Techedge

=** Techedge Group/8Y24 Lab 1: Place your cursor BELOW the three lines. Type in your Activity Types Reviews below. Then place a line under your entry. **= =To Post Click EDIT............................................................................................It is over here ^\=

Nicole Schoeneberg Survey Monkey

I was able to experiment with this valuable resource a number of times throughout my first block and I was really excited about how it makes research and collecting data for students engaging and relevant to their lives.Too many times I feel that data collection and mathematical production of the information seems to be lack lustre in the classroom. Following the same old routine, asking questions and then producing a graph. Here, we get to utilize and develop a test through a survey format, allowing students to complete this task online and analyse their surprising result. Plus, the student gets to have complete ownership of their "study" which I think enhances the critical thinking and real-world skills that we encourage in classrooms today.

Derel Grainger //Keypals// I agree with Mike and others that Keypals would be a great tool for classroom use. As a student, I always had a penpal, but unfortunately it took a long time and send and receive letters. I think having penpals, or Keypals, is great because it teaches students in an authentic way how to write letters in the proper format. Many students have a negative image of the writing process and writing in general, but I feel that by providing students with a peer that they can write to, they will enjoy and get more out of the writing process. Students would be able to easily find Keypals anywhere around the globe, and hopefully they would be able to learn about school and life from a student somewhere else who has a very different perspective.

Ruth Mullen //Fotobabble// In Fotobabble, students can upload their pictures and record themselves explaining what is in the picture and why it was selected. To use it, you have to sign up for a free account, or you can use your Facebook account (something to be careful about). Because this is free, and easy to use I think it could be a great addition to any classroom. I think one of the simplest ways to use Fotobabble is for presentations. Instead of having students create a bristol board they can create narrated photo essays about their project. Students can then show their knowledge without needing to write it down or present in public. I do not think that Fotobabble should replace public speaking and writing, however it can be used as a great tool to accomodate for various anxieties and needs as we slowly bring them to success. As well, it is a new and exciting spin on the basic presentation style of sharing information.

Amanda Snow

//Impersonations// I agree with the points that Erica made on impersonations and the benefit they could have in the classroom. I feel this activity would allow students to make a deep connection to the character they are depicting which would deepen the learning. It also brings in the aspect of having students try to write as their character and convey the same emotions that there character would have. I also thought that writing to an expert would allow them to use technology as a resource to gain information from an expert. This experience allows students to talk to someone well educated on the topic and gain knowledge in a more authentic way. I feel this is such an effective activity because students are able to practice their researching skills in a creative and technological way.

Sarah Chippior //Keypals// I realize I am being fairly redundant, however I can definitely see myself using Keypals in my classroom. Keypals are literally online penpals! This allows students to learn from others whether it is in another city, province or country. I think this is a realistic idea to be implemented as it is very relevant to all students. I would use this type of activity in any grade level in order to reinforce standard letter writing. Meanwhile, it could easily be integrated with subjects such as Social Studies - where students are required to explore Canada's connections with the rest of the world. What better way is there than to learn information from other countries straight from the people who live there?! Who knows, our students may acquire a friend-for-life!

Jacqueline Eggleton //Alphabet Books// I agree with what Nicole is saying about Alphabet books. I have worked with students who were having problems with their vowels and consonants and I think that this would be a great way to help them visualize the letters they are learning. As I was reading about these books I was reminded of those photo frames that you can buy that have letters of the alphabet photographed from places in the neighbourhood. I think that this could be an extension of this activity - not only would students be able to create their own alphabet book, but they would be able to create words using the photographs they took. In terms of assessment, I would also check to make sure that they were in the correct order and that the photos correctly represent the letters and additionally, the type of words they were able to create in the extension activity.

Drew Pierce I chose to look at the Keypals activity type because I saw this actually being used in a previos school placement. The students loved the interaction capabilities keyplans provided. Students in Niagara Falls were able to communicate with students in Miami Florida on a regular basis because the internet connected them instantaneously, eliminating part of the physical barrier between the two students. It was very cool to see students thousands of miles away working on very silimar projects and having opportunities to communicate and share ideas throughout the process. Keypals is an excellent way to model global citizenship and promote connections between people around the world. I think it would be really cool if Keypals had some sort of networking forum where teachers could advertise their class as being interested in developing keypal friendships so teachers around the world could link up.

Nicole Robinson //Alphabet Books// Alphabet books is a way for students to create their own alphabet photo book to help with the sounds and symbols of the letters. Students take pictures of objects which surround them in their everyday life to represent each letter and create a slideshow of their photos. I believe this would be a great activity for students to do after we have learned the alphabet as a class. This would be a great reinforcement of their learning and make it meaningful to their lives. If I use this activity, I would assess that the students were able to put the alphabet in the correct order, as well as ensuring that all pictures were properly aligned with the appropriate letter.

Erica L. Menzies //Impersonations// I thought all the activity types listed in Chapter 6 seemed excellent, however, I particularly liked the activity entitled //Impersonations//. It allows students to adopt the role, for example, of a novel character in a historical novel and then email in role an expert in a particular field who could respond to relevant questions about the novel. Students seeking more information about life during a particular historical period could connect, for example, with a university historian online and gain important insights while bettering their writing skills and using higher order thinking to formulate appropriate questions.

Jessica Bowering I, like Mike, also liked the idea of keyypals! One of my favourite things I remember about the primary grades is writing letters to "penpals" at another school. My grade 3 teacher had a teacher friend in another board who also had a grade 3 class, and each student in my class was paired up with a student in the other class. We would send and write letters to our penpals over the course of the year. However, I think keypals is an even better idea, because it addresses the ongoing use of technology in school, and it can also be a more engaging activity for students to use the computer than write handwritten letters. Not only does this idea focus on letter writing skills and conventions, it also can teach students basic internet and email skills at the same time. The teacher education program here at Brock is a great place ot make connections with other teacher candidates. Using online tools such as facebook or twitter to keep in touch, as we will spread out and move away from Brock after this year, can help us to link up our future classes as keypals for an online learning experience. _

Natalie LaPorte ISpy Stories These books are basically a picture of jumbled objects with a statement under it that says, "I spy..." and lists the criteria to find. I would challenge older students (grade 6,7, or 8) to create an ISpy book with a particular focus on a grade and subject for younger students. For example, if they chose math, they'd have to take pictures of math material, such as math manipulatives, measurement objects, ect. To decide on this material, the students could refer to the Ontario curriculum or the particular teacher of that grade in the school for suggestions. My assessment would include a reflection in which the students are given the opoprtunity to use their books with younger students so that they could see the reaction that they'd get from their particular audience. _

Jane T. IAdventure Interactive Story I, too, like the idea of the iAdventure interactive story. It reminds me of the //Choose Your Own Adventure// Stories of a few years ago. Hyperlinks have made this a very plausible choice for an activity type. I would use this in a grade 7 language arts writing class as an alternative to the traditional narrative. I would have the students work in small groups to create their writing. I would also integrate this lesson with a media literacy lesson to create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences. I would assess the skills needed for the narrative as well as the learning skills needed to produce the work such as collaboration, initiative, and organization. _ Mike V. Keypals - Penpals through e-mail I really liked the idea of Keypals, as I believe it addresses many needs of contemporary learners. Students have the opportunity to communicate with other classes from around the world, with much quicker feedback than there would be with a reliance on standard post. Not only are students given an opportunity to learn about other parts of the world, but they are required to work on letter-writing skills in an authentic learning setting! As I see traveling abroad to teach as an option in the future, I feel the connections I would make with international teachers would provide an excellent network of potential 'Keypals', for my own students.

The iAdventure activity type stood out most to me. Students work their way through stories where they are faced with a problem in which they must solve on their own. Some also include real world applications from various subjects. Not only is it great because it is for Grades K-12, but it allows students to apply what they know and make the right decisions in the activities. They are able to see their own consequences for wrong decisions. I could see myself using this in cases where students might not understand a concept and will need to put themselves in someone else’s shoes or when they may not see the importance to learning certain information such as math. I would be assessing how well the student is able to stay on task and mark their worksheet that would go along with the assignment. As a hook to your lesson, you could use “ISpy Stories” to have the students find certain objects. Then throughout the lesson you can explain how the objects are related to the subject.

Adam C. Data Analysis Activity

This activity seems very practical and useful for the classroom as students are to research the relationship between backpacks and back problems within their classroom. The teacher begins the lesson with a catchy video on back problems. The students are put into research teams to investigate the problem, alternative ideas, and solutions which they present to their class. I would use this in data management because students are collecting, organizing, and presenting data while easily incorporating technology. The teacher could assess many facets of this lesson but with technology in mind, they could assess the organization of students' data as they input it into a computer.

Janet B.

Problem-based learning activities are open-ended activities that enable students to research and collect information. These activities are good for improving problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills. A good way to do this activity in a lesson would be in a data management unit where students conduct surveys using //SurveyMonkey// in which students create their own questions, collect, and analyze their data. Teachers can assess this activity using a rubric.

Katherine K. Digital Record

A digital record is a sort of online journal that incorporates a photo as an inspiration point. The record itself should summarize one single event, depicted in the photo. Thus, if one was to employ a digital record in a classroom, students would, for example, take a series of photos from a field trip, upload them to a blog site, and then write a short paragraph describing or reflecting on the event shown in the photo. I could see this as a useful way of student reflection that incorporates technology (i.e. paperless journals). Digital records could also be used effectively as formative assessment. Students could be asked to take photos during, for example, a science experiment, choose the photo that best reflects their learning, and then write a short paragraph describing the activity and their key learning.