Journal #7 Professional Learning Network Reflection

Journal 7

My experience with the various professional learning networks was positive. Digg readers kept me updated with Common Core and first grade projects. I found a project that I can use in my classroom. The project was to have students read a book and create their favorite book characters out of a pumpkin. This project included pictures and samples. I also read a recent article on Common Core on how to make the ELA shift to technology. The article provided different ways to use technology in their ELA curriculum such as creating a digital story based on a script using various Apps instead of writing an essay. I think that students would be much more interested in this assignment and be more creative.

The affinity group that I joined was elementaryteachers.ning.com. Educators posted games and ideas of how to teach elementary kids to use the keyboard and mouse. Through this I found fun websites that provided games on learning the keyboard. I also found pictures to be helpful. It gave me new ideas so that I can use it in my classroom. I also liked how I didn’t have to do much research because this affinity group focused on how to incorporate technology into the classroom. It saved me a lot of time from researching and it helped to have a source to go to directly and to find tools others have used and worked.

The blog was a way to interact with other students. I found that it was easy to use and it was a great way to share ideas. For example, when everyone shared their website design. I think that using blogs in secondary grades and above can be beneficial to share projects and ideas.. For Twitter I was able to look up new project ideas on pinterest. For example, I found a Christmas craft project. The craft was to use clear ornaments and decorate it with pom pom balls, pipe cleaners and sharpies to create a snowman. It looks great and very simple to make with my first graders. I still feel that Twitter is more for personal use than professional use.

All of the professional learning networks helped in different ways. I was able to keep up with new updates about Common Core and find new projects and ideas to incorporate into my classroom. It is a great way for educators to be informed, share and find new ideas and become better educators without having to do lots of research.

Journal 6: Self-Reflection

Journal 6

So far this class has been very challenging for me. Before this class I had no background knowledge of CCS and HTML. Everything that I learned has been new. I find it very interesting to see the background work of web pages and how layouts of pages are assembled together to form a website. All the parts to a website are equally important to each other but learning how to style the web page with the two column layout, using different fonts styles, colors and imputing images has been rewarding. I didn’t know how much web design work was done on the backend of the website and that everything was a code to create something.

I find it really helpful when Dr. McGarvey goes over what we will learning in the book chapters and exercise in class before assigning the assignments because it makes the exercise easier to follow. Having to create my own with a blank start has been challenging because it is hard to remember all the coding.  The most frustrating part is when I am missing a colon, bracket or space in the coding and having to go back to see where I made the mistake. I do have to say that it is quite rewarding when I find the mistake and seeing the webpage turn out successfully.

Another challenge I faced was uploading on the Cal Poly Server. I was so confused the first time we connected to the server and created the different files to input our book and lab work. I am starting to understand it better. I am learning a lot in this class.

Links:

http://www.csupomona.edu/~aslam/512/labs.html

http://www.csupomona.edu/~aslam/512/book/exercise6/jenskitchen/index.html

http://www.csupomona.edu/~aslam/512/book/exercise7/tuscany/index.html

Journal 5: Twitter

Twitter

            I am not a big social media person so Twitter to me seems like another Facebook account with extra features. When people tweet their ideas and thoughts others can view and comment. I like the idea that you can follow others and their interest. For example, like friends, family, sports teams, celebrities or restaurants. This is an easy way to keep up with others lives or share photos without having to make a phone call or text message. After looking over the PowerPoint of how to incorporate Twitter into your classroom it was quite interesting. One example was to have students tweet their location and use google atlas to determine their location from school. Then retweet their answer. This seems like a great way to incorporate realia into the classroom. Another idea I liked was the scavenger hunt. Given a topic students will research and the share articles or pictures through tweets. This seems like a great way to do a group project outside a classroom setting.

            I can see how Twitter can be beneficial to the upper grade students. As a primary teacher I don’t think I would use Twitter in my classroom. There was an example of using Twitter to keeps parents informed. I have a website for the class that I update every week with activities, lessons and school events. I feel that a weekly update is enough and daily tweets would be too much. Twitter is great way to follow up others and media but I am not a big fan.  

Journal 4: Final Project Idea

·       Site title – Animal habitats

·       Developers – Ann Lam and Jennifer Lau

·       Rational or focus – The goal for this web page is to provide a website for first grade students to explore and learn about animal habitats such as grasslands, ocean, pond and forest. Our objective is to provide content information, pictures and videos for students to learn about the different animal habitats.

·       Main features outline – There will be a homepage that lists the four different habitats. Then there will be individual pages for each habitat and then each pages connecting to the habitat of animals that live in that habitat.

·       Content – There will be a total of 9 web pages including the homepage. Each page will have its own habitat that includes content, video and pictures. We can also include informational links that direct students to appropriate websites for more information.

·       Target audience – The target audience is first grade students.

·       Design considerations. The design goal for the site is for first grade students to learn about habitats.  It is a resource they can use to complete their habitat and animal report.

·       Limiting factors – One limiting factor would be to learn how to embed videos into the website. Another factor would be that the content needs to be at the reading level of first grade students including EL Learners.  

Wire frame

Site map

Journal #3: Commercial Concerns in the Social Web

Friesen, N. (2010, December 6). Retrieved from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3149/2718

As we looked at the data from our last class we see that technology is used daily by all age groups and the social media networks are growing year after year. Most of us would say that we join these social networks to “keep in touch” with friends and family and or to voice our opinions on what we are passionate about. Regardless of the reasons to join a social media group the creators behind the website have another agenda. When you join a social media network there is a questionnaire that asks about age, gender, location of living, interest and so on. All these questionnaires are methods that advertising agency use to convey specific ads to the user on the site. Advertisers purposely place specific ads of your interest to draw users into buying or using specific products. These social media sites are a money making site for companies. Through the questionnaires and likes on your page they have the ability to target specific groups and know that you have a better chance of selling a product. Businesses would not create network sites without being able to make money.  For example, Youtube now has short ads before beginning the video you picked. They are not just any random ads but to your interest and it might be related to the video you picked.

Technology is a great way to stay connected to our interest inside and outside of school but there are greater benefits to those who are behind the scene of these networks.

Can social networks exist without ads? No, I don’t believe that social networks can exist without ads because it needs the ads to make profit. In our society it is a profit making business and all the data that is generated from our questionnaire gives easy access to companies to sell products and services to make money.

When using these social networks at schools are students distracted by the ads or there is no effect? I think it depends on the person but to some degree everyone is affected by these ads. When we see food commercials on television we want may crave that product. These types of advertising works and does distract users. Although firewall protections on computers at schools are very high because of the unwanted ads that are inappropriate, it is very hard to avoid the ads altogether.