Podcast!

The following link is a cool podcast I did about an article I found online over a controversial educational issue.

CLT Visit

So for our last class, we got the chance to visit the Center for Learning and Technology on the first floor of the library. Here, there are tons of resources made available to us that could be used to get creative for any of our classes here at Trinity. The main areas or rooms that we were interested in learning about were: the Studios@CLT, the Digital Audio Lab, the Media Presentation Lab, the Video Conference Center, and the Innovation Studio.

The Studios@CLT is the first open area you see when walking into CLT. Its impressive workstations have high-end computers, including both Macintosh and Windows. This area can come in handy when needing to print out anything of higher quality, because there are both color and black and white laser printers, as well as scanners. And to top it all off, this area also has audio and video digitizing capability, enabling you to really get creative with any school projects. With such a wide range of multimedia authoring and editing software, it's vital to become familiar with these resources in order to later incorporate technology into our future classrooms.

The Digital Audio Lab is another really cool area, only this one is a private room! This would be a great place to complete our podcast assignment for example, because there are all the tools needed here in order to record, digitize and even manipulate audio materials. This room is used by both students and faculty members to do just that, and integrate it into presentations and projects. The equipment here is also extremely high-tech of course, and includes a Windows workstation, a synthesizer, and digital audio importing and editing hardware. A variety of audio sources are also available here that provide digital and analog import capability, as well as sound editing software. This sounds like a really cool place for anyone, but especially for those interested in pursuing a music career!

The Media Presentation Lab is a smaller room used mainly for viewing and evaluating presentations developed in the Studios. This room would be ideal for practicing presenting a group project, because it can hold up to fifteen people and is equipped with computer and video projection facilities. As teachers, these type of presentations are also great practice for whenever we'll have to prepare lectures for our class. Also, with all the other resources in CLT, we'll be able to make our classes interesting and interactive, instead of just mere lectures.

The Video Conference Center can accommodate up to thirty-two people. This room contains satellite down-link and Polycom two-way video conference facilities. This room can definitely come in handy for, well- video conferencing of course! As teachers, we could use these tools to introduce students to other kids from other places around the world. Video conferencing could be the new and improved way of having pen pals!

And last but not least, there is the Innovation Studio. This is where Mr. Chapman was kind enough to give us a quick overview of CLT! This area is where most of the faculty and staff in course management software undergo training. Thanks to them, we have such a great TLEARN and are able to stay connected with our community.

As you can see, we are lucky enough to have all kinds of resources at the tip of our fingers! Not only is CLT helpful for class projects and presentations, but it will also be a great tool for preparing us for our careers as teachers. Becoming familiar with all of these resources is definitely to our advantage, and I look forward to getting started.

Teacher/School/District Webpages

So the two webpages I decided to check out were: Miss Stemmermann's Class page and the Willowdale Elementary School page. Compared to my elementary school's webpage, both of these pages were very elaborate and well thought out, but I suppose I should go into more detail than that on what I found exactly.

Miss Stemmermann's Class webpage was my all time favorite! I think this teacher went way beyond and made the extra effort to make her class page accessible, practical, and extremely cute! For being a webpage specifically for just one class, it was elaborate and far from boring. I loved how she included links to different pages, but found a way of doing so creatively instead of just listing them out on the left hand side. Other than her class information, she included a link to the elementary school's main page, as well as one to the Landry's Step Team, which seems to be an extracurricular club. Also, very importantly, she included a link to her email on the main page and made it large enough to stand out and be seen easily. From a parents point of view, I can see how having this contact information would be a huge plus. Other links included were classroom related, and had student portfolios, links to helpful practice sites, word wall words, weekly newsletters, class podcasts, pictures of the students, a calendar, and a teacher profile. Another helpful detail was that she added a Return to Home link on each page so you wouldn't have to worry about backtracking every time you strayed away from the main page. I liked the fact that parents could find their child's portfolio and see what they worked on a specific day. The Kindergarten Information page also included all kinds of important information for parents, and categorized each topic in order to be able to quick reference them. This little trick kept this information-packed page from being too tedious. Although all of the pages were made with really bright colors, I don't think the designs were too busy and found that it's playfulness was appropriate for a kindergarten class. Overall, I think this webpage is great, and user-friendly for anyone who would want to check it out.

The next page I scoped out was the Willowdale Elementary School webpage. This one was also well done, but not as fun as the one previously mentioned. In part, this page was very different because it had to include all of the school's information, as opposed to just that of one classroom. The home page is very appealing, and immediately shows you the school's upcoming events. At the bottom of the page is the school's address and phone number, which once again, I think is great for parents. The photo albums on the home page also makes it more interesting and inviting for outsiders who want to see what the school's all about. Another thing I like about this page is the small calendar on the left hand side. If you click on one of the dates highlighted in gray, the special activities going on that day will pop up. This is quick and accessible if looking for information for a specific day, and is great for parents who like to avoid browsing the whole website for just a specific piece of information. Although this page has tabs on the left hand side just like any other page, it's not too overbearing, and is still done in a visually appealing manner. There is a tab specifically for parents that includes resources such as lunch money information, weekly newsletters, spelling words, and parenting tips. Several of these links can be found again under different tabs along the home page as well. The staff tab includes the links to each staff member's email. One thing I found could be helpful or applicable for the students was under the Special Programs tab. A character education framework called Character Counts seems to be implemented at the school, and included small clips for each character pillar. The clips are of children learning a lesson, and could be shown to students in order to give them an example of the wrong and the right way of going about a certain situation. In my opinion, the clips are a bit slow or maybe a bit long for the point they're trying to get across, but the idea is good nonetheless. I also liked the fact that each grade level got its own tab. A student could go to their grade level and find helpful links for all of the class subjects. Also, parents could go here and check out class photos, student work, and the teacher's blog. One thing they could add here is the teacher's contact information. I think this webpage is pretty easy to navigate, and could be easily browsed by anyone in the wider community.

Like I had mentioned before, my elementary school's webpage looks rather dull in comparison with these two. Despite this, Copeland Elementary's page does cover the basics. The school's contact information is also found at the bottom of the page, and it includes tabs to school, curriculum, and district information. The main problem with this webpage is its lack of visual appeal. There is too much empty white space, and too much clutter at the same time. I think it would help to spread out the information on the main page by grouping it differently. This way, the links would be easier to distinguish from one another, and could actually catch a viewer's attention. I also think the entire site could use some more pictures, specifically of the students. Parents always love to know what children do at school, and what better way to fill them in than with pictures? After all, a picture is worth a thousand words! One thing well done on this page is the Faculty Directory link. The faculty is listed alphabetically or can also be quick-referenced. Each faculty member has a link to their welcome page (profile), along with a link to their email, and other useful information such as helpful handouts, newsfeeds, calendars, games, and guides. Overall, this page isn't difficult to navigate either, but definitely isn't as enjoyable as the other two!

Reflection

After completing the Annotated Bibliography assignment, I've realized how important evaluating sources really is. Even though the easy way to finish a research paper is to just Google the topic and write about the first page that pops up, I'm beginning to understand why teachers are so against it.

First of all, with the availability of the web these days, there's no way we can trust whatever some random person posts. It's extremely important to make sure the information we're gathering is credible and coming from a reliable source. (This doesn't mean I actually enjoy taking the time that is involved in completing these assignments properly, but at least I understand the point.)

Also, depending on the type of assignment, it's good to know how up to date the information is. If we're researching on recent studies of a particular topic, it makes no sense to be referring to articles that are over 10 years old. All it takes to do the job well done is a little time and care.

As a teacher, I can see how evaluating sources can be a very useful tool. Being able to determine whether or not a source is credible is very important for me, especially if I have to be able to show kids how to do so themselves. Getting kids in the habit of completing research assignments properly at an early age will be a huge advantage for them in the long run.

One thing I did notice about this assignment, was that the articles I found most interesting weren't necessarily the ones that would be considered the most useful, or relevant. Even though the data and statistical articles didn't exactly fall under an exciting read, I realize that many times these articles with the objective information, or "hard, cold facts" are the ones that can better prove a point in a paper.