Today, in class, we learned about WebQuests. My group worked on High School English webquests. It appears to me that the elementary webquests were better, more exciting, more useful, and more engaging. The WebQuest is about 14 years old and according to the ones we looked at, those pages appear to use 14-year-old technology. It seems to me that WebQuests need to be made much more exciting and technologically up-to-date.
In anycase, I look forward to learning more.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Wiki
Today, we began working on our Wiki pages. We have to collaborate with other students in other sections. My wiki page is about music, which is a bit general at this point. After I find out the concentrations areas of my colleagues we will be able to better organize and orient out wiki.
This will, perhaps, be one of the most useful tools for a band classroom.
I look forward to learning more.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wiki day!
Today in class we began learning about wikis.
I made a wiki page at http://tpte486.pbworks.com/ChristopherGoodson
Wikis appear to be really useful tools for teaching and learning. The "In Plain English" video on wikis was quite informative and helpful. I would never have thought of using them in that way.
Next, we will work in our instructional groups (Music) to put together a wiki page about our special area. I look forward to finding out with whom I will be working on this project.
I made a wiki page at http://tpte486.pbworks.com/ChristopherGoodson
Wikis appear to be really useful tools for teaching and learning. The "In Plain English" video on wikis was quite informative and helpful. I would never have thought of using them in that way.
Next, we will work in our instructional groups (Music) to put together a wiki page about our special area. I look forward to finding out with whom I will be working on this project.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Binge Blogging
In an effort to become more adept at blogging, I am binge blogging this morning...
Speaking of technological integratedness, the private school for whom I work has recently began using a web-based school administration software that I have been learning to use. It is called "RenWeb". The program allows for tracking of grades, attendance, even the school lunch menu. One of the most convenient uses involves the ability to send emails to students, staff, and parents through the program. That feature is much more convenient than putting together an email list in outlook. The attendance and grading features will become more useful in time, but early on, setting up the grade-book and attendance tracking are frustrating and slow. For now, I am still using the paper grade-book.
Sometimes change is slow. Of course, that seems to be especially highlighted in my field of work, where music and how to play and teach music hasn't changed all that much over many, many years. Certainly, there are countless ways to involve more technology, but when it comes down to it, there is only one way to put an instrument in your face and play it correctly. Technology can help, but band still involves physical skills that have to be experienced, so matter how convenient of technologically advanced the teacher becomes.
Food for thought...
Speaking of technological integratedness, the private school for whom I work has recently began using a web-based school administration software that I have been learning to use. It is called "RenWeb". The program allows for tracking of grades, attendance, even the school lunch menu. One of the most convenient uses involves the ability to send emails to students, staff, and parents through the program. That feature is much more convenient than putting together an email list in outlook. The attendance and grading features will become more useful in time, but early on, setting up the grade-book and attendance tracking are frustrating and slow. For now, I am still using the paper grade-book.
Sometimes change is slow. Of course, that seems to be especially highlighted in my field of work, where music and how to play and teach music hasn't changed all that much over many, many years. Certainly, there are countless ways to involve more technology, but when it comes down to it, there is only one way to put an instrument in your face and play it correctly. Technology can help, but band still involves physical skills that have to be experienced, so matter how convenient of technologically advanced the teacher becomes.
Food for thought...
Reflection on Website Evaluation Activity
Prompt:
How did this activity assist you (or not) in meeting the learning objectives associated with the evaluation of websites to use in your classroom?
Reflection:
The activity sheet presented important criteria that should be considered when evaluating a website for use in an academic classroom. The worksheet sought to evaluate the website with objective criteria in order to create a quality judgement related to the beneficial use of the website. This is an excellent starting point, but some websites provide more subjective benefits that cannot be easily measured. Wikipedia, for example, is not the strongest website for academic use per the criteria presented on the evaluation sheet; however, I believe that wikipedia has many benefits. It compiles current and well-referenced information from many sources, yet many academics will not allow it to be cited as a reference. There is, of course, value that that decision as quality-control is questionable, but definitely improving. Whether wikipedia can be cited or not, it provides an excellent beginning to research with an overview of the topic and references that the student can follow and cite. Additionally, wikipedia is becoming an ever-more popular website that many people use each day for their own "personal" research. I expect it to become more popular in time.
Deaf Culture Wiki
Deaf Culture Wiki
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