CEDO 535 Week Two

The information that I worked with this week was interesting, mostly from the stand point that I had knowledge of some of the materials that we were looking at. I have had an RSS Feed account set up for a couple of months. A teacher at our high school showed me and ever since I have loved it. The ease of use is simply undeniable. I did find some new information out through the assignment including the sharing portion. If I build up a contact of links, I will be able to share common interests and articles with my friends. In my class, I have shown students how to use RSS feeds for finding information on Engineering. Students are working on a Research paper right now and I am having them find RSS feeds incase information is updated about their career they can document it.

The other portion that I liked about the assignments was the Photo Sharing assignment. I set up a Flickr account for this assignment. I have had students use Flickr and Photobucket accounts in my Digital Imaging class to upload and access pictures. I had some knowledge of how the program worked but I have never used it. After working with it, I know I could utilize a program like Flickr for students to upload their assignments. Then I could comment and grade their pictures using the comment portion. The only concern that I have is other predators seeking out student pictures. I know that students have control over friends but with hacker abilities ever increasing, I feel like I don't want to subject my students to the possibility of this. The other concern that I have with Flickr if I was to use it for student grading is students uploading pictures that are deemed inappropriate. While I know I can explain to students what acceptable picture content is and the fact I will be able to see their pictures, I have an inclination that some students may post pictures that are not deemed school appropriate.

CEDO 535 Reflection

I really liked the challenge of looking at three different things that we think we are so called experts on through Wikipedia. I found it interesting to know that my things were spot on. In the future I think it would be a fun activity for my students if I could find a Wikipedia page that is false or slightly inaccurate and have them locate the information, through research, about why that information was inaccurate. Students could seek out professional who post blogs and challenge them on the topics that are covered on Wikipedia. This would provide my students with the concept that not everything on the Internet is true as well as challenging them to seek out and interact with professional who create blogs.

The second thing that I liked looking at was the use of Wiki's in Education. While it was hard to find blogs that talked specifically about the use of Technology Education Wiki's, I did find a couple. It was interesting to read that those postings described how much of a joy it was to bring the wiki into a Technology Education classroom. I could see my own teaching style utilize the Wiki concept in all of my class as a means of collaboration as well as providing tutorials for the students. Our principal just sent out a memo talking about the stress we put on the paper budget. I believe by hosting all of this information online, such as a fill in worksheet instead of a paper worksheet, we could really cut down on our education expenses. Now this possess the problem of computer access in the classroom and high school setting, but fortunately most students in my district have personal computers at home or have plenty of opportunity to utilize one of the available computer labs in the school.

CEDO 535 Week One

There are two important things that I picked out of this week's class activities. The first being the use of blogs for students and the second being E-Portfolio. Blogs for students will work great in my class because I already implement a system in which students have to submit answers to essential questions that I supply over the Internet. While students will be able to answer the essential question online, the more important part is that students can respond to other students pieces. I see this idea having the ability of taking my class more outside the walls because students will be interacting with each other when responding to their thoughts.

The second concept, E-Portfolio, is a great idea for my Digital Imaging classes. I can have students create a E-Portfolio that they upload their assignments and best work. This portfolio can follow them throughout the class and if they continue on with future Photography classes, the students can build on their portfolio. This is great for two reasons; students will have the ability to create a quality portfolio that they can take with them to future employers or college. The second reason I really like the concept is I would eliminate the amount of paper used for my class. I could simply log on to their E-Portfolio anywhere I have access and grade their papers. This is awesome because I can sit on my boat in the middle of the lake and grade assignments!!!