Blog Post 11

For Blog Post #11 I was assigned to view two separate video’s: Little Kids...Big Potential, and Skype Interview With Ms. Cassidy. Ms. Cassidy teaches a first grade class in Moose Jaw, Canada. Ms. Cassidy incorporates technology in her classroom to enhance her students’ ability to comprehend multiple types of information. I took a look at Ms. Cassidy's Blog and discovered that a 1st grade class in Greece viewed one of her class’ videos and made a video of their own in reply to Ms. Cassidy’s class video. Through incorporating technology in her classroom Ms. Cassidy has introduced her students to cultures and information that they would never have been able to “experience” without the use of technology.She has provided her students with learning tools that encourage students to learn by having fun and communicating with others. Ms. Cassidy presented many tools in her video that most people are unsure about using. My opinion is that educators should be willing to use any tactic that could better enhance a child's learning. Mr. Kemp, my C4T assigned teacher, spoke about this when he published a blog post which stated, “My belief is that we can be better, we have to better, we will be better. But we’ve got to be willing to step outside of our comfort zones, we have to be willing to admit it’s a process and we have to learn from all perspectives”. I definitely learned a great deal of information from Ms. Cassidy’s video and Skype interview.

Little Kids Big Potential

The first video that was published to YouTube by Ms. Cassidy’s first grade class basically described the type tools that Ms. Cassidy has her students use to enhance their comprehension of the material. The first tool that was described by Ms.Cassidy’s class was blogging. Some of the most emphasized curriculum in elementary education is reading and writing. Students can be taught to read and write all day long; but at the end of the day, if the student did not enjoy reading and writing, then the child's chance of continuing the art of writing will be slim to none. Blogging provides students with the opportunity to see the importance and the WORLD WIDE influence of their voice. If a student were to write a paper that only they and the teacher would see, then they would write for no other reason than “passing” the assignment. When children are encouraged to write for the world to see, and their peers and family are given the opportunity to read their work, they will go to great effort to provide the reader with a great read. Blogging helps children understand how fun writing can be, and also allows for students to encourage one another to continue writing. Positive affirmation is the perfect way to encourage anyone to continue doing anything. I also love the fact that Ms. Cassidy has taught her students to write positive comments which will greatly motivate students to write. Communicating is the most important aspect of the professional world, and blogging definitely provides students with the tools they need to communicate their ideas.

The second tool that was discussed in Ms. Cassidy’s video was the “web page”. There are many different ways that a class can be enhanced, but the best way to enhance a class is through a class webpage. I personally feel that every class should be enhanced through a web page. Classes that do not include technology can even be enhanced by web pages. Teachers can post multiple things on a class webpage that can be beneficial for the students such as: assignment lists, assignment instructions, links to videos, links to class lectures, links to historical sources, links to student blogs, and many more things can be utilized through a class webpage. Web pages can be utilized by all age groups, and they can be used for all curriculums. This is a teaching tactic that I believe should be required of every educator because it provides for both teacher and student organization. The third tool that Ms. Cassidy uses in her classroom is Wiki. Before undertaking this assignment I had no clue what a wiki was nor how to use it. Wikis in Plain English is a video which helped me to fully understand what wikis are, and how to use them. It was through Ms.Cassidy’s wiki that her class was able to interact with Dr. Stranges EDM310 class. A wiki enables a class to communicate with other people and other classrooms around the world. This tool allows students to broaden their knowledge of the assigned curriculum by getting feedback from people who are passionate or also highly educated about the very things that they are studying. The possibilities of using wikis in a classroom is unlimited, and it allows students to realize how important each topic of study is to people around the world. If a student’s only intake of academic information is through lecture and a text book, then they will not realize the absolute importance of each assigned topic.

The fourth tool that Ms. Cassidy uses in her classroom is “video”. Video is a tool that is used in limited proportion when it comes to education, but is the one tool that can provide students with a great opportunity for learning. I am currently studying to be a history teacher, and I can foresee unlimited opportunities in which videos can help my class comprehend the assigned material. In high school, I enjoyed it when a teacher would assign me the task of reenacting a scene from a play or a historic event. Teachers who have created a class website have the opportunity of posting student created videos onto their website, and I can not think of any better way for students to become more prideful about their work than when videos are posted for the world to see. Another tool that Ms. Cassidy used with her class is Skype which uses video feed to communicate. Skype provides students the opportunity to communicate face to face with someone, rather than the traditional reading assignments. As previously stated an important concept of student understanding is communication, and any technology that allows students to directly communicate with professionals or other researchers should be encouraged. The last technology mentioned by Ms. Cassidy was the Nintendo DS. I can understand the benefits associated with incorporating the Nintendo DS with younger students, but I am slightly questionable about their benefit with older students. Students see the Nintendo DS as a fun way to learn, and I do like the fact that the teacher can regulate exactly what games each student is playing.

Each form of technology that was mentioned in Ms. Cassidy’s video can be extremely beneficial to any classroom, and determining a favorite form of technology would be extremely difficult. All technology mentioned in the video can be used together to enhance student comprehension. I do feel that each classroom should have a class webpage, which would absolutely provide resources and the organization that every class needs. The webpage is the center for distributing, collecting, organizing, and sharing all of the tools mentioned earlier. The technology that I plan to utilize the most as an educator (as long as I am permitted to) is class blogs. History can be a hard subject to teach because history revolves around reading and writing, and one technique that I think might enhance student reading and writing is blogging. Every writing assignment that I assign could be greatly enhanced through blogging. Chances are that the majority of my students will not become doctorate level historians, but they will absolutely become professionals who will blog in the future. My goal as an educator is to provide students with the tools that they will need to succeed in life, and by utilizing blogs in my classroom students will learn to research, write, read, and comment. Blogging will absolutely help students in this present technological era.

Skype Interview

Watching Ms. Cassidy’s class video and looking over Ms. Cassidy’s blog provided me with much information about Ms. Cassidy’s approach to education, but nothing helped me understand Ms. Cassidy’s view of technology quite like viewing the Skype interview that she had with Dr. Strange and his students. Dr. Strange asked Ms. Cassidy multiple questions about her personal experience with technology and how technology has benefited her class. Dr. Strange asked Ms. Cassidy a few questions that I have been wondering about all semester. Listed below are some questions that Dr. Strange asked which stuck out to me.

1.)Through viewing the video I was given the understanding that Ms. Cassidy’s students have a good understanding of the technology that Is used in their class, and Dr. Strange took the words right out of my mouth when he asked “how long does it take for your students to learn how to use this technology?”. I have always wondered how technology can be utilized in secondary education if students have never been introduced to technology, and Ms. Cassidy’s response to Dr. Strange’s question helped clarify this for me. Ms. Cassidy explained that it takes her students about a year to fully comprehend the technology that she uses in her class, and she added that some of the students in her video was from her previous class who had already mastered the the assigned curriculum. I encourage elementary educators to teach children these technological tools, in order that high school teachers will be able to better enhance their class.

2.)Lots of things might be beneficial in the classroom, but if the administration is not in full support of an educator's approach to educating, then the educator will ultimately be restricted in educating. An important question that Dr. Strange asked Ms. Cassidy was, “Is the administration supportive where you work?” Ms. Cassidy replied to the question by stating , “No one has tried to discourage me, although some have not necessarily encouraged me”. She went on to add that some kids are sent home with a waiver before they are allowed access to the technology that she uses in her classroom, and she added that parents are generally extremely supportive of the technology used to educate their children.

3.) Dr. Strange asked Ms. Cassidy what her advice would be to students who see technology as unimportant in reference to education. Her answer sparked a process of thinking for me. Ms. Cassidy responded by saying, “they are wrong!” She went on to add that the old tools of educating will not continue to work, and the old tools of educating will ultimately handicap children. I do agree with Ms. Cassidy’s opinion of the future of education; although, I do see the “old tools” of educating as being beneficial as long as they are used in balance with technology. Regardless of public opinion, technology is the future, it is here to stay, and it will be the future of education; although, the inclusion of technology in education will be a slow, steady process. The inclusion of technology will be a process that will utilize the old tools of education along with the new tools of education.

4.)As mentioned in the beginning of this post, I did not fully agree with everything that Ms. Cassidy mentioned in her interview with Dr. Strange, and I would like to briefly write about that SLIGHT disagreement. One of Dr. Strange’s students asked the question, “With all of the stuff on the internet how do you protect your students?” Ms. Cassidy responded by stating that there are two different issues when it comes to protecting students: protecting them, and protecting what they see. Ms. Cassidy protects her students by not allowing them to put their full name on the internet, nor allowing them to put any personal information on the internet. Ms. Cassidy protects what her students see by telling them what they should click on and what they should not click on. In actuality I am in full agreement with Ms. Cassidy view; although, I do feel that child protection should be slightly more involved than just teaching students what not to click on. The students should LEARN what they should and should not click on, but I feel that schools should provide strict parental controls for any student that has access to the internet. Students should also be closely monitored while using the internet. Sure, students need access to certain websites that contain inappropriate material (such as Youtube), and this is when teachers should closely monitor the content that each student views and instill great decision making qualities in each student. I am not in total opposition to Ms. Cassidy’s view, but I do feel that student protection is of utmost importance when in comes to their access to the internet.

I absolutely enjoyed viewing Ms. Cassidy’s approach to education, and I absolutely was able to draw some important information from examining Ms. Cassidy’s teaching tactics. Please provide me with your feedback on how you feel about the technology mentioned in this blog post!