#edci232

In my education class, I learned within the past two weeks how to create my own website. We had to create a webquest through our website and teach a lesson through it. We were supposed to create a webquest providing students with a task to complete with all the components on the website. I used google sites to create my website and it ended up being very fun! It was hard for me to get the hang of setting up a website, but once you figure out the software, it becomes very useful.

          This would be great to use in my classroom for a day that maybe class was cancelled and I could send them this instead of a packet of worksheets. It is visual and it is online. A student will be more interested if there are pictures and sites to visit to help them do a project. Our webquest also had a rubric attached which helps the student to see what exactly needs to be completed for them to get the full amount of points. I even added a video into mine to help my students learn the Scientific Method. You can create any kind of website you want to for your students, in or outside of the classroom. My webquest is the link below. Click it to check out how to become a scientist.

Google Drive is a great tool for creating spreadsheets for class assignments, grades, creating quizzes, and more. I really like how it is conveniently on your phone or computer wherever you go. I also, liked how you can take an excel spreadsheet and they will form a graph for you to show a visual on how grades are looking in your classroom. For this assignment we created two spreadsheets showing grades for assignments, final grades, and a class graph to show the ups and downs for particular assignments. As a teacher this would be a very helpful tool to help me see how my classroom is doing on certain content and for particular assignments. We also had to use Google Drive to create a quiz on the Forms. The handy themes made it look very intriguing to me and made the quiz almost fun. Especially as a science teacher, I loved the video and picture add-in for quizzes. Having a visual in a quiz can really help a student learn in a way other kids don’t.

                In my own classroom I could use Google Drive to create unique, interactive, online quizzes or set up a grading system where it does all the work for me by formulas. I really enjoyed this project and love the easy access. Google Drive is definitely a tool I would recommend to any teacher who is sick of punching numbers and creating quizzes in word documents. This is a new generation, let’s move on to simpler ways. Below are links to my Forms and Spreadsheets I created.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VGykFwajMa96iB2tEqkME8c85suLkiO-xS50rFNEIi4/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaRIz_Bcw1S_nG164Z4v61HXWdyoyPGYugw4lzxGGaY/edit?usp=sharing

For my education technology class, we had to go to www.voki.com and create a Voki avatar. Since this is an online class, it was really neat to find a creative way to introduce ourselves to the classroom and see what people are studying or involved in at school. The Voki avatars allow you to speak into the computer and upload your actual voice to the avatar. The avatar then moves its’ lips as it speaks your words. It was nice to be able to speak something instead or writing and reading posts. This is also a great way to hear the actual classrooms tone and voices and get to know them a little bit better.

            In my classroom I would consider using Voki, especially for online teaching. It is a fun way to get to know the classroom and get students used to new sites and navigating the internet, and simply following instructions. Bringing new things to the table when you are a teacher always helps keep the attention of students. I could use Voki for students to give reports on how they liked or disliked assignments. I also thought about maybe using it as a way to connect with the teachers and give ideas, suggestions, questions, or again responses. As a teacher I could be very creative with how I had my students use the avatars. 

Below is my personal Voki, check it out for yourself!

I am in an Education Technology class at Ashland University. This is an online class teaching us great tools to use in the classroom. 

We are required to write a blog about each of our module activities and discuss what we liked or didn’t like about it and how we could use it in our own classroom someday. This is my first time blogging; although I am new to blogging, it is very useful in seeing how your students are enjoying each project or assignment. Getting a feel for different online tools is very beneficial for me personally because I struggle with technology and whether I like it or not, education is gradually moving over to using more and more technology in the classroom.

I've learned so much throughout my online technology class.  Looking back on what I did, I found a lot of things difficult to do.  It is hard trying to figure out what to do when you do not have a teacher in front of you telling you how to do it step by step. As I continued on with my projects I had more confidence in what I was reading and doing and I found out my projects became less difficult.  

Right now I am creating an online profile on every project I did throughout this semester.  I really like this because it allows you to reflect on what you did and how you created that project.  This profile is very time consuming but once you get the hang out it, it goes by fast.  I really enjoyed using Weebly as I created this project and my WebQuest.  It is very easy to work with and it allows you to be very creative in what and how you want to create your website. I think creating the WebQuest was one of my favorite projects.

Well I can't believe its already the end of the semester.  It honestly went by so fast! I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did and learned a lot of great tools to use in their classroom.  I know I will be using a lot of these tools! I am so glad I took this class because everything is moving to technology of some sort and learning how to create these Web tools and how to apply it to the classroom will make the students learning more effective and they won't get as bored in learning.  

I recently just created a Wiki for my first time!  I really didn't understand how to use it at first.  I didn't get the point of it.  Once I started to create the Wiki I began to understand how to navigate through it more.  I really enjoyed reviewing different emergent technologies.  It made me think on what I would like to bring into my future classroom.  There are so many apps out there that can be incorporated into the classroom. 

Some of the emergent technologies I really enjoyed were Popplet and ZooBurst.  Popplet is a great app that allows students and teachers to create graphic organizers, timelines, or anything that needs to be in a organized graph.  It is a great app that I will most likely use in my classroom.  I also liked ZooBurst.  This app is a pop-up story maker.  This is a great way to bring stories alive.  It really would get students more involved in the story.  They can even create their own.