wordle

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Today in class we discussed some interactive ways to use Power Point. I've been exposed to Power Point for a while now but today was the first time that I saw some cool ways to enhance your PP by using hyperlinks. We also discussed what to teach our students when writing an email. Some effective email ethnicity. There were some pros and cons about using email as a tool in a classroom, some pros were that it's convenient, direct, and always available to be used. Some cons were that there could be misunderstandings in a way a person reads the text, verbal communication is sometimes better than using an email to address things, and it might end up being quicker to just directly talk to the person.
Voice Thread can be used to cover topics, statements, current events. Students can interactively reply and comment on it. I would take a picture of something related to a topic we're learning in class and have students comment about what they think or anything they want to share. It'll be a very laid back assignment.

Blog #6- Ch 8 & 9

In chapter 8, it discusses how teachers and students use computers and other technologies to share ideas, facts, and knowledge in the classrooms and online. Teachers have a variety of choices of what  technologies to integrate into their lessons/curriculum. Some communication technologies teachers are using in classrooms are emails, teacher or classroom websites, blogs, online discussions, and wikis. Also, some teachers use social media like, Twitter, Facebook pages, and Instagram for educational purposes. There are five major ways of using electronic communications our classrooms; teaching interactively, sharing information, building learning communities, publishing student work, and energizing student writing. I think it's important to incorporate technology into our classrooms and lessons because it's a way for teachers to connect with their students. And it also promotes meaningful learning, and "extend academics beyond the confines of regular school time." Blogging is emerging as one of the most important ways for teachers and students to communicate it is even evident in our EDU 7266 class, we use it all the time in every class.
In chapter 9, it goes over multimedia technology and how teachers can use it effectively in classrooms. Teachers can get creative with their lessons and add visual information. In almost all classrooms now teachers are using power point as a tool to present their lessons. Teachers are also using videos and DVDs as a tool to convey important information to their students. When I was observing at a school the teacher would show short video clips in her lessons which explained the topic to their students but the students were more engaged because they were visually entertained, which I thought the video was an effective tool.




1. Why do you think blogging is more popular with girls than with boys?

2. What communication technologies, and multimedia would you use in your classroom, and why?

take away

Today in class we went over on how to start our digital portfolios. We discussed some of the advantages of using digital portfolios. Some of the advantages were that it's environmental friendly, unlimited storage and easy access, easy to change and edit, audience is bigger meaning that somebody from another country can see my portfolio if I were applying out of state. I learned how portfolios aren't static that its always on-going and you're always revising and adding and changing it. We also discussed how journals and portfolios are somewhat similar in that it tells a story in order. It's important when making a portfolio to reflect, select, and reflect again.