Jo Fool or Jo Cool

On the cyberquiz on Jo Cool or Jo Fool website, I received a 17/20.

I think Jo Fool or Jo Cool is a good website for young students. It is a good way to show the differences between reliable and not reliable websites. It shows how some websites can scam students into giving their personal information. For example, it may seem as though some of the websites are going to be beneficial. They could help you win raffles, download music, meet new people, etc however, not all the websites are being truthful. They are scamming students into getting their information and people will fall for it. This websites provides good insights on how to tell a real website from a website that is trying to get your personal information. Going through the cybertour, it has you pick whether Jo is making a good choice-cool or a bad choice-fool on the website. Once you pick, it provides a good explanation on why Jo made a cool or fool decision. These explanations give solid reasons for children as to why they should or should not trust a website.

I thought the teacher’s page did not provide as much useful information. It suggested few activities that could be done with the students but I had already thought of someone of them while doing the student part of the website. The information is useful but I think the students will get more out of the website then the teachers will. In addition, no matter how many times I tried, the website would not let me click onto the teachers guide page. The link may have been down.


"Jo Fool or Jo Cool | For Teachers." Media Awareness Network | Réseau éducation Médias. 2010. Web. 01 Nov. 2010. .

Online tools

I think I would consider integrating quizstar into my future classroom. It seems like it would be very beneficial. For one, making the quizzes online is a very simple process. They also get graded automatically. For a teacher, quizstar is very efficient. It will cut down on a lot of time. From the students point a view, I also think it will be beneficial. Students will be able to take their time on quizzes and not feel the in class pressure. Some students, when they physically get the quiz in front of them tend to draw a blank on everything they had just learned. For quizstar, the teacher can make the quizzes have unlimited amounts of time so the students can calm down and take as much time necessary. They will have more time to really think about the question and come to the correct conclusion.

I think either zoomerang or surveymonkey will positively impact a student’s learning. On these cites, they both talk about giving students surveys. I think this will impact a student positively because taking surveys are anonymous. Students do not need to feel pressured into voting a certain way. This is also good because it will keep the students involved. They will enjoy taking surveys because it is an easy way for them to feel connected with the classroom. It is a positive way for students to participate in the classroom and not have to fear embarrassment for giving a different answer.

Screencast Reflection

I thought our group worked together very well. Everyone was positive and we all got along. The only negative part was that nobody wanted to speak right away in the video. But other than that, everything worked out. We were able to work efficiently to finish our project. I am very satisfied in how our screencast came out.

Most of the feedback received on the google form was positive. There were many high ratings given to us. I believe the feedback was useful because we know for next time what we will need to improve. There was one comment which stated they were already familiar with our artifact, so they gave us a low rating. I did not find that to be fair because we were suppose to only show the basics of powerpoint and we did not know how advanced everyone was. I believe if we were to do the screencast again with more advance tools, we would have addressed their issue.

The process of creating the challenge artifacts was very easy. The videos provided an easy step by step process. The only difficulty was the different computers and versions of programs. My Microsoft excel is an older version so when trying to do that screencast, I had a hard time finding where buttons were located.

The screencasts created by the other groups were useful. I had already been familiar with the challenge artifacts but it was a nice review. In the excel artifact, I was not sure how to use the formula to compute the numbers into letter grades. I think that will be helpful for when I am a teacher because it is more efficient.

I believe anyone can really benefit from the use of screencasts. As a future teacher, I believe I will be able to show a screencast video to any of my students and they will be able to use it. Screencasts are very good visuals to provide students. They can be used in many different subjects as well.

I really like screencasts because they are helpful in doing step by step processes. I like that I can pause the video, do the step and then play it again. It is also helpful because you can replay the video as many times as you need. I will definitely consider using screencasts in the future. They are extremely beneficial.

blogs vs wikis

Blogs and wikis are both used as different tools on the internet. Anyone can use either tool in a variety of ways.
Blogs can be used as the news. It does not have to be formal news as found in a newspaper article but as personal news as well. As explained from the video, blogs are considered news to anyone who did not know the information before hand. Blogs are spread all over the internet and anyone can find and read them. In addition, people can comment on blogs. As quoted from the “Blogs in plain English” video, “blogs make the news a two-way street.” People will continue to comment on the blog and discuss the topic. One classroom activity for blogs is to propose an argument and allow students to comment with their own opinions. For example, the teacher can write in their blog saying “pizza is the best tasting food in the world.” Students can comment on the post either agreeing with the statement or disagreeing.
Wikis are very different from blogs. Anyone can go on a wiki and change the information on it. Whereas a blog, only the one user can change the information, unless stated otherwise. As quoted from the “Wikis in plain English” video, “It’s as easy as erasing a word and rewriting it.” As also explained from the video, wikis are a good way to add on or eliminate information. They are good for providing information to people. It can coordinate an event or just give out general information. One classroom activity for wikis is organizing a class trip. Students will have to use the wiki to say who can go, what they need to bring and who can bring what. Also, the students will have to show links as to where good places to go are.
Although there are many differences from blogs and wikis, there are many similarities to the two tools. Both tools take place on the internet. There is no hard copy of anything, unless printed out. Also, both tools are used to provide readers with information. Lastly, blogs and wikis are similar because people can update them at anytime they want.

Animoto Video

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

technology in the classroom

I like the idea of having a classroom website. The most important part to having a website is the student page. If a student misses something from class they can look on the website to find it. For example, if they need to re look at what the homework is suppose to be, a syllabus can be provided for them. It can also have links to activities that would be good reinforcements to the material that was covered in class. Also, the link can have rubrics on them so the student knows exactly what needs to be done on assignments.

I do think teachers should integrate technology into their instruction. The students are eventually going to have to learn the technology in everyday life, so it would not hurt to start during class time. However, the teachers should not hold the students responsible to getting the latest technology. Some students would not be able to afford it and it could be difficult to buy.

hello!

Hi,


My name is Ashley Ruggiero and I am a sophomore at University of Hartford. I am majoring in Elementary and Special Education. I am in Relay For Life and plan on joining CAT. I live in Manchester and I commute to school. In my spare time I enjoy running. I am hopefully running a marathon in two years.