Chapter 8

In the beginning of this chapter I was able to connect immediately during the portion that discussed electronic communication between teachers and students. After being a student for majority of my life and now diving into the role of teacher, I am able to see this kind've communication from both angles. 

I didn't start emailing my teachers until I was in college. I appreciated the fact that I could get in contact with them and get a response although it was often asynchronous. Some of my teachers were "cool" enough to let us text or call them if it was something that required a synchronous, or immediate, response. 

The one tool I have found beneficial as both a student and teacher is having access to all my school work online. At St. John's, we use blackboard. This is a website that allows for us to upcoming assignments, grades and gives us links to lessons done previously to help us refresh our memories. At P.S.30, the students, administration, parents and teachers have access to the schools website portal. This allows for teachers to post homework, important due dates and reminders. Parent's and students are able to access this information so that they are no miscommunications on what is expected of them. In my opinion, this is a great idea!

When I first started reading this chapter I had no idea what a "wiki" was. The only familiarity I had with the word was the website "Wikipedia".  After reading, I am came to the conclusion that they are the same thing. A wiki is a website or blog space hat is collaboratively edited and maintained by a group of people. It was after reading this that I realized that all of the websites that start with "Wiki" had this very thing in common. 

Using a Wikitext in your classroom as an educational tool is a way to enhance learning through the use of technology.  You can start a Wikitext for any topic you are choosing to have your students learn about. You can give them access to the text and allow them to post a link to any resource they found relative to the topic. This allows students to share ideas with each other. This also gives the teacher an opportunity to post things that she wants her students to also take a look at it to enhance their learning of a topic. 

Wiki's can be useful in the classroom for many things but you need to be sure to use them properly! Guidelines must be set up for how you want to see their wiki used and constructed. You must also be sure to explain to students that plagiarism is always a NO GO!  Teachers must also be checking students wiki's and giving them feedback and grades so that the student is held accountable for what they are putting into it and on it.

Learning Outcomes

CHAPTER FIVE OVERVIEW

Learning Outcome 5.1 - The internet is a great resource for teachers because if a student ever asks a question the teacher is unsure of they can immediately search he internet for this answer and be able to assist their student with an answer of some sort. Having student's be able to know how to collect and search for research on the internet is essential. The internet is filled with tons of great information but it is also filled with nonsense. Student's need to know how to properly identify the difference between these two.

Learning Outcome 5.2 - Both teachers and students need to be able to know how to properly use a search engine to help them locate the information they are looking for. This is one of the ways to make 5.1 successful. Taking electronic notes is very similar to taking regular handwritten notes. The same way you would make bullet points while reading a lengthy text to help remember key things you found is how you can use taking bits of information you find on the internet and storing it in either a word document, email or mac computers even have a mini notepad.

Learning Outcome 5.3 - I can personally agree that Google is my "go-to" search engine. Whenever I need to find something it is the best filter to help me get to the write website that will contain that information. They even have pre-made searches so that when you begin to type something it will pop up automatically, which means others have also searched this idea. I also like that if you put something into quotes it can make your search even more specific. When using search engines for educational purposes you need to be sure you are using a site that is content and age appropriate.

Learning Outcome 5.4 - I know from my college experience that Wikipedia is not counted as a trusted site for research. The reason this is true is because anyone can edit the Wikipedia information without actually being accredited to do so. The most trustworthy sites in my opinion or those that DO NOT end in ".com" You also must be sure to check the websites citations as to where they get their information from.

Learning Outcome 5.5 -  As a teacher you need to be sure to teach your students what it means to plagiarize and why it something they shouldn't be doing. The best way to explain it is that they wouldn't have wanted to work hard on doing something and have other student's take the credit for it, that would be unfair. As a teacher it is your duty to show students how to cite something when using it to give that author the respect and credit they deserve. Be sure to always tell students when using information from the internet to summarize it and put it into their own words to avoid this.

Learning Outcome 5.6  - As a teacher you should be instilling in your students the importance of respect and tolerance for others. Bullying should never be tolerated no matter in any form in which it exists. We need to keep out students educated on the effects of bullying and how to prevent it from ever happening in the first place. If a situation arises it needs to be addressed immediately!

EDWEEK - 3 Steps for Building a Professional Learning Network

After reading this article, I feel as though I had created a PLN without even realizing, but informally. I rarely ever use my Facebook account for anything. The main reason I decided to keep my Facebook was because I had friended many of my previous teachers and fellow classmates that also delved into the education field. I would see a lot of them asking for advice from other teachers. They would also post whenever a school they were working for, or somebody they knew, was hiring. I decided to keep my Facebook around for the professional use of being able to reach out to any of my previous teachers or teacher friends in case I ever needed something. Seeing how useful this has been (and I haven't even begun teaching yet) I can see how it would be beneficial to use an actual site, like the article suggestions, to connect with teachers all around the world. Even being able to eventually connect easily with some of my co workers in a professional setting instead of just through text or during a lunch break which consists of gossip and not getting any beneficial work done.