This course gave me the impetus and experience to integrate technology in a meaningful way into my course curriculum. In truth, I have not yet put the lessons developed in this course to the test in actual practice because my students are preparing for the May IB exams at this time. However, whether or not I actually implement these lessons, I will certainly use them as a model for other lessons that might not be quite so involved but will be authentic learning experiences nonetheless. The new technologies will certainly become more familiar to me as I mature, and my lessons more authentic and technology-oriented.
As far as my GAME plan is concerned, I did receive a free trial software package for Autodesk Inventor which I am currently muddling through. The portion of my plan on interacting with other teachers in a learning community has, I think, been fruitful. I have seen some really creative, authentic, and fun lesson plans, and have been given many ideas on the use of Web 2.0 tools I have never heard of before. I also learned how to really get good use out of a free wikispaces.com account from one of my cohorts, and have placed all of my notes online for my students. As my cohort Virg said: “When a student who has been absent comes up to me asking for make-up assignments or notes I ask him ‘Did you check the wiki?’.” Now I can do this, too.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Autodesk just arrived in my mail - I'm Somebody!
Wow, my 30-day free trial three-disk Autodesk Inventor software just arrived in the mail, and I have installed it. Now I just have to learn how to use it in the alloted thirty days! It looks really cool, and I think I will make a 3D model of my house and yard for landscaping purposes, if that is possible. I figure if I have a goal, I'll learn the software faster. We'll see.
In summary, about the only real accomplishment in my GAME plan is the receipt of this software package. I am, though, checking bloglines pretty regularily and responding to blogs here and there, which is certainly more than I have ever done before. All of this is making me more comfortable with Web 2.0 shiz, which I guess is one of the main goals of taking these courses.
In summary, about the only real accomplishment in my GAME plan is the receipt of this software package. I am, though, checking bloglines pretty regularily and responding to blogs here and there, which is certainly more than I have ever done before. All of this is making me more comfortable with Web 2.0 shiz, which I guess is one of the main goals of taking these courses.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Getting students into the GAME (or How to make our kids GAMEy)
The following are the NETS-S performance indicators for students: (1) Creativity and innovation, (2) communication and collaboration, (3) research and information fluency, (4) critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making, (5) Digital citizenship, and (6) Technology operations and concepts. The GAME plan is a problem-solving process which consists of defining a Goal, implementing an Action, Monitoring progress, and Evaluating and extending the process in a fluid manner.
Looking at the NETS-S performance indicators, it would appear that indicator (4) would be well-served by having students use the GAME plan, too. Not only could I model its use in my own presentations, but students could practice it in their problem-based learning assignments. The plan is applicable to problems of any type and so would easily extrapolate to “lifelong learning.” Critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making are probably the most important skills we can foster in the education of our students.
Looking at the NETS-S performance indicators, it would appear that indicator (4) would be well-served by having students use the GAME plan, too. Not only could I model its use in my own presentations, but students could practice it in their problem-based learning assignments. The plan is applicable to problems of any type and so would easily extrapolate to “lifelong learning.” Critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making are probably the most important skills we can foster in the education of our students.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Autodesk Inventor trial and Google Docs
Well, I signed up for a 30-day free trial software package from Autodesk Inventor which should arive in 2 to 3 weeks. I'm not exactly sure if I'll have time to look at it too closely before the summer, but we'll see. Also, I might be able to get the actual software package free through FIRST Robotics--I'll check with my engineer.
After reading the text and looking at this week's videos, I have looked into Google Docs as a vehicle for collaboration--students can look at, comment on, and edit Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents online from different computers at the same time or asynchronously. The key here is that it would result in the creation of a single document by the members of a team, and document participation in the creation of the "product" (at least I think it does--maybe someone can straighten me out here...). This would ensure that each team member is an active participant in making the PowerPoint that a team will be responsible for.
So far, I have discovered that my browser must be updated from IE-6 to IE-7 to take advantages of all of the frills Google Docs has to offer. I uploaded an old PowerPoint just to see how it worked, and it uploaded all right, but doesn seem to have all the animation of the original. The initial memory capacity for a new account is 1024 MB, and it appears that it can be increased. In the next few weeks I will see how Google Docs is managed. For example, how do students share documents in such a way that outsiders can't mess with 'em. Can I look at them as they are created by my students? Can I comment on 'em? These are all questions that some of you may be able to answer for me!
After reading the text and looking at this week's videos, I have looked into Google Docs as a vehicle for collaboration--students can look at, comment on, and edit Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents online from different computers at the same time or asynchronously. The key here is that it would result in the creation of a single document by the members of a team, and document participation in the creation of the "product" (at least I think it does--maybe someone can straighten me out here...). This would ensure that each team member is an active participant in making the PowerPoint that a team will be responsible for.
So far, I have discovered that my browser must be updated from IE-6 to IE-7 to take advantages of all of the frills Google Docs has to offer. I uploaded an old PowerPoint just to see how it worked, and it uploaded all right, but doesn seem to have all the animation of the original. The initial memory capacity for a new account is 1024 MB, and it appears that it can be increased. In the next few weeks I will see how Google Docs is managed. For example, how do students share documents in such a way that outsiders can't mess with 'em. Can I look at them as they are created by my students? Can I comment on 'em? These are all questions that some of you may be able to answer for me!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Using Autodesk Inventor
James Tadesco suggested the use of Autodesk Inventor for designing mechanical devices, which I mentioned to the engineering mentor on my robotics team. The engineer said that he knew how to use it, and showed me a part of a robot that he had designed on it. The user interface was pretty visual in nature, and it looked like something I could handle (with some practice, of course). James says the kids he knows who use it also like it, so I think I will focus my efforts this summer on Autodesk Inventor. I have used a CAD program years ago, which was not altogether that visual in interface, and was hard for me to use.
In our second regional competition, in Minneapolis, our FIRST Robotics team made it to the quarter finals but did not make it to the next level. We were still happy with our showing, and our kids had a blast. You can Google Team 1675 or go to http://team1675.com/ if you want to find out more about our team. It is populated by students from two "urban" schools, and is very well represented from the standpoint of diversity.
In our second regional competition, in Minneapolis, our FIRST Robotics team made it to the quarter finals but did not make it to the next level. We were still happy with our showing, and our kids had a blast. You can Google Team 1675 or go to http://team1675.com/ if you want to find out more about our team. It is populated by students from two "urban" schools, and is very well represented from the standpoint of diversity.
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