Entry 5- Teacher Web Page

A teacher web page is a resource teachers use to keep students and their families or guardians aware of classroom and school wide happenings. She can write contact information and assignments on this page. She can also post pictures of class projects, events, parties, or other activities the class engages in. They're very helpful for linking at-home instructional resources or homework, and they function as a connection between home and the classroom.

 
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 Someday when I have my own classroom, I will use a teacher web page for teacher-parent communication. My email, phone number, and information will be posted on the site along with that of the school's administrators. I also think teacher web pages are an excellent way to incorporate technology in the classroom. By adding resources for use in the classroom, student are then able to use those resources to practice lessons at home. Linking to games or study guides would be extremely useful for use in school and at home.

 

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Pros of teacher web pages are that they are an easy, convenient way to keep parents up to date with what's happening in the class. Also, they provide assignments for the day or week and this can be beneficial for parents of forgetful students. The cons of teacher web pages are that often times students do not have a computer at home so the resource is not applicable to them. This creates a problem for teachers who intend to use their web page as their main communication resource. While problems do exist, teacher web pages are still an excellent resource for teachers, students and parents. I would recommend any teacher to use one for their classroom. 

Screenr recording

This is my screenr recording of how to change a twitter profile picture and background.

Entry 3- podcast

According to searchunifiedcommunications.techtarget.com a podcasting is "the preparation and distribution of audio files using RSS to the computers of subscribed users" (http://searchunifiedcommunications.techtarget.com/definition/podcasting). Files are uploaded to computers or digital music players as podcasts. These informative audio blogs allow information to be distributed and listened to easily and conveniently. Podcasts can be saved and listened to whenever and where ever according to the convenience of the downloader. Most podcasts are free and can be downloaded from sites like iTunes for the iPod digital mp3 player.

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When making my own podcast, I thought a really great way to use the technology would be a weekly homework reminder distributed on Friday afternoon after school let out. This way teachers could distribute the next weeks homework in one easy step, and students would have a heads-up about what the next week had in store. They also would be a great resource for parents whose children might forget to write down the weekend's homework assignment. Making a new podcast every day seems over-the-top so a weekly homework reminder would serve as a convenience to both the teacher and the students. Because podcasts are so easy to make using ipadio.com (as shown below) any teacher could add the file to her class blog or website without problem.

It's easy to see all of the pros about using podcasts in the classroom. They're informative, helpful, and convenient. However, some problems could arise. Technology often times fails, so if the computer system went down or was being worked on, a weekly homework podcast might not be able to happen. Also, many families don't have a computer or time to access one at a local library, so even though it would be helpful for many students, for others it might be more burdensome than anything. Even though some problems may exist, I still believe the pros outweigh the cons. A podcast is a great example of how technology can be used conveniently and effectively in a classroom

Entry 2- Webquests

A webquest is a very effective online classroom tool that can be used for a specific assignment. They can take anywhere from a few days to a month to complete depending upon the length and extensive material it requires. These assignments are helpful to teachers because they are easily accessed, well organized, and an interesting way to keep students enthusiastic about learning along with an excellent example of incorporating technology in the classroom. For students, they insight higher levels of thinking and help students stay on task.

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Someday in my classroom, I will use webquests to engage students in digital media in the classroom. Projects will be put in webquest form so that they are easily accessed, very organized, and fun. Through webquests, students will be able to focus on all of the necessary information needed rather than weeding through ambiguous information that often gets in the way of learning.

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Although there are many pros to a webquest, cons exist,too. For example, allowing students to access the internet for an assignment leads to the tempting world wide web and its many distractions. It also is extremely easy to access and doesn't allow for much exploration and individualized learning by students. Creating webquests, especially longer webquests, can be very time consuming for teachers, and the amount of time they take can take away from other necessary benchmarks teachers must cover in 9 months time. Although not perfect, the webquests also have many admirable qualities. They are organized, easy to access, and a fun way to get students involved. As long as students are monitored, there is no reason to believe distractions will be of issue. Also, the amount of organization they provide well outweighs the amount of time they take to prepare.