Tasks Completed

I completed numbers 2-4 for the Week 14 PLE posting.

Internet Safety Reflection

Article of Choice

For my article of choice, I chose to read the article entitled Leave it Alone by H. Burke Peterson. This article can be found in the January 1995 New Era. This article discusses the tragedy many Latter-day Saints are facing as they watch and listen to unclean entertainment. Brother Peterson explains that many members of the church become involved in this so-called entertainment only casually at first, believing that they are spiritually strong and will be immune to its influence. However, Satan slowly lures them in and traps these innocent people before they even realize they have been trapped. Many feel that this entertainment serves as a relief from their troubles, when really it is only relieving them of their spirituality. The consequences of having an appetite for this type entertainment will lead to eternal penalties.

Internet Safety Videos Viewed

§ FauxPaw the Techno Cat, Adventures in the Internet: Guidelines to internet safety include never meeting with anyone you’ve found online, never giving your name, address, phone number, or the name of your school to anyone online, and if you feel uncomfortable about anything seen on the computer, immediately tell an adult.

§ Frontline Cyberbullying: The Internet amplified and accelerated the pain that led Ryan to commit suicide.

§ Frontline The Child Predator Fear: The mother in this video does not fear that she has bad kids but rather that her good kids will make a bad decision online. To help protect her children, the computer is stationed in the kitchen where the mother can keep an eye on her kids while they are online. There are predators on the internet that are more vicious than those who lurk in parks. Most kids know to ignore unwanted solicitations on the internet. We need to start looking at kids less as victims and more as participants.

§ Frontline A Revolution in Classrooms and Social Life: The strong focus of students on the media makes it critical for teachers to use technology in the classroom. The internet has made cheating more simple as students have easy access to websites such as Sparknotes that help them quickly read and complete their writing assignments. The students claim that they do not have enough time to do all of the work and the internet resources help them overcome this problem. Some teachers have started using Turnitin.com, a program that checks for plagiarism and familiar phrases found online.

Kids are far more public with personal information than they used to be.

§ NetSmartz Workshop

§ Cyberbullying: You Can’t Take it Back: Once you post something online, you lose control of it and you can never take it back. People can manipulate and use the things you post against you.

§ Cyberbullying: Broken Friendship: A young girls thought it was safe to share her password with her best friend. Somehow other students got ahold of it and posted inappropriate pictures and comments on her webpage.

§ Julie’s Journey: Julie, 13, began talking to a 56 year old convicted murderer online. They would IM three to six hours a day. She trusted him more than anyone else. Eventually, Julie ran away from home for three weeks with this man. Someone reported her and he was sent to jail for 25 years. He claimed that he would kill her when he got out of jail.

§ Amy’s Choice: A 15-year-old girl met someone online in private chatroom who claimed he would take care of her. Amy told this man things she would never tell her friends because he was a stranger and she thought they would never meet. One day he came to her house and she ran away with him. They were gone for two days before they were caught. He was charged and taken to prison. He knows all her personal information so when he gets out of prison, he could come back.

§ Katie’s Story: Katie, a 15-year-old insecure teenager, began chatting online with a 22-year-old male named John. They begin talking on the phone and then he moved to California to be closer to her. Katie’s parents were concerned. To address the problem, they played ‘The Missing Game’ with Katie. While playing the game, Katie began to recognize many red flags about John. The game gave Katie’s parents a tool to open up the communication with her about John.

§ A variety of iSafe videos and internet safety training videos

Important Take-Aways

My most important ‘take-aways’ from the readings and videos were first, the internet is a necessary and inescapable part of society. When used appropriately, it can provide effective learning benefits and act as an uplifting resource. However, despite the good that can come from the internet and media, its programs can be dangerous and degrading. Cyberspace bullying and stocking as well as inappropriate and pornographic sites fill the media and internet. If precautions are not taken, children and adults will be faced with the dangers that can result from this immorality, deceit, and filth. Parents need to be informed about the programs and television shows their children are involved in. They also need to learn how to set internet filters and teach their children how to safely access quality internet sites. The computer should be placed in a high traffic area and the time spent on the computer or in front of the television should be limited. We must choose wisely what we listen to and what we watch so that we are not trapped by Satan’s power and do not face eternal penalties for our wrong actions.

‘Doing’ Experience

For this part of the assignment, I discussed internet safety with my 12-year-old sister. I began by asking my little sister what she already knew about posting or giving out personal information on the internet. She explained that she knew she should not give her name, address, or phone number to anyone she did not know online. She also explained that when she receives any emails, instant messages, or facebook friend requests from strangers, she ignores these requests and does not respond. When I asked her why she did not give away personal information, she simply paused and explained that it was not safe. I explained to my sister that internet stockers and bullying can easily occur online and that she was right that it is not safe to share personal information with strangers. I also shared the experience from the video where the girl simply gave her best friend her password which led to a huge problem. I explained that even providing information with friends online can lead to potential problems. We then discussed the importance of letting an adult know if anything troubling comes onto the screen or if she or anyone she knows were to get involved in chatting with a stranger or cyberbullying.

One other topic my sister and I discussed was about the television shows she watches and the internet sites she visits. Because my parents have set high expectations and are very informed about the web activity and media viewing of my siblings, my little sister has been very careful with the things she views online and the shows she watches. However, I discussed the importance of turning off media programs and videos that ‘only have one bad part’. We talked about how Satan can slyly trap us little by little without us even knowing and how important it is for us to stand strong and not give in at all. I shared the article Leave it Alone by H. Burke Peterson with her concerning this topic. My sister was very open to the things I shared with her and explained that she is going to try to be careful about the information and pictures she posts online as well as the programs she views and the sites she visits online. She also expressed her willingness to share with a parent or myself anything discomforting or inappropriate that may occur while she is online. I was surprised at how open she was to my recommendations and feel that she is really going to try to use the internet and media more wisely and cautiously in the future.

TPACK Project Report

TPACK Lesson Plans

1. TPACK Language Arts Lesson Plan
2. TPACK Math Lesson Plan
3. TPACK Science Lesson Plan

Video Response

From these videos about using technology with young children, I learned that it is so important to implement a variety of technological activities and materials into the curriculum in order to make learning more engaging for the learner. Although they were young and may have needed some assistance, for the most part the children were fully capable and engaged in using the technology to make discoveries, convey information, and communicate with other children across the country about a particular subject. By exposing the students to a range of different technology tools, the students were able to inquire and learn using many different and effective methods. The videos also showed that technology can be implemented into any subject—from math to science to literature and so forth. Tools as simple as cameras and other more complex tools such as PowerPoint presentations can greatly contribute to making a lesson effective for the children. The teacher should not only use the technology in presenting the content, but the students should also be given opportunities to get involved in handling and using the technology because of its importance in their lives. Technology of all types can be so effective in the classroom and should be used often to provide all students with an optimal learning experience.

Classroom Technology Observations

The teacher I am working with during the practicum seems to have a good amount of technology available to her. Within the classroom are five student PC computers which each contain Microsoft Office, Internet access, and a few science, literacy, and math games. A television and DVD player are also kept within the classroom. Each teacher in the school has their own microphone which they wear around their neck while teaching. A student microphone is also passed around often to allow students to share their ideas into the microphone. These microphones, when used often, have been very effective tools for improving student learning. The teacher also has a cd player and a personal digital camera and video camera for use in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, there are two school computer labs which each contain about 30 PC computers. In one of these labs there are special headphones and English language games to help the ESL students improve their abilities to speak and understand English. In addition to these computer labs, a cart containing ten mini laptops can be checked out for classroom use. *Along with the classroom technology inventory, I have completed both the midcourse evaluation and consent form.

States of Matter Kidsperation Activity

Through doing this technology enhanced science activity, I gained a lot of knowledge about various ideas for using technology in an elementary school classroom. Through Kidsperation, a variety of templates can be created to help students categorize, classify, and sort data according to different properties. Stellarium can help students observe things such as the night sky, the phases of the moon, the planets, or the rotation of the earth in a simple and quick manner. The digital microscopes and probes can also be very useful technological tools to implement into science instruction in the classroom. With the microscopes, the students can collect and observe different organisms. The probes will help students learn to analyze data about temperature and so forth as it is being graphed and recognize how what they do affects the data being graphed on the computer. These and other technological tools can greatly enhance learning in the classroom when effectively implemented into instruction.

I watched and made a text comment using VoiceThread on the following demos:
1. Natalee Biggs
2. Lauren MacDonald
3. Audrey Sanders

Science Challenge Plan

Activity: Using the Kidsperation activity template I have created, the students will demonstrate their knowledge about the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases by sorting a series of objects into the correct Supergrouper box based on their physical properties.



TPACK
1. Content:
5th Grade Science: Standard 1, Objective 2a: Identify the physical properties of matter (e.g. solid, liquid, gas)

2. Pedagogy:
-Classifying
-Describing relationships
-Analyzing Data
This pedagogy is a good fit for the content because in order for the students to clearly understand the differences between solids, liquids, and gases, they must be able to analyze the physical properties of each, describe the relationships between them, and then classify objects according to their physical properties.

3. Technology
I will be using Kidsperation to create an interactive science activity. The students will categorize a series of items according to their physical states as either a solid, liquid, or gas. The kidsperation technology is a good fit with the content and pedagogy because it will allow the students to analyze and classify different items according to their physical properties and to describe the relationships between solids, liquids, and gases by simply dragging each item into the correct Supersorter box.

The Upside and Downside to Virtual Tours

I downloaded, watched, and commented on the virtual tours of the following classmates:
1. Natalee Biggs
2. Brooke Stevenson
3. Audrey Sanders


I think that one major upside of implementing a virtual tour into an elementary school classroom is that the class will have the opportunity to visit a variety of places around the world that they would otherwise not be able to visit. Through a virtual tour, the students are able to see the physical features of important buildings, a variety of terrain, the continents and oceans of the world, and so forth from their desks in the classroom. Great learning opportunities become available to the students when tools such as google earth are implemented into classroom instruction and learning.

A downside to implementing a virtual tour into the classroom is the extra time it may take to create the tour. For many teachers, being able to navigate around google earth may not be their strong side. To these teachers, the excessive time it takes to learn how to create a tour and then effectively implement it into daily instruction may not be worth it. Other more simplified methods of instruction may be preferred by teachers because of the extra time creating a virtual tour requires.

World Ecosystem Virtual Tour

Follow this link to access my Google Earth Virtual Tour on the major world ecosystems!

Virtual Tour Plan

3rd Grade Social Studies
Standard 1, Objective 2a: Describe the major world ecosystems (i.e. desert, plain, tropic, tundra, grassland, mountain, forest, wetland)

I chose to do a virtual tour on this topic because by actually being able to travel to these world ecosystems using google earth, the students will be able to more easily grasp the characteristics of each world ecosystem and will better understand where each is located. The terrain and 3-D images that can be seen in a virtual tour will make the ecosystems seem more realistic and will help the concepts being learned to become more concrete in the minds of the students. Using a Google Earth Tour for teaching this concept would be much more beneficial than trying to teach the students about the different world ecosystems using worksheets and textbooks.

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. Desert (North Africa's Sahara Desert)	Show picture and discuss major characteristics of desert ecosystems. Have students write a descriptive journal entry about what they think it would be like to live in a desert.	Picture of the Sahara Desert
2. Mountains (Rocky Mountains)	Have students create a watercolor painting of a mountain range based on the view and pictures of the Rocky Mountains.	Picture and 3-D image of Rocky Mountains; use the Terrain Layer
3. Tundra (Antarctica)	After viewing the picture of the tundra, have the students research basic characteristics of the tundra. Using the information they have gathered, create a class web with tundra in the center and the characteristics of the tundra branching out from the center.	Picture of Tundra
4. Grassland (South American Pampas)	Have students view pictures and talk about the kinds of animals that are found in grasslands all over the world. Play grassland animal bingo to solidify the concepts.	Pictures of South American Pampas and grassland animals

Viewing of Digital Storytelling Projects

I watched the Digital Storytelling Projects and commented on the blogs of the following six class members:
1. Lauren MacDonald
2. Kylie Jensen
3. Kim Brown
4. Betsy Rodriquez
5. Leah Garrett
6. Beth Peach

Digital Storytelling Challenge Video

Poetry Interpretation: Messy Room by Shel Silverstein

Challenges of Implementing a Digital Storytelling Project in the Classroom

I think that the most difficult challenge in implementing a digital storytelling project in an elementary education classroom would be finding the time to teach the students to use the programs and to assist each student with their problems when they arise. With the push for higher test scores, teachers are already cramming their days full of required curriculum and often feel that they do not have time to add projects such as this digital storytelling project into their classroom curriculum. Although this project would be helping the students improve their reading, writing, and technology skills, teachers may find that the time it takes to teach each of their twenty-five students the technology and to help them when they have problems is not worth it and instead resort to the standard paper and pencil method of teaching and learning literacy. Additionally, another challenge may arise if the school does not have the technology nor enough machines for every student. If this project is being completed in class, it would be ideal for every student to have a computer. If this is not the case, the teacher may have to implement a rotation system or assign the projects as homework.

TPACK

From the class discussion and my readings, I have gathered that TPACK is the way of thinking about how to integrate technology into teaching. The three types of knowledge--technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge--are at the core of the TPACK framework. This makes sense as TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. Through the TPACK framework, teachers come to understand how to use technology to support both the content they teach as well as the pedagogical strategies and methods they use to teach particular content areas and manage the class.

It is necessary for teachers to have this knowledge because without it, they will not be able to fully utilize technology in their teaching. Without understanding and integrating the content and pedagogy oriented tools offered by the TPACK framework. teachers will be limited in their resources and will not be able to offer the students the highest quality of education.

Storyboard

Most Useful Knowledge Gained This Week

The most useful thing I learned in doing this week's assignment was how to embed links onto my website. Before doing this week's assignment, I knew nothing about embedding and did not realize how simple it was to create a personal website using a program such as pbworks. I was shocked at how easily videos, calendars, pictures, etc can be edited and posted to my website. In addition, it has been very useful to have access to the free teaching tool links. These tools will be extremely useful to me as a teacher. My knowledge of these tools as well as my ability to use them will allow me to easily implement variety and technology into my teaching and instruction.

Synchronous Video

Here is my synchronous video chat with Sarah Kunz!

Asynchronous Video

Here is my asynchronous video to Alyson Thacker!

Technology Background and Experience

In the past few years my experience with technology has grown tremendously. School assignments and research projects have expanded my abilities to search the internet for information, to proficiently use Microsoft Office programs such as Word, PowerPoint, Photoshop, and Excel, and to communicate with professors and classmates through email and other web devices. In addition to these things, I have had a great deal of experience with other technological advancements such as instant messaging, text messaging, uploading photos and videos, downloading music, and navigating around the internet. Because technology is such a key factor in my life, I have become fairly confident in my abilities to use and to figure out how to use both old and new technology.