Technology Tools Assement

My Technology Application for Educators class used a bunch of online tools this semester.  In the beginning of the semester I found this course to be intimidating as it dealt with a lot of online learning using different online tools.  Now that this semester is coming to an end, I find myself more comfortable working with and trying different online tools.  Below are a few online tools that my class and I have used and I will be rating them with: 

Okay

Good

   Better

   Best

    Excellent

Moodle makes viewing assignments and turning them convenient for students and myself.  Knowing what assignments are ahead gives students more time to prepare for them.  Due dates for assignments are posted on the moodle so there should be no reason why a student did not know when the assignment is due.  On moodle there can also be forums for interactions between teacher and students.  As a future teacher, moodle will be one tool I may use as a teacher.

 Rating: 

Firefox has helped me open pages that Safari would not allow me too.  I have used Safari most of the time and every time I have a problem opening up something, I use firefox to solve my problem.

Rating: 

 Google has taught me more than it being a search engine or a place for me to receive and send emails.  I did not know there was google apps that made working with google fun.  Working with Google docs and spreadsheets and sharing it with group members made easy for us to interact and edit our work together.  Google apps is easy to use and navigate.  For sure I will take advantage of what google apps has to offer as a future teacher.

Rating: 

Livebinders is unique online tool that enables people to share resources online.  I think that this tool would great for me until the time I become a teacher as I may add more resources to what I have right now and share them with others.

Rating: 

Prezi for the first time this semester I have actually tried using it.  I have known of Prezi for a quite a while and never had the guts to try it.  I find Prezi to be more attracting for audience than just regular use presentation tool PowerPoint.  Prezi may look difficult to use but once you start it becomes much easier and fun.  Prezi is a tool I would use as a teacher.

Rating: 

Wix is an online tool to create a website that I found very easy to use.  It was very easy to navigate and will recommend this to anyone who wants to build a website.  I had a good time working with this online tool and maybe as a teacher will create a website for my class using this or the other one I am going to talk about.

Rating: 

Weebly is another online tool to create a website that is easy to use.  Drag and drop is all you have to do to create your website.  I love this tool as well as Wix.  When I do become a teacher it will be hard for me to decide which one to use.

Rating: 

Wiggio was the number one tool I used throughout the semester.  My group and I found this as the best way for us to communicate with each other.  Virtual meetings, chattings, or sending an email, text, or voice message made it easy for us when we were not able to meet with each other to work on something face to face.  Wiggio can be used not for only my students but my students parents as well.

Rating: 

Every tool I talked about were all excellent ratings.  I want people to see that these are great tools for people to explore themselves and by giving positive ratings will entice people to do so.  I had a great time time using these tools and when I become teacher these are the few tools why try and use as well.

Digital Safety Importance

           Learning about the different digital issues like cyber bullying, phishing and pharming, and sexing just to name a few, makes me realize that it could really become dangerous to almost everyone of all ages.  Digital safety is needed to be address to anyone who gets into technology that may harm others or themselves.  Today it is common to see children as young as two years on a tablet with Internet access.  The importance of having children learn about digital safety will help them know the consequences of going online and prevent ways from them getting into some king of trouble.  According to Common Sense Media (2013), “If kids don’t protect their personal information, there are many potential risks: damage to the hardware, identity theft, or financial loss.”    Digital safety is an issue that is increasing but with some knowledge on what could happen will prevent problems from occurring.

As an educator, the importance of teaching children about digital safety is really important.  According to iKeepsafe (2013), As an educator in today’s modern world, your guidance is critical for students to navigate through the intricacies of new media and cyber safety successfully.  I would be able to use the website my group had created to teach them about cyber bullying which is an uprising issue in elementary.  By informing students the different forms of cyber bullying, should give them an idea in which may prevent them from being the bully or how to stay away from the bully online.

Wiggio was an excellent tool for my group members and I.  We were able to communicate with what needed to be done.  Virtual meetings from wiggio made it possible for our group to meet as some of our group members were not able to meet up in person.  Other tools I would suggest would be through the hangout with Google.  This would be the best tool for a group to use as tool as you can view YouTube videos together, work on a document or spreadsheet together, and even have other apps that could make it better for your group and you to work together.

Reference

ikeepsafe. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.ikeepsafe.org/educators

Nell Minow. (2013.). Retrieved from http://www.commonsensemedia.org

Educational Online Game Rubric and Teaching

                                    Educational Online Game Rubric and Teaching

Viewing an online educational game is important to do as it involves student learning. Creating a rubric on what an excellent online educational game should be is quite challenging, as there are many factors to look at.  Deciding if it meets the goals to what the student should be learning or deciding if it is safe for a student to go on are some factors to really look at.  When creating an online educational game rubric with a group of people, it brings more heat to the problems you already face, as you have to come an agreement with each other.  Deciding what we were going to put on our rubric and how our ratings should look like made it hard for my group to agree with.  Eventually we had no choice but to agree with each other as it caused us to waste a lot of time in creating the rubrics for the online educational game. 

            The online game our group has chosen was dealing with students in grades pre-k to fourth in the subject of math.  The game consisted of recognizing numbers, addition, and multiplication.  My content area is in elementary education, which fits perfectly for the game we had chosen.  The math problems given in the game are problematic enough to stimulate a student’s brain to learn with a lot of excitement.  When it comes to learning in the subject of math, the online game we had chosen should be no problem in being used in my class to help with student learning.

            In my teaching pedagogy, online educational games will be used not only as assignment for my class but also as reinforcements.  According to the International Society for Technology in Education (2012), “Technology integration continues to increase in our society, it is paramount that teachers possess the skills and behaviors of digital age professionals”.  Knowing that there are online educational games to help with student learning, it is best for me to know what I am doing to make sure it is safe and fun for students.  Having a rubric to decide if the online educational game meet the standards is one of the steps to ensure I have the skill and behavior to become a digital professional.  Students should know that learning is fun too.  As long as the online educational game is in the same content of what the students are learning, the rubrics would help me create a lesson plan on how to implement it into my teaching.  I could also use online educational games as a practice for students on what they had learned.  Online educational games that meet the standards of my group’s rubric should make learning fun in my class.

            Wiggio was a great tool used for this group assignment.  I was able to ask questions and share some of my thoughts through Wiggio.  My group members were able to reply and that is how we kept our communication with each other.  We also had the chance to hold a virtual meeting. According to the website Wiggio (2012), “It is the easiest free way to work in groups”.  It is easy to navigate with a lot of tools to use.  Wiggio is awesome for groups as it helps provide another way of communicating with each other.

Reference

·                    International Society for Technology in Education. (2012). International society for technology in education. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers

·                    Wiggio. (2012). wiggio. Retrieved from http://wiggio.com

Tsunami

Today there was tsunami warning for people living in the Pacific region and later cancelled for people living on Guam. Right before the warning cancellation, southern schools on Guam had released their students early as a precaution because they are located on low land.