PLE Post Week 13: Internet Safety Reflection

For the Internet Safety Assignment, I read the talk "Things as They Really Are" by David A. Bednar, and watched the video resources provided in class. One of the most important things I learned from the talk by Elder Bednar was that because our bodies are so sacred, any way we defile them, including through virtual means, is a sin and should be avoided. I also learned that one of the tools that the Adversary uses to tempt us to sin is to try to convince us that if we sin anonymously or vicariously through a virtual reality, it is not a real sin. This is absolutely false. I learned from the videos we watched in class that we need to be extremely cautious about trusting people we meet online. There are many instances where young girls have made friends with someone online and agreed to meet them, only to find that they are not who they said they were and have malicious intent. We need to educate our friends and family members about the dangers of giving out personal information and agreeing to meet in person the people we meet online.
For my "doing" experience, I taught what I learned to a good friend of mine, who I will call "Josh". Josh already knew a lot about internet safety. His reaction to what I shared was just to agree that it's really important to be cautious when it comes to the internet and be sure not to give out personal information and agree to meet anyone. I encouraged Josh will take this information and share it with others who he may think could have a problem with internet safety.

TPACK Project Report

http://sites.google.com/site/brittanybeechersiptportfolio/tpack-report

TPACK Lesson Plans

http://sites.google.com/site/brittanybeechersiptportfolio/tpack-planning

PLE Week 12 Video Reflection

I really enjoyed watching the three videos about teachers who used technology to teach their students. It was great to see the things we have been learning put into practice. I learned several things from watching these videos. In the first video, "I Love Spiders", the teacher had the students watch a video about spiders. This did a lot to arouse the young students' interest. It's much more interesting to see spiders crawling around than hear the teacher talk about them! Then the teacher provided disposable cameras and had the students go outside and take pictures of spiders they found. The kids looked like they were having so much fun! Then the kids posted the pictures onto a website and exchanged them with students in Missouri, who also posted pictures of spiders they found where they live. So the students were learning tons of other skills besides just learning about Spiders. In the next movie, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" the teacher used a computer program called "Story Extension" that allowed the students to follow patterns and draw pictures. This really helped the students who didn't have computers at home get comfortable using computers. The third video "Habitats" showed the students drawing habitats they learned about using "Kidpix Deluxe Software". Learning about habitats and then recreating them is a great way to cement what they learn. The teacher also provided a CD-ROM with additional pictures they can look at to get ideas of what to draw. From these videos, I learned that technology makes it possible for students to be more involved with what they're learning. It helps spark their interest, provides interactive opportunities, and provides so much more information than what would have otherwise been possible.

Week 11 PLE Post: Reflections on TPACK

1)TPACK is a way of thinking about how you integrate technology into your teaching.
*PK (pedagogical knowledge): general knowledge and skills relating to teaching
-general teaching methods
-knowledge of of developmental issues for children, classroom management, student motivation, etc.
*CK (content knowledge): knowledge of facts, concepts, and skills in an area. This does not include how to teach it.
*TK (technological knowledge): knowledge of how to use and understand various technologies (tools)
-some kind of hardware or software
-awareness of different programs
-understanding of file formats
-understanding of operating systems
2) An example of the using TPACK is my group's Science Project. The PK was the way Sheila, who was acting as the teacher, presented the information about the phases of the moon to Kristen and Erin, who were acting as the students. The CK was the knowledge we gained about the phases of the moon. The TK was the knowledge we gained of the program "Stellarium" which allowed us to teach the students the phases of the moon.
3) Technologies can afford textual, visual, auditory, dynamic and multimodal representations. When my group used Stellarium for the Science Project, we were able to create a dynamic presentation.

Week 10 PLE Post

Technologies I have recently explored:
1. Kidspiration: A program that creates a visual workspace for students grades K-5. Students can use visual tools to combine pictures, text, numbers and words. It helps develop word recognition, vocabulary, reading comprehension, reasoning and problem solving skills. Available to download at kidspiration.com
2. Prezi: A web-based presentation tool that uses and map layout and zooming features to show contextual relationships. It's basically like a big powerpoint presentation where you can scroll from slide to slide. Available to download at prezi.com
3. Stellarium: Shows the sky in 3-D either from your naked eye, binoculars, or a telescope. Free to download at stellarium.org

Science Project