Website Review: Zoho Suite

Zoho is a great tool with many applications to help keep a business organized as well as school.  Zoho ranges from communication abilties to keeping youself oprganzied through calenders, notebooks, and planners.  Zoho can be used in the classroom in many ways.  One way it can help in school is the application to make reports.  It gives you the ability to make charts and upload data, aswell a visual analysis.  Another way this can be helpful in the classroom is the calender application.  This applications gives the ability to fill in your calender with the option of setting up a reminder in which an e-mail will be sent to you before your event/task is due.  Overall this is a very helpful tool that can be used in a variety of topics.  Not only can students use this tool but as well can grown business men/women to help them as well.

The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NET-S) Zoho meets:

-creativity and innovation
-communication and collaboration
- Research and Information Fluency
-Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
- technology operations and concepts

Classroom Dream Computer

In today’s society computers have become apart of our every day lives and have constantly progressed to better technology throughout the years.  As a child, using computer technology was very basic.  Printers were only black and white, the internet was unbearably slow, and the only reason I would use a computer was to play games.  Today computers are widely used for educational purposes and much more accessories have been invented to only further the convenience and fun of owning a computer.  If having the ability to build my own computer full of helpful accessories to benefit educational purposes, this would be my classroom dream computer.  

After visiting dell.com I was able to personalize my dream computer.  I started out with the IntelCore i7-2600 processor. It is a top of the line fast performance processor for demanding applications, and content creation that will be used by the students.  The operating system would be ran by Windows 7 ultimate. I decided on a large 24” full HD monitor widescreen which would be a great way to capture the students attention.  I picked out the Dell wireless desktop keyboard and mouse, which can be easily used by the students, and would be a safe alternative than dealing with loose wiring.  Out of the many types of office software I decided to go with the Office Home and Student 2010 edition which would be essential to help student with papers, projects, and many other school related tasks.  The hard drive I picked out was the 500GB which will contribute plenty of space for pictures, videos, and music the students might need.  The additional 16GB dual channel memory I decided on will improve the memory, speed, and performance which will be helpful when a student is researching the internet.  A key accessories I thought would be very beneficial to the students is a Nikon D3100 digital camera along with a SanDisk 8 GB flash memory card, giving the capability for a student to capture and store many pictures or videos of school related items and easily able to load them to the computer.  The Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3 and the Sony Vegas Movie Studio softwares are the perfect programs needed for the students to upload pictures or videos that have been created with the camera to create projects.  As the students might be in need to print out their pictures, projects, or papers I decided on the Dell V715w wireless all in one printer/scanner.  It not only has the ability to print from the computer but as well the option of easily hooking up the camera directly to the printer, with a LCD screen to view your desired picture before printing.  The scanner gives the students the ability to scan pictures onto the computer, which can also be very helpful when creating a project.  When dealing with creating video projects, listening to online lectures, or music, computer speakers are essential.  The Dell AY410 2.1 stereo speakers are the perfect choice for the students to hear a clean crisp sound.  At the end of the day, this amazing personalized computer came out to be $3,526.94.  Every penny will be put to great use.

As my personalized dream computer comes to an end, I feel as if this computer has many tools and accessories to benefit a student in his his/her educational experience.  Not only does this computer have many options but most importantly it was built for the students to conveniently use and enjoy.

Inventory Test

Inventory Tests

Dylan Yussman

After taking my two inventory test’s, my overall score in the the cognitive style inventory is that I am an auditory and tactile learner.  As for the learning style test I scored best in the category “bodily-kinesthetic”.  I personally believe both of these scores were very accurate for me.  I always seem to do better in a class when I have a professor lecturing as I take notes on what is being said.  I also highly agree with my test results for being a bodily-kinesthetic learner.  I am a very active person who loves sports and learn very easily from hands on activities.  When all three learning styles are being used when participating in a learning experience I tend to do very well, and if ever became a teacher I would include all three in my teaching theories.  Being an auditory and tactile learner, I would use these qualities in teaching by lecturing the class but as well taking particular important points and writing them either on the board or overheard to make sure the students key in on the important information.  As for the bodily-kinesthetic side of me, when teaching I would not only lecture and write down the important points, but also involve the students in a hands on activity to make sure all points are understood to it’s best potential.  I would possibly connect my teachings through sports, which would not only be helpful for the students who might have this interest but as well for me to be able to enjoy would I am teaching.  As for being a consistent learner through college and now knowing what my scores are through these online tests, I will continue with taking notes in lecture classes. As for now knowing there is a such thing as a bodily-kinesthetic learner, I will incorporate my note taking and studying process by using the concept of using the whole or parts of the body.  The cognitive style inventory test was taken by visiting the website www.personal.psu.edu and as for the learning style test I participated by going to www.acceleratedlearning.com.  

Website Review: Evernote

Website Review: Evernote

http://www.evernote.com/about/learn_more/

Evernote is a website created to organize different types of information to easily access.  It is a key way to organize notes and to also easily access this information through other types of technology such as a cell phone.  I like this tool because it not only can keep school and business work organized but as well specific personal interest such as to do lists or a record of your favorite wine.  It is also very helpful as it gives the ability to create pictures anytime, anywhere with a cell phone and connect it with this website.  This website can be very useful is education especially.  It gives you the option to create a to do list which can help you plan out your class schedule, homework, and upcoming exams.  The ability to take a snap shot of important notes in class that is posted on the board and post it on the evernote website can be very helpful to go over the lesson plan later on.  Also on the evernote website it has the ability to clip pages from a website which can be very helpful in research.

The National Educational Technology Stadards (NET-S) Evernote meets:

- Creativity and Innovation
- Research and Information Fluency
- Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Website Review: Flickr

The Flickr website is a great tool to stay in touch with family and friends, upload and organize imnformation, explore, and make things such as card, posters, etc.  Many of the different categories does not only benefit your personal interest but as well help in the classroom.  The option to be able to design and organize a calender will benefit as a student to keep yourself more organized.  Also the ability to upload and organize pictures on the web could also benefit you in a class in which this could be needed.  The option to design a poster can be very helpful in the classroom as many teachers/students put posters to important use.  I personally like this tool as it gives the abiltiy for a student/teacher to become very creative.  The many different options in Flickr is a great way to personally create what might be important in your everyday life.

The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NET-S) Flickr includes:

-Creativity and Innovation
-Communication and Collaboration
-Research and Information Fluency
-Digital Citizenship
-Technology Operations and Concepts

Lesson Plan Critique

Lesson Plan Critique

Lesson Plan Title Where am I?   Reviewer Taylor Henderson, Megan Mccreary, Lindsey Jackson, Michael Smith, and Dylan Yussman

Question:	Yes		No
Is the target audience clear?			No
Does it provide enough detail to give a rich description of the classroom?			No
What other information would be helpful to know about the students or classroom?
What grade this lesson is targeted for? How the classroom is setup?
Does the author have a clear idea of what they want students to do?		Yes
Are the standards chosen appropriate for the target audience they outlined?		Yes
Does the objective match the state standards they chose?		Yes
Do the topic, goal, and standards seem compatible with the target audience?		Yes
Are there any objectives that you would revise, and how would you revise them?
No they are all related to the topic.
Is the time appropriate for the lesson? Why or why not?.
Yes if it was split into two lessons. If not it would be to lengthy to hold the students attention.
Does the introduction activity get students engaged and focused?
Yes because it gets them physically and verbally involved.
Does the author provide step by step instructions so that anyone can pick up the lesson and teach from it?
Yes they do.
Do the activities match the objectives?  Give an example.
Yes the activities help the students to reach the objectives. One objective says point out important things on a globe and then she has the students physically pointing things out on a globe by using longitude and latitude.
Do the activities prepare the students for the assessment? Explain how.
The activities are the assessment.
Do the plans for materials seem appropriate for the activities? How might you improve them?
She doesn’t give all the materials that she actually uses in the activities. She could have listed all of the materials instead of just one.
Do the plans for technology seem appropriate?  Are the students using the technology? Is the technology appropriate for the content?  How will the technology help students learn?
Yes at one point they use a computer to look at different websites such as google earth. The technology is appropriate for teaching the geographical lessons.
Does the assessment seem to match the objectives? Give an example.
There was no real assessments because she just collected the activity handouts as the assessment.
What is a strength of this lesson plan? Use specific examples.
The activites because they are really detailed and seems like something the kids would engage in a understand. One example is how she had them toss around the globe and have them find different place made the lessons handout.
How could this lesson be improved? Use specific examples.
On the learning objectives she could say how she is going to teach them to find latitude and longitude. She did not give assessment such as a quiz or test.
Other comments on this lesson:

Educational Technology In The Classroom

 

Educational technology is the ability to teach or learn through a specific device or object.  For an example, many students can learn from computers, laptops, I-pads, movies, t.v. shows, and much more.  In today’s society much more technology has been produced to benefit students and teachers than ever before.  From projectors and overheads, to smart boards and personal laptops, educational technology continues to grow through the years. 

            From the early days of my childhood learning experiences, technology always played a big role.  Computer’s weren’t used as much to teach but overhead projectors were being used almost everyday in the classroom.  Having the ability for teachers to enlarge a whole lesson plan on the wall made it very easy for me to understand and take notes.  As developing through my young adult stage, computers started to take over the world.  Many programs were developed for teachers to learn from as well for us students.  As I have continued through college I truly believe if it weren’t for educational technology many students would be lost.  The ability to receive and e-mail teachers has become the main source of communication in most universities today.  It is a very convenient way to get in touch with your teacher or even your classmates from anywhere on or off campus.  Many different universities even now have the ability for a student to take classes online.  The online class features the ability to learn the provided lesson plans, homework, quizzes, and even exams.  Although many universities are starting to develop online classes through educational technology, I don’t necessarily believe this is the best way for a student to learn. 

            The math department at the University of Alabama is known for it’s way of teaching through educational technology.  The first few courses in the math department is required to do just about all of the work through lesson plans online.  There is a professor provided for the students but the computer does most of the teaching.  From my past experience this type of program has not worked to my benefit.  Math is a very hard subject for me in which I usually would prefer a professor explaining the material in front of the class. Because of the math departments educational technology it is almost the students job to teach ourselves the lesson plans through the use of the computer.  Although educational technology might have a few negative qualities, overall it has been very beneficial for teaching and learning in the classroom.