My Final Thoughts of EDM 310

First of all, I was a little worried about taking this class because I heard from previous students that it was boring and there was a lot of busy work. I thought how could there be a lot of busy work in a computer class? I was also told to take either Mr. Tashbin or Dr. Strange. I was told that Mr. Tashbin was the best and that it would be well worth taking his class. So, I changed my schedule around five times so that I could take Mr. Tashbin and I am glad I did. I have learned so many things this semester. This class has given me ideas beyond measures that I can use in my classroom. I honestly do not have anything bad to say about it because Mr. Tashbin made it interesting with all the articles about Google and technology. I enjoyed the video by Dr. Randy Pausch. I feel that was the highlight of the class. It was very inspirational and it made me think of all my goals in life. The thing that made this class so interesting was because it was up-to-date. It was about things that were going on now. I think things would have been different if we were always on the computer and interacting with one another. I felt the Podcast really opened my eyes on how group projects do not turn out the way they should. This is the only thing I would say that bothered me the whole semester. I was worried as to what I would do my podcast on or how my group members would work. When we were put into our groups and it was time for the podcast to be due, I felt that my group members did not give there all. However, I felt bored after listening to it. So, for future podcasting I feel there should be an option of working alone, adding music, or sound effects. Overall, I am glad that I was introduced to podcasting because I will definitely use it in my classroom. I also enjoyed blogging and reading other students' blog. I will also use this in my classroom even if there is no computers available, I will figure out a way to incorporate blogging into the classroom. I feel that it is a great way to get students involved and not always writing things on paper.

I really enjoyed this class. I wish there were more like this and I appreciate Mr. Tashbin for being the teacher that he is. I feel he always came to class with high spirits and that is great motivation for soon to be teachers. So thank you Mr. Tashbin and also to Dr. Strange because this class would not have possible if it was not for you.

Glut of Google Can Give You a Virtual Fever

I found this article to be true in so many ways. I agree on a lot of levels. Eric Horvitz states that "People have come to look at search engines as question-answering systems." I know in a heart beat if I don't know something I will go to google.com and type in a question or a phrase and see what I can find out. I do that with about anything. Needless to say I have done it with essay questions just to see how much information I can get off of typing in that question. Yes, it is bad that we depend on the Internet or search engines to give us accurate information. I felt like this article was discussing me. The reason I say that is because I have typed in certain symptoms and all kind of things came up and I honestly went into panic mode. Especially when the Swine Flu came about, all I could think about was I had it and it was because the same symptoms were staring me in the face. The more I read the more I became scared and not wanting to be around anybody. I was more dependent on what the search engines were telling me I did not want to go to the doctor. Overall, I feel that we do have to be careful what we believe and how we believe. If we keep going about it the way we are there will be no need for doctors or anything else. We may even have to start paying for the information that we receive.

The New Media Literacies by the NML Staff

First of all, I enjoyed the different colors of people because it kept my attention. However, I think these skills are what we need to interact with today's society. To me judgment was a big one because we do need to be able to decide what information we should believe and how we can use it in the future. Also mutitasking is another big one for me because we all have to learn how to do a lot of different things at the same time to get things done faster because technology is getting bigger and better. I also feel that these skills are the 21st century skills that will be needed to be an effective whatever we want to be.
I feel I possess a few but not all. I am big on judgment and mulitasking. Some of them I think I may have and I am just not aware. I am always doing more that one thing at a time. However, I am always going back and forward with what's reliable information. I also feel that mulitasking and judgment go hand in hand. I think the only way I will be able to acquire the other skills is just by knowing that I do not have them to be successful. I can also acquire them by practicing.

Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

I really, really, really enjoyed this video. While I was watching all I could think about was there would be no need for a teacher because all of this is available. However, I felt that the teacher had to have a role in this. I loved how they connected the teacher with this student that was able to everything on his own. To me this is what every teacher should be. They should be able to give guidance, show how to do things properly, show how to differentiate between good and reliable information and also how to feel excited that a student is in control of their education.
I think I will be prepared to be a teacher of a networked student. I say this because I did not have a teacher to these kind of things for me. So therefore, I want to be able to give back to my students what was never given to me. I feel there is so much that students can learn on there own. And it takes a great teacher to help them discover that they can do it on their own and successful with it.

Richard Miller

At first, I was bored to death on these two videos. However, the more I watched, the more I realized how neat some of the things were. I definitely enjoyed how the Dr. Martin Luther King thing came together. It is amazing how technology has changed. I think it would be fun to push these ideas throughout our culture. I feel that if the technology is available, anything is possible. Using the web to create different documents seems like it would take a lot to do or to get use to.
I agree that the goal of technology allows us to articulate our dreams and share them with others. I also believe that we have to have inspiring teachers to make this a success. I loved the statement about ideas, that ideas belong to no one because it takes us all to make it work. However, I am not sure if my students will be able to write with multimedia. We did not have these types of things when I was in school. But who knows, by the time I step foot into a classroom, I think my students will know a lot.

Ipods in Instruction

While reading different articles and searching the internet to find information on Ipods in instruction, I came across some interesting things. First and foremost, I came across this link cit.duke.edu/pdf/reports/ipod_initiative_04_05.pdf which discussed the evaluation of Duke University's experiment. First year freshmen were given Ipods to see there use in education. To me it was fascinating. I wish I was one of those students. It would even be the fact that I am getting a new mp3 players but the fact that I was a part of something that would be useful to the next student. I thought it was great how the use of technology that was designed for us to have fun out of it be used to educate us as well. As I researched more I realized that nothing had to do with music. I feel that is awesome.

I also noticed that other universities did the same thing. I have an Ipod touch and by reading these articles and knowing the information about Itunes U I will use it more on the education side versus the music side. However, I have heard but do not know for sure if there is any research on listening to things while you are sleeping and being able to retain it when you wake up. There are times when I sleep with my music playing and by the next morning I know words to the song that I did not know before. With Ipods along with Itunes U I feel it would be a great opportunity to listen to a lecture or at least record my notes and go to sleep and see if I retain any of it. I think I have an experiment on my hands but if I can do that would music then listening to lectures which is something that would help me later would be a great experience. However, I could even bring it into the classroom when I become a teacher. All in all ipods are great for education purposes. They can be used for more than we think and I think that is the best thing about technology.

Itunes U

Itunes U is a great program or tool to use for students, upcoming teachers, and anyone that wants to learn. I think it can be used in many ways but it would depend on the user. As a student I can learn in so many ways. It would be great to view vodcasts and listen to podcasts on different topics. Learning would be at my fingertips, whether if its on my ipod or netbook, I would be able to learn and to me that is all a person could ever ask for. I think it would be useful for subjects that are unclear and I would be able to listen to other lectures on the subject by another instructor. I could even watch videos on different labs.

As a teacher, there are so many activities that can be done. For instance, I could record lectures or videos to go along with classroom discussions and have information that would be beneficial for the next test or something. I could also have students listen to another podcast on a topic we have discussed to compare information because there would be something I may not have made clear and that could be very beneficial to students. I could also record study sessions or have them listen to a certain lecture for bonus information. To get students involved, I could have them record group discussions on a topic and have another group listen to it for note taking purposes.

I could go on and on about activities. I wish that I could have experienced some of this when I was in High School because I think it would have helped me in the lines of how to listen for information or going the extra mile to find information. I can not wait until I become a teacher and I will have all this for my students to learn, learn, learn. Itunes U would make education fun and different.