Comprehensive Assignment 8

With this weeks reading, we begin to consider the behind the scenes components of adding technology into the classroom, or the school.  Having easy access to the internet can be a blessing and a curse.  The ability to incorporate up-to-date information at the click of a button is wonderful, but there are sinister caveats to this world of plenty.  The reality is that even though the school may have altruistic uses for the internet, they have to prepare their network and its users for the minefield that the internet can be.  Acceptable use policies, avoidance of inappropriate materials for users, firewalls, spyware/virus detectors, and proper equipment that will allow ALL students access are just a few things to keep in mind when making the school internet ready.  The book recommends creating a strategic plan that will help the school consider all of its needs and make a plan that will keep them on task, on time, and on budget.

Though I am currently not teaching, I have spent a short time in a classroom in Madison Central High School, in Madison County, as a part of a class, and my husband also works in the IT department for Madison Central.  So, I was able to get a little bit of an inside look behind the scenes.  I am not sure if this is the case for all schools in Madison County, but at the high school, they use Norton Anti-virus to help protect the individual computers.  The system is also set-up with a proxy server, which prevents access to social networking sites, pornographic sites, game websites, and many others.  Additionally, you must have system administrator access in order to download any programs to the individual computers—this also includes updating any current software on the system.

Of course, there could always be more protection.  To my knowledge, the computers do not currently have firewalls set-up except for what Norton may provide.  I also think that have multiple means to hunt out malicious materials already downloaded to you system is a good preventative measure, just in case something does manage to get through and prevents the computer from being accessed.  This could be necessary in instances when a teacher, student, or administrator use a jump drive in order to access materials that they could not download from their email.  Since viruses, worms, and Trojan horses can still be introduced to new systems through the use of an external hard drive, or even a cd/dvd with corrupted material, it may become important to have those additional levels of protection to prevent the malware from spreading throughout the entire network.

Week 7 Comprehensive Assignment

This week we read two chapters one about using the web for teaching and learning and another about audiovisual technologies.  The web options that were discussed in the first chapter are some of the more advanced options for use.  Specifically, I have been interested in wikis, which I found out more about this week.  It is great to see how other educators use this sophisticated, and yet easily accessible, forum for learning and communication.  The wiki allows all participants to provide information, make corrections, and basically communicate with a group of interested people.  This means that faculty, staff and students can work on a joint wiki focused on a topic of choice; they can also incorporate community members, even other classrooms or communities across the country or the world to have them contribute to the overall process.  Wikis are very versatile because they allow everyone to have a means of impacting the final result.  The wiki allows for input, correction, and tracking of both to show how one’s students might, or might not, be participating.  The beauty of the wiki is its fluidity.  When used properly, the wiki is almost a life of it’s own that evolves with interaction from all of its participants.

Keeping this information in mind, there are some basic software programs that I will most likely use in the classroom when I start teaching.   First, and probably most commonly, I imagine I will use Microsoft Word.  Secondly, I foresee using Microsoft PowerPoint fairly regularly.  Both pieces of software are easily accessible within a majority of homes that have computers, and are readily available within the computer labs, and classrooms.  The primary reason for use of these applications is the need for the student to become familiar with both programs’ use before going on to college, where both are used heavily.

Used as a presentation tool, PowerPoint can be great or dismal.  Obviously, when used correctly, PowerPoint can be a great way to add visuals into a class discussion, a means of creating an interactive lesson, or even be used as a component of an exam when certain physical media is not available.  When used incorrectly, as happens too often, it can be a great way to put your audience to sleep.  Luckily, I happen to have had a lot of experience with this program and will hopefully be able to avoid the common pitfalls of excessive text, inappropriate visuals, reading from the screen, and poor color or background choices.

Week 6 Comprehensive Assignment

There are a plethora of online tools to help the teacher educate.  Of course there are basic resources like dictionaries, thesauruses, maps, all sorts of reference material; on top of that you can find video and audio files that can explain a topic in colorful and catchy ways.  Finally, there are multitudes of websites, good and bad, that can delve into specific subjects that the teacher may not have the ability to do in a classroom setting.  This week, I learned about one tool that can help bring all of that info together into one neat and interactive package.  It is called a webquest.  The webquest is the brain child of Dr. Bernie Dodge, who, in 1995, wanted to find an interactive option for additional or alternative learning opportunities.  As he said on the website he created to help teachers with this media tool, Questgarden, Dodge’s goal “was [and is] to create lessons that make good use of the web, engage learners in applying higher level thinking to authentic problems, and use everyone's time well.”

So you may ask, what is creating a webquest like?  Well, it is probably one of the most grueling assignments I have ever worked on.  Depending on your discipline and age group coming up with a webquest idea may not be too hard.  Unfortunately, being a science teacher to high schoolers, does not easily lend itself to useable topics.  The idea of a webquest needs to not be strictly data/fact based memorization, which tends to be much of the subject matter for that grade level.  So, I had to step outside of the box.  Honestly, I don’t know that what I created could ever really be used in any classroom setting, but there are components of it that I am very proud of, and would love to see the results!  I found the most difficult part of the creation process to be working with the site itself.  Some aspects of Questgarden are quite user-friendly, while others are infuriating to deal with.  All in all, I would have to say that, once I was more familiar and comfortable with the site’s quirks, I was able to come up with a webquest that I am very proud of.  After much deliberation, and with some help of my co-workers, I was able to incorporate the recent discover of Gliese 581g, a little planet 20 light years away, into a quest of discovery about current Earth population, and its affects on the planet’s ecosystem.  The quest is set in the future, and the students are set on a task to research a planet for repopulation.  If you would like to see my work you can go to: http://questgarden.com/109/78/6/101003114741/ .