Assignment 4: Website Evaluation

http://www.theonion.com/articles/immigration-officials-beef-up-usmexican-border-wit,1080/

This websites purpose is to entertain the reader with witty and sarcastic remarks about true political issues. The events that the articles are based upon are true but many/all of the facts that back it up are to provide humor. This wesbite is a .com which means it is not a credible website and it has many different authors. I am not very knowledgeable about the topic of immigration but I felt while reading this article it was targeting conservatives whom want to tighten borders. I believe this website is a great transition to get older students interested in current events; however, for many students below high school this content is far too mature and sarcastic for them to understand or be appropriate.

 http://www.fairus.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16663&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1007

FAIR is a grassroots organization that aims to stop illegal immigration. By quickly looking at the website you can tell it is a .org website which means it will be accurate information. By reading this website I felt that it was biased towards pro tightening border control. It provides information that could be helpful in a classroom but the educator would have to be sure to explain the one side information that is being shared. A downside of this website, compared to some of the others, is the blog verse website. The blog website is updated weekly and is on top of staying current. However, this website has not been updated in five years, since 2005. The updated date is an important thing to remember to pay attention to while citing websites.

 

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis

This is a government website, that is a .gov which means it is a credible, up-to-date website that would be great to use in a classroom. The great thing about this website is the authenticity and the easy to use layout which creates a larger opporunity for a broader range of students to use. Many people were writting comments about the non bias attitude that this website was created in and I completely agree. I also noticed while reading that the website can guide the reader to all of the updated immigration laws. I believe this is great for students to learn because so often history can be taught without it relating to them; by sharing with the students that all of this information goes into creating laws, they realise the link between government and laws; and the link between laws and citizens.

http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2008/February/20080307112004ebyessedo0.1716272.html

This website was a great source of information and in my opinion can be used for younger grades as well. THis website is a .gov which varifies that the information is credible and accurate. This website would be very helpful with aidingchildren who are writing reports or learning about immigration in social studies. THis would be a helpful tool becuase of the easy to read layout of information about the history of immigration that is provided.

 http://blog.immigrantconnect.com/

This site is written by a legal firm, because it is a .com website it is clear it is not a credible, accurate website. It is a blog which I believe is a creative idea and a unique way of portraying this legal information. While reading some of the blog posts I quickly figured out that the writers are writing from a very liberal view. Although it is written from this slanted opinion I still believe it would be an asset to the classroom to share this website. I enjoy that blog aspect of this site as well as the up to date and current events that are talked about. I am hoping to be a teacher in a kindergarten or first grade classroom, so clearly these websites are far and above any of my students but in highschool history class I feel that the students would find this website interesting.

Assignment 3: PowerPoint Reflection

I really enjoyed creating a PowerPoint Quiz. I thought it was an amazing program and am fascinated. I have been using PowerPoint since I was in elementary school creating slides for presentations, or using the program to make a picture slide show; however I was never aware of the quiz and hyperlink abilities. I think the hyperlink is a fantastic tool and I can not wait to being using this quiz application with children.

I had a little difficulty using my Mac Laptop in the beginning but when I used the PC at the Library everything went smoothly. I am unsure however, about how to set the settings so the quiz taker can not edit. Other than that, I felt very prepared in creating the quiz and comfortable adding colors, transitions, effects, sounds, and hyperlinks. I think this is a great tool and am very pleased that I learned how to utilize it so early in this class.

I would like to some day teacher kindergarten or first grade, and my passion is for language arts, reading, and writing. Because of this, I chose to make my slide show for children at a reading level of preschool through first. I used small, one syllable words, and chose to focus on rhyming. I worded questions with the main word in all big letters, and the child is too choose which word correctly rhymes with the target word. I think that the PowerPoint is simple enough and easy to use where ages 3-7 should not have any difficulty. I am excited to create more intricate PowerPoint's and to explore adding sounds to enhance children's phonological skills.

Wiki Journal 1

So far EDCT 203 has been a great learning experience. I am in my second week of classes and have had three EDCT 203 classes thus far. I have already learned how to create a blog, wiki, work google spreadsheets, and so much more. I feel that the lessons learned in this class will be helpful in not only my future classroom use as both a teacher and a student, but will also help for my personal knowledge of technology.

The first lesson I learned in EDCT 203 that sparked an interest was learning how to use cell phones in the classroom. We learned on the first day how teachers can present multiple choice questions to a class and have them turn in their response via text message. I thought that this was a great teaching tactic because so many young children are cell phone owners and I feel this is a great way to stimulate student interaction.

On the second day we learned about Wiki's. I had a very small knowledge of what wiki's were prior to this class but after one class period I was very knowledgeable. I learned what Wiki's are, how they can be used, and how to create and manage a Wiki. I even created a wiki of my own that we will use later on in this class. I think wikis can be a great tool to use in classrooms. It gives the feel that each person involved in the Wiki has equal say and everyone can contribute their opinions and thoughts in an equal and even manor which I feel is important in a classroom setting.

Our third class period we learned how to use PowerPoint to make quizzes. So far this is the more difficult, as well as most intriguing lesson we have learned. I believe this because I think it can be such a great learning tool as well as evaluation tool in classrooms. I feel that I will use quizzes through PowerPoint often in my classroom.

I am hoping to teach kindergarten through third grade, Kindergarten and first grade being my main focus. Due to the young age of these children I will use less technology than the average middle school teacher. However, I would love to use technology in a helpful, healthy way. Throughout using quizzes on PowerPoint, I am able to add voices which can talk to the young student. A concrete example of this could be to create a power point and have a voice say a letter. Then have several buttons each with letters, one which will correspond to the letter spoken. Ideas like the one previously stated incorporates technology into early learning while not relying on it which I feel is an important concept for early educators to keep in mind.

The ISTE Standards that I met while completing this assignment were 3a. Standard 3a states that one is able to demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations. I feel that I met this standard because although I am comfortable with many types of technology, Wiki's were new to me. However, I feel that I adapted quickly and with ease to the way Wiki's operate.

I enjoyed learning how to use so many wide varieties of hands on technologies. I believe that PowerPoint quizzes as well as wiki's will be very helpful in future classrooms.

Assignment 1: Internet Resources

Copyright Issues and Internet Use

This website is the United States Copyright Office. The Copyright's Office's mission is: "To promote creativity by administering and sustaining an effective national copyright system."  




This website is a great source of information about copyright issues as well as internet use. This website provides internet users with the definition of copyright, plagiarism, history of copyright, and many more useful details.

Equity Issues in Computer Use in Schools

This website is hosted by maec; the information goes into great detail about the equity issues in computer use in schools focusing on technology in Kindergarten through twelth grade of public schools

This is a link to an article by Elizabeth Field and Constance Kurz sent into Education Weekly. This article details Equity Emerges as Major Issue in Schools' Use of Computers.

Cultural Issues in the use of Computers in Schools

This is a link to an article about Cross-cultural reactions to using computers in the early childhood education classroom. This article is written by John Castellani and Linda Tsantis whom are boith professors at John Hopkins University, Columbia USA.

Here is a link to the Australian Flexible Learning Community. This article on Cultural Difference and its influence on learning was written on the 15 of September in 2003. This article focuses on the importance of understanding cultural backgrounds of learners when designing computer-based learning. It also provides research on how Culture influences Computer-based learning. 

Health problems concerning the use of Computer

Here is a link to an article posted on the Healthy Health Professional website titled Top 4 Health Problems caused by computer use. The 4 are as follows; eye disease, bad posture, hurting hands, and computer stress injuries. 

Healthoma.com writes about the health problems that are directly related to over use of a computer in an article titled Health Problems Caused by use of Computers. Some of these heath hazards brought up in the article are lower back pain, neck pain, pain in wrists and fingers, and many more. 

09/08/10

Post secret is a website that collects secrets from people all of over the world. Each sunday, new secrets are chosen and uploaded. Here is the website, http://www.postsecret.com/. This here is one of my favorite 'secrets' from this week.