"Doing" Internet Safety

* who you talked with (no names are needed - just a brief description of age)
I talked with a male - 54 years of age - soon to be 55.

* what you shared and how it went (was it positive? negative? hard? easy? valuable or not?)
The man has been in the business sector for many years and is very familiar with word processing and e-mail - as he continues to use it in his daily life since he is not yet retired. But it was interesting to find out how little he actually was aware of when it comes to the internet. He has a vague idea of what spyware and adware are and it is interesting to see the generational gap. Although as I reflected upon my youth, I still remember being in middle school and having to log on to AOL through a dial up modem and you were charged by the minute for using the service...in direct contrast to today's world where we send and receive movies across the internet now. I shared with him some of the terminology that is used and how the computer logs the addresses visited in the browser's history. He knew that it was not a good idea to open e-mails from people you don't know - and virus' have been a hot topic recently with the USB virus that was supposed to evolve just last week on March 1st. While he found all of this information interesting, when asked how practical he felt the information was - he wasn't really sure how practical it was to tell him all of this now. He has a wife who only uses the computer for Solitare and he uses it for e-mail and business purposes - that is it. Anything that would affect him (like opening e-mails from unknown senders) he already knows. He was interested in learning a little more about virus' - since his desktop at his home crashed less than a year ago - presumably from an overload of virus'. It was easier to share all of the terminology as we were both on a computer during the phone conversation. I think it was a positive experience - but as previously mentioned, perhaps not the most practical conversation.

Internet Safety

1. What article did you choose to read for your fourth article?
I chose to read Mario Hipol's article entitled "Fighting Internet Filth"

2. What were the most important things you learned from the readings?
I think a lot of these ideas have already been integrated into my home as I grew up - and the internet wasn't nearly as popular or readily available as it is today. It was interesting to read about how it is the father's duty to Preside over the family and how presiding was interpreted to mean setting the limits on the internet. I think that is one of the things that I have never really though about. One of the things that I'm guilty of is just being on the internet to pass time - I'll be doing my homework and have Facebook up or something like that. But there was a lot of practical advice - such as keeping the computer in a high traffic area and making sure that the cache is not cleared out when it shouldn't be. I think that my kids will have a harder time pulling the wool over my eyes because I would consider myself pretty technologically savvy, although who knows what technology will be introduced in the future!

3. How will what you have read influence your actions as a parent and/or teacher of children and youth?
I have a feeling the cyber bullying is going to become more of an issue in the older elementary grades - and will replace the actual bullying that takes place. It is relatively easy to sign up for e-mail accounts with false information and then send e-mails or post on people's facebook walls stuff that is not nice or appropriate. I will teach my students and children civility and proper etiquette in using the internet. Hopefully some of the lessons that I teach will stay with my students and they will apply the things that I teach.

4. How can you use what you have learned from the reading to have a positive influence on family and friends?
I think the positive influence is in sharing what information I have in helping others stay safe on the internet. It was interesting how one of the articles said that it is not practical to tell our children to stay away from the internet completely. I really liked that statement because it is very true. You can not expect your children to NOT use the internet. It is a wonderful resource. It was interesting at the end of this past General Conference...last session last talk, President Monson was very direct in his plea for members of the church to cease to use the internet inappropriately. It must be becoming a bigger and bigger problem for the church. But our prophet is telling us that we need to be careful - and it is always wise to follow the prophet.

El Ed Technology Integration

El Ed Technology Project

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Close, But No Cigar...

So I almost completed my project and I was very happy before the lesson began. I had a lesson on giving instructions and using transition words. I had created all of my slides using ActivStudio 3 and was ready to use ActiVote - which is a system that allows the students to use little remotes, similar to the iClickers that we use here at BYU, except the remotes look more fun and are more colorful than our iClickers. Anyway, so I had two questions in the presentation that needed to be answered. I was going to have the students use the ActiVote remotes to decide which was correct. I was going to do this because it would give me an indication of who understood what we were doing and who did not. However, I did not realize that I have to have all of the remotes registered beforehand on my computer. I am using my own personal MacBook rather than using my teacher's. This works out well because it allows her to do her work on her computer and I am able to use the Promethean Board. So tomorrow morning I will go and talk to the tech guy and see if he will be willing to put all of the devices onto my laptop and then I'll be able to use the ActiVote for my project. I almost had it done today...but I just didn't know that ONE detail!

Idea for Technology-Enhanced Lesson

Tomorrow I am actually teaching a math lesson on measurement (for 3rd grade.) With the Promethean board at my disposal - I believe it will be good for me to use that in my lesson. Tonight, I will use ActivStudio 3 in order to create a "flipchart" to present to the class tomorrow. The class has already been measuring one of those alligators that grows when you put it in water - and we will be focusing on teaching the students how to use the 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch marks effectively. So I beleive that I will get a very large ruler and put it up on the board and then demonstrate things that we can measure on the board. It is nice because I can make notes on the Promethean board and then clear them off as needed. Students are then able to see where they should be mentally drawing the lines. Then the students will be making graphs of the growth they have recorded of their alligators. I will probably put up an example of that as well on the board to show them what the computer can show them in a graph made my the computer. So there will be a bit of technology involved in the lesson tomorrow!

Technology Inventory Findings

I must say to begin with that Spring Creek Elementary ROCKS when it comes to technology. In the classroom that I am in right now I have access to a plethora of different technologies. I even have a Promethean Board! That is my favorite things to use right now. I was observed today for one of my lessons and I used it and it worked flawlessly...actually I used it for two of the lessons that I did today. It is amazing what technology can do! This morning, it was an inside day and so my mentor teacher had me turn on an educational show for the students to watch before the day started. I just can't imagine not having a "wired" classroom! I have the TV/VCR/DVD Player, Promethean Board, CD Player, 7 computers and the teacher has her own laptop - of course I have my own laptop as well!

I have spoken with some of my other friends in other classrooms at different schools and one of my friends told me that she did not even have a computer in the classroom! Even though she was working with a grade younger than mine (I'm in 3rd) it is interesting to see the inequality even among Provo Schools when it comes to technology. But I must say, getting the longer end of the stick...I'm not complaining! =)

Virtual Tour Link

Here is the link to my filing cabinet which contains the Google Earth File that I created.

http://sites.google.com/site/mateookabe/my-files

TPAK for Tour

• What is the content you’ll be using in your lesson?

The content for this lesson is focused towards the U.S. History II class. Standard 7, Objective 2 which says, "Examine the impact World War II had on the American home front." Although we will be visiting various locations in the tour and having class discussions that do not always focus on the American home front, I believe that this enrichment activity to be important because it allows for higher levels of thinking as they take past events and apply them to more recent events. It also gives them an idea of what went on and where during WW 2.

• What is the pedagogy you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content?

The students will be observing the locations and participate in group work (as they discuss the presented questions with a classmate) as well as participate in class discussions. I think that class discussions are important especially in an enrichment activity such as this one because it allows the students to express their thoughts about a specific topic (and this is assuming that I have created a safe environment for my students, of course.) Ideally I would have a number of computers for students to work in small groups so they are able to look and think about the questions, however, worst case scenario would have the entire class looking together on the projector while I manipulated it all from my personal computer.

• What is the technology you’ll be using and why is it a good fit with the content and pedagogy?

I will be using Google Earth. Contained within Google Earth I will use the panoramio took in order to look at photos of the various sites. This is a good fit because the Earth portion will show the general location on the world of the places that we will be looking at. Then, it goes in close up so we will be able to look at the geographic area and actually view real pictures of the locations.

Locations for Google Earth Tour

Please note that this lesson is designed as an enrichment activity to go hand in hand with the text book.

Location	Activity	Google Earth Content
1. Pearl Harbor, HI	View the site where Japan attacked As a class discuss the following: Why did Japan decide to attack here? How did this affect the US? What was the response from the US after the bombing?	Panoramio
2. Betio, Tarawa, Kiribati	View a remaining cannon on the shore at Betio from WWII Discuss with a classmate: Why do we rarely hear about the battles that took place at this location?	Panoramio
3. Hiroshima, Japan	View the memorial for the people where the A-Bomb was dropped **With GREAT SENSITIVITY** - View the memorial with a number of names of people who had died in the bombing - ask students to make a more recent connection.	Panoramio
4. Nagasaki, Japan	View the memorial for the people where the A-Bomb was dropped (See activity for Number 3. Number 3 and 4 go together.)	Panoramio
Details of image overlay / path / polygon:	A path could be created from Japan to Tarawa and then another one from Tarawa to Hawaii

Book Trailer

A little bit of difficulty using TeacherTube...rather than use YouTube where ALL could see this, I have just embedded it into the blog itself.

TPAK for Storytelling

Content: The content used for the storyboard comes from Grade 3 Standard 1 Objective 2-Develop language through viewing media and presenting.

Pedagogy: The students will create a book trailer for the book Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson. This trailer will have to use the element of suspense as it is presented to the audience so that the audience will want to learn more about the book. It would be likely that the class would take a look at several movie trailers and discuss the elements of the trailer - specifically that the trailer does not give everything away, but does highlight some interesting points in the story and then leaves it at the end so people are wanting to know more.

Technology: Photo Story 3 for Windows. This program will allow the elementary students to create the trailer with narration. It would be fun to hear how the students use inflection when reading to mimic that of the current voice that is used during movie trailers. Or perhaps the students will have a different idea altogether of how the voice should sound. A projector will also be employed as students will share the book trailers created with each other.

My Storyboard

The storyboard has drawn on pictures, but digital pictures from the actual book will be used to go with the narration.

TPACK for The Tech Savvy Teacher

Content:

From the Utah K 1,2 Core Standard 5, part f. After this activity the student should know how to observe, sort and classify objects (in this case, candy!)

Pedagogy:

• Observing
• Classifying, inferring, predicting, measuring
• Acquiring and processing data (constructing table of data)
  
• Analyzing data

This activity involves observing as the students take the candy out of the packages and looks at what is presented. It involves classifying because as a class we will look at color as the characteristic that we will be grouping by. A predicting game may be used to see what colors the students think will have the most units of candy. The students will then actually measure (count) how many are in each group. The students will then have the opportunity to create a table of data displaying the number found in each group - perhaps two tables - one for each candy type. The students will then be able to analyze the numbers they had collected and post the findings on the classroom blog.

Technology

The students will have the use of a digital camera (I'm thinking that the activity could be done as a class with several students involved in each step) That way, pictures will contain many members of the class and students will be more inclined to have parents look at the class blog. The students will also use the class computer in order to load all of this on the class blog. Powerpoint may also be employed in assisting the students display the table(s) of data on the projector.

The Tech Savvy Teacher

Our science experiment is based on the K,1,2 Core Intended Learning Outcome 5. which states
that students will understand and apply basic skills. In this activity we will be focusing on f. It
states that students will observe, sort and classify objects. In our activity, we have two packages of Starbursts and one package of Skittles. The packages will be opened and placed all over the table.

Once all of the candy was out on the table, it became the job of the students to sort all of the different candies into different piles with color being the quality that was used to sort all of the candy.

Once the candy was sorted, we counted the amount of pieces in each of the piles. We then made a chart and/or graph of the different colors and the number of times that they appeared in the package. It is interesting to note that in Starburst candies, there are exactly three of each of the four colors. In Skittles, it seems to be more of a random process.

Working with my class I would use the digital camera with my students. Students would be allowed to use the digital camera to document what they have done in the experiment, just as I have done. I would then have several students create posts on the class blog including the pictures of the experiment (just as I have done here.) This will give my students the opportunity to do something practical that they can do for themselves with a personal blog. I would help them understand what a blog is and get them excited about putting it on the internet. This would hopefully encourage students to help their parents visit the blog at home. This would in turn help parents see what is going on in the class and would allow myself (as the teacher) to post important announcements on the blog that the parents would see.










The candy pre-sorted









All Candy Sorted











Starbursts Sorted











Skittles Sorted!

TPACK

I found the explanation of TPACK to be very informative. I would hope that a lot of what was presented was more basic knowledge than new information. I think as teachers we have all been introduced into Content Knowledge and Technology and Pedagogical Knowledge. But now we get to combine them all into one! Like I've said before, I love technology. I think that it is going to be one of the greatest tools that we have as teachers. It will appeal to a number of the learners that we would not be able to reach by just lecturing (and I hope none of us do that!) But this is important because technology continues to change and advance constantly! If only my teachers had all of the amazing technology that is available to teachers today! I believe that class would be a lot more fun!

I took a look at "A Virtual Pond Dip" There is a picture of a jar of water with a bunch of organisms in the jar. As you click on each one you are able to learn more about the organism! How fun would this be in connection with actually taking pond water and looking for these organisms! A digital microscope would also be good for an activity such as this! I remember looking at pond water in middle school and I was able to find one or two different organisms, but this website allows us to look at more than one or two. There are also pictures of the organisms (the pictures are blown up, of course.) It would be fun to allow the students to look and explore, or for younger grades, use a projector and explore as a class! I would definitely use this in my class.

RSS and Web 2.0

I must admit that the web has become much more user friendly than it used to be! As I think back to my experience in high school with web design, we had to learn a little bit of basic html code and then the teacher allowed us to play with the DreamWeaver program along with some Flash. It was a lot of work to put something that looked good up on the internet. Now with Web 2.0 its just a few clicks and all of a sudden, everything is up from pictures to links to RSS feeds. I think I would be very likely to create a password protected blog for my classroom (since there are so many privacy issues in the world today) and I would encourage parents to use the RSS feature to subscribe to the blog. It would definitely help me keep in contact with my parents as I update the blog, they are informed of the change. It is amazing that the world of technology is progressing so quickly. Now if everyone had a web-enabled Blackberry, parents would really know immediately when the blog was updated. (Had to plug the Blackberry.)

Technological Background

Well...lets see...I don't know how much technology experience I have. I really love technology though. I have used computers a lot and I even took a web design class while I was in high school (although that was a few years ago.) I have always had the neatest little gadgets, like MP3 Players and Mini-disc players and I just got a BlackBerry for Christmas! The hardest part now is that I can't live without the thing! Oh well. I love playing with electronics. I served in the Mission Office in Fiji for a while and had a lot of exposure to technology there. I helped the senior mission couple with their computers and things like that. Thats about the extent of my experience.