My EDM 310 Blog Assignments are Now Complete

I just wanted to take this time to thank everyone in my 310 EDM class this spring semester. I thoroughly enjoyed all my classes with y'all because all you guys were amazing to be around. I learned a lot from every one and was loved reading your blogs to see what you had to say on the same topics as me. one of my favor tie things was viewing and listening to all of your PowerPoint presentations about your lives because I find it amazing to learn about others and to see what people are into. Again, this class was great and would recommend it to anyone: great professor, great people, great class! THANK!

i-Tunes Podcats: Grade 10

One of the podcasts in the WGBH/PBS section of the i-Tunes U section that caught my eye was the post on Global Warming. Now I have always been a bit of a sceptic when it comes to Global Warming, but i still like to see the arguments because they do make a really good argument and makes me want to help our environment. It was talking about how the high amounts of both carbon monoxide and methane gases were causing a green house effect in our world which increases the temperature of our planet and fills our breathing air with chemicals that do not belong in our body. At the end of the podcast, the narrator told the view ways to help the environment by recycling, using less energy in the home, and perhaps purchasing more efficient vehicles (such as hybrid cars.)

As I have stated before, using podcasts in class I feel is a great way to teach kids. I think its even better when the students can go home and learn more about a certain subject on their computers. We are now entering the "computer age" in learning and pretty soon they are going to be talking over the entire education curriculum. I am not arguing with what will happen, I think it is a good thing, but it must be used for educational purposes or it will simply not be effective.

I would love to use i-Tunes U for my future classes when I become a teacher. This is something that would be very beneficial for all students as well as teachers wanting to take their teaching to the next level. As I said before, being a teacher in the future and not understanding how educational podcasts work will probably not go well together. Although it is very good to try and still do the hands-on learning with students, being able to post lectures, study guides, and chapter reviews on line using i-Tunes is a really cool thing. Easy access to things online may lead to more students being prepared for their classes.

Edible School House

The Edible Schoolyard was created by chef and author Alice Waters. It was founded at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkley, CA in 1995. The purpose of this organization is to "create and sustain an organic garden and landscape that is wholly integrated into the school’s curriculum, culture and food program. It has been going on for over a decade and has gotten a number of positive reviews from people who have heard of it: me included!
After watching the podcast of these children, I first saw that these children were very excited. It is wonderful to see kids at that age learn about their own personal health and well being and getting into great habits at these early stages of life. It was interesting to me that these kids were learning things hands on and not just "burping it" back to the viewer. I think if given the opportunity that these kids could really teach others what they have learned in the edible school yard. This was something that I never really thought of as a tool to teach little children, but I am very impressed with the work Ms. Waters as done. To read more about Alice Waters click HERE

i-Tunes University:Benificial?

i-Tunes University is a brand new function developed by Apple and is starting to be expiremented by universities all over the country (most recently Stanford University. The basis behind it is that lectures for classes will be recorded onto students i-pods for them to listen to at home. Now some people may find this to be a waste of time and money: please hear the arguments because the studies for this expirement may suprise you.
A recent study has been conducted involving students and their grade comparisons between using and not using i-Tunes for their classes. A study was conducted by the University of Stanford with Physics students. Some where given i-pods with podcast lectures while others were not. Surprisingly, students who had acces to the lectures at all times averaged a 77 on their exams while the other students only averaged D's. Now these results may not be the case under circumstances with different schools, types of students, etc., but they are not anything to just toss under the rug. To see the results of the test for yourself click i-Tunes Test.
When looking at it myself, I believe that this is something that can definatly improve my life as both a student and teacher in the fututre. It would be good for students who miss class because although they miss the "physical" aspect of the learning process, they can still learn the material and have access to the lecture at all times. Even if you were attending the class, this is a chance to go back to the lecture and keep your brain fresh with the information that was given by the proffessor. Of course there are some disadvantages such as student perhaps using the i-pod for other uses during class time, but I would have no problem with limiting the content just for the sole purpose of the learning and not for music. I would also think this would be good for my future students as well. I may not always be around to help them, so having them listen to my lecture could be beneficial for them as well.

EDM 310 Spring 2009: Final Post

I can defiantly say that I am excited I took this course. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the learning experience, the way the professor handled the class, all of it. I got to learn a lot in this class about different types of Microsoft programs and how to become a more effective teacher in the future. Although some things that were being taught in this class were things I already new, it was still nice to review a bit and grasp a better idea on what was being taught.
One thing I am glad I got to learn was Microsoft Excel. I was a bit sketchy with Excel prior to this class, and now I feel that I can use it and be comfortable with it. This will help me a lot in my career because now I can use Excel and become more organized and hence a much more productive teacher. Another thing I got to learn from this course was how to make pod casts and use them to educate other students and/or teachers. I had absolutely no idea what they were, how one made them, and even if they could be used in a school environment. Luckily I can use them in the future to listen to what teachers may have to say about a subject so I can better prepare my class. All this I found exciting and actually enjoyable to use.
As a whole, I believe that this course pretty much hit the nail on the head. There was nothing I could think of that I wanted to learn that was not already being taught to me. This is a course I highly recommend to anyone wanting to become a teacher because I know for a fact that my career has been changed for the better because of this course.

iPods and Education

Could iPods really be used for educational purposes? When i firsts heard of this I was a bit skeptical because I have an iPod and I defiantly do not use it for any type of educational purpose. But according to Duke University they can be. In 2007 Duke University gave 1600 students ipods fully equipped with voice recorders and notepads built in. The purpose of this was "to encourage creative uses of technology in education and campus life...". To me this is true because we are growing up in a more technological time and the use of computers and laptops are taking the places of pens and paper. But there are some cons to this. They still play music for one. This is bad because I myself would be tempted to play music in class as suppose to using my iPod for educational uses.
The University also states in on their Mission Statement that there are many benefits to Ipod usage in school. Some examples were the time flexibility, interest level of learning goes up, and the simplicity of it to use for interviews. All these are very impressive and makes me re-think the whole thing, but my opinion still stands that its probably not that good of an idea. I just feel that we have enough technology that helps us in all these fields that we really don't need the iPod for our classes. If this "tool" is that important I am sure Office Depot sells a device that can preform all the functions the Ipod can without the use of playing music. Again i feel its a valid argument, but just not plausible for the uses of education.

Dr. Alice Christie

Dr. Alice Christie received her Ph.D. in Educational Technology and Language and Literacy from Arizona State University. She currently goes around the country and gives workshops about education and teaching younger students. From reading her website it seems that many people have come to honor her wisdom and love going to her conferences and workshops. I must admit after viewing the website for only a few minutes I was pretty impressed with this Professor whom I have never heard of before.
This website could be very useful for me as well as any other aspiring teachers. The website Dr. Christie is designed to give all teachers insight on how to "mold" the students into future teachers themselves. One of the nicer things on this website that I enjoyed were her podcasts that she posted. Each podcast has a different teaching cue and are very simple to follow. And with Dr. Christies open and somewhat humerous delievery, it is easy to listen too as well.
Another great application from this site is the Classes applications. Here teachers can click on a particular class an upload just about everything from Power points, syllabi's, and even tests and quizzes. This is extremely helpful and thoughtful of Dr. Christie to give these things for free. This really speaks of her character and determination to teach all people. She also puts up photos from all her workshops and from others classes which is nice for the kids who visit the website.
I would have to say that this particular website is probably the most helpful site I have been to. This site is really insightful and interesting for anyone interested in becoming a teacher. To visit this website click HERE