What's A Wiki? {Blog 5}

What's A Wiki?

What’s a Wiki anyway? A simple definition for wiki is a website that has multiple authors. Wiki sites allow for various levels of access through a request system. For example, if you as a teacher create a wiki your students can request access, and as the administrator you have the power to grant several different levels of ability. You can allow your students to be contributors to the site which means they have basic abilities to edit and contribute to the class wiki site.

One of the great advantages of having a class wiki is the entire class can contribute and collaborate together. One of the disadvantages to having a class wiki is any student can post any content they choose, and the opportunity to post inappropriate content may be too tempting for some. I recommend setting up classroom rules about what should and should not be posted on the website. Include the consequences for breaking the rules. Along with this measure keep a close eye on your class site making sure its always a productive place.

As a future art teacher, I plan on creating a classroom wiki site with several areas my students can post. Some examples are: a class critique section where students can upload photos of their work and receive constructive feedback, an art history tab where students can reflect on class articles or post new articles they find, and an open forum discussion page where students can have ongoing art conversations!

Active Boards {Blog Four}

As technology advances we as teachers have been given more options to create new and exciting lessons for students. One of these technical tools is Interactive White Boards or Active Boards. The power of an Active Board depends largely on the teacher’s own knowledge and creativity. Some creative possibilities for lessons include the following: highlighting or coloring important text, hiding and revealing items, importing pictures, shared reading or peer teaching, providing feedback, and using student response systems. All of these will help take a simple lesson to the next level and really engage your class. Along with active learning white board activates will also aid in classroom management, lesson organization, and add variation to lesson content.

While Active Boards have many different applications available I have found Student Response Systems to be one of the best. Student Response Systems allow everyone in the classroom to submit answers to questions posted on the board. Displaying answers in graph, charts, or even in short sentences. Most response systems are anonymous, but some systems show names or ID numbers. These systems are wonderful tools for teachers because it allows teachers to quickly asses the classes understanding i.e. if 100% of students answer a history question correctly you can move on to new material, but if a large number of students answer incorrectly a review or elaboration may be needed. These response students keep even the most distracted students involved in the lesson with constant learning checks.

Proper teacher training is vital when incorporating Active Boards into instruction. Teachers mush have the ability to troubleshoot when technical issues arise. Students can easily become frustrated and lose confidence when teachers struggle to properly teach lessons. When starting out keep your lessons simple and practice going through interactive elements before presenting to your class. The more proficient you become with the Active Board the more advanced techniques and lessons you will implement.    

Copyright and Fair Use {Blog Three}

Copyright and Fair Use

Copyrights and Fair Use agreements are laws in place to protect creators. After all, if you devote hundreds of hours to writing a book or if you made a new scientific discovery you wouldn’t want someone passing your hard work off as his or her own. However, in your book or published paper you might want to cite another creators work i.e. including a poem or scholarly quote. Is the considered plagiarism? Of course not! While it may not always be clear when you can use someone else work and when it’s stealing The University of Maryland is helping distinguish! The university has extensive guidelines for teachers and students, it can be found here.  

 

In order for something to become copyrighted material it must meet the following criteria: fixation, originality, and minimal creativity. Fixation can be fulfilled any number of ways, for example, a written message, an audio recording, or even a photographed image.  Originality means the work has to come for the creators brain itself, but if a work comes from another source and is sufficiently re-imagined then the new can be copyrighted. Lastly, minimal creativity must occur. This creativity can be small just as long as something isn’t taken verbatim.

 

All of these rules are in place to aid in collaboration while protecting us as creators. It is important to be aware of these laws not only to avoid the serious penalties, but also so we can respect authorship.

Article Reflections {Blog Two}

In his article Integrating Technology into the Classroom Jong H. Chung address the shifting ways in which teachers deliver information to their students. After a brief history of technology’s roll in classroom instruction Chung states the technologies of the past have had positive impacts in education. As technology like Internet and personal computers become more advanced their use in classrooms is becoming more prevalent. With greater access to larger amounts of information classrooms are becoming truly constructivist environments in which students are making new discoveries through computer programs and many interactive interfaces. However, these tools come at a high cost and many rural and urban school systems cannot afford to keep up with ever changing devices and software. It is the students in these programs that are falling behind and ultimately unprepared for the working world.

After gaining an understanding of the history of technology in the classroom and the ways classrooms are being affected by technology, we are left with the question: So what? As our world becomes more and more technology driven it is crucial we produce students ready compete in a highly competitive global network, but with high cost of technology what will happen to those students that cannot afford to keep up? In my experience, technology has given underprivileged students access to a wealth of information they wouldn’t otherwise learn, however, it has widened the gap between lower and upper class students.

As teachers, it is our responsibility to challenge all of students no matter what their technology proficiency level. This can be achieved a myriad of ways. As a first step in introducing tech to students with little exposure I would recommend educational websites offer games and interactive puzzles. These sites provide simple platforms to get students acclimated to keyboards and tracker-pads.  Next, slowly introduce search engines and emphases the importance of finding creditable information. Finally, require technology applications such as; PowerPoint or Blogger for a presentation!

Welcome and Expectations {Blog One}

Welcome to my blog!

Here's a little bit about myself. My name is Gabrielle, as a high school student I enjoyed painting and drawing in my free time, but never thought I art would be more than a hobby for me. The further along in school I went the more and more I loved art. After having so many inspiring teachers that pushed me to explore and expand my art skills I decided that teaching art was the job for me!

Diving into the world of technology this semester has shown me I am not quite as good with "techie" things as I first thought! I have loved investigating different tabs and buttons while building my website and blog, however, I don't have any real troubleshooting skills, so when things don't appear as planned I am immediately stuck. I am excited about all I have learned because of all the applications websites and blogs can have in my future classroom.