I found Google sites to be quite a difficult challenge. It was often frustrating trying to manipulate the information to appear as how I wanted it, however I eventually got a few things to work, yet there were several aspects that I did not get working. of the aspects that we were asked to include i found that they were easy to find and insert, however I feel like getting them perfect was a time consuming task, I particularly had trouble getting the calendar that I put in to display the events that I created. I see the use and application for this site just as with the other google apps, however I do not think that I could as readily insert this into my classroom's operations as it would take a vast amount of technical know how that I do not possess at the moment, but I think that learning to create a site through this would be a good idea.
https://sites.google.com/site/oifhepoifhjeohj/
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
Google Forms
This was my first time using Google Forms. I liked how simple the format was so that I could create what I needed there was a very straightforward flow that allowed me to just pick up and begin creating.
Google Forms provides a unique opportunity for teachers to communicate with students, patents, and other faculty members. With forms teachers can create self grading quizzes, student information questionnaires, and discipline forms that automatically email parents and the principal. teachers can use these tools to better communicate with students, and ensure that their classroom runs smoothly.
Students can also use forms as a tool for research, through this they are able to go beyond articles and journals to create their own questions about their topic and distribute it out to multiple people. With the use of forms many aspects of education can be furthered and refined.
Google Forms provides a unique opportunity for teachers to communicate with students, patents, and other faculty members. With forms teachers can create self grading quizzes, student information questionnaires, and discipline forms that automatically email parents and the principal. teachers can use these tools to better communicate with students, and ensure that their classroom runs smoothly.
Students can also use forms as a tool for research, through this they are able to go beyond articles and journals to create their own questions about their topic and distribute it out to multiple people. With the use of forms many aspects of education can be furthered and refined.
Augmented Reality
In this class' TECH assignment we got to experiment with different Augmented Reality (AR) apps, as well as read how we can incorporate them into our lesson planning.
I found the article that we read to be interesting and helpful. it talked about the applications that AR apps can have in the classroom as well as gave us some sample apps that could be used. The article also talked about some tips to use when preparing a lesson with AR. one of the most important in my eyes was testing the app before you use it, having a prior knowledge would allow you to help with questions that came about as the students were using them.
We were able to use two different types of AR apps, targeted and non-targeted. From the non-targeted apps I used two called Virtual Snow and Dinosaurs. they both were very interesting apps, however there was not an exceeding amount of depth to either of the apps. with the Dinosaurs app I was able to see information on the different types of dinosaurs that appeared on the screen, however there only seemed to be about four types of dinosaurs. The Virtual Snow app was far less informative, I was only able to change the type of snow and the amount of it, it did not have any real educational information about snow.
From the Targeted group of apps I chose to look at Anatomy 4D and Quiver. The Anatomy app was particularly interesting because of the depth that it went into, I was able to manipulate the different parts of the body that I was looking at and remove ones that I was not focusing on. I fee like this would be a wonderful app to use in the classroom to show students different aspects of anatomy. The Quiver app however seems more designed towards entertainment than education. it allows users to color in pages and see those pages brought to life with the app. It had several different types of packs that included educational material, however those had to be purchased.
These types of apps could be useful in several different classroom settings. I can see these apps being used during seat work time to allow students to reinforce the concepts from earlier in the lesson by way of exploration. I think that the more these apps develop, the more extensive and informative they would become.
I found the article that we read to be interesting and helpful. it talked about the applications that AR apps can have in the classroom as well as gave us some sample apps that could be used. The article also talked about some tips to use when preparing a lesson with AR. one of the most important in my eyes was testing the app before you use it, having a prior knowledge would allow you to help with questions that came about as the students were using them.
We were able to use two different types of AR apps, targeted and non-targeted. From the non-targeted apps I used two called Virtual Snow and Dinosaurs. they both were very interesting apps, however there was not an exceeding amount of depth to either of the apps. with the Dinosaurs app I was able to see information on the different types of dinosaurs that appeared on the screen, however there only seemed to be about four types of dinosaurs. The Virtual Snow app was far less informative, I was only able to change the type of snow and the amount of it, it did not have any real educational information about snow.
From the Targeted group of apps I chose to look at Anatomy 4D and Quiver. The Anatomy app was particularly interesting because of the depth that it went into, I was able to manipulate the different parts of the body that I was looking at and remove ones that I was not focusing on. I fee like this would be a wonderful app to use in the classroom to show students different aspects of anatomy. The Quiver app however seems more designed towards entertainment than education. it allows users to color in pages and see those pages brought to life with the app. It had several different types of packs that included educational material, however those had to be purchased.
These types of apps could be useful in several different classroom settings. I can see these apps being used during seat work time to allow students to reinforce the concepts from earlier in the lesson by way of exploration. I think that the more these apps develop, the more extensive and informative they would become.
Thursday, June 16, 2016
iPad apps for Education
In this section we were asked to review several apps from various disciplines that could assist in education within our chosen level. As I am elementary education i am looking at these apps and how they could help in a K-6 setting.
The fist app that I looked at was an app called iMathematics. This program has an overview of multiple aspects of math as well as topics within those aspects. The app allows for a note taking functionality, as well as the ability to favorite different topics. The app also had several different calculator functions that would assist students in doing their work.the one drawback to the app is that it requires a payment to unlock every function of the app.
The second app that I looked at was the Skype app. this app is a communication app that allows people to video chat and talk to anyone else who has Skype. this program could be particularly useful when students are learning about another culture or even another language. there are ways to connect with experts on specific topics as well as connect with other classrooms to learn about education in other countries. the drawbacks to this app are that both parties have to be available, and thus communicating with people around the world could be difficult.
The next app that I looked at was the Virtuoso Piano app. This app gives a simulation of a piano that students can play and listen to. This app is very beneficial because actual pianos are extremely expensive and would not be conductive to have multiple ones in a classroom. This app allows for students to have more of a well rounded education in the areas of the arts.
The fourth app that I looked at was the app called Constitution. This app contains the entire text of the constitution as well as the amendments that have been put into it. This app also includes background information on every section and amendment of the constitution as well as the signers. The layout of this app allows for students to learn information by discovery and to look more in depth into the sections that interest them.
The last app that I looked into was the NASA app. This is an app that has pictures, news articles, videos, and other information about NASA and its missions through space. With this app students can look into the most ambitious exploration attempts in the history of mankind. there are detailed articles for students to look into to feed their questions about what lies outside of earth.
All of these apps have a great potential to effective in the educational environment. I believe that students of all ages could learn from them.
The fist app that I looked at was an app called iMathematics. This program has an overview of multiple aspects of math as well as topics within those aspects. The app allows for a note taking functionality, as well as the ability to favorite different topics. The app also had several different calculator functions that would assist students in doing their work.the one drawback to the app is that it requires a payment to unlock every function of the app.
The second app that I looked at was the Skype app. this app is a communication app that allows people to video chat and talk to anyone else who has Skype. this program could be particularly useful when students are learning about another culture or even another language. there are ways to connect with experts on specific topics as well as connect with other classrooms to learn about education in other countries. the drawbacks to this app are that both parties have to be available, and thus communicating with people around the world could be difficult.
The next app that I looked at was the Virtuoso Piano app. This app gives a simulation of a piano that students can play and listen to. This app is very beneficial because actual pianos are extremely expensive and would not be conductive to have multiple ones in a classroom. This app allows for students to have more of a well rounded education in the areas of the arts.
The fourth app that I looked at was the app called Constitution. This app contains the entire text of the constitution as well as the amendments that have been put into it. This app also includes background information on every section and amendment of the constitution as well as the signers. The layout of this app allows for students to learn information by discovery and to look more in depth into the sections that interest them.
The last app that I looked into was the NASA app. This is an app that has pictures, news articles, videos, and other information about NASA and its missions through space. With this app students can look into the most ambitious exploration attempts in the history of mankind. there are detailed articles for students to look into to feed their questions about what lies outside of earth.
All of these apps have a great potential to effective in the educational environment. I believe that students of all ages could learn from them.
Google Sheets
In this Class' GAIN Section we were asked to use Google Sheets and to compare it to Microsoft Excel, as well as creating a sample Grade book. I have used Excel before, but not to the extent that I have used other Microsoft applications, I have mainly used it for creating lists and organizing them. this is the first time I have used one of these apps in a more full capacity.
I enjoyed the technical capabilities of sheets, it created a space that allows for several possibilities in the school environment to streamline processes, such as grading. I liked the different options available for formatting numbers throughout the document. There are several useful ways of connecting data throughout the document so that it is easy to read and it could automatically update itself throughout the year if it was setup at the beginning of the semester. I think that the easiest part of the program that I found was telling it what information to display, simply by putting an equals sign you are prompted with different options as to what you are able to put. I do not think that there is anything that is unclear to me, all of the features that I used seemed straightforward. I have by no means used all of the features available in sheets, but the ones I have used seem clear.
Through our textbook I was able to see various uses that Sheets has within the classroom. two of which stood out to me: Collecting Data, and creating images based off of the data within a spreadsheet. For the collection of data there are educational standards ranging from lower years to higher years that require the ability to collect, interpret and display data. Sheets has the functionality to do all three of these easily, almost any student would be able to learn these functions quickly. The second important feature I saw was the ability to create different types of charts and graphs depending on the data in a sheet. This is an invaluable tool especially on designing maths lessons. A teacher could use this tool to create and manipulate graphs and charts to the exact specifications that they desire to go hand in hand with the lessons that they are teaching. and of course as with all google apps Sheets has the benefits of cloud storage and accessibility that google designed for them.
I enjoyed the technical capabilities of sheets, it created a space that allows for several possibilities in the school environment to streamline processes, such as grading. I liked the different options available for formatting numbers throughout the document. There are several useful ways of connecting data throughout the document so that it is easy to read and it could automatically update itself throughout the year if it was setup at the beginning of the semester. I think that the easiest part of the program that I found was telling it what information to display, simply by putting an equals sign you are prompted with different options as to what you are able to put. I do not think that there is anything that is unclear to me, all of the features that I used seemed straightforward. I have by no means used all of the features available in sheets, but the ones I have used seem clear.
Through our textbook I was able to see various uses that Sheets has within the classroom. two of which stood out to me: Collecting Data, and creating images based off of the data within a spreadsheet. For the collection of data there are educational standards ranging from lower years to higher years that require the ability to collect, interpret and display data. Sheets has the functionality to do all three of these easily, almost any student would be able to learn these functions quickly. The second important feature I saw was the ability to create different types of charts and graphs depending on the data in a sheet. This is an invaluable tool especially on designing maths lessons. A teacher could use this tool to create and manipulate graphs and charts to the exact specifications that they desire to go hand in hand with the lessons that they are teaching. and of course as with all google apps Sheets has the benefits of cloud storage and accessibility that google designed for them.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Google Drawing
I have never used the Drawing Google App before. That being said, I found it to be highly useful and straightforward. there were several tools that could be used to create high quality images that can be used in a various ways, such as in presentations, flyers, or other formal documents. there were a variety of shapes and ways of free-form drawing that allowed the user to manipulate the image into exactly what they wanted to display. It had several customization options to allow the image created to be vibrant and appealing.
I also looked into the Elementary lesson plan that was provided for us, with the tools in Google drawing it would be very simple to create and label these shapes for the instruction time, but it also presents an opportunity for students to create their own shapes and identify them. With the ability that the students would have to manipulate these different shapes and objects they could come closer to a mastery of this subject material and be able to readily identify new shapes an objects.
In the chapter relating to Google Drawing a point is brought up that shows how Microsoft Office has no software to compete with the Google Drawing software. the chapter talks about how the main focus of this app like the others is collaboration. through the unique platform that google provides for students to connect, Drawing enables students to create visual representations of information and ideas, and readily export them to almost any other format.
I also looked into the Elementary lesson plan that was provided for us, with the tools in Google drawing it would be very simple to create and label these shapes for the instruction time, but it also presents an opportunity for students to create their own shapes and identify them. With the ability that the students would have to manipulate these different shapes and objects they could come closer to a mastery of this subject material and be able to readily identify new shapes an objects.
In the chapter relating to Google Drawing a point is brought up that shows how Microsoft Office has no software to compete with the Google Drawing software. the chapter talks about how the main focus of this app like the others is collaboration. through the unique platform that google provides for students to connect, Drawing enables students to create visual representations of information and ideas, and readily export them to almost any other format.
Google Slides
For part of this GAIN section we were asked to compare PowerPoint with Google Slides. I have used both of these before and find them to be quite comparable. one of the major differences however is the amount of animations and transitions that are available to use in both applications. Google Slides offers far less options for transitions and animations than PowerPoint does. However Slides has several features that are particularly useful.
The first useful feature is the collaboration feature. Slides presents the ability to collaborate on a presentation simultaneously with other users, along with this there are several tools to aid in this including chat features and a change log. Because of these features creating a presentation with others becomes very easy.
The second important feature is that of cloud storage. Through this feature people have the opportunity to save their work to servers and not use the storage on their devices so that it may be used for other things.
The final feature that I think is important is the ability to use an internet browser to edit the presentations. This means that people are no longer required to carry around their personal computers to work on their presentations, as long as they can access the internet, they could use a public computer or even their cell phones.
several of the common core standards require the use of technology to form a presentation or create visual displays for information. Slides can easily help to meet these standards because of the ease of access and more importantly the cost of it. Creating presentations with slides is free thus allowing even poorer students to learn with the same tools as students who can afford to buy software. Many of the standards call for the representation of data, by using Slides in conjunction with sheets allows students to create, share, and present this data.
The first useful feature is the collaboration feature. Slides presents the ability to collaborate on a presentation simultaneously with other users, along with this there are several tools to aid in this including chat features and a change log. Because of these features creating a presentation with others becomes very easy.
The second important feature is that of cloud storage. Through this feature people have the opportunity to save their work to servers and not use the storage on their devices so that it may be used for other things.
The final feature that I think is important is the ability to use an internet browser to edit the presentations. This means that people are no longer required to carry around their personal computers to work on their presentations, as long as they can access the internet, they could use a public computer or even their cell phones.
several of the common core standards require the use of technology to form a presentation or create visual displays for information. Slides can easily help to meet these standards because of the ease of access and more importantly the cost of it. Creating presentations with slides is free thus allowing even poorer students to learn with the same tools as students who can afford to buy software. Many of the standards call for the representation of data, by using Slides in conjunction with sheets allows students to create, share, and present this data.
Saturday, June 11, 2016
iPad Literacy
For this class' assignment we were asked to review a few different types of apps, a Dictionary app, a Grammar or spelling app, a Drawing app, and a Story telling app.
I first looked at the dictionary app, Merriam-Webster, I have used the internet site for Webster before and I found the app to be similar in construction. I appreciate the way that they layout the words and explain them to help give people mastery of them. I also like the amount of background information that is given in a word that is not possible in an actual book format. I feel like if this were used in a classroom it would provide opportunities for curious students to explore more about words rather than simply retrieving a definition.
Second, I took a look at the app My Spelling Test. it provides some interesting features like being able to let children take a spelling test at their own pace. the teacher in the video also used a smart board in conjunction with the app to allow the student to move around and be out of their seat. I like the premise of this app, however unless there is a iPad for every student I do not see it as being practical in a classroom. However if a child has their own technology it could defiantly be used as a study tool.
The Next app I looked at was called Drawing Pad. This app is used to make pictures using different types of brushes, markers, pens, and backgrounds. I liked using this app, it had several different types of mediums to paint and draw with. one of the things that surprised me in this app what the assortment of different brushes to use even in the paint section. It had multiple widths and styles of brushes that all did different things when making a drawing. One of the ways that I see this working in a classroom is if there are centers set up, this could be a cool way to asses students by having them create a visual representation of whatever the subject is for that day.
Finally I looked at the app, Puppet Pals. Out of all the apps I looked at for this assignment i liked this one the most. it was a fun app that was very easy to use. This app is designed to create puppet shows with pre-loaded characters, and the user can input their voice to create the dialogue. there are several genres to choose from when creating a show, as well as several characters and backdrops in those genres. This app is very simple and intuitive allowing for people to grasp the concepts of using it very easily. I can see this app having an abundance of uses in history settings, by making the students retell the events in history through a puppet show.
I first looked at the dictionary app, Merriam-Webster, I have used the internet site for Webster before and I found the app to be similar in construction. I appreciate the way that they layout the words and explain them to help give people mastery of them. I also like the amount of background information that is given in a word that is not possible in an actual book format. I feel like if this were used in a classroom it would provide opportunities for curious students to explore more about words rather than simply retrieving a definition.
Second, I took a look at the app My Spelling Test. it provides some interesting features like being able to let children take a spelling test at their own pace. the teacher in the video also used a smart board in conjunction with the app to allow the student to move around and be out of their seat. I like the premise of this app, however unless there is a iPad for every student I do not see it as being practical in a classroom. However if a child has their own technology it could defiantly be used as a study tool.
The Next app I looked at was called Drawing Pad. This app is used to make pictures using different types of brushes, markers, pens, and backgrounds. I liked using this app, it had several different types of mediums to paint and draw with. one of the things that surprised me in this app what the assortment of different brushes to use even in the paint section. It had multiple widths and styles of brushes that all did different things when making a drawing. One of the ways that I see this working in a classroom is if there are centers set up, this could be a cool way to asses students by having them create a visual representation of whatever the subject is for that day.
Finally I looked at the app, Puppet Pals. Out of all the apps I looked at for this assignment i liked this one the most. it was a fun app that was very easy to use. This app is designed to create puppet shows with pre-loaded characters, and the user can input their voice to create the dialogue. there are several genres to choose from when creating a show, as well as several characters and backdrops in those genres. This app is very simple and intuitive allowing for people to grasp the concepts of using it very easily. I can see this app having an abundance of uses in history settings, by making the students retell the events in history through a puppet show.
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Google Docs
While exploring the way that Google Docs operates and comparing it to Word I found out some of my personal preferences between the two. I first off prefer Word because I have a greater familiarity with it as opposed to Docs, however I do see a large amount of potential in Docs. Because Docs is used from the internet, it makes cloud storage very seamless and allows for access from multiple devices. However it seems to lack some in depth features that are commonly found on the ribbon in word, one in particular that is extremely useful is smart art. I personally use smart art whenever I want to display any information in an image format, it has numerous practical applications as well as being simple to use. I think the lack of this feature as well as several others and the difficulty of cross-compatibility between the two leads me to prefer Word over Docs.
We also read a chapter on how Docs is being integrated with Common Core standards and how it is very easy to use Docs to accomplish these standards. The standards addressed issues of editing, revising, publication, and collaboration, as well as research. All of these aspects are easily doable with the help of Google Docs, and because of the use of Google accounts to link these files to all devices, the students can readily have access to the files at home as well as at school.
We also got the chance to collaborate on a document. the feature that i found to be most helpful was the change log feature. It tracked and displayed all of the changes that had been made to the document and displayed they in a way that you can look up by date or author of the changes. I see this being helpful when there are multiple people working on a document that cannot work at the same time.
I find Docs to be a very useful program and I appreciate the way that it is setup. However, i do not think that someone who regularly has need of a word processor would find the extent of everything they need in this program.
We also read a chapter on how Docs is being integrated with Common Core standards and how it is very easy to use Docs to accomplish these standards. The standards addressed issues of editing, revising, publication, and collaboration, as well as research. All of these aspects are easily doable with the help of Google Docs, and because of the use of Google accounts to link these files to all devices, the students can readily have access to the files at home as well as at school.
We also got the chance to collaborate on a document. the feature that i found to be most helpful was the change log feature. It tracked and displayed all of the changes that had been made to the document and displayed they in a way that you can look up by date or author of the changes. I see this being helpful when there are multiple people working on a document that cannot work at the same time.
I find Docs to be a very useful program and I appreciate the way that it is setup. However, i do not think that someone who regularly has need of a word processor would find the extent of everything they need in this program.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
GAIN Assesment 1 (Blogger)
Clarence Fisher uses his blog to talk about Different topics that involve education, particularly technology and how it is affecting the way that a classroom operates. I enjoyed scanning through his posts and seeing his take on different aspects of how technology is affecting not only teaching but everyday life. It is easy to see that he pushes for people to change the way that they interact with the world in light of technology.
TECH Assignment 1
For our first ed tech class we were asked to pick an Apple program and compare it to a similar program published by Microsoft. For this entry I chose to compare Power Point and Keynote.
First off I noticed several similarities between Power Point and Keynote, the most obvious of them being that they are both designed to display and present information. Another similarity that I noticed is the features, both applications have ways to add animations and transitions into a presentation to make it more visually appealing. and the last similarity that I noticed is that both of these programs is that on the iPad you can link them up to save directly into cloud servers to save your presentations so that you do not take up the storage on your device.
I also noticed a few differences between the programs. the first of which is that Keynote is much more user friendly than Power Point. It had a very intuitive feel that made manipulating the aspects of the presentation much easier. It also was able to sync up between devices and make presenting the work much more streamlined and easier.
We were also asked to make a Box.net account and use it and respond. Box.net is a cloud storage site, one of the biggest flaws I saw when dealing with the app was that when I tried to upload a pages file from the iPad it would not let me access the device's storage. It would only let me access other cloud storage options such as Dropbox or iCloud. I have used Dropbox for several years and prefer it to Box.net.
We also used an app called iThought which is used for brainstorming, we were asked what kind of application this would have in the classroom. the main perk that I can see for using this in the classroom would be during whole class discussions when talking about a single topic and getting feedback from the students. In this scenario a teacher would be able to help the students create a visual representation of their thoughts.
lastly we were asked to compare two different Browsing apps for the iPad. One being safari and the other being Rover. The design and feel for the both of these was very similar. I felt like they would both be comparable, save for the fact that rover is streamed to the iPad from an outside server. Because of this, Rover uses much more bandwidth than the regular safari app. I believe that i would prefer to use the safari browsing app over the Rover app, simply because of he fact that there are more possibilities for problems to arise with the rover app, such as the server needing to work properly, data usage, and bandwidth consumption.
First off I noticed several similarities between Power Point and Keynote, the most obvious of them being that they are both designed to display and present information. Another similarity that I noticed is the features, both applications have ways to add animations and transitions into a presentation to make it more visually appealing. and the last similarity that I noticed is that both of these programs is that on the iPad you can link them up to save directly into cloud servers to save your presentations so that you do not take up the storage on your device.
I also noticed a few differences between the programs. the first of which is that Keynote is much more user friendly than Power Point. It had a very intuitive feel that made manipulating the aspects of the presentation much easier. It also was able to sync up between devices and make presenting the work much more streamlined and easier.
We were also asked to make a Box.net account and use it and respond. Box.net is a cloud storage site, one of the biggest flaws I saw when dealing with the app was that when I tried to upload a pages file from the iPad it would not let me access the device's storage. It would only let me access other cloud storage options such as Dropbox or iCloud. I have used Dropbox for several years and prefer it to Box.net.
We also used an app called iThought which is used for brainstorming, we were asked what kind of application this would have in the classroom. the main perk that I can see for using this in the classroom would be during whole class discussions when talking about a single topic and getting feedback from the students. In this scenario a teacher would be able to help the students create a visual representation of their thoughts.
lastly we were asked to compare two different Browsing apps for the iPad. One being safari and the other being Rover. The design and feel for the both of these was very similar. I felt like they would both be comparable, save for the fact that rover is streamed to the iPad from an outside server. Because of this, Rover uses much more bandwidth than the regular safari app. I believe that i would prefer to use the safari browsing app over the Rover app, simply because of he fact that there are more possibilities for problems to arise with the rover app, such as the server needing to work properly, data usage, and bandwidth consumption.
Monday, June 6, 2016
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