Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Survey Monkey
The experience of setting up an online survey for my project was interesting, in terms of feedback, since I was the last posted blogger not many, in fact, it looks like zero people had a chance to take my survey.
As a tool for teaching, one thing that comes to mind is perhaps it can be used to track student's progress on independent projects. For example, in my current student teaching placement, students have been working on independent research projects for the last month, which culminate in a short class presentation. Their progress has been monitored by collecting notes every 2 weeks. This has been done manually. Since many of the students have typed on their notes anyway, it seems it would be quite simple to have a survey monkey set up whereby I could provide each student feedback after looking at their work on-line. I would have a series of questions used for assessment (such as how complete the notes are, are the sources documented properly, and so on). It certainly would save paper and the entire process of going through notes and hand-writing the results. In terms of logistics, I'm not sure how difficult it would be to set up a survey for each student, perhaps they could do it themselves and then email me the link.
Overall, any opportunity to cut down on the paper overload would be welcome, using quick assessments such as survey monkey and avoiding the entire hard copy process.
As a tool for teaching, one thing that comes to mind is perhaps it can be used to track student's progress on independent projects. For example, in my current student teaching placement, students have been working on independent research projects for the last month, which culminate in a short class presentation. Their progress has been monitored by collecting notes every 2 weeks. This has been done manually. Since many of the students have typed on their notes anyway, it seems it would be quite simple to have a survey monkey set up whereby I could provide each student feedback after looking at their work on-line. I would have a series of questions used for assessment (such as how complete the notes are, are the sources documented properly, and so on). It certainly would save paper and the entire process of going through notes and hand-writing the results. In terms of logistics, I'm not sure how difficult it would be to set up a survey for each student, perhaps they could do it themselves and then email me the link.
Overall, any opportunity to cut down on the paper overload would be welcome, using quick assessments such as survey monkey and avoiding the entire hard copy process.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Conceding the Conversation
Ah, the internet. Good or Bad? Lots of information out there, unfortunately, people tend to ignore the source of that information, leading to all sorts of misconceptions.
As an example, there is a new type of word invented for people who use the internet to research health related topics, it's called CyberChondria. If you get any type of illness, from a common cold to cancer, you can scare yourself half to death by reading posts from people who have these conditions. One thing I've realized over time is that the people who tend to post about their illnesses usually aren't doing that well, they are suffering therefore they post. The ones who are doing well, usually don't post at all. This creates a preponderance of very negative posts, which newly diagnosed people flock to, and scare the wits out of themselves. As a trained scientist, I can't tell you how many of my friends and family have made this mistake. I now make it a point to educate everyone I can to always choose reputable sources on-line when researching health related topics. Random sites with hysterical posts are not the way to go when dealing with health related matters. The same logic applies to anything one researches on the internet, look at the source, look at the motivation for posting, figure out if the agenda of the site is neutral, and go from there.
Hopefully, I can impart the same type of rigor to my students, so they don't grow up to be ignorant of how to use information from the internet correctly.
As an example, there is a new type of word invented for people who use the internet to research health related topics, it's called CyberChondria. If you get any type of illness, from a common cold to cancer, you can scare yourself half to death by reading posts from people who have these conditions. One thing I've realized over time is that the people who tend to post about their illnesses usually aren't doing that well, they are suffering therefore they post. The ones who are doing well, usually don't post at all. This creates a preponderance of very negative posts, which newly diagnosed people flock to, and scare the wits out of themselves. As a trained scientist, I can't tell you how many of my friends and family have made this mistake. I now make it a point to educate everyone I can to always choose reputable sources on-line when researching health related topics. Random sites with hysterical posts are not the way to go when dealing with health related matters. The same logic applies to anything one researches on the internet, look at the source, look at the motivation for posting, figure out if the agenda of the site is neutral, and go from there.
Hopefully, I can impart the same type of rigor to my students, so they don't grow up to be ignorant of how to use information from the internet correctly.
NETS for Students
The standards for students set out a series of goals which every teacher should have in mind for effective use of technology in the classroom. What is missing though is a real world guide for how these goals can be implemented and what age groups are appropriate to begin to implement technology. Also, socio-economic factors are missing, because there still are a number of underprivileged families who do not have computers at home.
When I take 8th graders to the computer lab, in addition to having to keep sure they are on task, I have to manage other considerations such as who can sit next to each other. I also have to deal with a filter at school which sometimes removes very useful information from the internet which may need for their research. It is frustrating, because in technology, you can sit down and plan out a lesson which you think will be just marvelous, and then you are stopped dead in your tracks by some minutia which you have not thought about ahead of time, such as a school filter that blocks out sites students want to access. I guess at the end of the day I approach technology with an open mind, but I am always ready to be burned by it. It's always good to have a Plan B when teaching, but when teaching with technology, you need a Plan C and D too, because you never know what surprises may pop up.
When I take 8th graders to the computer lab, in addition to having to keep sure they are on task, I have to manage other considerations such as who can sit next to each other. I also have to deal with a filter at school which sometimes removes very useful information from the internet which may need for their research. It is frustrating, because in technology, you can sit down and plan out a lesson which you think will be just marvelous, and then you are stopped dead in your tracks by some minutia which you have not thought about ahead of time, such as a school filter that blocks out sites students want to access. I guess at the end of the day I approach technology with an open mind, but I am always ready to be burned by it. It's always good to have a Plan B when teaching, but when teaching with technology, you need a Plan C and D too, because you never know what surprises may pop up.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
RSS Feeds
I think RSS feeds will be very valuable to me in my future. It is a very useful tool to aggregate data from the internet. In addition, if there are documents which students can email to me (especially homework), then I can easily collect homework via RSS feeds in a folder. Currently, several of my students have very poor handwriting and prefer to type their assignments, which some print and a few send via email. In the future, I will encourage as many students as I can to type and email their assignments to me.
The current feeds which I subscribe to mirror my interests. For fun, I subscribe to the Huffington Post, to sample a wide array of unpaid journalists. I also take a look at Google News and Digg. I also subscribe to In The Pipeline, a blog written by a pharmaceutical chemist, Derek Lowe, it is by far my favorite. I also am also receiving a blog about teaching, called the Fischbowl. Also, since I am interested in the biotechnology business sectors in San Diego and SF, I subscribe to the business times news from each of those areas. I also look at SF Gate.
I also subscribe to Physics and Astronomy sites, hoping to come up for ideas for lectures in Physical Science.
In summary, the RSS system certainly saves time, and I am certain that I will continue using this technology in the future.
The current feeds which I subscribe to mirror my interests. For fun, I subscribe to the Huffington Post, to sample a wide array of unpaid journalists. I also take a look at Google News and Digg. I also subscribe to In The Pipeline, a blog written by a pharmaceutical chemist, Derek Lowe, it is by far my favorite. I also am also receiving a blog about teaching, called the Fischbowl. Also, since I am interested in the biotechnology business sectors in San Diego and SF, I subscribe to the business times news from each of those areas. I also look at SF Gate.
I also subscribe to Physics and Astronomy sites, hoping to come up for ideas for lectures in Physical Science.
In summary, the RSS system certainly saves time, and I am certain that I will continue using this technology in the future.
Final Project-Summary
My final project consists of an in class lecture on Motion combined with showing YouTube clips demonstrating Motion Fundamentals for 8th grade physical science. Students will be assessed via their ability to construct Position versus Time and Speed versus Time graphs from stories describing motion. As an extra credit project, they will create a video demonstrating motion concepts and construct graphs from data they have collected via a motion activity.
For further information, please click on the links below.
For further information, please click on the links below.
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