Star Wars

This weeks challenges were time...seems as if there is never enough!!! I seemed to find a way to make it through. As a teacher it just always seems that there is so much to accomplish in a day and prioritizing can be difficult.

This week in class we attended a workshop at the ETTC in Mays Landing on SmartBoards. I always enjoy going there because I learn something new everytime. In my district we decided to go with RM Easiteach software for our interactive whiteboards. I know that a major factor was price and the fact that it had been used by another grant program in our district. The frustrating part was that Smart Notebook offers alot more as far as curriculum templates compared to Easiteach. I'm trying to embrace Easiteach, what made it easier is the fact that they just came out with a new version that includes flash, so the features are more interactive. Also, I learned on Friday that we might be able to purchase the Smart Notebook as a replacement for Easiteach.



We have a long way to go in my district, and myself personally with feeling comfortable putting the technology in the students hands, but hopefully either way we go with Smart or Easiteach we will see increased student driven learning.

NJAET Conference - Little Aha for the buck

I attended the NJAET conference yesterday at Georgian Court University.  I was excited to attend the conference based on the workshop discriptions they provided.  After registering, it was difficult to find more information about the event, like the times and exact location on campus.  This was extremely frustrating.  Sadly, this was only the beginning of the let down.

Upon arrival you could only register for on hand on workshop.  Also, the wireless connection didn't work and the labs were over booked with students of the college using the lab while the workshops were going on.  The highlight of this otherwise dark day was one session I attended with Dr. Jung Lee.  Using technology for higher order thinking applications was very informative and made me look at technology in a different way.  She gave examples of digital storytelling, Comic Life, and even different ways to use PowerPoint. 

I'm IPhone obsessed

I never considered myself a gadget guru, or one drawn to techie type goodies.  Every since I started this grad class, Intro to Instructional Technology, I sense my love of technology has increased.  It happened to be that this past week I was in the market for a new cell phone.  Knowing that a smart phone would be an easy way to keep track of my life, I decided to cross over and pay the monthly data charges, thus bringing myself fully aboard the 21st century. 

When looking for a phone I considered a Blackberry, or other smartphone, but then the sales clerk brought me to the new Iphone 4.  The light shined down upon the display and the music began playing.  I was in love!  Looking at all the apps that could bring value to my life, I knew that this was the way to go.  Everything was finally in one place, email, internet, texting, phone, even Skype.  

There were so many instances when the phone came in handy this week.   A group mate sent me an article she found on our project, I was out and about, but still able to view the pdf and text my thanks.  The article ended up being useful to our project.  I also was able to Skype my professor on my phone, which was so convienent.  If this is a useful tool for a grad student, why aren't similar devices used more often in education.

There are so many apps that are useful.  I've also seen cell phone polls used at the NJEA convention to answer questions on a lecture.  Why do we tell students to power down?



Working in the Cloud

This weeks noteable moments included a minor disaster between myself and my project group member Sandy.  We decided to present our project using a Prezi. It's a web based presentation tool, which I am sure some of you know.  I had added my content to the Prezi and shared the link with Sandy and Brandi, but once Sandy went to edit for her content the Prezi went Poof!  Gone into the cloud it was! 

Sandy emailed Prezi, but occuring on a weekend I'm sure that the interns didn't get a look at it until this morning.  It makes one wonder what happens to this stuff when the Web gods decide to take our stuff away to the land of no return.  We troubleshooted the problem by redoing the Prezi and both saving a copy, but it makes me worry a little about Wednesday, hoping that the Web gods shine down on us that evening!

Wondering what Web 3.0 has in store for us, maybe some solutions.