Chapter 6: Video

Audio

Before reading this chapter, I was confused about how to use audio in my classroom. I felt that everything that audio assessments and activities could accomplish could  be done using visuals and videos.  I learned that audio interviews are less intimidating for students because it is easier to forget about the tape recorder on the table than the video camera that is staring them in the face. I also learned that audio recording files are of a much smaller size than video files, and they are easier to send over the internet through things like email. They are also easier to edit, because you are just focusing on the sound and not also showing what is happening in the scene. I can  use this information in my classroom by keeping in mind audio when I am looking for activities, projects, and assessments.

The first link I explored in this chapter was a site called Audioboo. Every post on this site is a mini-podcast, and when you explore you will find some on almost every topic. I liked it was in the format of mini podcasts, so it would be easy for students to post a audio post containing a reflection on the content.  The second link from the chapter I found interesting was StoryCorps. I liked this site because they have a whole section for teachers, where people post their "stories" about students they had to work with or students that had challenges to overcome.  The third link I liked in the chapter was the the facebook page for this book, Playing with Media, Ideas for Powerful Sharing. I liked and thought it was really cool how the textbook that we were using in class had a facebook page, that thought had never occurred to me before.

Humor in the classroom

Without looking them up, how do you define the following?

Irony: The opposite of what you expect to happen

Sarcasm: Meaning the opposite of what you say

Facetiousness: Using sarcasm

Teasing: Poking fun at someone

Kidding: Saying something and saying that you didn't mean it

Wes Fryer on Copyright and Fair Use

I learned from this chapter that you have options other than fair use. I thought that your only option as an educator was to find something in the public domain or make sure that it is under fair use. I know now that you have four options, homegrown, public domain, creative commons, and fair use, Harry Potter can fly! If you create it, it is in the public domain (such as NASA images), if media is shared up-front under creative commons, or if something is used for educational purposes under fair use, then you are protected from violating copyright. This is important to my future classroom because I do not want me, my students, or the school I am representing to be sued.

I hope to handle the protection of intellectual property in my future classroom by requiring that students include a bibliography that is thorough and complete for the information that they researched, as well as having them in text citations for specific information they include in their papers that they found in their research. I will also protect anything they create that they upload to the internet by having them put "all rights reserved," or "usable with permission" on their original work. I know my students will put a lot of hard work into what they do, and they should be given credit for it if another person wishes to share it.

Copyright and Fair Use

I am in practicum and I am learning about copyright laws for teachers and fair use practices. To help me research  this, I read this document talking about fair use and quizzed myself: http://umfresources.wikispaces.com/file/view/copy_guide.pdf/254864262/copy_guide.pdf

Here are some of the answers I got wrong and my response to each of them:

A technology coordinator installs the one copy of Photoshop the school owns on a
central server so students are able to access it from their classroom workstations.
This is a violation of copyright law.
False. As long as one copy is not being used simultaneously, it's OK to distribute the
software via the server. However, when districts or schools fail to monitor and
enforce simultaneous use, they get in trouble. (On a network, it's easy to track if a
program is being used in more than one location.)
I said True because I thought it would be a violation if you only bought one copy, I didn't know that it would be okay via the server.

A geography teacher has more students and computers than software. He uses a CD
burner to make several copies of a copyright interactive CD-ROM so each student
can use an individual copy in class. This is fair use.
False. Just as with a print encyclopedia, one student at a time has access to a piece of
software. The number of students who can use a software program simultaneously is
restricted to the number of copies the school owns (but be sure to check out #2
above).
I said True because he paid for one copy. I don't understand why this instance is different from the last one about photoshop.

A technology coordinator downloads audio clips from MP3.com to integrate into a
curriculum project. This is fair use.
True. MP3.com pays for its archives, so the material there is legitimately acquired.

Be wary of some of the other peer-to-peer sites, however (see #8).
I said False because I wasn't sure if MP3 was a legitimate site or a piracy site.

A teacher videotapes a rerun of Frontier House, the PBS reality show that profiles
three modern families living as homesteaders from the 1880s did. In class, students
edit themselves "into" the frontier and make fun of the spoiled family from
California. This is fair use.
True. Video can be pulled into multimedia projects. I live in California, too, so I

share their pain.
I thought this was false because it was taping a PBS show and I thought they would be using it without permission, but I didn't know it was under fair use.

On Back-to-School night, an elementary school offers child care for students'
younger siblings. They put the kids in the library and show them Disney VHS tapes
bought by the PTA. This is permissible.
False. Video (like everything else) is not covered under fair use for entertainment or
reward. The use described is entertainment, pure and simple. However, Disney will
sell you a one-time license for $25 that makes this legal use. Call Disney at (818)

560-1000; ask for "Rights;" and prepare to trade faxes.
I thought it was true because they aren't making money off of it, and the copy was already owned by one of the parents, but I guess you still have to buy a license.

At a local electronics show, a teacher buys a machine that defeats the copy protection
on DVDs, CD-ROMs, and just about everything else. She lets her students use it so
they can incorporate clips from rented DVDs into their film genre projects. This is
fair use.
True. Manufacturing these machines is now prohibited (it previously wasn't). But
teachers have the right to use material that is technologically blocked. Personally, as
a teacher, I would absolutely use it to unlock content for students, but I would

absolutely not use it to make copies at home.
I thought it would be false because it is bypassing the copy protection, and it would be considered piracy, but I guess this question was referring to a machine that was made before this became law.

It is important for  me as a teacher to understand fair use policies in case I choose to use copyrighted material in my classroom. Without sticking to the fair use laws, I could be the school or I could be fined a lot of money, or I could even lose my job.

Web 2.0 Educator

I explored Richard Byrne's blog entitled Free Technology For Teachers because I was interested in seeing what his blog was about because he was from Maine. He has been running this blog since 2007, and he makes new posts multiple times a day. He has won many awards for his content and dedication, and has won the EduBlogs award for ""Best Resource Sharing Blog" for 4 years straight. Each of his postings has an available  and helpful resources for teachers to use, and he only presents the ones that are free and not behind a pay-wall. He also shows how to install/activate them for ones that might be complicated. I really liked his blog, and found a lot of resources for other content areas. I had to dig a little to find things I could use, but I found that this Interactive Map of the Rising Sea Levels to be very interesting and it was an effective visual, especially when the city locations was enabled. I was VERY EXCITED to see my favorite educational YouTube channel, Scishow, as a resource on the blog. Scishow has many subjects of science, at many different comprehension levels, and each one is engaging and super interesting. This video about why we have body hair, a video for health classes, is a good example of Scishow format.

SAMR

TPACK - Is the educational model of the combination between technological knowledge, content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. It is adding technology to teach your content, and understanding how to teach to the students you have. You can combine any of pairs, but when you hit the middle sweet spot are your students really going to benefit.

SAMR - Is a model of technology integration that has 4 levels of integration. The first level is substitution, where you substitute technology you already have for electronic technology, but it is not necessary and doesn't really make things easier. The second level is augmentation, where technology is added to common tasks to help make them easier and/or quicker. The third level is modification, in which there is significant change in the classroom or assignment because of the technology, and a large part of the project is the technology part. The last and highest level of the SAMR model is redefinition. This is when technology is used as a primary carrier for learning.

1. Using a Smart Board in a math classroom as a whiteboard to make graphs and solve geometry problems - Augmentation
The whiteboard is already there but it is easier to make graphs with the smartboard and to present it to everyone and students can come up to the board and interact with it.

2. Writing an essay with Microsoft word - Augmentation
You could write an essay with a paper and pencil but it would be much harder and take longer and their would be no spell check.

3.  Putting in text boxes in an image to fill in a form - Substitution
It would be much easier and less frustrating to print it off and fill it out by hand.

4. Using a graphing program to make a picture using algebra two equations - Redefinition
Desmos.com is a equation graphing program where you can make pictures out of the shapes you make, we did that in Algebra 2. This would not be possible (or as possible) without a

5. Using Garageband to make a jingle for a character in Great Gatsby - Modification
Making the song and adding the affects in garageband is a large part, but you still have to do research, analyze the chapters, and write the lyrics.

Puentedura, Ruben. "TPCK and SAMR: Models for Enhancing Technology Integration." Podcast. As We May Teach. Maine Department of Education, 22 Dec. 2008. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

My MEL Experiences

• Hands On: In my high school chemistry class, our teacher has us use plastic models of molecules so we could fit them together and visualize how molecules go together in  a compound. It was easier to imagine it when working with our hands and physically putting them together than to try to visualize a foreign concept in our heads. -
• Helping Students Succeed: My high school Spanish teacher knew that her class was hard, and kept it hard so the students who didn't actually want to be there or learn would have to drop it. She very high expectations of what she wanted us to know, but once she was down to the students who wanted to be there, she really supported us and pushed us every time we struggled.
• Student/teacher Relationship: My high school honors geometry teacher was the funniest, kindest, and most amazing teacher that you would ever meet. For students who were done early or who learned best working with their hands, she gave them rubics cubes and other things like that to help them focus. She was always laughing, joking around, and made everyone feel comfortable and respected in her classroom.
• Learning Styles: In my high school American studies classes, we had four units and each until had a variety of projects the corresponded to the different learning styles. I never realized that until now. For example, he made us make a jingle describing the character traits of one of the characters in The Great Gatsby. He made us do movies to go along with The Scarlet Letter, and I did a sculpture project to show what I learned about the industrial revolution. These projects address different multiple intelligences.
• Autonomy: In my high school chorus classroom, instead of memorizing a piece and singing it for our final exam, we got to get into groups and choose a musical of our choice and memorize, act out, and sing at least 3 songs from that musical. Our group picked the musical Cinderella, and I got to be the fairy-godmother and sing bippidy boppidy boo. It was easier for us to choose what we wanted to sing instead of being forced to sing something in Italian that couldn't relate to our lives.

Playing with Comic Life!

I'm just going to leave this here.

Learning Style Inventory Results

Learning Styles Inventory - Results Page For User: Kelci O'Neill This page displays the results of your learning styles inventory. You can also select options below to compare your styles with anybody who has shared their results with you. Your results The scores are out of 20 for each style. A score of 20 indicates the style is used often. Style Scores Visual 16 Social 20 Physical 12 Aural 17 Verbal 15 Solitary 4 Logical 13 I agree with the results that I got. I am a very social and extroverted person, and so the 20/20 in that category did not surprise me. This survey did not have a naturalistic intelligence/learning style, so I am curious on if that would have been my second highest instead of aural. In Dr. Grace's class, I was naturalist as a secondary. I love to sing and I often have songs in my head, so I am excited to see that reflected in my results.. I knew that my visual would be high, in my spare time and when I can't sleep, I doodle and draw blueprints. I love word games, riddles, and puns. I like logic problems and puzzles. I like competitive sports and swimming, but not exercising just for stress relief.I don't like being by myself and I get lonely very easily. To work out problems, I have to talk it through with another person. I think that these results are very accurate to  me personally. This comes from: http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/results.php

Google Earth

What you learned about Google Earth and how you learned it:
On Google Earth I looked at my house in Freeport, and I looked at my residence hall in Farmington. I though it was really cool using streetview to navigate around campus. When I looked at the Effiel Tower in Paris France, I thought it was so cool that the Effiel Tower was 3D out of the map. I went down to streetview and explored around the base of the Effiel tower, I never knew that there was a ticket line to view it, and that there are vendors all around it. I saw that graduation was happening in the computer center parking lot, and it was also really blurry when I went pack in time to look at the education center, so I don't know what it used to be before the Ed. Center. I mostly learned all of these things by trying it out and playing around with the program.

How you might use Google Earth in your class:

I know I am not being creative, but I really liked the video's idea of using Google Earth to teach biomes of different ecosystems around the world. I could have them look at things like a desert, a tropical forest, a wetland, a savannah, a tundra, and a temperate forests, and compare and contrast the differences in their appearances and try to predict what kind of species live there.I could also have students use google earth to track migration habits of mammals like whales, reptiles like sea turtles,birds such as robins, and insects such as monarch butterflies.

Maine Memory Network

What you explored:

I explored by searching lots of terms. I first explored the site by typing my hometown  of Freeport, ME.  I found my high school, Freeport High School, circa 1925! I also found a map of the town of Freeport, circa 1740, and a photograph of Pettengill Farm, a famous farm in Freeport, from 1920. I never new that my town had a website for our historical society! There was also a whole online exhibit for L.L. Bean's corporate archives.  I also looked up some other things, like biology, science, and microscope, but I didn't get many results that I felt were relevant.
Freeport High School, circa 1925:

How could you use it in your class:

I believe that history does belong in science, but I was unable to find anything on the Maine Memory Network that I could add to my curriculum. Maybe I could talk about population decline in the early 1900's due to trappers and show pictures of them. I would really rather talk about historical figures in science, like Darwin, or  Greg Mendel, or Marie Curie. Maybe I could look up the town in which I end up teaching in and look up some local ecology or local species and find pictures of those.

Wes Fryer Chapter 1

In this chapter I mostly disagreed with the section about cell phones. I don't really agree with the part about how cell phone technologies can be used in the classroom. Most of the things they were talking about that they can be used for, what the ipads can accomplish. The difference of why I support iPads instead of cell phones is that iPads can not make calls. I also disagree that not everyone has a smartphone, so that you cannot count on that as a technology that everyone will have. Phones also cause distractions, like Facebook or texting other students. The last thing I disagree with is that cell phones are cheaper. To require that all the students have cell phones for class is unreasonable of the parents. That is why I believe in the MLTI program we have in Maine. It gives every student access to technology so they can develop their skills and have access to research and resources at their fingertips, without any cost to the student.

iPad Personalization

I tried a lot of things using the new iPad I was provided. I personalized it, downloaded my favorite apps, logged into my social networks, set up my email, set a passcode, and set a desktop picture. I even named my device “Jensen,” after my favorite actor, Jensen Ackles. I spent a couple hours playing around with it. I was using it for so long that when I got a text on my iPhone 4, I pulled it out and was shocked by how small my 3” screen looked after spending an extended amount of time looking at my huge iPad! I kind of want to buy one after interacting with it, but it if very heavy and bulky, so I might prefer an iPad Mini instead of the regular one. One useful trick I found was to exit to the home screen by putting all 5 fingers on the screen, and then pulling them towards the center into a point. With the right apps, I am sure that the iPad would be a useful resource in the classroom, but for now I don’t understand how it is/should be integrated in the classroom. Personally, I find it very easy to get off task and distracted, and I am worried that that would be an issue with the students as well. I am excited to find apps and programs in my content area that could be a valuable resource for me in my future classroom.

By the way, this is my iPad background: 

Jensen Ackles!!!!

Apps for a Personal Passion

Kelci O’Neill

9/8/13

Practicum

Apps for a Personal Passion

For this practicum assignment, we were to pick 5 apps to try out from the app store that aligned with a topic of interest of ours. My favorite animals are turtles, and I have loved them and had an obsession for them ever since I was a little girl. Because of this, found 5 apps about turtles and tested them out.  The apps I found were:  Turtle Run, TortForum, The Really Groovy  Story of the Tortoise & Hare, Turtle Isle HD, and Tap Turtle. I tried to get a variety of different types of apps, but because most of them were not free, 3 out of the 5 apps I found were games. I am going to rank the apps from best to worst. The rating they receive is will be based on graphics, the music/sound effects, how intuitive it is to use, how popular it is, and how useful it is.

Best: Turtle Run

I rated this app this way for several reasons. It would have been rated higher, however the graphics on the iPad were not very sharp and sort of fuzzy.  The music was very fun, and fit the game nicely.  It was very easy and intuitive to use, all I had to do was tilt the iPad from side to side as the screen automatically scrolled forward. This app is very already very popular, and it is the most popular on this list, at 2,480 ratings on the iTunes app store. This app is recreational, and serves no useful purpose other than entertainment. This app was the only app on the list to get downloaded to my personal iPhone and saved to play later. It is very fun!  4.5 «’s out of 5

Second-to best: TortForum

This app is a useful forum app on pet turtles and their care. The forum has lots of members, and it is organized well. It is also rated well because it has species specific topics on the forum, and they are also categorized by continents, so it is easier to find the species you are looking for.  The graphics are minimal, but the ones I see are done well. The app has no music or sound effects. It is not exactly intuitive, and I struggled at first when looking through, but I eventually figured it out.  The app only has 20 ratings on the iTunes app store, but it averages 5 star ratings. This app is very useful, so that bumped up my rating a little. 4«’s out of 5

Average: Turtle Isle HD

This app is a game where turtles enter the gameplay screen and you have to turn the starfish to change the directions of the turtles and if two of them walk into each other facing each other they disappear and an egg appears in their place which you have to collect. There were no instructions for this game and it is unclear when you will get an egg when they run into each other and when you will get them just colliding into each other and bumping shells. The graphics are not bad and the music is not bad, however it is not easy or intuitive to play. It has 200 ratings on the iTunes app store, but it is rated much higher on there, at 4.5 stars. This is a technically a recreational app, but I would not classify it as that.  2.5 «’s out of 5

Second-to worst: The Really Groovy Story of the Tortoise & Hare

This app is the book The Tortoise and the Hare, in app form. It can be read by you or be read aloud through the app as an audiobook. It also has some animations to go with the illustrations that are mildly amusing. The story is not very well written, and it is not as enjoyable as the classic tale should be. The graphics are okay, the sound effects are annoying, and the words scroll out of frame quicker than you can even read them, and it is not easy or intuitive on how to get them back. It has no ratings on the app store, and it should only have bad ones. This app is not at all useful, and also not at all groovy.  2 «’s out 5

Worst: Tap Turtle

This app is complete garbage. There are two turtles on the screen, and you have to tap them so that the ripples hit the frog at the same time and knock him off the lily pad. This would be fine, IF THE INSTRUCTIONS HADN'T SAID TO TAP THE TWO TURTLES AT THE SAME TIME, WHICH ACTUALLY DOES NOTHING. The graphics are terrible, the music and sound makes no sense in the context of the game, and the instructions are extremely misleading, as I have stated.  It has 26 ratings on the iTunes app store, however in my opinion, it has no business even being in the app store with all the bugs it has. This app is not even useful as a recreational game, so I will not call it that.  1 « out of 5 

Welcome!

This is my blog for my Fall 2013 Practicum Class! I will be sharing my practicum experience and my journey as a pre-service teacher!

Check back often!