My website

The website address for my eportfolio is judyeportfolio.weebly.com

Technology's Importance in the Classroom

      I think it is important to incorporate technology in the classroom. One reason is that the students are growing up with technology, and are therefore used to it and may even be expecting it. It adds another dimension to the learning process, especially with subjects that can use a little livening up.
     I can see how subjects like science can benefit from technology. It may be impossible to take your students out to space, but they can experience it by way of the internet on a Smartboard! This gives visual reinforcement that would be difficult any other way. The interactive capabilities are great for assessment, especially when it is fun, as in the games that are available. Another benefit for the educator is that learning becomes more engaging and interesting for the students--there is nothing worse than a sleepy, bored classroom!
    One challenge is to equip each classroom with the technology. The way budgets are being challenged and cut in school districts, it is difficult to add enough computers and Smartboards. The way technology has been, each new addition only is current for a couple of years. The computers and Smartboards also need to be maintained, as problems will come up. Also, with children involved, they get pretty hard use (I'm thinking of keyboards and especially headphones in computer labs).
     Another challenge is to keep administrators and teachers in the loop and up with the latest technology. This takes good communication between the two groups, and even adding school boards into the mix, there can be many differing opinions. The resistance that is felt may well lessen as time goes on, and as technology becomes more commonplace. Educators need to have the opportunity to learn new technologies for use in the classroom.
     I will take many lessons from this course. One is that I can still learn new things. Technology isn't so scary when there is familiarity. It isn't all difficult, either. Some programs really are user friendly! I appreciated the interactive whiteboard lessons the most, and hope that wherever I teach there is one available. I also enjoyed having the generational differences quantified so that I had better understanding of that issue by the end of the course. I hope to retain and keep using what I have learned!

A good and bad example of electronic portfolios

http://durak.org/kathy/portfolio/   is the url of an elementary teacher looking for a job in California. it seemed like a good example because it as easy to navigate, she had pictures of achievements and her teaching showed a diverse experience.

I didn't find an example of a bad portfolio.

The Presentations

I loved the presentations--I didn't get to all of them, but will make a point of doing so--the Glogster posters were impressive. I'd never seen one before, so they were very interesting. I saw a couple of them and they were informative --and fun to do. I liked the quizes on the video game glogster. Paula's youtube about voice blogs for language class was great--what a good idea! And Paula made her point well in just a few minutes. I watched Ryan's youtube about cyberbullying and thought that was a great subject, and timely. (though I hope I watched the right thing and that wasn't the PSA instead!  Great job, everybody, and I can't wait to get to all the rest!!

my article presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zjzF5_GWsc

Here is the link to my presentation. 

Interactive Whiteboards

I think that interactive whiteboards are a great tool for teaching. I enjoyed learning how to use one, and though I needed help in the mechanics of creating one, I enjoyed that,too. In fact, I created a lesson for another class after the one for this class and was able to make improvements based one the critique of the first one. I would love to have one in my classroom, because it appeals to the visual learners as well as those who are kinesthetic and tactile learners. They can play learning games on it that require them to get up and move and touch the screen. The visuals are more interesting than the chalkboard, and therefore more engaging.
I think that the interactive whiteboard is a big improvement over the traditional chalkboard because of the games that can be included, as well as the posting of pictures and videos. Also, the screen can be saved, which is a neat feature. Another advantage is that the lesson can be saved and used again the next year, as well as the ability to edit it for future classes.

Video in the Classroom

     I think that video has a place in the classroom. By this I mean videos that others mean, and videos that could be made in the classroom by students. I would like to teach both special education and music, and I could see uses in both of those areas.
     One way video was used in a special ed. lesson plan was where the teachers made up a virtual supermarket that was interactive that students could use to practice shopping for a list of groceries before heading out to the real store. That was a great idea. Another idea would be to teach a student how to ride a city bus, before actually leaving the classroom.The teacher could video the inside of the bus and explain how to pay the fare and how to request a stop at the end of their journey. Knowing these things could really help allay any fears students might have. These two examples show how students could be taught community living skills, which they will need in order to be more independent after they graduate high school.
     For music classes, videos of groups playing, such as jazz trios or symphony orchestras would be very educational. Listening to music is great all by itself, but adding video to the experience adds more dimensions and would help the visual learner to focus on the music better. Making a video of their groups playing or singing would be great, too, so they could see their spring concert performance.Performing groups would probably really enjoy seeing how they looked to the audience. And if anything remarkable happened during the performance, like the conductor falling off the potium, or a student disappearing from the back riser only to reappear seconds later, uninjured, the students would enjoy that,too. (I've seen both of those things at Reading High School concerts!).
     One thing is, I would need more practice if I were the one producing the video of either scenario!