Happiest Place on Earth

This is a concept map and collage that my PLN created to demonstrate the technology that we would want in an ideal classroom. The reality of the situation is that with the lack of funding in education we do not have access to all of these resources; however, in a perfect classroom all of these forms of technology would be present in the classroom to help and emphasize learning in the classroom.

Technology immigrant vs. Technology native

A cartoon I created that represents the difference between a technology native and a technology immigrant and how their lives and resources are so different. Very representative of the generation gaps and the technology that often proves as a language barrier between us and other generations.

My iGoogle

My iGoogle page is effective in providing me with many different applications in one site. I have a weather application because it saves me from having to navigate away from my email to check the 10 day forcast. I also have the application for urban spoon which allows me to look for different restaurants of any type of food in any location. Spanish is my minor and therefore plays a large part in my college education, because of this I added a translator application because I am always struggling to find an effective translator website. By personalizing my iGoogle I made i really easy to access information that is applicable on a daily basis for me.

I jinged it!

Here are some tools I think will be used in the classroom in 10-15 years. What do you think are some interesting technology tools that will be used?

Book of Faces

My name is Kara and I am a Facebook addict. Facebook, a site that has revolutionized stalking and has turned me into a horrible student. Why do my math problem site when I can stalk people on facebook that I haven't talked to for years? A question I ask myself on the daily. Facebook has made communication easy but it has also made being a student harder. After writing three sentences in my English paper I reward myself with time on facebook. I feel as though I am more connected with people through the use of facebook but ultimately I have realized that in my attempts to stay connected I end up disconnecting myself from my school work. Hopefully through this class I can gain an understanding of other sites besides facebook and I can find other websites to procrastinate with.

Digital Story

After using iMovie for the first time to create a digital story I found it very fun and challenging. I had so much fun making a digital story and dissecting myself and the reasons for me wanting to be a teacher. It allowed me to learn about myself while also learning about the advantages of technology. Getting to see everyone's digital stories was a great opportunity to also get to know my PLN better. This was a great assignment to explore the many computer applications and understand various ways of communicating individual interests and opinions. I had so much fun completing the digital story and I hope it shows!

Edst 221: Day 1

In my experience as a student from K-12, technology did not become a prominent part until high school. My elementary experiences did not involve a lot of use of technology; however, I do remember we would get computer time a couple times a week in which we would take online tests to help us type better and increase our knowledge on how to navigate around the internet and computers in general. In high school internet became my main source of information. With the increase and necessity of research, the internet became a great and efficient tool to gather and organize information. The internet provides many different opportunities for learning and allows students to explore various topics more in depth. I feel as though I have a great understanding of all of the opportunities the internet has to offer; however, this class had made me realize I haven't even scratched the surface. I have a lot to learn about the internet as well as how its use can be applied in the classroom.