Let there be teachers

 Hi friends, It has been awhile.  Reading week has given me some time just to relax and catch up on a few household things, oh yeah and my baby turned 5 months.

I decided with my time that I would ask my group “who would like to take the lead and create the Google Classroom account“? I decided rather than send that email, I would just take it into my own hands. I recalled that as a group we couldn’t use the RBE Google Classrooms because one of our group members is with another division.  I decided the best place to start would be to reread the Google+ Community posts to use the to figure out how to use the education.uregina accounts.  I scrolled through all the posts and managed to find what I was looking for. Ohh and now looking back, there is a search option at the top. I then went to create the Google Classroom account, all went well, or so I thought.  Setting up the initial info was just a matter of filling in a few feilds and a few clicks.  I attempted to invite teachers to my class by adding my group members using their email addresses. My first road block was that they were not contacts, so I went back to the Google menu and added them.  I then tried to invite my new contacts again, and it wouldn’t work.  I then realized I would have to track down their uregina user names.  Aimee replied to my email right away and I added her as a teacher, and voila it worked. Now just to wait for the other two gals!!

Tell me if you ran into any road block while trying to get your project up and running!

Extra, extra, read all about it…… or just watch the video!

This week our blog prompt asked us to look at pedagogical differences of various types of media. Like many other classmates, I will be looking back on my experiences as a student. I have always been challenged by reading text.  As a child I struggled learning to read, my mom even hired a reading tutor to alleviate my frustrations. Stephanie mentioned that in her undergrad she began to enjoy reading, for me the opposite I struggle reading chapters, my eyes get heavy and it all turns into a blur and I want to fall asleep.  I even experimented with Kurzwell, having it read to me, but the voices were too boring and I had a hard time following what was being said.

Roxanne’s post, made me think back to my use of technology in my schooling experience, I recall having Mac computers in elementary school but we rarely used them.  I did manage to figure out how to use the Printshop program to make cards, banners and certificate.  In high school, I took a typing class but we used a typewriter and created cartoon pictures by following written directions of letters and spacing. Although I do recall, my English teacher had us go on the computer and practice typing with these boxes over our hands so we would learn where the keys were, I remember her saying hands on home row.  I did sign up for a Practical Applied Arts in grade 11 and 12; I managed to do all right in the computer class rotation.  We had small assignments such as internet scavenger hunts and sending emails.  I still use my Hotmail account that I created in that class, and lucky for me it was not dorky like powerpuffgirl@hotmail.com my younger cousin had to change his as his first email account was spongebobjtd@hotmail.com.  Teachers really did not incorporate much media into their classes maybe a video or a film on the old projector.

After reading the section 7.4 in the  Bates text I realize that video is a much richer medium than either text or audio. Video can be used as presentational material.  I have always been a visual learner and hands on learner, learning through pictures, demos, videos, and doing an activity.  When a teacher can not provide a learning experience for the class that’s when media comes into play. One thing that really stuck out to me is how Bates notes that video can substitute for a field visit, by:

• providing students with an accurate, comprehensive visual picture , in order to place the topic under study in context;
• demonstrating the relationship between different elements of a system under study
• through the use of models, animations or simulations, to teach certain advanced scientific or technological concepts

I automatically thought of how Ms. Frizzle takes the students on an adventure but we the audience learn through media exposure to the video.

I believe that Roxanne makes a valid point that teachers need to be incorporating more technology and media into the classrooms, there is never enough. By allowing use of media and technology in the classroom it gets students ready for the real world and come to understand and explore the internet in a safe guided manner. Like Roxanne and Loraine I use Kahoot for changing up quizzes and assessment, Kahoot allows me to check for understanding while talking through correct answers.  The students even asked “can you make a Kahoot” or even to create their own.

As an adult learner in an online class, I am finding that technology is allowing me to connect and create with others who are not even near me. I enjoy everything that Alec and Katia share, I am also forever learning from my peers in the Google+ community.

Well friends please let me know which media type you learn best from! Even better share an media learning experience.

 

My thoughts on Adobe Spark

Hello friends, this week I figured I would check out all the hype with the content creation tool Adobe Spark. I had a lot of fun playing around making my own Adobe Page.  I used it to present my findings.  It was super simple and easy to share to my blog.  I would say that I played around with it for about 30 minutes.  In that time I walked away from my computer and it saved my page for when I came back.
Click here to check out the page I made 

I also made a post.  It was super simple, I found a quote and with just a few pushes of a button, I was able to create this cool looking meme.

Final thoughts on Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark is pretty cool.  You can easily upload to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or just use it as a photo editor.

Pros

• free
• easy to use
• a tool for everyone
• no download or install
• high quality end result
• 300,000 royalty free images to use

Cons

• Need a up to date computer to use the video feature
• mobile is only available for Iphone

I hope you find a few minutes to check out Adobe Spark.  From this moment forward I would much rather use Adobe Spark than Powerpont or Prezi.  I find Powerpoint to be so very plain and Prezi makes me motion sick haha!  Let me know your experiences!!