This is my Animated Flash Header

 The students and I are making these in class to go on our Dreamweaver websites.

 Most of theirs are much better than mine. 

I created instructional videos with Jing to do this if anyone would like to try it. 

It is really very easy and fun to do.

                                        Click to play. Bird gif borrowed from http://www.heathersanimations.com/

The Meaning of Educational Technology

Educational Technology is the constant improvement of education in today's society.  It focuses on the potential educational impact of today's learner.  Can we teach digital natives how to learn or can they teach us how to teach them?  Educational Technology is exploring the reality of what education is today and the technologies that can change what it ought to be, or what it can be tomorrow. 

Below is a mindmap that shows characteristics of today's learner; the organizations that support Educational Technology and today's learners; the reality of education today; and the potential impact of education in the future. 

After researching these variables, I have come to determine that my educational technology philosophy is closely aligned with the meaning of educational technology.  

For instance, today I played a digital game with my Accounting students called: The Case of the California Con.  We are researching Accounting Careers and I had them play the game to find the embezzler.  What was the real object of the lesson?  To experience the art of Forensic Accounting and give them a real life account of what this career choice entails.  Objective successful!  Immediately after playing the game, all students researched further information on Forensic Accounting with no prompt from me.

AICPA, American Institute of CPAs. Start Here Go Places. Retrieved 1/24/2011 at

         http://www.startheregoplaces.com/games/catchme-california-con/.

Mindmeister. Mindmapping Software. Retrieved on 1/24/2011 at

       http://www.mindmeister.com.

Additional Assignments Week 1

In addition, discuss how this exercise can/will possibly assist you in identifying future technology projects for this class and in other areas. In other words, how is having your philosophy down in writing helpful to you?

I think that writing your beliefs down in the beginning of a journey helps keep you focused and true to your beliefs.  I think that writing down a reflection at the end of the journey also enables you to compare the beginning and end, enabling you to see your growth during that time frame.  I do this each year when school starts and ends, not only for me but for my students as well.  They cannot believe all the stuff we have already learned and we still have a “whole nother” semester.

At this point, what potential uses do you see for blogging?  Stephen Downes' article on Educational Blogging was written in 2004. Have we met this potential? What's preventing us from doing so?

I am using a Blog with my students as a class project. Our blog is turning out to be a school newsletter and students are compiling information about what’s going on at school in all classes, athletics, band, etc and blogging about it weekly.  I have set it up as a private blog with security permissions to satisfy our district policies.  I know I am breaking ground here and raising eyebrows but I am monitoring and teaching both the good and the bad of online uses so maybe we can continue to move forward in this area, at our school.  Fingers crossed.

November's article, Creating a Culture for Teaching and Learning outlines six areas to think about and changes on the horizen with technology and education. Which one stood out to you the most and why?

First off, I went Alan November’s BLC10 conference this past summer and met and talked with Mr. November.  If you get the chance to go to it, in Boston this summer, you will be amazed at what opportunities teachers in America let pass by them everyday.  I met a 12 year old teacher, Adora Svitak, and went to her workshop on writing and publishing on the internet.  I bought her book Flying Fingers.  She is amazing; she made me want to be an English or writing teacher just so I could come back to the classroom and do all the stuff with the students that she talked about (I did some of it anyway).

The main theme of the conference didn’t seem to be technology, even though every new gadget and concept was presented.  The theme of the conference seemed to me to be…Opening up the channels of communication: America’s public schools are so tightly closed (blocked) to protect the children.  Is keeping thier eyes closed really protecting them?

I agree with everything in Mr. November’s paper.  Nothing stood out as being more important than the others…so if I may, I will touch on how I feel about each.

1. If it’s on the Internet, is it true?

What stood out to me:

Arthur Butz: The question is: who is this guy and what Web site is he on? Well, it turns out he’s a tenured engi­neering professor, and the Web site is Northwestern University.  This really stood out in my mind…How scary that he’s a professor from a University site.  I would have taught my students that in all probability that would be an authentic site with accurate information. Thank you Mr. November for providing the little known command that you can use on Alta Vista, the search engine, called “link.” What link does is to tell you what other sites on the Internet are hot-linked to the site you’re looking at. It gives you a backward map. If the student had run the link on the URL, he would have found that the Maryland State Police Association has something called “The Hate Directory,” and this site is listed on The Hate Directory. That might have rung a bell for this student.

My Solution: I will include a lesson plan this year to teach students to use this link command.

2.  Coming attraction: live video cameras in every classroom

  

I believe this is already here.  I know I have a video camera in my room that can be viewed from the Principals office at any and all times.  I think it is just a matter of time that parents will want to be able to link to it too.  I am personally for this action because I want the parents to know what their child is learning.  I am so proud of my students accomplishments and I want to be able to share that pride with the parents. 

Am I crazy??

3. We need to tell our stories!

  

I agree with this but I also find that most other teachers don’t want an openness.  It’s like what they are doing is so secret only they have the key to open it.  Even the students do not dare question the validity of it...and then here I come...encouraging them to reflect on the validity of everything they see and hear.  I tell my stories to anyone who will listen.  I post it on my blog, create samples of what we do in class on my website, send letters home to parents with updates on their child’s progress.  I want to share my knowledge and I want my students to share their knowledge in everything they do.

My Solution:  Keep telling my stories and keep an open door to other teachers who want to learn how to use the technology resources available in my lab.  I have some who already visit and use audacity for song mixes to create event videos.  Yeah!

4. Don’t do technology plans!

Our school does have a technology plan.  We mainly keep the community abreast of the increased amount of technology offered students every year.  As for the teachers, each teacher is encouraged to use technology in the classroom.  If they need a new tool or software, the district is real good about supplying it.

5. Automating vs. informating

I agree with informating and bringing education and communication into the communities and homes.  I think that the educational system is capable of doing that but I am not sure that communities are designed to handle it…yet.  My reasoning behind this is that this year we implemented a flex schedule and students were home an extra week at Christmas.  Well, this was hard for parents with jobs.  Finding daycare for all the children in a small community was difficult.  

With homeschooling, Daycare will not be the only problem.  Education for adults will also be a problem as many are not computer literate and reject technology.  To force this on the families could increase their stress levels and cause resentment between the home and the school. Everybody should learn but not everybody enjoys learning.

Personally, I look forward to having high school students in online classes.  I plan to continue my education so I can be in the forefront when these changes come into effect.

And finally, what are some of your expectations for this class?

·         I expect to learn about something new.

·         I expect to learn what new thing that old thing can do.

·         I expect to research something I haven’t heard about before.

·         I expect to open my eyes to a new concept.

·         I expect to make at least one new friend. 

My Educational Philosophy

By Lynn Burleigh, M.S.

Because the workplace today uses employees from all over the world who collaborate via telephone, email, Skype, and other means, I believe that it is important for students to learn basic social skills.  Collaboration with other cultures, compromise amongst learning groups, dealing with deadlines, and communicating via many different technologies are the many skills needed in today’s global workplace.

Today’s students are different in the way they learn.  Everyday new information explodes from the fingertips of a cell phone, ipad. computer, or television screen.  Instant gratification in communication is all around us.  With hand held devices carrying all the world’s information, at the press of a button, it is important to guide our students in the correct use of gathering and sharing this information.

As a Business and Technology teacher it is my responsibility to teach my students the rights and the wrongs associated with digital communication.  I believe that how and where they find their facts is just as important as the facts themselves.  For this reason, I am dedicated to providing authentic tasks in my classroom that simulate real world settings.

I use mixed methods of Constructivism and Pragmatism as my teaching style.  Students are exposed to lesson plans that have been developed according to research in the philosophy, psychology, and sociology of education.  I use methods that have been proven to work.  I believe that classroom management is not an issue in my class because students are focused on real world problems and the solution provides an intrinsic reward of accomplishment.  Students take control of their learning by deciding how they want to share what they have learned.  They may want to make a video depicting a topic; research and design a documentary about someone or their business; construct a step-by-step PowerPoint slideshow, showing a procedure they learned; create an animation of how a procedure is performed; or start a blog or wiki and maintain a discussion or opinion about some interesting subject. 

In class, students are informating; collaborating as a team and sharing learned knowledge with others.  For every problem they solve or project they complete, I believe the real gratification of learning comes when their new knowledge is shared.  For this reason, I provide an environment that emphasizes group knowledge that can be constructed and changed into more meaningful context, and then published or produced for sharing with others.  I believe that by sharing knowledge learned, students really use thoughtful reflection about what they have learned and how best to share that information.  

My classroom is very flexible in that each student may be working on a different task in varied software programs.  Students have one-to-one computer use with industry standard software and web 2.0 tools to choose from.  I believe that because the tools are available to the students, they are naturally motivated to explore and learn using those tools.  Because each child is different, learning styles vary and options must be available for creating the finished product.  I find that allowing both group work and individual work allows students to find and share their strengths.   

Throughout each year, I require reflection and feedback from my students.  We explore what projects they enjoyed, which ones didn’t work, any lessons that were confusing, and deadlines that were too long or too short.  I compile their reflections and review their feedback and make changes accordingly.  Each year I change my lessons to incorporate new technologies that will enhance the learning process, engage student learning, and expand communications to others.