Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You....Online Repuations AR#3

How important is your online identity? This is an idea that I had not thought much about up until this week. All I have ever been told in the past is that it is better to have nothing on the web than have something negative—such as inappropriate pictures of social networking sites. The week, however, I was able to explore the idea of an online identity in a way I never have before. Now, some people might wonder what I mean exactly when I say online identity. Your online identity is the information about you that can be found on the web. As an educator, it is important to have an online identity that reflects positively on you. Numerous teachers have classroom websites, wikis, or blogs. This is one important component to your online identity. By creating a class page, wiki, or blog, you are showing others how you run your class, what your students are doing in class, and what you are doing in your professional life. It is also important to think about what information you are putting on the web because it all factors into your online identity. Furthermore, we must remember that any information on the web can also be distorted and misrepresent us. MIT’s persona project  is a great tool that shows just how web based searches can distort information. All you do is type in your name on the site and it complies any information it finds that has your name linked to it. So, how important is maintaining a good online identity to your reputation? I would say it is extremely important. In The Future of Reputation by Daniel J. Solove --a law professor at George Washington University—the correlation between the internet and reputation is discussed. Solove states “our reputation…affects the very core of our identity” (p. 31). What this says to me is that our online identity directly affects our reputations. In order to maintain a “good” reputation, we must maintain a “good” online identity…and vice versa. I think this is something that is even more important in this day in age because whatever happens almost always ends up on the internet which means it is then permanent. As an educator I feel that it is going to be important to put myself out there on the web, but also make sure what is put out there is something I can be proud of. Another favorite quote I found in Solove’s writings is “in the urban jungle, we are lost amid a sea of unfamiliar faces.” Why do I like this quote? I like this quote because it completely explains the way of the world now. We no longer communicate face to face for everything, but rather we use the internet, phone calls, and texting. In order to be known for something you have to be out there online or in the media or else you are just another unfamiliar face.

Along with researching online identities I was also tasked with making an “About Page.” An “About Page” is a page where some of you can explain your teaching philosophy while also letting others get to know you. A page like this is a great way for educators to show who they are and give insight into what they are doing as professionals. Rather than create an entire webpage, I used Google Profiles. I had never heard of this so I thought it would be fun to try something new. Google Profiles is easy and self explanatory. There are boxes to fill in such as name, where you live, and a box for a bio.  Creating an “About Page” is so simple using this tool that an educator can easily begin to build their online identity. Finally, I linked my Google Profiles page to my blog so that people can learn a little more about me as an educator. I enjoyed this project because it gave me a clear knowledge and understanding of what my online identity needs to include. Also, I really think I could use this in the future when I am in classroom. It is a great tool to help your students or parents get to know you on a more personal level.  I think next time I would like to try something a little more complicated than Google Profiles  so I can have the ability to create a more unique “About Page.”

Application Software:1 Catherine: 0 AR#2

In my daily life I would say that I use a handful of productivity software programs. I use word almost on a daily basis. All of my written files are in word. Occasionally I use excel when making rubrics…I often use Rubistar to create rubrics and it uses excel to display them on your screen after they are saved. I would say I am also very proficient in PowerPoint. It was easy to become well versed in PowerPoint terms when I started using it on a daily basis during my internship in a 5^th grade class. This particular classroom was equipped with a MIMIO so I used imported PowerPoint files for my lessons. Along with PowerPoint and Word, I also feel comfortable with Outlook, Integrade Pro, and other grade book programs. I am not comfortable with Mac OS or application software because I have never owned a Mac or really been able to spend a lot of time working on one. Hopefully one day this can change because I would love to use some of the Mac application software

The assignment for EME5050 this week was to take a sample Excel spreadsheet and edit it. Among adding columns, changing colors, and sorting numbers, I also had to dynamically link pages in the workbook. Simple! I thought. How wrong I was. Last semester one of my fellow students taught a lesson on the various parts of Excel so I thought this would be easy. While I accomplished each task with ease, I had NO idea how to do this dynamically linking thing. After spending several hours searching the internet and asking friends, I was finally able to figure out how to accomplish this task. When you dynamically link the pages, you are able to make changes to one page and these changes will show up on the other pages in the workbook. This is one of those tools that I think many people have either never heard of, used, or they forget about. However, this tool is great especially when it comes to grade books. If a student needs to be added or deleted, this is simply done. When I took over for a fourth grade teacher on maternity leave, I came into a class of 21. After a month, I was down to 15 kids because 3 were moved out of ESOL and 3 moved away. If I had been using an Excel spreadsheet for grading, I could have really used the dynamically linking tool in order to keep up with these changes since I had 1-2 students leaving each week for over a month. So, after much trial and error, researching, and asking for help, I was able to accomplish a difficult task that I can actually see myself using in the future. Also, I think more teachers would use Excel if they knew how to use the different tools in a more effective way. In the future (if I am back in the classroom) I would love to share this with other teachers since I know many who still use a paper grade book. Finally, I think next time I will maybe search the web more efficiently because I felt like I was haphazardly hunting for answers and getting frustrated. I have found that I do best when I have someone to help me or someone to bounce ideas off of.

To filter or not to filter?

This week I was posed this question: “Is it more unethical to allow threats to students/schools (see list above) or to deny students/teachers access to instructionally-relevant Web-based tools and content?” It took me a few days to think about this considering I am one of those people who always hopes for a happy medium in most cases. From my personal experience I would say it is more unethical to deny students/teachers access to instructional Web-based tools or content. Some people will maybe be horrified to hear this when they think about all the inappropriate materials on the Web, but I have several reasons for going this direction. Numerous times when I have been teaching, I am unable to access materials that I could have used in my class. The filtering software is okay, but it prevents me from accessing instructional tools or useful videos. Also, you can use all the filtering materials you want, but it does not block out all the bad content. For example, one of my students was on google.com searching for images of an animal. Not only did he find lots of pictures of what he was looking for, but there were also vulgar/pornographic images that showed up. Now, I am not saying that there should be no filtering/protection for computers. I think that every computer should have anti-virus software to keep the computer from being hacked or infected since that can be costly to fix. 

One tool that can be very useful for educators is blogging. Many schools, however, block blogging sites. In the article, Blogging?  It’s Elementary, My Dear Watson! (http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml), Author Lorrie Jackson explores the use of blogging in the classroom. Blogging in the classroom allows teaches to communicate with students, students to communicate with one another, and can be use in a variety of instructional areas.  Jackson points out that students have a hard time when they are not “writing for an audience.” Blogging solves this problem. Students are given a huge audience when they write on a blog. Jackson also lists various sites that are safe for student blogging. It seems to me that over time, schools have implemented more and more rules for the internet to the point where its almost unusable. As Shelly, Gunter, and Gunter state in Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom, there are “four prongs” (p. 494) to controlling internet use in classrooms. One of these “prongs” is teacher observation. This one interesting me the most because I think teacher observation plays a huge role in student internet use. Rather than the use of filtering software on everything, teachers should be observing what their students are doing. I realize this is not always possible to do, but I feel that it does make a huge difference when teachers are keeping watch over their classroom internet use. Classrooms are using a greater amount of technology on a daily basis which means teaching is changing and also teacher responsibilities. No longer do teachers need to stand at the front of the class and lecture all day. Students are being required to use multiple resources (included those found on the internet) for projects. So, going back to the original question, I would have to say that it is more unethical to prevent students/teacher from access educational materials on the internet. Again, I think there does need to be some compromise and middle ground on this issue, but I would rather my students and I to be able to access what we need rather than not be able to use web-based materials.

Reading Reaction #2

This week I had the pleasure of viewing a short video entitled The Networked Student by Dr. Wendy Drexler. Drexler is a former Florida classroom teacher and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Florida. In Drexler's video she describes what a Networked student is and what the means to teachers. A networked student is one that knows how to be connected to the world around him/her through a variety of tools. For example, networked students today have "personal learning networks" (Drexler) where they are connected to the web, blogs, social networking, peer-reviewed blogs and articles. The connected student may even have their own blog, subscribe to other blogs, or even listen to various podcasts from across the country. Overall, I feel that Drexler is saying today our students are connected to the world and a multitude of educational resources. So, what does this mean for a teacher?? Are teachers even needed if we have podcasts, blogs, online courses, etc.? Of course they are! Teachers are need to facilitate, manage, direct, and is Drexler's terms be a "Network Sherpa" or a "Connected Learning Incubator." I really loved the names she gave teachers because it shows that there is more to teaching than standing in front of your class and talking. It also shows that there will always be a need for teachers even if we are moving towards the use of technology in the classroom.

Throughout this week's readings in Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom by Shelly, Gunter, and Gunter, communications, networking, and the internet were discussed in a way that I had never really thought about. Since I have grown up with computers (for the most part) I honestly barely remember what it was like to not have the internet. So, I don't think I ever really bothered to understand how the internet really works and where it came from. Just like Drexler, Shelly, Gunter, and Gunter describe a world where students are connected to the web constantly. For example, the text describes the ePALS program where students can connect different cultures to each other through the web. Furthermore, it explains how our world is forever changing in this digital age. Just as Drexler described student's with personal learning networks, the text states that "Within a few years, the Web will operate at speeds 10,000 times faster than today." It is incredible to think this is even possible, but just think about how that is going to impact a student's personal learning networks. This means students will be connecting with even more students, more networks, and we as teachers need to be there to facilitate this. Also, another part of the text that I think relates to Drexler's video is that teachers and students are becoming a part of a wireless revolution. Numerous schools and institutions are making wireless networking available to the classroom. Having access to wireless internet will make it even easier to incorporate computers and technology into the classroom. I would love to be able to work in a classroom where students can have laptops at their desk.

What I have come to realize is that while it would be amazing to have a school where each student has their own laptop,  there is wireless internet, every teacher knows how to create their own webpage, this is an extremely slow process. I hope that school districts and states will catch up with the technology trends so that we as teachers really can be "Connected Learning Incubators" for our students.