Are smartboards worth the financial investment?

Smartboards are being used in many, many schools throughout the country, but are they really worth the financial investment? It is no mystery that smartboards are a very expensive technology, so to equip each classroom with a smartboard many things must be considered. I have seen smartboards make a really good impact on student interaction, attention, and learning. It can help keep students focused and excited about learning knowing they get to be involved directly and can use the smartboard. I only think they should be used in a few select classrooms, though. Just for the cost of a smartboard, and the effectiveness on certain grade levels, I would only purchase these for classrooms who are directly learning in core subject areas from grades 4-8. Anything younger than that age I would say it is very unnecessary and all students will not be able to use and be engaged in the technology. For high school students, they know longer have such a need to be involved and a smartboard is not going to do anything to enhance the learning experience. It may have some minimal advantages for high school students, but definitely not worth the investment. I think school boards, administrators, and teachers should definitely look at what kind of students and classrooms these can be effective with, and then we can justify buying these smartboards for certain classrooms. I think smartboards are an awesome technology, but we must make sure we are not wasting money on expensive technologies that are not enhancing the learning experience greatly.

Webquest Link

Here is the link to my webquest...........
https://sites.google.com/site/mattsandornews/

Webquest Rubric

Criteria	Accomplished (3)	Developing (2)	Beginning (1)	Score & Comments
Introduction	Engagingly describes a compelling question or problem.	A question or problem is described.	The purpose of the WebQuest is unclear.
Task	Task is doable and engaging, and is connected to learning in the real world. It elicits thinking that goes beyond rote comprehension.	The task is doable and elicits higher order thinking but is not relevant to students lives.	Task requires simply comprehending or retelling of information found on web pages and answering factual questions.
Process Checklist	Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.	Some directions are given, but there is missing information. Students might be confused.	Every step is clearly stated. Most students would know exactly where they are at each step of the process and know what to do next.
Resources	There is a clear and meaningful connection between all the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task.	There is some connection between the resources and the information needed for students to accomplish the task. Some resources don't add anything new.	Resources provided are not sufficient for students to accomplish the task.
Evaluation	Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors.	Criteria for success are clearly stated in the form of a rubric. Criteria include qualitative as well as quantitative descriptors.	Criteria for success are not described.
Visual Appeal	Appropriate and thematic graphic elements are used to make visual connections that contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships.	Graphic elements sometimes, but not always, contribute to the understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships.	Color is garish and/or typographic variations are overused and legibility suffers. Background interferes with the readability.
Navigation	Navigation is seamless. It is always clear to the learner what all the pieces are and how to get to them.	There are a few places where the learner can get lost and not know where to go next.	There are more than 5 broken links, misplaced or missing images, badly sized tables, misspellings and/or grammatical errors.

Best Webquest

My favorite Webquest: http://questgarden.com/71/60/6/081020120004/

I think the best two webquests were the foreign-country project and the save the gorillas project. Both of these projects would be something that students would find interest in and wouldn't mind doing a project on. A couple of the other webquests seemed really dry and also seemed like they could be way over most students abilities and interest level. It is important in a project like this to pick something that both the students can be heavily engaged in as well as having them use technology while learning new things. In my opinion, the waves and sound project and the shakespeare project would be the two worst webquests. The waves and sound project was just way too long and tedious for the subject matter it was covering. Also, it didn't incorporate hardly any other learning benefits. It was not a project where a group could really work together on and it didn't promote learning or using any new technology. The Shakespeare project also was very long and drawn out, and I think it would be hard to get students to be excited about doing a project on Shakespeare. It would be hard to engage them in this project, at least right away. The one benefit I really liked is that it was really hands-on and the students would be creative in coming up with their own production. I think they can learn alot with this project, just not sure it is worth the time and if it encompasses a very broad range of learning in different areas. It was a very narrow project. For me with these projects best means which projects would allow the students to learn the most and not be burdensome to work on. I would want my students to have fun as well as learn a broad range of skills and information. The use of technology and creativity is very important to any project. The use of technology is very practical and much needed in today's world and the creativity helps the students have fun and be engaged in the project. Worst would be the projects that students couldn't be engaged in and the projects that were too narrow and drawn out. If a project is going to take a long time, it must encompass all facets of learning and be well worth it. Time is a very important thing in the classroom, it is very limited. So we must focus to always try to have our students making quality use of our time in the classroom and to learn as much as possible in that time.

Webquest Worksheet

My role: The technophile

GORILLAS WEBQUEST- This webquest had both its strengths and weaknesses for my role. I think the technophile would love the use of websites, it was loaded with links to all sorts of sites that had very interesting and relavent information to the project. I would say the main drawback for this site would be alot of the sites and information is very dull and there is not much interaction from any of the sites. It would help maybe to have a link with some interesting videos for students to watch or games for them to play.

WORLD OF SHAKESPEARE WEBQUEST- This project is more of a hands-on, less technology based webquest. I think the technophile would say we might as well not use the web at all for this project. It might be a better idea for the teacher to pass out the relavent background information needed for the project or take a class to go over the history before they started.

ANTI-EARTHQUAKE WEBQUEST- I think the technophile wouldn't be satisfied with the technology aspects of this project as well, I would have like to see them find a website that had students being able to have some sort of interaction with a web module to get familiar with designing structures that can withstand force from an earthquake. With the amount of technology and information we have on architecture, it seems very likely that there would be a hands-on website for the students to use.

FOREIGN COUNTRY WEBQUEST- The technophile would love this project, it makes great use of a wide range of technologies that students need to be familiar with. It also allows students to be creative and use lots of interesting technologies for their project. It uses databases, powerpoint, microsoft word. It goes deep into all 3 of these as well. For example, it has them making a flyer using Microsoft Word something that forces them to have a much deeper understanding of its technology and multiple uses.

WAVES AND SOUND WEBQUEST- The technophile would not be happy at all with this project. It is very long and drawn out. It takes way too much time for what is being learned. The students do not need to focus in that much on such a demanding subject that they will not be using for the rest of their education or lives. It does not address the students growing technology needs. The technophile wants a project that introduces new technologies and allows students to practice their skills using the web and all of the interesting things you can do and present with a website.

The Top Ten Video

This is very different than anything I experience in my education at the K-12 level. For the most part, we did not have this kind of technology. More importantly, teachers did not realize how important it would be to have media literacy as students progressed in their education and prepared to enter the real world. We just didn't have the foresight to know that almost every job now requires knowledge in technology. My learning style is definitely found in this unit, it is very hands-on and the students get to play a major role in making every step of the project. They learned by making mistakes and trying different things. I am not surprised that textbooks were not used for this project. I love the fact that they did not use textbooks, it allows students to be more hands-on, more competent in finding information, and saves money. My teaching philosophy is to use textbooks as little as possible so I would definitely be in favor of this teaching style. I think some barriers would definitely be finding credible information and would be very time consuming to research every single site to make sure the information we gathered to teach was credible and accurate. I think another barrier is having enough technology in your classroom or in the children's homes. The idea is great and I would definitely try to make it work in my classroom.

Blogging and Having a Blog

I like having a blog for this class for many reasons. One of the main reasons is we can all share our views and they can be accessed by everyone in the classroom as well as anyone else who comes across our blog. I also like the fact that our views and work can be stored and viewed at anytime. It also provides great experience if we feel that using a blog will help our students for whatever we may be teaching. Blogging can definitely help a teacher be more effective. It helps a teacher connect to their students as well as keeping them inform. The connection is big because once a student feels comfortable with you, can relate to you, and trust that you have their best interest at heart, teaching becomes so much more effective. I actually probably will continue to blog after this class, I would love to put up a bible verse of the day and maybe once a week put down what I learned in a bible study or if I prepared a sermon that week I could put it up as well for others to see. It is a good way to share the gospel for people who may not be able to attend church. One of the media literacies we have used blogging is appropriation. We have learned how to take images and music and to make a video to get across a message on our blog. I love being able to have the creative ability with this media literacy.

Learning Style Test

I found out that I am a very engaged learner, I like to be a part of the learning. I learn best by hearing and seeing things visually more than just taking notes. Also, I like to experience what I am learning, I learn best by trying things out or having someone show me how to do them in the correct way. The test defnitely was accurate and matched my previous thoughts about how I have always learned most efficiently. I think the test showed as an educator we should find out how our students learn best and try to adapt and include as many methods as we can to help all students. We all learn differently and more efficiently in certain areas, so teachers should be careful not to lock on to any one certain style.

Reading on the Rise Statistic

There has been a 21% increase in literacy among ages 18-24, which is a dramatic change from the 20% decrease just six years ago. It definitely lessens the legitimacy of the argument that technology such as the internet, cell phone, etc has hampered literacy among younger people in our country. It is also hard to question the data when the sample size for this study was more than 20 times the average sample size for similar studies. This article and its data definitely contradicts that new technology has forced our children to lose literacy in their most important years of learning.

140 Character Limit

I don't like the limit on characters, but it forces us to communicate efficiently and Twittering and texting can help. We can't afford to waste language.

Twitter translation poem

An apple a dy keeps d dr awy

WHen I was little my mom always told me if I swallowed my gum that worms would grow in my belly.

\_/ lots of OJ

treat othas hw ud wan2B treatd

uv 2 giv respect 2 gt respect

Presentation3

View more presentations from bonds444life.

Credibility of a Website???

I chose to validate the credibility of http://www.dhmo.org/

The domain name .org would allow you to think that they have a lot of information on what is being presented, but it would also warn you that there could be a huge bias. The author is the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division and United States Environmental Assessment Center which would definitely add to the websites credibility. There is contact info to email the organization. Their goal and purpose is stated to provide information through an unbiased data clearinghouse and open public forum for discussion. I think this adds to the websites credibility of reliable information. They are trying to stress that they are presenting facts and data based on research that is unbiased. It is affiliated with many other credible organizations and there are links to these organizations on the site. The missions and goals are clearly identified, but there is no personal staff or officers to identify or contact. This website is trying to reach citizens who want informed on an issue. The advertisements on the website don't seem to lessen its credibility or value, they seem to be normal ads and keep the sites validity. This site is current and updated daily. All the information and research seems credible and reliable on the website, but there is no way of researching where it came from and who it came from. My overall review of this website would be that it is a valid website but I wouldn't be giving a clear cut recommendation to someone because of a few red flags. It just seems fishy to me that there is no individual to be contacted or accredited with any of this info or research. Also, the fact that we can't identify where the research is coming from or who exactly it is coming from raises some concerns. I think this site passes the majority of the validity test, but fails in some of the most important aspects which would make lead to believe that it is in fact biased and its credibility is somewhat lacking. You can't judge a book by its cover saying fits this website perfectly. To the common information consumer most of this would go unnoticed, but we can now know how to identify whether a source is reliable or not. My vote for this website would be that it is not valid and reliable.

21st century writing

I still think schools are doing a much better job of incorporating technology and preparing the students to take new modern jobs in the real world as they leave high school. This wasn't the case when I was in high school, but there has been a big push from administrative levels and the government to make learning more technology based. There are many things that can hamper having students prepared for jobs in the 21st century. Many concens with preparing them properly can be the costly aspect of instituting technology throughout the schools and also keeping the technology up to date. Also, administrators and teachers have to understand and be trained in this technology which is also very costly. The important thing is that education continues to progress and adapt to the world around us.

The pictures in these articles are so different and they directed towards portraying a certain image of this situation based on their writing. The first picture shows Obama upbeat with others ready to fight the crisis. The picture is also taken from a distance in the first picture, his body language is confident and the angle of the picture lets you see a broad view of the scene. All these things lead to the message the author wants to get across. In the first article and picture they want to focus on Obama being strong and fighting the battle with plenty of help, they all look confident and ready to work. The camera angle and distance let you know that this just isn't Obama's problem and Obama alone won't be able to fix the problem.

The Second picture portrays Obama distressed and he is the only one in the picture. The angle is looking down on him and his body language isn't confident. In this picture they use all of the same techniques as the first to get the point of their article across. They are trying to portray that this is just Obama's problem and he alone has to fix it for his future success. Him being alone in the picture stresses that along with the facial expressions and body language of the photograph. They are trying to isolate Obama in this picture to get their point across.



Lesson plan that develops critical media literacy

Here is a link to the website with the lesson plan....
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/magazine-redux-exercise-critical-214.html

 This activity will help students learn to pick up media messages that are a part of our everyday lives. They will also learn about the differences between a print magazine and its online counterpart to develop their critical media literacy. They should be able to pick up why an online counterpart of a magazine may market to a younger audience or a more technical savvy audience. Realizing the differences of things like this will help them recognize why other forms of media use different techniques and advertising to reach a certain audience. They will learn that alot of it is based on selling products to the type of consumer that is reading the media.

Relationship between Digital media literacy and traditional literacy

I think a key is to engage the students in learning, the more they are interested in something the more they will learn. Traditional literacy could be very dull and uninteresting to a student unless the teacher had a creative way to make it interesting. Teaching digital media literacy has a distinct advantage in that kids love to be on the computer and they know they will be directly using these tools every single day. Critical thinking is also a huge part to digital media literacy and is something that is not quite stressed as much in traditional literacy. Educators are always going to have to adapt to the world around them to effectively reach their students at an optimal level. So english teachers and general education teachers will have to embrace the teaching of digital media literacy or risk having their students unprepared for advancement and learning at a lower level.

Digital Story or Research Paper?

I want to start out by saying both, obviously, are very useful for an educational setting. The main question is can a digital story substitute for a 15 page research paper. I feel like you could meet a lot of the standards by writing a digital story instead of a research paper, but both have their drawbacks. I think with a digital story you have the advantage of being more collaborative and being able to share and have your story viewed by more people. I definitely think I would use both as a teacher, but I just love the advantages of digital media. I love that others can contribute and share ideas. You won't have the problem of the paper ever getting lost or torn up. Also, I think students are more interested and more inclined to do a better job if they know others will see their work and they know it is going to be posted online. Digital stories are a great way to have students brought out of the monotony of everyday class and assignments.

Texting doesn't affect spelling

Here is a link to the article if you would like to check it out
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902878.html

Simply put, I don't agree with this article at all. It is based on a study of only 40 students and concludes that texting and instant messaging doesn't affect students spelling. It claims that students know when to use text lingo and spelling and when to use proper English language and spelling. Obviously, though if students are constantly communicating through texting, talking, and instant messaging, they aren't seeing the written English language very much and will have trouble with spelling. It is proven that a lot of us are visual learners and without seeing the language written correctly very often, we are bound to become worse at spelling some words.

Here are other links for literacy videos as well......

Are Digital Media Changing Language?

Here is a link to the article if you would like to check it out......
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/Are-Digital-Media-Changing-Language%C2%A2.aspx

I would be more concerned about students over reliance on text messaging and digital media. I dont feel that it takes away any or that much from there vocabulary or knowledge, if anything I feel like it probably hurts their social skills and creates a lot of wasted time where they could be learning through experiences and real world conversations. I just hope the reliance of digital media would be put into perspective, it is definitely something I enjoy and find useful but I am careful to make sure I do not spend too much time using it.

Survey Results

The Joy of Blogging

Here is a link if you would like to check out this article.....
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/The-Joy-of-Blogging.aspx

I found this article very interesting and thought it was a great idea to have students start a blog at a young age. I think the collaboaration aspect of blogging and receiving comments really accelerates their learning. Having retired teachers and university students comment on these blogs and posts really made it meaningful in my opinion. Most learning is going to be done through another sources' knowledge and experience so I thought it was really cool that these 5th graders were learning from teachers and students all over the world. My only concern would be students relying too much on technology to relate to the world, we already have major social and fitness problems in this country with kids and its no coincidence that their abundant use of myspace, facebook, blogs, etc. contributes to these problems. A key thing I would do as a teacher is to encourage them to only use these social networks in moderation.

My survey

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEk1aUJjU3dfV1YwQnlQNjdsdVowdnc6MQ

My resume

Teaching without a Text Article

Here is a link to the article if you would like to check it out...... http://www.edutopia.org/no-books-no-problem

I thought this article was very interesting and showed that the author was not afraid to buck the norm and be different eventhough it could cause waves at his workplace. It is obvious in life that if you stand up for what you believe in and it goes against the status quo, there are always going to be consequences to take into consideration. I am not sure how much freedom the author has with his employer as an educator, but obviously to take such a stand against using a textbook, he had to weigh in the consequences of that stand and I respect him for holding onto what he believes is right. Education today has become very redundant and less and less innovative. Students are very disinterested the majority of the time and most teachers as well and the reasons why are described in this article. True learning takes place with hands on experience and allowing students to think outside the box with activies and not just reading a textbook. I commend the author for taking a stand and truly caring about the learning that goes on in his classroom. I hope in the coming years schools and universities would rely more on students and educators and less on textbooks. I'm sure learning will increase and students will be more prepared for whatever their next mission in life may be.

Reason for Teaching

Hi I'm Matt Sandor and I am from Fairmont, West Virginia. I plan on teaching Physical Education and would prefer to teach it at the high school level. I know God called me to be a teacher and help out the youth of our great country. I hope to be a positive influence in students lives espescially ones who do not have mothers and fathers raising them right or not giving them the proper attention they need and deserve. I hope to be a father figure in my students lives and I hope they can see Christ who lives in me by my love and compassion.