Final Summative Project

I can't believe this is our last class EVER, the two years in this program honestly go by so quickly! Here is my final summative project, a reflection of my learning in Internet for Educators. I also want to add that this project was an experience in itself as I have never made a presentation on photo story and record a voice over on ANYTHING ever. I had a lot of fun and thankful for the experience.

Good luck to us all and thanks Mike for everything you've shown us and speakers you brought into the classroom! This course expanded my knowledge of the internet, tools and my personal learning network. I wouldn't have made these connections on my own had I not taken this course!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80nW2bSI9s

Last Weeks Class

I've come to the conclusion that....the internet in education takes learning to a whole new level. It gives students so many wonderful and engaging opportunities to learn and demonstrate their learning in and beyond the classroom. Also, many of the tools on the internet are very collaborative and exciting! Many 21st century learners use the internet on a regular basis so it only makes sense to meet them with this type of learning in our classrooms.

The internet is going to keep growing, with more tools and different types of technologies to offer along with it. Using the internet in education is a way we must and can prepare our learners for tomorrow. By building our professional development repertoire of internet and technology, we will benefit ourselves and more importantly, the 21st century learner!

https://www.highlanderinstitute.org/meet-education-project/

Twitter

I really enjoy using twitter as a way of connecting. Initially, I used (and still do) twitter to follow celebs and professional athletes. Since starting the #I4Ed course, it has become a part of my PLN. I have followed many professionals and guest speakers that are in the education field and will continue to do so.
Incorporating twitter in the classroom is something I will do once I begin my teaching career, it's a great social media tool for teachers and students.
I have not participated in any of the ed chats that take place on twitter as of yet, however, I will try to this week.

follow me @shellflett 

Edublogger

I have been following an edublogger from the states named, Jamie Forshey. Her blog has tons of resources, ideas, tech buzz talk, video's you can use in the classroom and ton's of other tech related idea's and tools that teachers can use. I found out what an infographic was on her site and I would suggest that if you want to keep up with what teachers can do in the classroom, she is one edublogger of many to follow.

Jamie is an Instructional Technology Specialist and teacher at the Bellwood-Antis School District in Central, PA and is dedicated to innovative teaching and learning through the use of technology and digital media that engages students in learning while providing them with a 21st Century educational experience.

http://edutech4teachers.edublogs.org/

Comment on a classroom blog

This is my comment that is still waiting for the teacher to approve it, for a grade 2 student's post about not having a hockey game in two weeks! Ha ha, it was a cute little blog post he left and sounds very anxious and eager to get out on the ice and play. Stay tuned, I will post when and if he comments back.

http://kidblog.org/scottsblog/

Web Based Application

Being an active user of mostly Facebook and Pintrest, I see a lot of images with "quotes" on them and some are very attractive. There is a web based app called Quozio that you can use to make these types of images for free and has tons of beautiful backgrounds that are available. It is a really easy application to use and navigate through, creating an image takes seconds. This app would be useful in the classroom where students can turn "meaningful words into beautiful images".

 

It's nothing big, but a nice little tool I thought I could share with the class. 

https://quozio.com/ 

The Future of Education

After reading the Horizon Report 2013 (K-12 Edition) I gained new information in regards to technology and the direction it could possibly be leading education towards. It "examined emerging technologies for their potential impact on the way we teach and the way students learn. This report is almost a year old and based on their data collection, we should be in the end of the "near term horizon". I have heard of cloud computing but have no experience using it, but it does make sense for school to adopt this type of storage system. I also haven't heard of any school that use it. There are schools out there that use the BYOD approach, so we are in the midst of this. Many schools though, do allow the use of mobile devices in their classrooms if it will benefit the learning process.Two to three years away is "Mid-term horizon" findings which is "learning analytics" and "Open Content". I think seems to be accurate. As educators we do look at each student as an individual learner and customize their learning when needed. As for open content, we do have access to a lot of material that is online. Access to free resources and even courses are available online, this has never really crossed my mind, but they are out there apparently. Their findings stated that "far-term Horizon" (4-5 years away) which would now be 3-4 years away is 3D printing and virtual remote labs. This is really crazy, I wouldn't have thought that 3D printers would even be available in schools. Actually, I didn't even know that there was really such thing (shows how behind I am). I have only heard of them on an episode of Grey's when Merideth uses a 3D printer to replicate a sheep heart and attempts to transplant it (ha ha). The report stated that these types of printers would be used to illuminate the design process, build rapid prototypes and make is possible to design models. I guess this could spark interest in careers related to industry. Students would  be able to design many things using this type of equipment, which could really revolutionize the way certain skills in education are learned and taught. The other finding was that real hands on labs may be replaced? by virtual remote labs. This is pretty cool and very different. It has its advantages such as allowing students to conduct research online and have access to other resources they would not have in a classroom. I personally don't know if schools will phase out labs and I'm not even sure if that's what they are getting at in the report, but it is a cool idea. The remote lab is really something, how cool would it be for a student in the school be able to access equipment in another location.
The future of education according to the Horizon report sounds like educators have a few more skills to develop, should schools adopt these types of technologies. I think that if it goes in this direction, teaching and learning with technology is going to benefit because it gives students more opportunity to learn how to use and work with types of technologies that are out there today.