains. He loves anything with wheels especially Thomas the Tank Engine.

On the weekends, and if I have a babysitter, I like to hang out with my friends. I like going to the movies, playing cards, and singing karaoke, even though I can't sing! LOL! Last Saturday night I went bowling with my sister and brother-in-law. Although my highest score was only 102, I had a lot of fun.