Technology Philosophy

As technology becomes more prevalent in our everyday lives, we, as teachers, need to make sure that we are incorporating its use into our classrooms. I’ve heard time and time again that technology is not going anywhere, so we owe it to our students to make sure we are teaching them how to use different types of technology and how they can be responsible with said technology. I believe in getting to know my students and to putting their needs first within my classroom. In order for me to do that, I need to use those things that are most important to them—whatever it is that may look like. For example, my students will be taught when it is appropriate to use their cell phones in class, because I do not want to be the sort of teacher who tells them it is never appropriate. The teacher is no longer the smartest person in the room and that is something we need to become comfortable with. Whenever my students encounter a word they don’t know, I am going to teach them that it is okay to pull out their cell phone and to look the word up. If we are going through a text with a class, I especially want to stress that notion: if they do not know something, why are we denying them the ability to look it up, when they have a mini-computer in their pockets?

I believe in making technology a part of the classroom, because this is an important part of our lives and our students deserve to have that integrated into their classrooms. I realize that having technology a part of the classroom is really dependent on the district I am in and what sorts of resources I have within my school. If I am lucky to teach in Poudre School District where almost all of the schools are 1-to-1 for computers, then I will be able to use a lot of online resources. I really like Edmodo and Google Classroom, and I would like to have those has the main at-home resource for my students, whenever they may need to re-read an assignment or when they have a question that can address to their classmates. I want my students to be able to use technology, because I do not believe learning should only happen in the classroom. Thanks to the ever changing day-and-age we have found ourselves in, we should be encouraging students to use their resources in any way that is possible.

I hope to get more comfortable with technology as I work with my high schoolers in the fall and then student teach in the spring. I am very fortunate to be able to work with Poudre School District, because they have so much technology that is available to their teachers and students. I want to work on continuing to stay up-to-date on all technologies and to develop myself both professionally and personally in regards to technology.  

Review: Prezi for Presentations

As an educator, I am always looking for new and exciting ways to display information. I consider myself proficient with PowerPoint, but that isn't always the most exciting way for students to receive information and I began to wonder if there were other ways I could do my presentations. My friends are always telling me about Prezi, so I figured I would go ahead and give it a true.

Prezi is a self-proclaimed presentation website, that is more engaging for your viewers and more interesting as they attempt to retain the information being shown. The tagline of the website is: “Become a rockstar presenter with Prezi presentation software.” This site does not seem to be geared towards one professional group (i.e., business, education), but seem to invite anyone who is looking to present something in a different manner than basic slides. When I signed up for my account, there was a pull-down for teachers as well as students, so it seems as if Prezi is trying to be all-accompanying across professions and life experiences. 

Let’s get started, shall we?

Prezi is found at www.prezi.com and to create an account you have to click “get started.” Once you click that, it will offer you four options: Public (free); Enjoy ($10 per month); Pro ($20 per month); or Teams (volume-based pricing).

I am interested in the free option the most, because I want to know what tools educators can use without spending a monthly fee. As I make my account, it gives me a list of items that I get by choosing the free option.

My only option on the free version is to “create, collaborate, and present on prezi.com,” which is all I really need anyway.

At least it’s polite.

While some online web applications have great integration with Bloom’s Taxonomy, there is little thought process being involved besides understanding and remembering. Prezi is a presentation website and it does not have ways to activity engage your students throughout (such as SmartNotebook, which allows for student interaction throughout a presentation). Prezi is a great way to get the information across, but besides that, it can’t stand alone and offer much in the realm of critical thinking. If you wish to reach the other four levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy using Prezi, it has to be paired with activities outside of this application.

Bloom's Taxonomy

When considering this application with the Technology Integration Matrix, the main levels of integration into the curriculum are going to be Entry and Adoption. If a teacher uses this presentation website and gives students information about the next unit, then they are simply using this tool to deliver content to students. I feel as if I should note that delivering information and lecturing to a class should not always be considered a bad thing. If you are taking your students in a new direction (for example, if you are starting a narrative unit and a mass majority of your students have never heard the terms and concepts associated with that before), then you have to give your students enough of a context for them to be successful. Lecturing should be used purposely in your classroom to ensure your students are getting the necessary information. Adoption can be applied with Prezi if a teacher instructs her students to create a presentation using this application and deliver it to the class. That way, the students are becoming knowledgeable in a certain subject area and have to present it in a way that their classmates will understand.

As an English teacher, I can see myself using this presentation website to introduce a new novel. I believe it is important to spend some time getting to the know author of any text and this would be a fun, engaging way for students to receive that information. If I were going to teach One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next, then I could present a Prezi on Ken Kesey and all of the things that influenced the writing process for that novel.

Prezi is set up a lot like PowerPoint, in that the information is presentation on the left-hand side in the form of “circles” (slides). The order of the circles can be moved around within the presentation, along with the size and shape itself (you’re not stuck with a circle). Once you get to the main page, it’s pretty self-explanatory about how to create the presentation. Just as you would using PowerPoint, you have your main slide with the title and what you’re going to be doing, then you have your supplementary slides that help you explain the concept even more.

Main view of the presentation when you build it

Something that is really cool about Prezi are two tabs located at the top of the screen: “Insert” and “Customize.” The insert table lets you do just that and lets you add a lot of different things: photos, symbols, files. Customize is mainly for the overall layout of the presentation, but if you want to make yours look unique, then that’s a good tool for you!

Overall, Prezi is a good tool for the classroom if you are looking for another way to present information and content. It is a bit more exciting than using PowerPoint might be, but it will get information across to your students in the same manner. The biggest downfall to Prezi is that it has to have internet connection in order for you to view the presentation. If the WiFi in your building isn’t always reliable, then it might be a bit tricky to create an entire presentation this way (versus PowerPoint, which just needs a computer). It’s definitely a fun way to create the information and I think students would like the more visual aspects, but like PowerPoint, it cannot stand on its own and there should be more integration with other activities within the classroom.

Common Courtesy in a Digital Age

As our world shifts to the digital age, so must our ideals towards technology and listening the product we either produce and put online or borrow from someone else (only after using proper citations, of course!).

One thing that has become prominent is Digital Citizenship. In a nutshell, this can be seen as the appreciate and responsible ways people behavior on the internet. As technology becomes readily available at our fingertips, so do mass amounts of other contents. Images or text that is placed on the internet never truly goes away and it is impossible to completely erase your presence on the internet. For that reason, people need to be cautious of what they are placing on the web, while keeping in mind the repercussions that might be hiding around the corner.

To help people think about the ways their internet behavior is impacting themselves, others, and society as a whole, there are nine themes of digital citizens. Those themes are: digital access; digital commerce; digital communication; digital literacy; digital etiquette; digital law; digital rights and responsibilities; digital health and wellness; and digital security. Through article posted above, I heard the term “internet addiction” for the first time. I realize that that particular concept should not be new or surprising, but I have never heard it laid out in those sorts of terms. When one thinks of an addiction, it is usually along the lines of drug use or alcohol. It’s interesting to me that being on your computer too long/too often/too much is not considered an addiction.

Another thing I found interesting about this article was its discussion on digital law. Just as it is illegal to intentionally cause damage to others in new articles, it is also illegal to intentionally attempt to damage someone’s reputation over the internet. Causing damage to a person, their work, identity or property is a crime and something that people might not realize or even consider. Being ethical on the internet can sometimes slip someone’s mind when they are able to type (say) whatever they want without seeing that person face-to-face or in the moment.

Along with the ways in which our ideas about the internet have changed, so have the ways in which we are able to license information and ideas. Through the creation of creative commons, individuals are now able to license their products in a way that allows others to use it so long as they give the original owner credit. People can also license their products so that people may share them so long as they are not making money off of it or altering it in anyway. Through the three layers of licenses, individuals are able to get as much protection (or as little) so they would like for their product they are looking to share and open for public consumption. These licenses have different spectrums that can range from the original owner having to be credited, the image having to be linked back to the original, the new user of the image having the same licenses, or the image not being permitted to be altered or tweaked in any way.

I know that description can be difficult to understand, so I have attached a video from the creative common website to help better explain this process.

Video courtesy of Creative Commons website and YouTube

Creative commons is an amazing insight into the ways of the licensing and consumption that goes behind images, texts, and ideas as they are placed onto the internet. To get a better idea of what a licensed image actually looks like (and how to find one), I’m going to describe how you can change your Google settings to see which imagines are covered under creative commerce. When you are on the main Google search page, by clicking on “settings,” you can do to “advanced search.” Once there, at the bottom of the screen, you will find a section about usage rights. This will allow you to search for images that are “free to use and share” (which is what I am going to click on now, as I search for photos of kittens). When you are searching under Google images, it will label the section underneath the bar as “labeled for noncommercial reuse.” This message is a simple way to make sure you are looking for photos that are actually available for consumption and reuse.

This photo is courtesy of Wikipedia, but found using the Google images search

Learning the various internal workings of the internet can be a daunting thing, but it is worth knowing to help you better understanding your rights both on and offline.

Cheers!