Tool 11: Practicing Good Digital Citizenship.

I would like my students to understand three main concepts about "digital citizenship":

Students safety: using the internet requires to take basic actions to ensure the safety of the students. It is important to access educational websites, locking their personal identity, and commenting to teachers and parents about places to visit and/or communications on line.

Following teacher instructions to access academic content: this point is impoortant because we are using digital resources as educational tools for eduaction.

Privacy of password: The unique combination of User ID and Password allows teachers and administrators keep track of each student's academic advancement. The password is of personal use and no one else should know it.


I am going to explain "digital citizenship" to my students based on the following facts:

The internet world could be considered as an extension of the school in which they are "citizens". The use of the internet and digital tools to enrich their education, is a privilege. They have in consequence the responsibilty of making good use of the resources. There are rules and ways to communicate, share information, websites to visit, etc.


Questions?

1. What are your favorite tools you now have in your personal technology toolbox? Briefly describe a particular activity that you will plan for your students using at least one of these new tools.

Two of the more useful tools are "Bookr" and the "iPod Touch". I will teach my students how to create stories using Bookr to describe concepts or the meaning of new words. The iPod Touch has many possibilities, however, I would like my students use them for on line data gathering regarding Science and Social Studies.

2. How have you transfomed your thinking about the learning that will take place in your classroom?

I think that the digital tools will help to create a more friendly learning environment. It will benefit the students because in many ways they already started using some of the tools. Personally speaking, I think that a good balance between traditional media and digital tools is the best way to conduct teaching and students learning.

3. Were there any unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

Just a confirmation that education is evolving at a very fast pace. In order to keep us updated and ready for the new generations, we, the teachers have to continue learning and changing our tools and methodologies to better serve our students.

Tool 10: Exploring Mobile Technology and Apps.

"Google Earth" is one of tha applications that the students could have in the iTouch to learn about their city, state and country. It could be used mainly for Social Studies lessons.

AccuWeather could fit perfectly be used for Science. The students could check current weather conditions and forecasts. Particularly we are interested in the daily temperature and the type of clouds.

There is no question about the fact that mobile devices, such as the iTouchs, are "cool" and student friendly to acces the internet. The students feel inclined to use them instinctively. We can guide our students to take advantage of this tool and also have fun.

Tool 9: Sharing Information Through Jing & Skype.

Jing seems to be a realy good tool for students because they could benefit by snapping pictures from the screen to check for understanding or working on a project. Also, they could work on more elaborate activities using the record feature of Jing.

Skype is a great tool for communicating among people using this tool. For free, you can "call" anywhere on the world to anyone who is using a Skype program. I have been using it extensively and the quality of the voice is generally speaking very good. You can also have a videoconference, however sometimes the quality of the video is not so good. It is difficult for me at this point in time figure out how the students could benefit from this tool (I am thinking about second graders), however I will continue looking for an application appropriate for the students.

Tool 8: Using Video Resources.

The use of video resources provides a great way to support a mini lesson or illustrate examples in class. In general, students are very receptive to visual information and get engaged easily.

Regarding the two videos: the first one on the life of Abraham Lincoln will be used in Social Studies (American History), and the second one one camouflage will help to illustrate this Science topic.


Abraham Lincoln (Part 1)




Camouflage in the Nature

Tool 7: Creating Digital Stories.

Because of the availability of Dell computers I decided to work with Photostory. It is really easy to create a basic presentation. Maybe the most important part is the planning, searching and the selction of pictures for the digital story.

Tool 6: Creating Wikis to Store and Share Information.

Wikis look to me as a great way for sharing info and collaborative work. Thinking about the students, comes to my mind the idea of using a Wiki for the storage and reviewing of vocabulary. It could be enriched day after day as new words come forward. Regarding the teachers, I think that a Wiki could be a good place to collect ideas or comments for specific purposes.

I reviewed the features and tools available for Wikispace and PBWorks. I feel more inclined to work with Wikispace because it has more features and tools that could help to register large number of students. It has a couple issues that could be handled with a little supervision effort, those issues are related to linking to possible innappropriate sources of information.

Tool 5: Tagging and Social Bookmarking.

From Delicious I used the taggs "elementary" and "education" to find: Learn to Read with phonics (http://www.starfall.com/).

From Diigo I used the taggs "second", "grade" and "reading" to find: Second Grade Spelling Lists (http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/spelling-level-b.html).

Social bookmarking could be useful for my teaching because I will have access to other people's resources sharing the same common interests.

Tool 4: Cool Google Tools.

The creation of the document with Google Documents was really easy.I shared it with one of my team members. Also, I am now following five blogs with Google Reader.

The benefits for our students, because of the use of this two tools, will show in different ways. Using Reader, we can have updated info on weather conditions during the day, and receive news about class related topics from Texas, the US, or the world. Using Documents, teachers could have a better way to plan and share relevnat information.

Tool 3: Image Generators & Mashups

Following,you will find one example of the use of "Bookr" and other example of the use of "Image Chef".







"Bookr": the creation of books could be a great resource to present or complement a mini lesson. Also, with a little practice, the students could be able to create brief stories or show examples of what they learned.

"Image Chef": This tool could be used for more specific purposes, bilingual activities or short remarks. There are many other tools associated to Image Chef, I am just showing one of them.

In general, graphic tools have a great visual impact on the students, however, one of the main points is that the students could be able to create their own digital products.

Tool 2: Building Community & Comments

1. What are your thoughts about building an online education community and participating in a PLN?

I think that building the Digital education community and participating in the Digital PLN, means giving a great push to our current efforts and achievements. Our students are already participating in Digital communities. First we could create our own communities and then enrich the students' Digital communities.

2. What point stood out to you from the commenting advice?

I think that inviting comments is a very good way to increase others participants' attention. In this way you explicitily are leaving the door open for new opinios. Also you can invite comments by posting questions. In some way this will let other people help you or give tou an opinion.

3. What five blogs did you select for your comments? (you may need to come back and add this information later by editing this post.)

Armando Arias
SOEJulie
Dancer Feet
Journeying Julie
Joy into Teaching

Tool 1: Blog Set-up & Registration

The Blog idea is quite interesting because it is digital technology giving new life to the old concept of publishing, making it easier and a lot more personnal and content diversified.

I followed the process, to create my blog and the avatar, step by step and did not have any problem. I also noticed the importance of recording all the account names, passwords, and websites to avoid forgetting them.

My first thought about using the blog is by sharing information and comments with other teachers. Regarding the use of the blog in class, I am still thinking about it.