Webquest Progress Blog

For my Webquest Project I have decided to have the students read, Dear. Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary. The students will be responsible to write blogs, which will be based on the pages they have read on a certain day. Each blog has different topics that the students will need to respond too. Also, the students will be responsible for commenting on their peers blogs, which will hopefully allow the students to feel accountable for their work. Lastly, I would encourage my students to try to contact a modern day author, just as the main character did in the story. 

So far, I have not had any problems with my QuestGarden in itself. I have used the browser Mozilla Firefox as my professor has suggested and everything has been working as smooth as possible. The only time I felt frustrated with QuestGarden was when I had to add pictures to my Webquest. I didn't like how I had to download the image to my computer and then upload it from there. I like how Livebinders does it, because then it automatically credits where the picture was taken from too. 

At this point, I have inputted my text, added pictures  and included a rubric to my Webquest. I feel that I need to go back and re-read that my process makes sense and that I have proofread it. At this point I am not sure what exactly I still want to add, because I really want to focus if my Webquest Project in general is a good concept as a whole. I really like the idea of Webquest and I am curious to know if this resource is used a lot in the classroom. I feel that it does take time to make one, but I can see the benefits it would have for students and teachers to be on the same page. 

"Copyright"

Learning about Copyright was more interesting than I thought it would be. Even though my quiz results are poor (54%) I still feel I learned a lot.I learned that copyright is more than just about giving credit, but also asking for permission in some cases.  Many times it is when dealing with music. For example, if a teacher wants to perform a song that has been well known, then they need pay for the rights to use it. I was surprised to learn even if the person knows how to play the song by ear. I also learned that it is part a civil offense rather than a criminal offense.  

Another thing that stood out to me was that videos can't be used as rewards and that showing it in a cafeteria on a school campus is not legal. It needs to be shown an actual classroom and it has to have an educational purpose. It is alright to show a clip, but I don't think you are suppose to show the whole movie. Lastly, I learned that teachers are able to use their students technology work at conferences or meetings.  Overall, I was surprised about much teachers and schools can use without breaking the law. Also, I was surprised that the article said that copyright wasn't so much about making money, but it is really about protecting who the credit goes to. 

Digtial Native

I really liked reading these articles, because I felt the author made a lot of good points that I have never really heard or thought about. I liked the quote that Marc Prensky used in the beginning of the article, which was “Today’s students are no longer the people our educational system  was designed to teach.”  I don’t think that our educational system has always been wrong, but I do agree that the students that we have in our classroom now are more aware of their learning strengths and weaknesses. I am always impressed when a younger child is able to navigate a television remote or Ipad, and many times they know it better than their parents or family members. Also, I was amazed to think about the numbers that students spend watching television or using some kind of technology in everyday life. It's not taboo for a child to know some type of technology, but rather it is taboo if they don't know.

I felt that there were many strong points that I agreed with Marc Prensky. For example, I agree that any subject and a student at any level will be able to learn new information or skills with the support of technology. I believe that since technology is so broad, there is always some way to reach out to a person of any age or skill level to learn new information.  I like that teachers have been given more opportunities to be accountable for their teaching, especially in recent years, and I believe that incorporating technology will be part of that criteria, if it is not already.

I had a hard time disagreeing with Marc Prensky and his points. He seems to believe that teachers that are considered "Immigrant Natives" will have to make choice to accept the change and learn for their students, or just stick to old ways that may not work for the students in the classroom. Marc Prensky made it very clear that what is being taught should still be the same (content wise), but instead he is suggesting to present that information in a different and new way, rather than old traditional ways that may include reading only from a textbook. I think it is acceptable to have students who like to see visuals, enjoy "hands on experiences", and that can multitask. There are plenty of examples of studies that prove that students are still learning even if it seems that they are doing something else. Also, students still need to be given time to think, process, and reflect; because that is all part of the learning process. Since students are living a fast paced world where they can get answers right away, it is still important to demonstrate the importance of thinking about answers and why things are the way they are. There are many good things that technology can bring and I look forward to keeping up to date with it, so that I can make the best use for my students.