Jimmy's Blog

3 Digital Stories

2008-10-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

Of the three programs I used to make the digital stories, the only one I liked was Animoto. It was very easy to use, and the final product was pretty cool. The only problem with Animoto is that I don't really see it serving a purpose in the classroom, it's more of a software to play around with. Scrapbook was my least favorite, as it was the most difficult to use, and it took me forever to make. Unlike Animoto, though, I think that one could find some use for Scrapbook in the classroom, although I don't think that I'll try it, as I found it difficult and kind of boring. Finally, there was VoiceThread, which was also a little difficult to manage, but is probably the one that could serve the most purpose in the classroom, since you can add your own voice to the story. The final product I made, however, was pretty boring, and I'm not sure if I would be able to keep students interested if I used VoiceThread in the classroom.

Voice Thread Digital Story

2008-10-12T15:37:00.001-07:00

Scrapblog Digital Story

2008-10-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Animoto Digital Story

2008-10-12T14:06:00.001-07:00

The Role of Digital Storytelling

2008-10-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Please click on the audio file to hear my thoughts about implementing digital storytelling in the classroom.

Growing Up Online (Week 5)

2008-09-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

As someone who constantly uses the internet day in and day out, I can tell you that the internet has a huge impact on the lives of kids today. Kids have access to the internet in school, they use it in the classroom, and clearly spend a lot of time after school using the internet as well. Personally, the majority of my homework is done online, and, like pretty much everyone I know, I spend a fair amount of time on the internet looking at facebook, checking my email, or checking up on my favorite sports teams. There is no question about the magnitude of the effect the internet has on kids' lives today.

The question is whether this effect has been a positive or negative one overall. Personally, I would have to say that the internet has had a great positive affect on the lives of kids today. It acts as a great tool for socialization, as it allows kids to keep in touch with their friends, and even help kids who may not be as outwardly social in a normal situation to reach out to other kids and maybe make some new friends.

After watching the video, I feel like the video just tried to point out all of the negative sides of the internet's impact on kids. Yes, it's true that using the internet comes with its risks and downsides, but I feel like what is to be gained by the internet overall far outweighs its negative sides.

I personally don't worry about the internet's effect on kids, as long as we educate kids about how they should be using the internet. Like the video said, studies have proven that the majority of kids know that when some strange person they don't recognize starts asking them personal questions like where they live and if they want to meet up, they should just ignore them. The kids who realize this have clearly been educated on how to be safe on the internet.

But protection from predators isn't the only thing that kids need to be educated about. It's also important that we show kids how easy it is for anyone to find anything that gets posted on the internet, and that they need to be careful what videos or pictures they put up. I remember as soon as I got a facebook page, my parents immediately warned me to be careful of what pictures or information I posted. Before they brought this up to me, the thought of what I was posting never really crossed my mind, but I feel like just a simple enough act as this will often be enough to keep kids knowledgeable and safe on the internet.

Responses (Week 4)

2008-09-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Here are the links to the comments I wrote about other people's responses.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5577587331797661163&postID=3593444009065689949

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1685191015038864453&postID=1063659955374004846

"A Vision of Students Today" - Week 3

2008-09-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

I thought that both of these videos were really interesting, and they both helped give me a good idea about what techniques I need to be incorporating into my instruction in order to best prepare my students for the future. One of the more powerful signs that a student held up read, "If we learn by doing, what are we doing sitting here?" I think that this brought up a great point: that traditional teaching methods might not work for a lot of students. As teachers, especially science teachers, we need to allow our students to explore the information we present them with at a depth that they cannot reach through lecture alone. I think that different experiments, online activities, etc. are great ways to accomplish this, and are both techniques I plan on using in my classroom as part of becoming an agent of change.

The interesting part of the question is whether or not it is our responsibility as teachers to act as an agent of change in the classroom. To an extent, I believe that it is, as our job as teachers is to prepare our students for the future, which, as we can imagine, will basically be run by the advent of new technology. As much as I would love to meet my students' expectations of preparing them for the technology-filled future that they will face, it's pretty much impossible for teachers today to do so as much as students would like. This is because teachers today are not just pressured to meet the expectations of their students, but also of their students' parents (who are often old fashioned in the ways of education), and the administration (with the advent of NCLB and other laws). Basically what I'm saying is that everybody expects something different from teachers, and it's impossible to please everybody. Clearly I believe that the students are the most important, and it is our responsibility to please them and do what's best for them, but if you can't find a way to please the parents and the administration at the same time, you won't have students to help because you will be out of a job.

Responses (Week 2)

2008-09-07T21:15:00.001-07:00

Here are the links to the comments I wrote about other people's responses

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1980195213798569884&postID=2436128353392523864

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5577587331797661163&postID=3960578910641666194&page=1

Technology in the Classroom

2008-09-03T14:15:00.000-07:00

I believe that it is necessary that today's teachers incorporate the use of modern technology in their classrooms. As the use of technology is growing at an exponential rate, it is important that today's children are taught to keep up with modern day technology and are very familiar with its uses.
Our job as teachers is to prepare our students for the future as much as possible. Today, the number of jobs that deal with technology is much higher than it was just a few years ago. With technology growing as fast as it is, just imagine the job market our students will be faced with in the future. Modern technology will be all around them, and it is our responsibility to prepare them for this phenomena.
Some people believe that a teacher should stick to teaching their students their subject, and that is it. However, I think teachers need to be more realistic in their approach. For example, I want to be a high school chemistry teacher. The fact is that the majority of my students will never use most of the information that they are taught in my class again after high school. Therefore, as my job as a teacher is to prepare my students for the future, I believe that I should try to incorporate the use of technology as much as possible in the classroom, as technology is what most of my students will one day concern themselves with. Yes, I obviously believe that chemistry is important, as today's students will be tomorrow's doctors, pharmacists, and chemical engineers, however, that only accounts for a relatively small number of jobs. Teachers need to cater to the needs of all of their students, and the use of technology is arguably the greatest of those needs.

Hi

2008-09-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

My name is Jimmy Rogers. I'm a junior from Palatine, IL, and I'm majoring in chemistry with a minor in secondary education. My goal is to get a job teaching chemistry and coaching football at my old high school.