Aufwiedersehen

To those I have shared this semester with in Dr. Strange's EDM 310 class:

Thank you for the good times, help on projects, blog comments, and links to great stuff on the web.

Goodbye for Now,
Ryan Rogers

EDM 310: A summary of new discoveries and adventures

This class has quite possibly put more thoughts, questions and ideas in my head than any other class so far. I learned A LOT from this class. The things we learned here were practical, both as a professional and for someone who simply wants to broaden their horizons a little. So let me try and list all of the things I found most helpful in this class.

The blog. Something that I really never thought I would have. It is something that I have grown to enjoy. The professional blog is especially helpful because I can use it to collaborate with professors and, in the future, fellow teachers. Twitter is something that I am new to as well. I recently linked my phone to my Twitter profile, so expect more Tweets from me! I have downloaded Picasa to my computer, and use it to organize and edit the videos and photos on my computer. I love how it does the organizing for me! Podcasting is another thing that I have begun to use as well. I have subscribed to several podcasts, both for personal and professional interests. As far as the posts I read throughout this semester, they are the reason I even have a Personal Learning Network. They have introduced me to some very talented and extraordinary people. Comments4kids was an assignment that I found very rewarding. It allowed me to experience the joy in seeing a student take an idea and make it their own, and succeed! iTunesU was another thing I was introduced to in this class. It is also a part of my PLN. I can connect and watch the lectures of professors of History at some of the best colleges in the country! This will be a tool that I know I will use regularly. I learned this semester that Google offers much more than just a search engine. With a little help from Dr. Strange, I found myself creating forms, presentations and more with Google Docs. I can keep track of all of the websites and blogs I follow with Google Reader. I have been able to take a tour of the oceans of Google Earth. As far as the class itself, I have a few questions required for this post I must answer.

2. No. I thought this class was extremely thorough and very eye opening!
3. To be honest, I will try and block Foliotek out as much as possible.
4. Yes it did. The whole idea of technology, collaboration and connectivity with educators worldwide excites me! I could have never been able to accomplish all of the things I have this semester without this course.
5. Not really. All you need for this class is the will to discover, learn and use.
6. I was only bored when I was filling out all of the forms that showed up in my Google Docs.
7. I would love for this course to be entirely web based! Other than that, I liked this class very much.
8. I think I am much more literate than I have ever been. To give it a degree, I would say I am "Good". I will never be "Great", because that would mean I couldn't learn anything else!
9. By continuing to use the tools I learned about, expanding my PLN, keeping in touch with my new found friends and always looking into and exploring new technology as it arises!

My PLN

As this semester comes to a close, and I am finishing my last posts, I am asked to summarize and review my PLN.

To start, none of this would have been possible without the direction and aid of Dr. Strange. So I must first give my thanks. He has aided me by providing links to other teachers' blogs and sites through our assignments for the blog posts. People like Matthew Needleman, Michael Wesch, Karl Fisch, Mr. McClung, Dr. Alice Christie (her website is great!), Wendy Drexler, Kaia and her father and so many more are showing us what technology can do to improve our professions as well as our lives. All of the above have been saved on my Delicious account. I will constantly refer to them for ideas and will continue to follow and comment on their endeavors as we implement technology into the classroom.

I have also added a few contacts to my PLN on my own. One of my professors, Dr. Rogers, is now on my Gmail account. Dr. Rinne in the Foreign Languages Department is giving me the email of a friend of her's in Berlin, so that while I am there, I can speak with him about his experiences during the Cold War in Berlin. For a teacher, a PLN is a must! Without it, you will still be able to do your job. But with it, you can accomplish so much more! Being able to share your ideas and see the ideas of others is so amazing. Why not work as a team if we have the tools available to do so! I will continue to expand my PLN as much as possible so that when I do begin teaching, I will have tons of ideas and methods just waiting to be used in my own classroom.

Because of Dr. Strange, I now have many things I did not even think of having before that have helped broaden my PLN. I have a Twitter account, I have RSS'd several sites and blogs, I have connected with friends, family and professors on Skype, I have a Delicious account to keep track of my bookmarks, and most importantly, I have two blogs! None of this would have been possible without Dr. Strange. So again, Thank you!

Comments for Kids Overview

I enjoyed this assignment. It consisted of going to different blogs and class web pages organized by Dr. Strange, and commenting on some of the kids' posts. I had a lot of fun with this. It felt great to connect with these brilliant kids and let them know that their effort is really paying off! I think this is a great way to usher young students into the world of blogging! Hopefully they will continue to use this amazing tool and develop their own PLN!

One of the posts I did was for Mr. Goerend's Room 304 class blog. Cody writes about National Hop Like A Kangaroo Day. It was funny and interesting to see what these kids come up with! Here is the post.

Lists...

After reviewing the three lists assigned, this is what I have come up with.

The first list I viewed was called "Seven Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make With Technology". Out of the seven things listed, the two I chose were numbers 2 and 4. Treating a school computer like it is your own. My response is somewhat tied to number 4. How can you possibly assume that what you say and search on the internet, especially at work, is not monitored? One of my coworkers at my part-time job was fired for not using our store computer properly. So yes, I agree, that is pretty stupid. The other selection I made was number 4. Thinking online communication is ever private. Once again, how can you possibly assume that what you say and search on the internet is not monitored? How can you think there isn't a way to search your history? Dr. Strange taught us about leaving a data trail on the internet. It is pretty ridiculous to think that you can cover your tracks just by deleting your search history on your browser.

The second list I viewed was called "Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Do With Technology". Out of the seven things listed, I chose numbers 6 and 7. Use the kids' own devices to teach them. This one is especially important, seeing as how I have a laptop, iPod, and cell phone just waiting to be connected with my classes! I have already used two of these with my EDM310 class, but that's it. I would like to see it happen in my other classes as well. Delight in the discovery, the newness, and the fun technology holds. This one is also very important. Technology is fun! Learning about and using the new technology is fun! Showing others how to use it and watching them have fun is, well, fun! I have always said that the reason people pursue their dream job is because they enjoy doing it. This is especially true with teachers. Obviously it is not about the money. So why not make it even more fun and incorporate some gadgets!

The third list I viewed was called "New Classroom Rules by Education Innovation". This was my favorite of the three posts. I had a difficult time selecting only two as most important. I suppose numbers 1 and 15 would be most important on this list. Come to school every day, unless you would rather just go on line. Sometimes problems arise in life that do not allow us to do the things we need to do. This semester, my mother broke both of her arms in an athletic accident and it required me to stay at home with her for a while. I missed A LOT of class time, and I am paying for it now trying to catch up. It would have been great to just view the lectures on a Podcast whilst tending to my mother. Know what you are supposed to be learning, why, and what you will do with the knowledge. This one I like. How valuable is what you are learning if you do not show/teach someone else? If what you are learning and using is so great, why not spread the wealth?

At The Teacher's Desk

I like this blog. It is a professional blog that, in my opinion, gives us an abstract view on topics relating to education. After browsing around, I found a few posts that I really found interesting.

The first post I viewed was called Scary Statistics. It basically showed that girls tend to do better in a scholastic environment than boys. I compares males and females in suspension, expulsion, suicide, college attendance, college graduates, and many more. The question then arises, how do we make school a more successful place for boys? Well, frankly I do not know. I was simply unaware that the statistics were so staggering.

Another post I watched/read was Michael Fawcett's (I think that's how you spell it) video discussing his experience with his PLN. It was very inspiring to take my PLN as far as I can! He and Dr. Strange alike have really showed me how a PLN can only help you grow in your profession.

How Do I Know I Am Not Just Being Selfish?
Very interesting post. Mr. C asks us the question, "Are we pushing too hard a technology agenda, or are we simply trying to catch up with the world outside our walls?" I say NO Mr. C! You and others like you are not pushing too hard! I think you are simply just the forerunners of a technological revolution that I am more than excited to see! I personally think that education is desperately in need up catching up. I would love to see more teachers advocating the use of all of these tools that I have learned about this semester.

Using Skype to Connect ESOL Students with Foreign Language Students
Another great post! I love this blog! This one gave me a lot to think about when it comes to Skyping. Mr. C gives some great advice on how to optimize your Skyping experience. I will have to take this into account when Skyping family and friends in Germany this summer. Some of the things he talks about are: Having reasonable speakers to help clarify the audio, using a projector to make the video easier to see for a class, and do a practice call to work out the bugs. He also gave a few good links to some software you can use to record the Skype. Great stuff! Here is the permalink.

Michael Wesch's "The Machine is (Changing) Us"

It seems that no matter how much of a grasp I think I have on the world I live in, every time I am introduced to a video like this, that grasp tends to get smaller and re-adjusted. So how does this video and the comments that Dr. Wesch made relate to my life, school and future in teaching?

For my life, I think it has had a very positive impact. This collaborative ideology that is so prevalent in our society today has allowed me to gain contacts and friends that I would have never been able to accomplish without it. I have seen people on YouTube post things I can relate to. I have met people on Facebook that have the same life goals as I do. I do not think I am a very narcissistic person when it comes to my life. Wesch talks a great deal about this "ME" generation. Although I agree with his argument, I do not think that it should label the generation as a whole. I think this collaborative phenomenon is allowing people to, like Dr. Wesch said, be more self-aware than ever.

As for my college experience, I am extremely thankful that I have the ability to gain contacts with professors, fellow students and others with whom I can gain advice and share ideas with. For example, when I have trouble in German class, I can Skype my friend Theresa who lives in Innsbruck, Austria. She hates history, so she emails and Skypes me when she needs help memorizing dates or studying. I can email Dr. Rogers and get advice on a good thesis topic, or anything else I might need advice on for history class. This ability to collaborate and help one another is a great thing.

As for my future endeavors as a teacher, I hope to be able to collaborate with students and colleagues alike. I envision myself being able to mentor students as my professors have helped me. I see other professors and I working together and being able to enrich each others' classes. For example, I could see a German culture professor come to a Hitler and Nazi Germany class to discuss how culture has changed since the Third Reich. Now, more than ever before, the possibilities are endless.

Here is a link to the video.

Publishing Students' Work on The Web?

To answer this question, I must say it is extremely important! The video of the kids in New York City singing only helps the argument. Not only will they receive praise from their chorus teacher, but from everyone that has the opportunity to see the video. Here are some links to other work from students that you can find on the web.

This video was created by a few students in my German class this semester. We had to do a semester-long project called "Rockgruppe". We were a rock band and our assignment was to create a story that documented our trips and trials with the band from our own perspective. This is what their group presented at the end of the semester. Enjoy!

This video is also from YouTube. It was made by a German teacher from Terryville High School in Plymouth, Connecticut. It was the first time German was available for that high school. Very cool video. It is obvious that this teacher absolutely loves his job.

On the same thread as the above video, I found this video made by some students for German class. I thought it was pretty funny.

ACCESS

ACCESS, or Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, & Students Statewide, is a program set up by Governor Bob Riley to allow students all across the state to gain extra courses and things such as advanced diplomas through distance learning. It was launched in 2004, and received $10.3 million in funding on October 1, 2005. In the ACCESS PowerPoint presentation, slide 6 tells us why ACCESS was set up. The problem is that, "Many rural and low-income schools have limited course offerings for students." It goes on to point out that because of some schools having a low budget, they cannot offer the courses that would dignify students with an Advanced Diploma. The idea is that students can take advantage of the technology at hand to take specialized courses, through the computers at their school. In the About ACCESS section, you will find links to the goals, history, overview, and staff of ACCESS. There is also a section for students, that describes distance learning, and is soon to provide a demo course to see if distance learning is for you! In the technical support section, there are links to downloads and plugins to aid the student in accessing the courses. There is also a list of ACCESS support centers. These are Madison City Schools, University of Alabama and Troy University. Troy University is the support center for Mobile County, as well as 26 others.

Overall, I think this is a great thing. It allows students to broaden their diplomas with courses that some schools simply cannot provide. I hope to see that demo course up on the site soon. I would love to see how it works! I am adding this to my PLN. It should come in handy in the future.