Flickr VS. YouTube...No contest!!

I have seen the Flickr logo everywhere but I never knew exactly what it was and how it worked.  After watching the video, I decided I would dive in and see exactly what Flickr is about.  I looked through the creative commons and Flickr commons and didn’t find a large variety of photos.  The creative commons had more to offer than the Flickr commons but it still did not have enough diversity for my liking.  Flickr also did not seem very user friend. I was not impressed with this application and I don’t think I would carry it over into my classroom. 

YouTube on the other hand, can benefit classroom instruction especially in a high school journalism courses.  YouTube is comprised of endless videos about various different topics….you name it, you can find it.  Say you want to find a video about tracking and finding Big Foot, I bet you can find thousands on YouTube.  Journalism students can record news segments or personal interest stories and post them on YouTube for the entire school population to view.  Preparing and recording news segments will help journalism students develop several skills such as: news gathering, writing news segments, operating a camera, controlling lighting and sound, speaking on camera, editing, and downloading final projects to YouTube.  It takes several people to write, produce, and record a segment and YouTube videos will allow students to get the overall experience.  I will also give every student the opportunity to work on different aspects of preparing a news segment.  I want each student to get the chance to research stories, gather news, write stories, use technology to record and edit stories, and deliver a news segments.  I will also ask student to critique and provide feedback to their classmates.  This type of interactive learning will allow students to becoming better journalists. 

Internet Safety Photostream

Invasion of the Pod People

Using podcasts in a high school journalism class will allow students to be exposed to broadcasting their news stories to an audience. Colleges and some high schools have radio stations which allow students to create radio shows and play music for students across campus. Podcasts will allow high school students with limited resources to have the same experience as campuses with radio broadcasting capabilities. According to Ricardson, “About $100 and an Internet connection is all you need to start doing regular radio shows with your students” (pg. 115). As the instructor I will find podcasts created by high school students and subscribe to them in order to expose my students to various existing podcasts. By subscribing to podcasts, as mentioned by Richardson, iTunes will automatically check for and provide me with new episodes to download and listen to (pg. 114). As a class, we can listen to existing high school podcasts and we can identify sections we would like implement into our own podcast. By collecting ideas from existing podcasts and brainstorming original ideas we can then develop a storyboard for the podcast we will begin broadcasting. As a class, we must decide if we want to do a class podcast, group podcasts, or individual podcasts. I would suggest a class podcast which will focus on specific topics on certain days of the week. For example, Mondays can be an entertainment segment, which can include weekend movie reviews. Sports and news segments can also be broadcast on separate days and this will give each group adequate time to plan their segment for each week. A podcast will allow students to showcase their segments to the entire student body, as well as, teachers, parents, and surrounding communities.

My embedded silly podcast

Fun, Silly Podcast Scripts

I had fun with this one at first!  I was hesitant about just talking about something for 2 + minutes so I researched and found a fun little script to do with my son.  I have been sharing the technology I am learning in class with him on a daily basis.  He is one that helped me with the Superhero survey. The following are some of the issues I had while creating this podcast.

1. My son has several allergies so I had to do a ton of editing in order to cut out all the sneezing, coughing, and wheezing.
2. I could not figure out how to download a song using Soundcloud and ccMixter.  I tried for hours and was unsuccessful.  I think both these websites are far from being user friendly
3. I could not download my MP3 file.  I tried for 2 evenings until I finally figured it out...FRUSTATING!!

Below are the links to my podcast. ENJOY!

http://ccmixter.org/content/raynaynae/raynaynae_-_Silly_Podcast.mp3

https://soundcloud.com/renee-aguirre/podcast-script-final

Education, Teenagers, and Technology (Feedly-Week 6)

Generation Text, as referred to in 6 Innovative Ways Students Are UsingTechnology, is currently using technology daily inside and outside of the classroom.  Long gone are the days of waking up to an alarm clock, students download alarms apps onto their Smartphones and tablets and start off their day using technology.  The only person in my house who still owns an alarm clock and uses it daily is my husband, who happens to be in his forties (LOL!).  Blended and hybrid classes are also being held across the country, which I think is a great idea.  Students are using technology to review lessons online, take quizzes which produce immediate results, and provide instant feedback to classmates and teachers.  I have seen teachers use applications which require students to reply to questions during the lecture using laptops, smartphones, and tablets.  I believe this makes each lesson interesting and fun while providing instant feedback, much like a game show.  Teachers ask questions during the lesson and students will respond to multiple choice and true/false questions and their responses are immediately provided to the teacher using this application.  An educator can them immediately assess if students are responding to the lesson being taught. Technology is also providing interactive learning labs which expose students to experiences and projects which may not be available to them otherwise.  Students are receiving hands-on experience through technology.

I have always thought of Facebook as a social media application and not an educational application.  Facebook for classroom use concerns me because of the content posted on Facebook accounts but Must-Have Facebook Guidelines for Teachers offers some suggestions which seem safe for classroom use.  Since everyone, from children to grandparents, seem to have a Facebook account this type of social media can make communication between teacher and parents easier and more convenient.  Educators can make a page and create a group completely separated from their personal Facebook account.  Facebook pages and groups can keep both parents and students up to date on assignments as well as showcase student work.  Facebook can also be a safe place where students discuss assignments and provide feedback to classmates and teachers.  Keeping parents and students connected is extremely important and 21^st century tools such as Facebook can help educators accomplish this.

Stores and Storage

http://www.edudemic.com/free-google-chrome-extensions-for-teachers/

Just when I thought Google couldn’t get any better, I find out they have amazing FREE web tools for educators.  Much link the individual writing the Blog, I have used Mozilla Firefox for some time now but slowly I find myself using Chrome because of the constant problems I have with Mozilla Firefox.  I know about the Google store because I have an Android phone but I have never explored it on my computer.  I started with the first app on this Blog called Class Dojo and it is an adorable, efficient, and effective way of tracking classroom behavior.  This is a great tool for teachers because it also gives parents access to view and track their child’s behavior.   I went in and created account on Class Dojo and played with it for a while and it is extremely user friendly and the little monsters and critters are adorable.   I also played with the Go Animation, an animation creation tool, for a while but I think I need at least a good couple of hours to explore and put together a short video animation.  My ten year old son could probably work with this app better than I can since he seems to me more tech savvy than I am.  I can’t wait to get home and share this with him.  You can choose from several different scenes, various people and objects, and numerous motions to create any type of animation video.

http://www.edudemic.com/dropbox-for-teachers/

I was just recently introduced to the world of Dropbox.  I first accessed it when I got my new Smartphone and the app was already installed.  I fell in love instantly because this created a space where I can access my work and homework from anywhere.  I was constantly emailing myself with my work as attachments because I don’t do go with small objects (Flash drives).  Now I am able to save everything to my Dropbox and it is always at my fingertips.  This article goes beyond that, it gives teachers several suggestions such as emailing to your Dropbox when not using one of your devices and how to get extra storage.  Dropbox can reduce the amount of papers headed home for grading but teachers can ask students to email their work to your Dropbox and when you get home, you can access your Dropbox and grade away!!!