OTEN Conference

I attended the OTEN conference. The two lectures I heard were Podcasting in the Elementary Classroom and Visual Learning with Concept Maps.

Yodio - OTEN

My Favorite Web2.0 Tools

Web2.0 refers to software, files, and services that can be accessed online from any location or computer at all times. The potential impact web2.0 tools can have on my influence as an educator is vast. It opens a world of possibilities for creative avenues of teaching within the classroom, which make incorporating students interests and increasing motivation easier. Children love working with technology and amazing programs like these, which provide kids with a plethora of ideas and resources. Some web2.0 tools that I would use in my classroom include, TokBox, UStream, Voice Thread, and podcasting. Each of these programs offer opportunities for my students to create their own short videos while using pictures and voice to display their knowledge and ideas. It’s a very useful tool to engage and motivate kids in their learning by making them a star.

My favorite web2.0 tools are blogger.com, google docs, and Skype. I never truly realized just how dependant I was on web2.0 tools until now. Blogging is a useful tool that I have grown to love as a form of journaling my life and communicating with loved ones back home when I’m off chasing my various passions around the world. Although I have not spent much time personally using google docs, I’m highly interested in becoming acquainted with it as a way of keeping my documents current, easily accessible from anywhere, and eliminating the element of multiple copies or drafts on my hard drive. Skype is another highly used favorite of mine because it makes international calling affordable and also allows me to save money when calling locally. I LOVE THEM ALL!!!

Blogs and Internet Technology in the Classroom

As a teacher, I plan to create a classroom blog through programs such as, classpress.com, that allow me to create a private resource for parent’s/guardian’s and student use at any time. It will serve as a great way to communicate and share with families what children are doing at school through regular posts, pictures, videos, and polls. Best of all, it will be completely private, with access granted only to those I approve. Classroom blogs can also be a great way to post links to interactive educational games and activities for children to access as supplemental resources to build on concepts covered in class and solidify understanding.

A plethora of other blogs and sites on the internet, such as those listed below, may be used as great references for myself and other teachers to locate and/or share ideas when creating curriculum and addressing issues within the classroom.

• www.qtlcenters.org/qtl/blog/
• teacherscount.wordpress.com
  
• teachertube.com
• www2.scholastic.com
• teachers.net

Educational Equity Book & Website Critique

Chapter 6: Planning Curriculum That Is Multicultural

Doing Multicultural Education for Achievement and Equity

Reflection 6.3

Textbook or document tally

Summary of Tally Results

The textbook that I focused on for my tally chart was geared towards concepts second graders need to learn. I was not too surprised to find that as I flipped through the pages, White Americans were mentioned far more often then every other race/ethnic group. And, not only were White Americans mentioned more often, but the number of references toward men in comparison to women was about 2:1. The least represented group in the text was the Latino American population, a true shock to myself particularly because there is such a large Latino influence in America. Also, out of the five instances where Latinos were mentioned, only one had to do with a female. Arab Americans were the second least mentioned population with American Indian coverage not too far ahead. African Americans and Asian Americans were referenced more often than others, but certainly not to the extent of White Americans. It must also be mentioned that throughout the entire text there was not one reference to disabled Americans, a true disservice to our nations youth.

Reflection 6.13

Analyzing a website

Who produced the website?

The website, http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/edmulticult.htm, was produced by the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.

How is this website intended to be used?

The website is a collection of curricula that focuses on multicultural education. It was created with the purpose of providing a plethora of resources to empower teachers to easily incorporate multicultural learning into the classroom. Within the website are distinct sections focusing on multicultural lesson plans, teaching tolerance, art, literature, math, music, science, social studies, women, Hispanics, African Americans, civil rights, gay/lesbian/sexual preference, Asian Americans, Native Americans, immigration, homelessness/refugees, Jewish Americans, Russian Americans, and Arab Americans/Moslems. Each section is from a distinct source and carries its own characteristics.

What biases might it’s developers have? Remember, everyone has biases; biases aren’t necessarily good or bad, and identifying them doesn’t mean that the website is unusable.

The website is a collection of various resources that the site creators have found to be useful. One would expect a certain amount of religious bias coming from a site founded by a Christian university. While there are references to gay and lesbian tolerance, there is little, though some, mention for religious tolerance.

Whose view of the world does it tend to support?

Each of the individual curricula have a specific focus. The creators of the site do little to try and steer you one direction or the other and leave the information to be presented from the respective institutions. Each organization presenting ideas, such as PBS, Yale, tolerance.org, and discovery.com, to name a few, while reputable in their own rights, are all representing a specific demographic.

Whose view does it undermine or ignore?

The creators of the site seem to leave their own opinions out of the material. For example, where one might expect a conservative approach to the gay and lesbian issue, they don’t make any comment at all. The curriculum ideas from the various authors for each individual curriculum vary in approach and design.