After reviewing my initial GAME plan, I recognize that there are several aspects that I need to learn more about. My initial plan involved creating an interactive classroom website as a collaborative tool for parents, students, and community members to become an integral part of a "walls-down" classroom. My second goal involved looking at current research to improve my use of technology in the classroom, I chose to focus that technology on my use of the MIMIO board.
The first thing that I need to do to jump start my first goal is to actually create the class website. I thought about using websites that help you to build your own full website with an original URL, however those are not cheap and we all know what a teacher salary pays. Also, I felt like the full website was not the best option spatially because I want the website to be completely focused on collaboration, so I don't want it to be difficult for people to access the website and write comments or see what other people have written. For that reason, I have chose to use a blogger website, similar to this one. This would enable me to jump start discussion through a video thread of a classroom project or by posting upcoming events in my classroom. The idea of using a video thread brings me to my next step. In order to post videos or photos of students online I must have permission from them and their parents. I think that I also may need permission from my school itself (this I am not sure on and will have to check into when school opens again). So, my next step will be to create a permission slip for parents and students to sign to allow me to use pictures and videos from my classroom on the website. I can also use this letter to invite the parents to become members of our learning community and participate in the discussions on the website. I believe that by taking away the formality of the face to face parent-teacher conference or the IEP meeting that parents, teachers, ans students will communicate better. Cennamo, Ertmer, and Ross state that it creates an informal environment free of bias or prejudice (2009, p. 71).
In order to meet my second goal of evaluating current research to improve my use of MIMIO technology in the classroom I need to start looking at websites that promote discussion between teachers that currently use this technology. One of my Walden peers suggested proteacher.net. Upon visiting the website, I scrolled down and clciked on the technology thread. This thread was made for teachers who are looking for ways to integrate more technology into their classroom. I have not looked through the entire page yet, so I have not found a thread about the MIMIO board but there are suggestions for using Twitter in the classroom, wikis, and trading information on downloading and saving information. I look forward to participating in these threads and to pick up more ideas on how to integrate technology in my classroom. I would also like to use the MIMIO board to access more technology for my students with disabilities. The MIMIO is a great way to have complete control over text size, font, and color for students with visual-spatial disabilities. And I would love to be able to download assistive technology software for particular students so that during work time, those students can have access to the MIMIO to use these technologies. Once I review the student's IEPs for the upcoming school year I will better be able to determine what technologies will be necessary. However, I can begin my search early because there are software programs available for students with physical, cognitive, visual, organizational, and auditory disabilities (Cennamo et.al., 2009, p. 131). I look forward to taking this next step and hopefully finding some professional development conferences to help me access these technologies in my classroom. If anyone has any suggestions as to conferences that they have heard of or of AT that was not described in our book, please let me know!
Resources
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
I have never created a website before, but feel that it would be a fantastic method to keep the lines of communication open between your students, parents, and colleagues. One question, do you know if your school system already has a web service available for you to use? “Websites are the most common form of hypermedia in use today, and many schools are contracting web services that provide teachers and their students with simple tools to create web pages quickly” (Cennamo, Ross & Ertmer, 2009, p. 62). I know that my district does, but many teachers don’t take advantage because they don’t know how to use it. If your school already has a service available for you to use, it would be easier to implement and is most likely a protected network that provides confidentiality.
ReplyDeleteIf not, our course book, “Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use,” has a section pertaining to the creation of websites starting on page 62. This section would be beneficial to you because it helps to alert you to things you should consider before going live. Some of the ideas include: before beginning the website construction visit other teacher and school websites and make note of what you like and do not like, share these insights with your colleagues to get any additional feedback, and define the audience of the website, the purpose, the goals, content, and links, so you are clearly defining your expectations. These steps seem daunting, but once your web site is in place, I’m sure you will feel proud of your accomplishments.
Good Luck!
Emily Williams
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful
classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
Missy to Nikki: I love your ideas. Our school has a website and teachers can choose their own website builder and then the tech will link it to the school website. I use Yola for my website. I simply googled "free website builders" and picked one. I would not say it is the best because it does not have some features I think I would like, but it is pretty simple and FREE. I would like my students to build a new website for my school. I want us to use some software that would give a virtual tour and when you open the door to a classroom or office,etc. it would transport you to that teacher's or principal's webpage. I am in the thinking stages of this project. I would love some ideas also. My principal loves the idea, but I am not sure I will have the time to actually do it. Building a website is fun. I want to make my own websites more interactive and interesting, too. Check out Yola.com and see if you like it.
ReplyDeleteMissy
Jennifer to Nikki,
ReplyDeleteWhen setting up a classroom environment, it is important to create something that is manageable for all users. I really like your idea of using a blogger site because it seems as though this will be fairly easy to access and interact with. That being said, I remember how nervous I was when I initially had to develop my own personal blog. One thing that I would add is some sort of training letter for parents that provides simple to follow directions so that they know how to use the blog. We have the opportunity to share these new tools with our students and teach them how to manipulate them face to face, but some parents may feel intimidated by this form of technology. I have a school website and it is like pulling teeth to get students to visit it. I have even offered extra credit that has gone unnoticed because students will not take the time to view the site. Creating permission slips is a good way to make sure that all your students are covered personally. I am not positive on this, but I think our school has students sign something at the beginning of the year that deals with publishing photos. I usually get an e-mail letting me know which students cannot have pictures published. If this is the case in your situation, then that is one less thing you will have to worry about.
Nikki,
ReplyDeleteOur district has also just set teachers up with their own personal web page. We have had a little bit of training, but it has mostly been a trial error approach. It has been useful for us to communicate with students over the summer. Our district created what we are calling Muskrat 2.0 (our school's mascot is the muskrat). It is essentially a project aligned to our benchmarks that we need students to meet prior to the first day of class. we linked it to our web page and students can log in and see what they need to accomplish for each of their upcoming classes. I can see the web pages fulfilling a similar need for communication throughout the school year.
I do not have a lot of experience with it, but I know moodle can serve a purpose similar to a web page. I know you can create an account and add students. This might be a district subscription service, but again, I am sure. Also, my wife uses weebly.com. Most of the features on this site are free. She likes to post discussion boards where students can communicate with each other. She has it set to alert her when posts are published to check for appropriate comments. She also links resources that she uses in the classroom.
These are a few ideas for you, I hope they might help. Good Luck...
Nick
Nikki,
ReplyDeleteI did a little searching and found this website for you: http://www.mimioconnect.com/ . This is a place where teachers upload their creations on the Mimio board. It is free and so you can just look through and find things that people have created for use in the classroom. There is also a place for teachers to communicate with each other and give ideas of how to utilize it in the classroom. It looks pretty cool! I just got a new interactive whiteboard this year too, I am very excited to start using it. Good luck! - Nellie Murison