Assignment #4

For the major component of my project, I created a blog using webs.com

When I was looking for teachers to contact for my Foundations of Education observations, I specifically looked at the ones who had blogs available. I determined whether or not I wanted to visit their classes based on what their blogs looked like. I liked the blogs that were personalized, colorful, useful, and neat looking. But even as I did this I knew that blogging was not a strength I had. So my intent was to create a blog using a website that was unfamiliar to me to exercise this avenue a bit.

I think if I were creating a blog for a class, I might use webs. I liked the finished project and there were so many options for posting audio, video, pictures, and all kinds of media. There were a couple small things I didn't like:

1. I couldn't find a "help" button when I couldn't find an application or was having trouble uploading some of my media.
2. When you publish information to the blog, there isn't much of a confirmation page. I like how blogger has this big page that pops up when you've published your work. Not so with webs.

Aside from that, I really do like webs. I liked being able to add multiple pages, something I think very useful for helping users find specific information like specific class assignments, especially if you're in a middle school with block periods.

Also, I started using the Clicky Web Analytics, which tracks the traffic on my page. I only just started added that application, so I'm playing with it and figuring it out. As of today I have four hits...and I'm pretty sure I've checked my website from the outside just about four times. :)

If I was having kids publish their work, I probably would find a different website than webs that students could post their own works on. But I think it works great for family integration and class description. I liked the idea of posting homework assignments so parents could track.

*[Note: the web connection from my blog to the CIA website wasn't working for me when I tried it, but that might be because they've switched to a new kind of security for their website. If that's the case, I figured it's okay because my kids will know how to copy and paste (or they'll learn).]

For the secondary component to my project, I created a video using Windows Movie Maker. You can see it on the bottom of the home page on my blog.

I'm not too crazy about Movie Maker. My biggest issues with it were as follows:

1. The program kept freezing up my computer. I repeatedly lost progress.
   
2. There are only two options for viewing the progress of your video: time line or storyboard. On timeline you could see the music, but not so much the pictures whereas on the storyboard you could see the pictures but not the music. I would have liked to see them together so I could synchronize transitions and pictures to the song easier.
   

I've actually used another program while I was working with GEARUP that had some really neat features and was very user friendly for my 6th graders while also produced some professional looking videos. I don't remember what it was called. :(

The next step to take with my movie would be to use film clips in Movie Maker. I don't think this would be too great of a jump and would actually be easier since you wouldn't be dealing as much with transitions and picture placements.

Overall I think this was a great learning experience for me. I became familiar with both these programs and could apply what I learned to other programs.


A few of the NETS are covered by my project.

For Teachers:

• 3c "communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats"

The blog is a great way to communicate information to students, parents, and peers. In my project I posted assignments for students and parent interaction, web resources for them to access, and I posted a video and pictures for students, parents, and peers to access from my experience in Brazil. So my video also met this requirement as a part of "variety" and a means of communicating relevant information and ideas.

• 4a "advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources"

I model this by adding my own copyright label to my blog. I advocate this in my social studies project where I talk about citing sources. 6th grade was right when we learned about plagiarism and bibliographies, so that is a perfect segue into class integration from online to the classroom.

For Students:

• 3. Research and Information Fluency

By having these assignments on the web, it encourages students to go there, access the sources listed and "locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media." Whether it's from a book or off a website, students need to know how to cite their sources and use the material they have access to ethically. Also, the assignment I have listed (especially for Social Studies) requires students to "process data and report results."

• 5. Digital Citizenship

In my video, I gave credit to the people who took the pictures I included. This models ethical behavior. I plan to instill that kind of ethical responsibility and initiative in my students by modeling that behavior and requiring them to follow suit. I don't want to make this drudgery or something that seems to be a hoop to jump through, but rather I plan to use this aspect of their education to help them "exhibit a positive attitude" and "demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning" as well as "exhibit leadership for digital citizenship." People are lazy and like to take shortcuts, I know I did when I was in 6th grade. But I plan to use technology in way that teaches kids the importance of taking responsibility and how to handle it appropriately.