Week13 (Online application review)

Google Document

First of all, it’s good for teachers or workers to keep data that involved in their own work in the online application while separating them with your private data in your laptop. Also, you can create files for putting them in order. Once you save the data in the online application, you can access these saved files wherever you are. Also, you can share with whoever you want. You don’t need to send the data by email anymore and coworkers can access them from wherever. 

Picmonkey

It’s really easier to edit and put effects on pictures compared to FotoFlexer. No need to resister with your information. There are many cute designs too. Also, you can share the edited pictures on facebook, twitter, Pin, and email via the online application.  This application is helpful to edit pictures for the organization websites, blogs, and more to share about the organization affairs.

A highly functional website -Google Sites-

https://sites.google.com/site/letscommunicateinkojimaclass/


I want visitors to have collaborative learning, so google users can keep comments. Also, I put announcement gadget so that visitor can find out the recent activity.

Bubble.us(Concept-Mapping Creater)

For my presentation about Educational Technology.
I will give a present about Educational Technology to professors and TAs (Researchers) in Language/Linguistic Department. When we prepare for presentations, this map will help us to organize the contents and think over the ideas.  

Presentation for Effective Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0

Screencast-Jing- How to use Windows Live Movie Maker

This is a video about how to use Windows Live Movie Maker and make a movie. It will be one option for students to have presentations about their experience. Or this would be one of the roles in the class as introducing class activities. If they master how to use this, they can have some videos for each class activity,events,and class as their roles with responsibility,creative ability,and thinking ability. And also, they can have fun to make their own videos,which might lead to their hobbies and goals.

Example Map for the lesson with Google Map

View My summer vacation to South Heaven in a larger map

Idea for a lesson with Google Map

#2 Come up with an idea for a lesson in which your students would create their own maps.

We have leaned basic ideas about typing, the internet,posting,and more with laptops during this spring semester. Before summer, we integrate Google Map into the class to make students get interesting geography, directs around their own house,streets names, etc. 
 
During a summer long vacation, they will have diary homework. Typically, they do in notebooks by hands,though they choose one happening(travel is the best!) that can be possible to show on Map, and create their Diary Map. They will show where and what they did with pictures. After the summer vacation is done, they will have presentations and share what they did in the summer in the class.

It would be useful to practice typing and crate original diary more. Also, it would be helpful to cultivate creating and describing ability. They can put their own pictures and videos for making them more unique.
Also, this lesson helps students connect what they have leaned on geography,writing,and art field.

Podcast

Private English Portal: http://privateenglishportal.com/category/toeflielts-lessons/

I found Private English Portal (PEP) by Steve Ford that people can learn English on online as second English for taking TOEFL test and learning business English and common phrases, etc.

There are 9 categories like followers. You can find each on the light side of the top page in the site.

• Basic to Advanced English Learning Lessons
• Business English Lessons
• Free Podcast English Lessons
• Learn English Live
• Learning English TV
• Parallels
• Peppy English Lessons
• Peppy English Pronunciation Lessons
• TOEFL/IELTS English Lessons

I like TOEFL/IELTS category. Each of the writing, speaking, and listening sections require specific strategies, and this podcast offers them with many examples with his unique ways. Also, he teaches many test preparations in the caterory. If you sign up, you can also the free subtitles and quiz for this category.

I can say he is really funny and unique in the all videos that I watched. The most important parts are that subtitle is shown in the below of those videos and he doesn’t make the users feel bored to learn English in this site.

Trends & Issues Ch.4

Application Questions(P.42,1)

Teach how to calculate and compare the unit costs of various sizes and/or brands of the same product. Select three of the theories of learning discussed in this chapter. For each of the three, describe the nature of the instructional activities that you would design if you were adhering to that theory as you were planing the instruction.

<Cognitive Information Processing Theory>

This theory is process within the learner. Stimuli that become inputs cause learners to show behavior as output. First, learners need to get attention to what they will learn. (Attention)

1.      Prepare for two pictures that are printed boxes contain 10oz cookies for $9 and 5oz cookies for $4. And, have learners choose one they want to buy by the first impression. Have them imagine when they go to a grocery shop and chose one.

Next, learners need to make the personally meaning. (Encoding)

2.      Have students answer which one they chose and why in the class. Also, have them think how they should find out which one is more reasonable to buy.

3.      Guide them the idea to cultivate the unit cost per oz of each box for finding out which one is more reasonable. And, make them be reminded of division’s meaning.(Make them care about unit of each number.), and think how to divide the problem of 10oz cookies for $9 and 5oz cookies for $4.

4.      Have them make sure which box is cheaper per oz after calculating each. 

Lastly, they need to recall the new information from memory so that it can be applied in an appropriate context. (Retrieval)

5.      Give leaners some similar questions like calculating the unit costs of several sizes of same products and compare them.

6.      Also, they should have feedback of each question in the class for making sure they understand the new style correctly. Have make some learners share their answers verbally in the class with the way how they calculated and compared each question  

<Gagne’s Theory of Instruction>

This theory is based on Information Processing Theory and Gagne’s own observations of effective teachers in the class. He offered five major categories of learning that define instructional goal in each condition of learning. In this Application Questions case (p42,1), “verbal information” to understanding  the meaning of the unit costs, “attitudes” that learners conduct correct side divided by the another correct side, an “intellectual skill” to solving arithmetic problems should be the mainly goals in this instruction. 

First, gaining attention as similarly as Cognitive Information Process. (I use same examples for  making it easier to comparing between Cognitive Information Process and Gagne’s Theory Instruction)

1.      Prepare for two pictures that are printed boxes contain 10oz cookies for $9 and 5oz cookies for $4. And, have learners choose one they want to buy by the first impression. 

Second, Informing the learner of the objective. And, third, stimulating recall of prior learning.

2.      Show the question. “You go shopping to buy cookies for a birthday party. Which one is a cheaper price cookie per 1oz? And how much cheaper than the another one? ”(intellectual skill)

3.      Make them be reminded of division’s meaning(verbal information) and care about the each unit to understand which number should be divided which one (attitude).

Four, presenting the stimulus.

4.      Make some groups within the classmates, and have them have discussions for the solutions. 

Fifth, providing learning guidance.

5.      If there are a group that have problems, give a cue or hint to make them clear.

Sixth, eliciting performance.  And seventh, providing feedback.

6.      Make some students share verbally how they thought and solved it in the class. Make sure all learners understand in the end including the meanings of division and unit. Also, ask any question.

 Eighth, assessing performance.

7.      Demonstrate what learners have been learning in front of the class again 

Ninth, enhancing retention and transfer.

8.      Give more similar questions and approval ones to go beyond the immediate context of the instruction.

Conference in Kyoto,Japan next month! I post the map around there just in case!

大きな地図で見る

A way to integrate interactive whiteboard into a kindergarden class

Homecoming Day!

The opening of Homecoming Game at WMU. 

We held National Flogs in a line. 

24/7 access to laptop in learning

<Trends & Issues, Ch3 p28(1.a)>

The three reasons why 24/7 access to laptop which the curriculum materials are installed on with wireless in classes have very little effects on the instructional practice.

The first reason is teachers’ poor skills and knowledge to integrate these software and the materials installed on the laptop into classes. Instructors who haven’t cultivated the systems, knowledge, and skills of handling laptops and software for instructional practice might have problems to make up classes’ schedules and effective contents for learners to be able to learn positively and effectively in the classes. Also, it should take a ton of times for instructors to make use of the installed materials so that it makes easier for learners to understand complex contents in all subjects, especially Math.

Second factor is that more new models of instructional practice for it. The curriculum materials installed on the laptop should have lower quality depending on subjects, and teachers need to more ideas to integrate them into classes effectively in all subjects. They might help for students to have more concreter ideas with digital pictures and informed website, though administers and teachers should have resistance to perfect change in the process that new models and theories for appropriate use this style are developed.

The most important one is lacks of communications and interactions among learners and instructor. If they access laptop for 24 hours a day and every day of the week, it can’t be said that there are high communication processes and interactions among them even if the users are connecting via the internet. Communications and interactions via direct physical activities between students and students, students and instructors, and sometimes students and the instructional contents are necessary for cultivating human qualities and “alive knowledge”.

<Trends & Issues, Ch3 p28(1.b)>

Here, I give two strategies to mitigate these factors I presented above.

First, the professors need to have more lectures that give the basic ideas and trainings to active teachers and even post-teachers so that they can stand on an equal footing with the project and be ready for handling these materials and software in the classes.

Second one is Web2.0 that users can communicate and learn by speaking actives on the laptop like Voicethread should be adopted into the project not only communication on the screens. If so, the users recognize the classmates’ voices and can have more effective interactions among them, and they are also more motivated by the voice instructions from learners. 

Photo Sharing!

Here is my Flickr page, SayuriKo Theater! :)

I will keep posting my memories in U.S. as a grad school student!

Sicial Bookmarking(Delicious), Trends & Issues Chapter1

<Social Bookmarking> What value (if any) do you think social bookmarking might hold for teachers and/or students? You may think about students sharing with each other, teachers sharing with their students, teachers sharing with other teachers, administrators sharing with teachers, sharing with parents, or any other scenario(s) you can imagine.

The most excellent part of Social Bookmarking is bookmarked WebPages are not tied in only a computer. Usually, we can bookmark our own favorite pages in a bookmark toolbar on our own computers for checking them easily and quickly for just ourselves. However, we can share pages that we often connect or are appropriate for some objects to everyone if we use Social Bookmarking, as we know. If I think about this point, there are valuable ways to useful this. It means we can make some kind of connections like teacher-teacher, teacher-students, student-student, and teacher-parents via this. For example, teachers don’t have enough time to share each other’s happenings in classes, students’ situations, and class environments. Also, parents want to know the school lives of their children. So, first of all, the class teachers set up their own class homepages. Then, if all teachers and parents set up Social Bookmark, add the all class homepages, and tag each page as the name of schools, teachers can know each class situation easily by clicking the website and parents can understand what kinds of teachers work for the school even if they are not their own children’s class teachers. Also, parents can have expectation for the coming years for their own children. Moreover, in Japan, teachers publish class newspapers about once in a week, though teachers can’t hear the readers’ opinions. Just they finished publishing them. If they use this, they can communicate with them in a blog easily at the same time.

I guess it triggers the situations that schools, teachers, and parents become much closer and parents might have more credibility to the schools and teachers. However, RSS system in Google Reader seems to be much easier to find new posts, I guess. But, Social Bookmarking is easier to see the each page individually and organizing the added WebPages by themselves.

Here is my Delicious page.

<Trends & Issues reading> What degree do the definitions in this chapter correspond with what you have thought about this area and what it is you hope to do in your line of work (or in a future career)? Does is there anything surprising or very new you read in this chapter? Does something seem to be missing?

Actually, I knew the specific definition of Educational Technology hasn’t decided even now. Both of technology and education have changed in every generation. I’m not sure what are the right definition and ideas for this area, though every book involved in Educational Technology that I have read are written based on the idea that interaction between learners and collaboration study are necessary for improve their own motivation and make appropriate environment. Since I started studying about basic ideas and philosophy on Educational Technology, I have believed the philosophy of Vygotsky, L.S, Social Constructivism, which focus mainly cooperation and communication study among peers. Also, learners need to cultivate problem-solving skills, thinking skills, critical skills, describing skills, and more for learning to fit into society. So, I like to integrate technology into classes based on ideas involved in the definition after 1994, in Trends and Issues, that had appeared over the past long years piling up the observation and examinations. According to the result of my research papers that I wrote when graduated from University, it’s clear that we need to integrate technology into classes with textbooks depending on situations. I mean teachers need to care about each learner’s situation, each environment in the classes, and learners’ reactions, and then make use of appropriate technology paying attention the timing of the integrating. 

 

Web 2.0 / Wiki

When I watched the posted video, “Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us”, I was really impressed with it since I could tell how wonderful and useful Web 2.0 and technologies are by the video. It really influenced me to focus on introducing technologies into classes more. However, it was not so easy. 

First, I started to read Tim O’Reilly’s article, it was really stressful to understand and catch the pictures. One big reason is I don’t have enough knowledge about systems and understanding specific names to read it smoothly. After coping and read the printed articles carefully, I could feel better a little bit referring to information on wikipedia. On the other hand, creating my wiki was interesting with instruction of the posted video. Especially, creating link was fun from my, the creator, viewpoint. Even from the readers’ viewpoints, I guess it might be very informed page depending on the creators’ considerations. I don’t have English license, though it might be really useful for students to be motivated. For example, we post reading assignment that is including in unknown new words and phrases. Most of the students should stop reading if they hit the new parts. However, if we post link to check the meanings, they can preview and review easily and be motivated. Also, we can put a English video on the page every week. I guess students who study in junior and high schools don’t try to watch English movie by themselves. We can give them the chances to watch them and notice the interesting to learn. Moreover, it’s possible to leave comments for these readings and videos on the page in English, which will lead their communication skills in English on the page.  Most of Japanese students learn mainly grammar without listening and speaking. The English Education has useless.

We can change Education and children motivation by wiki.

Here is for my wiki  FrontPage.You can check other assignments from "EDT5410(Fall 2012)" in Pages&Files.

Blog and RSS

Blog and RSS Reader

I have been familiar with Bloger for a long time. This use for this class is better for me because I like to summary my ideas and write down what I have learned or experienced in my blog like a diary, which I can keep my thoughts and academic history in a one place. I sometimes post my records to Twitter or facebook to share with my friends.  Actually, I’ve tried book diaries a few times, though I always couldn’t keep doing them continually and lost or ruined these books in the end. Also, I have had experienced to put down and submit references for a class, though I lost these papers after the class finish because they would become mess and I didn’t feel like rereading the written visual records On the other hand, blog by tech can last forever as long as we can use internet, and it doesn’t be mess in a bag. Also, it’s easier to review my records whenever I want in the future and check ones my friends have experiences via laptop, iphone, ipad, and more. Moreover, if we have the page for specific field like this class, we can discuss in a blog and share ideas for ourselves.

I haven’t cared about RSS and it was my first try for it. To be honest, when I set up RSS, the page seemed not be clear, and I was really confused to handle it. I read what RSS is on wikipedia and instructions about it on e-learning over and over again. Also, I didn’t notice even I had set up it already. However, now that I have used and researched Google Reader, I enjoy organizing my page with interesting feeds. First of all, it’s easy to know there are new uploaded pages in any feeds, and if we divide feeds into some folders by their fields. I submitted to News and some interesting articles involved in Educational Technology addition to all students’ blog pages, so made News folder, EDT, and EDT5410. We can see many interesting websites via just Google Reader without opening a lot of sites. I noticed that subscribing on here is like “like” on Facebook that we can see new information of our own interesting pages that we did “like”. There is one question. If we open many pages for a long time, sometimes freezing or slow response happen for the high volume data.  How about this time? We can connect some feeds in one window at the same time, though does it influence to any damages?

The Cone of Experience, Edgar Dale (1969)

As a result, I think both of Blog and RSS lend themselves to Dramatized Experienced, Demonstrations, and Exibits depending on viewpoints of where we are standing since all of these experiences include in both of “observing experience” and “acting experience”.

First of all. Blog has two ways to participate. One of them is mainly to share our recodes involved in our ideas, experiences, thoughts, believes, and minds on our page with people who check the page. The another one is when we read other writers’ blogs, which means you “observe” their records. In Dramatized Experience, as the author states, there are two roles of this experience; actor or actress in the play and audience in front of the stage. According him, participants directly in the drama is more close than spectators. Similarly, I think owners who manage the blogs can feel the subjects of the contests in their blogs more and understand the objects. Visitor to the blog can also learn or feel objects via the blogs.

Similarly, in Demonstrations, students have observing experience. However, like his example of chemistry class, students would demonstrate by themselves after observing experiments. Considering to this, we can be observers with information vis RSS and Blog, and show our own opinions for the new source in Blog.  We can be positions of both of observers by RSS and demonstrator by Blog.

 Exibits Experience has also two stiles of exhibit; “ready-made” prepared by more academic agency and “home-made” readied by students according to him. Here, RSS can be former. We can learn new information by some feeds via RSS and other peoples’ Blog. On the other hand, students can show their own opinions and ideas on Blog even here as exhibition.

Therefore, Blog is mainly to show or share our own ideas and learn via others blog. RSS can be source of information and students can have “abstract experience” or “sensory experience”.

 Falling Asleep at Your Keyboard: The Case for Computer Imagination

 Martin Siegel(2003)

            As I state already above, the “imagination” educational use of Blog is that participates including in teachers and students can share their own thoughts wherever and whenever they can use internet with clearer visuals than notebooks. Face-to-face discussing with materials and memos is also similar, though sometimes the points are unclear and it should sometimes make participate be confused during the discussion. In the end, less information might be in their mind after discussion than sharing and learning their ideas on blog.

            Also, “imagination” educational use of RSS is to see much newly interesting information on a page without going several pages on web-site compared to checking a ton of textbooks. We can choose interesting keywords and focus on them from websites without looking for just necessary information by turning over pages from books piled next you.  

Week1(Optimistic or Skeptical View for Using Technolog in Education)

1. EDT5410 Fall 2012 (Week1)
2. Reigeluth, C.M. & Joseph, R. (2002). Beyond technology integration: The case for technology transformation. Educational Technology, 42(4), 9-13.
Postman, N. (1993). Of Luddites, learning, and life. Technos Quarterly, 2(4).
3. 9/05/2012

When we talk about Education, the most important and ideal classes are teachers are not at the center of th classes but students are. I mean students themselves should create a class with peers. Like Reigeluth & Joseph essay states, peers should be always the best partners to learn. Also, they say teacher shouldn’t lead the classes too much but just guide of the procedures of the classes from the side with a few instructions. That’s what I really have believed. These aspects seem to be from Social Constructivism by Vygotsky, L.S like they say. Communication and cooperation among learners is regarded as the most important factor under his idea, and one of the main three points of this philosophy is group learning and collaboration. The other one is Zorn of Proximal Development (ZPD). ZPD really equivalents to the status in Reigeluth & Joseph essay that learners can improve problem solving abilities under the environment amount peers who assist them each other. Considering these ideas and states, on-line classes including in EDT5410 are also regarded as the same situations and it’s better for us to learn with my classmates through these technologies.

On the other hand, I also agree with the states that technology and information don’t solve all problems in schools like Postman says. Actually, considering just my experiences as a substitute in Elementary schools, I feel there are more serious problems that don’t seem to be involved in technology like students’ family problems, bullies in fellows, teacher-parents relationships, and more. Whenever thinking about these problems paid attention in the present, I’m wondering why these problems didn’t happen in old times. If I consider about this, it might be correct that they happen because we lack something else that schools should manage now according to Postman.

However, I don’t totally agree the idea that technology is no reliability for solving these problems. I believe it depends on instructor’s abilities and experiences and flexibilities in schools and timing of integrating them.  Also, students and teachers are required to calculate media literacy first. Technology can connect students and students and students and families.

I will introduce two examples to mix the traditional methods and technology observing the class situation and environment. For example, when I was a substitute teacher, I felt like sciences classes require real experiences for having students activity for the subject like observation spring natures. However, the weathers weren’t always clear to experience physically outside. Moreover, it was difficult to observe wild swallows. Then I used interactive whiteboard in the class to show bugs, flowers, birds, and more in spring. Also, they could see the detail parts of the livings by enlarge of the video and pictures. Students were given visual information via the screen in even the impossible condition. Another example is English class that I researched for my graduating thesis. My object of the research was how to integrate technologies in ESL classes. As the result, instructors utilize interactive whiteboard with music and dancing between explaining. Students were motivated by the characters and moving, and all students answered the class was really fun and they liked English.

Therefore, my opinion is that not all problems are possible to be solved by information and technology and schools have to make efforts to solve them without technology first, though technology should be one of assists with better ways to use. I want to find a problem that happens in schools and how we can solve it with technology support.