Podcasts

For this assignment I viewed the following podcasts:
ConnectLearning
Smartboard Lessons
KidCast
EdTechtalk
MacBreak Weekly
This Week in Photography

This is the first time I have ever dealt with podcasts and I was very intimidated by them at first. I have never seen one before now.I did not even know what one was. After playing around with them,I think that they are interesting. It took me a little while to get the hang of things, but I finally did. I did not realize how many types of podcasts there were! There is one on every subject you can think of!

All of the podcasts started out with some form of an introduction. Some began with music and/or small talk, kind of like a radio talkshow. They didn't just jump right in to the meat of the information. They got your attention first. The small talk made the hosts more personable, like you knew them. The podcasts that had video were the most beneficial to me because I retain information better when I can see it. I enjoyed the podcasts because there were no commercials and I was able to navigate through them.

The podcasts wrapped up much like any other radio talk show. At the end of the podcasts the hosts gave out contact information and some closing remarks, and other resources that might be helpful to the viewer. Most of the podcasts ended with a song, much like it began.

I can see where podcasts could be beneficial in the classroom. It opens up a new way to learn for students. I think that podcasts would be more useful for high school students or in an online class setting in a college. I think that they might be too confusing for elementary school students unless they had very clear and easy step-by-step directions.

Media Rich Posts

Michael Jackson

(CNN) -- The Los Angeles coroner has concluded preliminarily that singer Michael Jackson died of an overdose of propofol, a powerful sedative he was given to help him sleep, according to court documents released Monday. Los Angeles' coroner Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran reached that preliminary conclusion after reviewing toxicology results carried out on Jackson's blood, according to a search warrant and affidavit unsealed in Houston, Texas.
The affidavit outlines probable cause for search warrants of the offices of doctors who are believed to have treated Jackson.
The Associated Press is quoting a single law enforcement official, who says the L.A. County Coroner has ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office told CNN they had "no comment" on the report. An LAPD spokesman says the story did not come from their department.
The 32-page warrant said Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told a detective that he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks. Murray said each night he gave Jackson 50 mg of propofol, also known as Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine via an intravenous drip.
Worried that Jackson may have been becoming addicted to the drug, the Houston cardiologist said he attempted to wean him from it, putting together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep during the two nights prior to his death.
But on June 25, other drugs failed to do the job, as he recounted to detectives in an hour-by-hour account that was detailed by detective Orlando Martinez of the Los Angeles Police Department:

Next Generation Learning

The "Next Generation Learning" video showed many forms of technology being used in some schools today. Henry's school is a very technologically advanced school. This school has a more interactive learning environment than many of our schools do. By using technology, this school made learning interesting, fun, and easy.

The school's website shows the daily menu and makes communication between parents and teachers a breeze. Henry is able to download his homework from this site and upload it when it is complete. There is also a place to put pictures from school trips on the site so parents can see what their kids are doing.

Henry and his classmates use the wii to exercise their brains and bodies. I think that this is a good way to give kids who have trouble focusing in class an outlet for their energy. As Henry said, digital cameras make projects "come alive." The interactive white boards serve double duty as a whiteboard and computer in one. This would be a handy tool for any school to have.

This video shows just how much technology can benefit a learning environment. It was neat that the school had laptops for children to sign out and take home if they did not have one. From the perspective of this video it seemed as though this school had it all, but there are many forms of technology available that I do not know about.

Vicki Davis: Harness Your Students Digital Smarts

This video shows just how much education can benefit the classroom. Although I am not good with computers and I do not like them very much, I can see how helpful the new technology can be and how it will one day benefit my classroom when I become a teacher. It will make it easier for parents and teachers to communicate and will also benefit the students. After watching this video I feel like a have much to learn, but I know that it will be for my benefit and for the benefit of my future students.
Teachers like Mrs. Davis are using every possible tool they can to enhance their students' learning experience. I think that this is a good thing, but I also think that there is a point when it can go to far and can become overwhelming for some students. Many children these days are growing up using computers, which makes it come natural for them, but for others that may not be the case. If used in the right way many of the new technological gadgets will be an enhancement to the education system in our country.
With the use of technology, there is a lot of information and many tools at students' fingertips. It will make projects, reports, and homework easier for students to complete. However, if the technology is something that not all children have access to when they leave the school, it can become an advantage for some students over others. Overall I thought that this video was helpful in opening my eyes to new technology.

The Importance of Creativity

"Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity" was a very eye-opening video with a lot of truth. Education systems today want children to all fit one mold. They want them all to be good at math, science, english, and so on. Not everyone is cut out for that. Some, like Mr. Robinson pointed out, are good at dance and if allowed to work at what they are good at can create famous dances and become millionaires.

So many children are put on medication for ADD and ADHD, and some probably would not even need it if they were allowed to harness their creativity and become who they were destined to be. I agree that the "core subjects," such as math and science are important, but so is music, art, dance and drama. I wonder how many more famous actors the world would have in it if schools taught drama the way they do math. Some children were not destined to become college professors as Mr. Robinson pointed out. Some children were destined to become artists, famous musicians, dancers, actors, songwriters and poets. I wonder how many of the children today are being held back from their creativity because of the education system.

If the school systems would manage their money better and have funds for more courses in these creative-type classes I think that children would benefit greatly from it. I agree with Mr. Robinson, but I also think that there should be a balance between core classes and the arts. Anyone going into education or currently teaching should watch this video and think of ways to help the children in their classes find their inner creativity and let it come through.

Did You Know 3.0

The video "Do You Know 3.0" was a very shocking video. It made me realize just how far we have come technilogically. In the video it said that the "New York Times" has more information in it than a person living in the eighteenth century could acquire in a lifetime. It is unbelieveable how much more informain a person living today can acquire. With the help of technology such as the internet, information is at everyone's fingertips. With newspaper, radio, books, TV, and internet I can only imagine how much more the average person of today knows than the the average person living in the eighteenth century knew.

The video pointed out that during the time it took to watch the video, 67 babies were born in the U.S., while 274 were born in China, and 395 were born in India. It is no wonder why China produces so much more technology than the U.S. does, the Chinese have a much larger population! The video also said that China has more honor students than the U.S. has children. This fact only makes my statement even more true.

In the video, it said that by 2013 there will be a computer that will be more powerful than the human brain. This scares me a little. What will this mean for the way we do things now? How will it affect our lives? I guess these are questions than can only be answered when than time comes, but until then, I am going to be more aware of how technology affects my life.

This video was not only shocking, but it was eye-opening. I think that everyone should watch this video because it reveals a lot of things that most people may not realize. Withought technology where would our world be? The technology that has been developed has made life much easier than before it was invented. The internet lets us communicate with friends, family, teachers, and classmates. Without it this class would not exist in the way we know it.

First Post

Hello! My name is Mallory Cooper Burke. I recently graduated from Faulkner State Community College and this is my first semester here at the University of South Alabama. I am majoring in Elementary Education and I am very excited about becoming a teacher. I have known that I wanted to be a teacher since I was a child. My great grandmother was an elementary school teacher and my family says that I am just like her, so I think that it is neat that I am following in her footsteps. I love to help people in any way I can, so I think that I am definitely entering the right field, since helping a child learn is one of the best ways to do that.
I have been very happily married since June twenty-eighth, 2008 to Eric Burke. He is very supportive of me and helps me with my education as much as he can. I feel very fortunate to have a husband who does not mind helping with the dishes or cooking supper so that I can do my homework. I am going to school full time and have a part time job. He works full time for Orange Beach Water Authority and is taking two night classes per week from Faulkner's Gulf Shores campus. We are both members of the Volunteer Fire Department in our community and are very active in our church. We have very busy schedules, but somehow we get it all done.
I hope to graduate from South and find a job, which may prove to be a challenge with all of the cutbacks regarding education, but I trust that God will help me find a job. I want to teach for a few years and then have children. I will take a few years off from teaching to raise them, and then go back to teaching when the last one starts kindergarten. I hope to become one of those teachers that really impacts my students so that they will always remember my class and how much fun they had learning. I feel that it is important to have fun while learning or else it can become something to be dreaded. I look forward to this class, although it will probably be a challenge for me, because I think that it will help me tremendously in my career as an elementary school teacher.