"Survey Says......."

My Online Survey……………………by Jenifer Fitzgerald
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=0o9mhd07mtiguf4822190

This was a pretty easy task to create. The website is very user friendly and the layouts are very self-explanatory. The results are easily viewed and compiled into simple graphs for you to compare. Overall, I feel this is a great way to measure opinions and experiences with just a few simple questions. My survey was to uncover how our future teachers saw technology use in their classroom as of today.
My results thus far: Of the 6 people who took the survey, 33% saw technology use in the classroom a distraction for the teacher. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that 66% felt they had "somewhat" received enough technology education to utilize it effectively in the classroom. Our future teachers definitely plan to use technology in their classrooms mostly in communication to parents, recording performance and administrative classroom tasks, and to create visual presentations. 66% have received no prior technology training prior to this class.
Of the applications listed in the survey, 66% were very comfortable and experienced with word processing, 50% felt somewhat comfortable with presentation software, while spreadsheets and internet software left lots of room for learning improvement.
The technology reported most valuable in the classroom was the Smartboard. Most felt it had the most flexibility and student/teacher interaction. Although computers will be ongoing and evolving tool, there are many obstacles that may limit its use, such as not enough computers or out of date computers and software were among the concerns of 66% along with insufficient technology support.
 

"Everyone takes surveys. Whoever makes a statement about human behavior has engaged in a survey of some sort." - Andres Greeley

Discovery Ed- A great tool!

Discoveryeducation.com is a great tool for both teachers and students. It is a website that offers teachers tons of resources on planning  and managing lessons. Among these tools are also builder tools. This helps the teacher create assignments with diversity of learning to a class as a whole and individual students. There is also a writing prompt and quiz builder. For example, as a teacher preparing to teach the solar system, I was able to click on the age of my student's, subject matter pertaining to the solar system, and explore several tools available to my students. I would be able to download video for the student's to watch to gain better visual understanding. I have access to Blackline Masters, which has creative and age appropriate classroom worksheets for enrichment and learning.
Under the teacher's guide you are able to utilize Unitedstreaming.com for inclass viewing which also offers a program summary, objectives, review questions, activities, and additional resources to take the learning further. A great website tool that will allow the "new teacher" as well as the "experienced teacher" plenty of resources without having to spend a lot of research time preparing for your class lessons.

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "aparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough proplem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people.

K. Patricia Cross

Glog, glog, glog...

Wow, what a mess. At first I thought this would be totally cool, however once I got started it seemed I needed to be a little more techie than I thought. If I used glogster.com's preset graphics or video all was well. Once I tried to import my own stuff not so easy. I was consistantly given a "not a compatable website" error message. I did however manage to provide one link, one video, and clip art. That said, even with few bells and whistles, my glog provides students with all the criteria set forth in the video evaluation rubric. My glog shares all of the information needed to understand "How to Properly Write a Friendly Letter".
A glog can be a great asset for students. Like a Webinar, it can be a great central place to go to learn about one subject matter. It allows the teacher to do some of the researching for the student and focus on what the teacher feels should be pertinent information related to the subject.
 Please, check it out at the following link...
http://momfitz.glogster.com/Glog-2030/
 http://momfitz.glogster.com/glogofabill/ (this one just for fun)

~ Blogging is an art, same as any other method of self-expression. Some are better at it than others. ~
 Hugh Macleod

There's an App for that!

www.apple.com/education is a great website offering technology tools and uses in the classroom. At first I thought, how is an elementary student going to utilize computer applications at home and at school? After exploring the website further, apple offers a tool called the iPod Touch. I know all about this great piece of technology because I own one and my 2 kids play on it all the time. I had no idea that they offered applications for learning from elementary all the way up through college. Things such as flashcards, math games, vocabulary, etc. Schools are starting to utilize these in the classrooms as well. It seems kids are aquiring phones accessible to the internet at an earlier age too. The website also offers podcasts, itunes-U and other creative software supported by their systems. Good place to start if you have Apple technology in your classroom.


Computers have lots of memory but no imagination.  ~Author Unknown