Feb 21

~Dr. Christie's Site~

I spent a lot of time looking at and learning from Dr. Christie's site. It was very informational and helpful for me, as a future educator. She has so many resources to use technology in the classroom. I love that she has made it a point to help educators teach our students using technology. Our assignment ask us to choose one thing on her site and write about how we could use that as teachers but I was really interested in a bunch of ideas on her site.

One thing that I found that was very appealing and useful was her electronic portfolio web. It was just a fun way to see this information presented like that and to see the useful resources and material that Dr. Christie uses. I will use this example and electronic portfolios for my classroom and put them in my PLN for this class.

Dr. Christie tells us so many ways to use technology in the classroom. I love how she used digital photography and media. She even has her own image essay, which I think would be great for children to create. I listed to one of the podcast that she has posted from a classroom in AZ. It gave me some great insight into using podcasting in my classroom. It is wonderful how she gives resources to help us learn how to use these tools and implement them into our classes.

One of my favorite ideas on her site was the Caldecott Honor KidQuest template. What an awesome site that they have created to help the children interact and enjoy the assignment. :) If every assignment were that interesting and interactive then students would love learning. It is wonderful that Dr. Christie does workshops to help educators help students learn. I recommend that any teachers or future teachers check out her site and the resources she has provided.

~Using iTunes & iPods~

I hope that South will incorporate the use of iTunes U more. I think that the way other colleges and schools are using iTunes U is awesome. It is such a fun and modern way to incorporate school into everyday life. Students can have lectures, notes, pictures, etc. at their fingertips all the time. At these schools that have utilized the iTunes U, the students have access to so much information. I believe it makes it easier for students if they have all these resources on their iPod. I think that students would be so much more prone to listen to a lecture or podcast outside under a tree before they would in a stuffy library on a computer.

The way these colleges are using the iPod is so great. They are turning a fun experience into so much more. You can now learn and it will be enjoyable. I would love to try to utilize this process in my classroom. Even if I just do podcasts or allow my students to do podcasts and then upload them onto their iPods. If they do not all own an iPod, I could just show them how it works and how they can use them for when they do get one, someday. I could upload pictures and so much more information for my students that would be helpful. I would love to use this in the classroom.

There are so many ways to utilize an iPod! I think that a lot of people focus on only the listening to music on an ipod. Although that is very enjoyable, iPods can used for numerous things. They can be used for recording notes, listening to lectures, studying foreign languages, etc. After reading a study done by Duke University, I really can see the great importance of an iPod. I love that something so entertaining can be used to further education as well.

Duke issued each incoming Freshmen in 2001 an iPod. They studied the usage and value of the iPods. For the most part the iPods helped in the students education. They were a great tool for listening to lectures and other things. Even thought their were some problems with the iPods, I think that they were a great benefit. I think now with even more advanced iPods, they could help in the classroom even more.

I found a pretty cool website for the "new iPod owner"! Most of the tips on this site are really basic. I think that it could be really helpful to someone who has never owned an iPod or someone who is not so savvy with technical stuff. It gives you tutorials for many issues you may come into with using your iPod.