Online Communication Tools

This week, I learned about Online Communication Tools. Online Communication tools in education are used to communicate and collaborate with students, parents, colleagues, and businesses both locally and globally to enhance the learning environment. Now, because of the Digital Age that we are in, the Internet has made global communication both quick and easy (I would really like to create a lesson utilizing global communication)!

Online Communication tools can be either synchronous or asynchronous communications. Synchronous communications take place between two or more individuals at the same time, such as a chat. Asynchronous communications take place between two or more individuals at different times, such as an email.

This week I also learned about examples of Online Communications Tools that I was not familiar with. Examples of Online Communication Tools include email, chat, and blog, which most of us are familiar with. Then we also have wiki, VoIP, microblog, and virtual worlds. Some of us may not be as familiar with these items, including myself; therefore, I have included a brief description. At a first glance, I could not remember what these were. I like to identify or associate programs with examples of software. This helps me remember what the capabilities are. A wiki is a Web page that allows multiple people to edit the information (Wikipedia). VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a call using the Internet (Skype). A microblog is a very short message sent to specific group of people (Twitter). Finally, we have virtual worlds, an online game where individuals create avatars and can communicate via text or voice (EverQuest). After identifying examples, I realized that I knew about them all! But I will say that I have not personally used virtual worlds…

I have not utilized Online Communication Tools in the classroom, because I have not had the opportunity to teach yet. This fall will be my first year of teaching and I will be teaching Middle School Students Art and Drama. I plan to utilize Online Communication Tools in the classroom; however, I think it will depend greatly on the students and the technology that we have available in the classroom as well as what the students have available at home.

I primarily plan to utilize Email and possibly Blogging in the classroom. I will begin by reviewing my schools AUP Policy, and be sure that each child has returned a signed agreement. I will also have to plan ahead to see if we can utilize the computer lab, as I do not believe that I have computers in my classrooms. I will also prepare my students by providing and reviewing additional Internet Safety Rules with them, including never give out personal information, keep their password private, and to create non-identifying usernames. I will teach the students how to operate the Online Communication Tool and how to use it appropriately. As a teacher, I will also prepare specific activities and lessons to be completed in class utilizing the online communication tools and monitor those activities.

Presentation Programs for Teaching and Learning

I have enjoyed learning about how presentation programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint can be utilized in a classroom as a digital support material for my lessons. I really like how inclusive they are! PowerPoint can include videos, graphics, animations, audio, text, and links. PowerPoint also has the capability to collect all of your external files that are in the presentation and package them.

I also found the seven different intelligences very interesting, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. It is pretty amazing how simple presentation programs that were originally intended for the business world allow teachers to reach students with multiple learning styles and disabilities!

I recently participated in an Academic Boot camp for the school that I will begin teaching at in the Fall. The purpose of this was to engage students, give them a sense of what YPA will be like (because it is a new charter school), as well as give them the opportunity to have fun and become familiar with teachers and students. I taught a mini, fun art lesson to a group of middle school students. I created a PowerPoint Presentation to introduce the lesson on the figurative artist, Amedeo Modigliani, who is primarily known for his modern portrait paintings characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form. I included the artist’s name, photograph, brief bio, and a description of his work. I also included images of his two most prominent works with titles and dates to allow the students to visually see the characteristics of his work. I also included a brief description of our activity, creating Modigliani-like self-portraits! I also included images of 2 student works that I found online for a similar study and a 3-step diagram of how we were going to divide our paper to create the outline of our elongated self-portrait.

I am most proud of the 3-step diagram. I am so glad that I included this, as the students referred back to it quite often as they were drawing the elongated self portrait, to ensure their drawing proportions were like that of Modigliani. The students also loved the images on the presentation. They thought the elongated forms were hilarious, and they were intrigued that Modigliani’s portraits did not include characteristics of the eyes; most were simply shaded, creating the mysterious mask effect.

If I could create the presentation again, I would include audio elements and more information and images relating to art history. Because this was a mini lesson, and I only had the students for a very short period of time, I had to quickly introduce the lesson and let them begin their self-portrait.

Word Processing and Desktop Publishing in Education

Word processing and desktop publishing are Productivity Softwares commonly used in education. An example of a word processing program is Microsoft Office Word, which I think most of us are pretty familiar with. An example of a desktop publishing program is… (drum roll please) Adobe InDesign, which just happens to be one of my favorite programs of all time! Both Word and InDesign are available for PC and Mac platforms. Word processing is similar to desktop publishing; however, desktop publishing programs offer more precise control for professional results and can produce and edit drawings, photographs, and various other graphics.

This week I learned various ways to apply word processing and desktop publishing in the classroom. For example, word processing and desktop publishing can be used by teachers to prepare letters, flyers, rubrics, lesson plans, newsletters, brochures, announcements, presentations, forms, and study guides. Students can use word processing to take class notes, create outlines and study sheets, or even prepare reports or presentations. Most importantly, word processing helps students learn writing and outlining skills.

I do not have my own classroom yet, therefore, I have not made any particular documents to be handed out to my students or parents. I have been active as the Graphic Designer for YPA for over 1 year now, and have created many documents for printing and distribution to parents of YPA (York Preparatory Academy) students in general. Specifically, I have created postcards, acceptance packets, the school calendar (attached), yard signs, school apparel, order forms, along with many other items.

I have attached the York Preparatory Academy 2010-2011 Calendar, to critique with you. This flyer was created in InDesign, and was distributed by mail and email, as part of the YPA Acceptance Packet. If you notice, there is a header located in the top left that identifies the school. The header includes the logo, school name, and tag line. To the right you will see a color-coded key indicating holidays, teacher workdays, and other important dates to remember. Below the key, is a footer, that includes the contact information and website for the school. The body of this flyer is the calendar itself, which is the largest part of the design and is located beneath the header and left of the key. The calendar clearly identifies each month, day of the week and date, along with important dates depicted in the appropriate color. This flyer also includes a green graphic that flows from the header to the footer, linking the name of the school with the contact information. I have had nothing but positive feedback from members of the school board and parents concerning the design and layout of the 2010-2011 Calendar.

Teaching with Productivity Software: Spreadsheets and Databases

This weeks’ lesson was on the use of spreadsheets and databases in the classroom. Overall, I am pretty familiar with Microsoft Excel (spreadsheets), but, just when I think I have Excel all figured out, I will find a new way to manipulate the data, create something new, or utilize a new formula. Excel never ceases to amaze me at what it can do! I recently used a spreadsheet in Excel as a budgeting tool for Art and Drama Procurement Materials for the upcoming school year. I will begin teaching in August at a start-up school and EVERYTHING needed to be ordered! This was a way for me to easily manipulate the quantities and materials to stay within my budget for supplies as well as easily record needed data such as vendors, item numbers, item names, individual costs, quantities, and total cost. I also intend to use this to keep track of materials throughout the year so I can easily order additional materials as needed as well as a way to organize and record student grades, attendance and behavior.

I do not have much experience with Microsoft Access (Databases), but I have learned that it could potentially be a good tool for me to use in organizing and storing lessons plans, images, links, all of which can be categorized by grade and subject. Through the use of forms and queries, data can easily be added, re-organized, or exported as needed. This sounds like a great opportunity for me to be organized early on as I begin creating lesson plans and collecting images to teach in the Fall! I am definitely going to look into how much the Mac version of Microsoft Access would cost.

My concern, after reviewing many websites, is that I may not be able integrate databases and spreadsheets into my curriculum for students. Not many sites at all that addressed activities for the students to utilize spreadsheets and databases in the arts. I did come across a site, Technology Curriculum Integration Ideas, that categorized various types of productivity software activities by subject, and it even included Art. The only problem was that there were only 3 options under Art/Spreadsheets and Databases. Two were the same and the third was the contact information to send ideas to. It seemed that core subjects can more commonly integrate spreadsheets and databases throughout the curriculum than the arts can. This was very disappointing, until I began to study the other subjects and how they were utilizing spreadsheets and databases. It was very interesting and that many lessons or activities that were developed for other subject areas could easily be adjusted to fit the arts!

Technologies for Teaching and Learning

This week, I learned about the importance of utilizing technology in the classroom and in classroom management and about the learning process. Educational technology can be defined as any technology or media used by educators to support the teaching and learning process. By integrating technology in my curriculum, I can ultimately enhance student learning. I also learned about various learning styles and perspectives on learning, as a means to better understand the teaching and learning process. Learning can be defined as the transfer of knowledge and skills from teacher to student. It is important as an educator to be able to assess the learning environment, teaching strategies, learning activities and support technologies to enhance the process of teaching and learning.

By utilizing my background in technology as a Graphic and Web Designer, I am enthusiastic about applying my knowledge of technology in the classroom. I can integrate technology in the classroom by adjusting my teaching methods and tools to include various types of technology such as spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing softwares, presentation programs, word processing, graphic organizers, web design and editing software, web 2.0 tools as well as various hardware including computers, servers, digital cameras and camcorders, and audiovisual equipment as I develop lesson plans for the upcoming school year. I can also utilize technology in assessments including teaching strategies, learning activities and support technologies to determine the success of each in relation to the students learning and achievement.

As a professional transitioning into education, my greatest challenge in integrating technology in my curriculum, classroom management, and assessments is very basic. I have experience with technology; however, I do not have experience in utilizing technology in a classroom.

Learning how to utilize my knowledge of technology and apply it to education will be my challenge. I will need to learn how to develop successful teaching methods and curriculum that will successfully integrate technology into my classroom and ultimately enhance student learning. I will need to learn how to apply technology to classroom management and to assessments to be able to adjust teaching strategies, learning activities and support technologies accordingly.

Overcoming this challenge will entail gaining as much knowledge about education, instruction, learning, and assessments as I can to be able to apply it within a classroom environment. By further understanding student learning and the teaching process I will be able to then apply technology throughout the curriculum, classroom management, and assessments more successfully. I am planning on gaining this knowledge through my coursework at the University of the Cumberlands as I move forward with my transition into education to obtain my MAT and Art Certification. I also plan on gaining a greater understanding and knowledge through personal research, collaboration with co-workers, and experience as an educator.