Journal 7

After learning about some of the bonuses of microsoft word I made a modeling sheet that needed to be done anyway for my Biology project. It contains a table, large open area for students to draw, and a font heading that now has its own title. The the title is big font and I will definitively be using this in the future because I realize how easy it is to keep this so it automatically makes the headings look organized and like time was spent on them. The other two things I found out that make life a lot easier are the auto fit to contents for the tables so I don’t spend time fixing them all the time. Also the way to change how the writing goes around or next to or below pictures. I could not get this to work for years and now that I can write next to a picture it makes me very happy! haha. This was the most useful lesson for me. Here it is…..worddoc

Journal 5

Ms. Welstead’s classroom

Low income-50%

Levels-high school 9-12

Teacher’s funded projects-0

PROJECT

Subject-Biological sciences

Resource-supplies

Submitted-April 9, 2008

Students impacted-45

Instructional hours-50

Used by future students?-yes

LOCATION

Region-New Jersey

Proposal-Vernier logger pro CO2 detectors

Basically the students learn these type of ideas better when they interact with the materials and data. The data collectors (probes) would be used to detect the amount of the CO2 being released by the animals, plants, or humans that are placed with the probe. This project is teaching the students about CO2 production and the impact that different biological organisms have on the release of these gases. It also shows the students methods of collecting, sorting, and organizing data from real live technical equipment. These probes would greatly advance the labs in my classroom and can be used for years and years down the road which is the best part! They are costly which is why the B.O.E is not giving any money for them. Help me help my students learn about the world around them!

Cost of project- $500

posting of “hire me”

I was having trouble adding my webpage on the website as a comment was giving me difficulty so I decided to just post it here. I really like this web page idea although I found formatting it kind of difficult. I looked up other sites to do web pages on but some seemed more difficult then google sites. I could not figure out how to make my resume or portfolio into a pdf and so I could not post it. Charlies said today in class he would show ppl next time so I will post it now and update it later.

http://sites.google.com/a/eden.rutgers.edu/caitlin-welstead/Home

Journal 4, Vernier in Projects

If I was working in a school and wanted this program to be purchased by the school my first strategy would be to show the principal directly how useful it can be. I think showing him or her through demonstration is the best way. Not only is this useful in the classroom for asking children questions but this can be used in a variety of ways by administration to get feedback from other teachers and faculty members about what they think about issues. The main issue I feel would be showing the board that this is more than just an online multiple choice test taker. They may not see how this is necessary in the classroom. Having an instrument that can make the class turn into a forum is very constructive and something like this takes all the information of the class, polls it instantly, and allows the students to see what other students think without addressing people by name. Being able to see how most of the class feels after one round of questioning then letting them discuss and poll again is vital in the class. The best way would be to get this program on your computer and invite the principal into a discussion that occurs and see what he or she thinks. The swapping of thoughts and ideas in such a quick manner has not been as easily achieved before technology like this and that alone is worth purchasing it.

Journal 3

One of the netlogo simulations that I enjoyed was the Bird Breeder one. It dealt with genetics giving different genes that code for different characteristics. I liked it because you could change the birds to dragons and drag and click them around the page. Some of the other ones the students just sit back and watch, but as you did this simulation you brought the dragons into punnett squares to see after mating the dragons what characteristics would show up. I like it mostly importantly for the more interactive value it gives and it is labeled more clearly then just lines and dots moving around like some of the rest. http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/run.cgi?BirdBreeder.816.572

The second one I enjoyed was called Plant Hybridization. Again this one was more interactive then some of the ones I saw on the site. You were responsible for setting up a plant site with seeds and then changing environmental and other factors as each seaon came. It was a very real life ‘game’. It gives students the chance to try out a real world experience for a semi longterm period. (Depending on the amount of seasons you assign the students to go through). http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/run.cgi?PlantHybridization.770.566

The third I liked was one called Bug Hunt Speeds. This one was visually pleasing because of the multi colored bugs and graphs. This one gives more actual information because there are graphs about bugs vs. time, frequency of bugs, average speed of bug vs. time, etc. It is a good segway into graphing data and maybe researching a specific bug’s information about its speed etc to be able to put it into the data source. This one is good because it can go in many more directions after watching it on the screen. http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/run.cgi?BugHuntSpeeds.791.532

Journal 2

1. What wiki platform did you choose, and why? Post a link to the start page of the wiki project you created. I chose to use wiki scratch pad. I created a wiki page about Environmental Factors that are affecting the world today. The page is http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Environmental_Factors . I liked wiki from learning it briefly in class and also I looked at a few others and this site seemed the most friendly from glancing at them.
2. What are the learning goals of the wiki project you created? The learning goals I wanted to accomplish were to have the students learn about the science behind problems in the environment and more importantly learn what they can do to help, or what is being done to help. Also, the students will get to form groups and get to accomplish team work. From a technological standpoint the students will learn to use the wikiscratch pad website and hopefully become comfortable with sharing large amounts of information this way.
3. How will this project help students achieve the learning goals? This project gives a way to be able to answer the question of what some global problems are and what we can do. This project allows much information to be passed around that otherwise would take each individual student way too much time. Even if done in groups, but without the internet, the students would not be able to quickly pass around the information leading to slower learning and more wasted time.
4. How you will measure student achievement of learning goals? There will be about six people to a group and so it should not be too difficult to see who edited what as long as each student has signed up and made an account. Each time they edit there name will appear. Also in the end I would have each student summarize the other groups information so that way I know they read through the main wikipage.
5. What did you learn about creating a wiki project, and what are the opportunities and challenges of creating such a project? Although it was not as hard as I thought it was going to be I did keep forgetting the formating and so I had to keep going back and forth when trying to edit the page. That was my only complaint. In using this technology I feel it makes the lesson run more smoothly but it seems that I can not gage how the students are completing the assignment. I mean this in the sense their could be straight copy and pasting from the internet without any thought.

Journal 1

Describe an experience you have had (as teacher or learner) in which a technology was used effectively for the purpose of increasing INNOVATION. What was the technology? How was it used? What made it effective?

I have not had many experiences with technology in high school or college both as student or teacher. So to think of positive ones becomes even more hard to do. As for a technology that is innovative I really have not used one that had done this. I can think of one that I would want to use though and that would be a type of in class online interactive tool. Have students post questions, comments, thoughts about the lecture and topics in class so they can go deeper into the material. It can help by being able to go online, ask other students, use programs that can look at the material from different angles, etc. I know from my Biology and Society class that there is a program like this but I do not remember the name.

Describe an experience you have had (as teacher or learner) in which a technology was used effectively for the purpose of increasing EFFICIENCY. What was the technology? How was it used? What made it effective?

The technology used was for a genomes class in which office hours were done through an online video chat. The professor had a scheduled time in which he would be online and you could come on and video chat about the material. The class did not have a book and so he encouraged students to buy a 35 dollar webcam if they did not own one. This was a very effective way of managing time. It helped both the teacher and students to be able to spend more time doing other activities for the class. It was effective because it was easy to incorporate and it was something that everyone could use.

Describe an experience you have had (as teacher or learner) in which a technology was used effectively for the purpose of increasing COMMUNITY. What was the technology? How was it used? What made it effective?

In another class we had to blog about lecture topics after class using the Sakai website. It was used as a forum to keep topics open after class and to give students the opportunity to think about the issues from class and then post opinions. It was used just as a home based tool to be able to continue the conversations. It was very effective because it made the students think more in depth about the topics when they have more time to think. It is also made so simple that it can not be too confusing or technology based for the students to be able to handle at home on their own. This made us be able to interconnect more with our peers which made conversations in class more flowing and easy to talk about.

 

Consider the examples you described. Can you identify general characteristics that made this “good technology”?

The characteristics that all of these had in common dealt with being simple and easy to use. All these technologies are straight forward in the sense there is not much computer or other electronic work that needs to be known. When things are simple like this people are willing to follow through with the assignment. Also all of these add to the class. They are not just added to fill time or space in the class. They have a purpose and can make a class more worthwhile and students and teachers alike can get feedback.

Describe a situation in which you saw technology used POORLY! What could have been done to address the situation better?

Most of the situations I have seen technology used in have been poor. In high school we had a computer class we were required to take which taught us how to use programs and incorporate them into our studies. The problem with this was that these programs and uses for them that we learned were never incorporated to any actual class outside the computer class. There was no purpose for us to learn these tools if they were never implemented. I think this is a problem all around when it comes to technology in the classroom. Even if people are taught how to use the technology it is never used or used improperly. To help fix this problem teachers should be really thinking about if this is a useful tool in their classroom and if it is worth incorporating into the lesson plans. If it will not be 100% helpful and accelerate the class then it should not be taught or tried to be used because at that point it becomes a hindrance to the class.

About Me

Rutgers Status- Fourth year student. Currently in graduate school of education for Biological Science.

Status as a teacher- Substitute. Working towards elementary education science teacher.

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