Kaia

I absolutely loved this blog. It its amazing how technologically advanced this little girl is. I love the fact that her father sits down with her and does this blog with her. It is such a bonding activity and very enjoyable to read. I especially loved the pictures that Kaia herself took and the commentary she had about each picture. Kaia has such a big future ahead of her and I look forward to checking back on her blog! You can find her blog here

I also enjoyed how Mr. Chamberlain's class did a video and a voice thread to Kaia since she cannot read yet. It was very thoughtful of them! Kaia I also LOVE your name especially how it means ocean!!!! It is such a beautiful name!!

Using iPods in Instruction

I had no idea how useful iPods really were until I did the research for this post. Honestly, the only reason I got an iPod was so that I could listen to music and lots of it! I had no idea that it could do everything from listening to music to recording a podcast! Using an iPod in a classroom can do anything from playing some music that goes along with your lesson, to playing Martin Luther King's "I have a dream..." speech in History class. Using iPod's in the classroom started off by students' being able to use them in music class. Then it was offered into the foreign language classrooms so that the students' could download their lessons. This would be especially helpful because when learning a foreign language, you must practice at home. By having your lesson downloaded onto your iPod, you have help with you at all times especially when learning how to pronounce a word.

Duke University was the first school to integrate iPods into the classroom. They were given a grant that gave every freshman a 20 gig iPod. The professors at Duke uploaded their class notes as well as lectures and made them available for the students to download onto their iPods. This would make it easier for students to study on the run especially if they have jobs! Unfortunately, select students decided to use their iPods for reasons different from educational purposes. Because of these students', only freshman students enrolled in music and foreign language classes are able to get an iPod. Such a shame because this really was a great idea.

I found this website to be very helpful in learning how to use iPods in the classroom. http://www.schoolcio.com/ShowArticle/1014

iTunes U

I never realized how much technology has really changed till viewing this site! Wow I guess I never realized how connected I was even though I have a cell phone, laptop, and an ipod and I have just never realized how much I can do! I really enjoyed exploring iTunes University because I think it is a great idea. I love the fact that Professors are uploading their lectures onto iTunes U so that their students aren't having to come to class so frequently. This is such a great idea because many Professors take role everyday and some don't even understand that emergencies sometimes happen and students' are unable to make it to class. With iTunes U, the students are able to watch the lecture from their place of choosing and are able to watch it more than once, which I know would really help me!

The only downfall I can find with teachers using iTunes U is do all of their students have access to iTunes? I only have access to it because I have an iPod but are teachers going to require their students to have an iPod or the iPhones? This can get a little pricey and a lot of students just don't have the funds for this. I think that iTunes U is a great idea and maybe if more and more teachers and schools are willing to participate in it, iPods can maybe be included in our tuition costs? I think this would make the best since but it will probably never happen!

Dr. Christie's Site

I found this website to be very useful. Dr. Christie knows a lot about technology and how to integrate it into the classroom. You can tell that she is very passionate about technology being in classrooms. I found this useful because as a student, we are learning how important it is to use technology in our classrooms and I am slowly learning how to do this so that I may be prepared for this integration when I enter the classroom. I found a lot of her articles she had posted very interesting. One in particular was "New Roles for Educators" by Margaret Johnson.

In this article, she talks about how important it is for technology to be integrated into our classrooms and how beneficial it will be to us as teachers as well as our students. One thing that was said in this article that really stuck with me was said by John Cotton Dana and he said "Who dares to teach, must never cease to learn." This is so true as a teacher because we are told on a daily basis that in being a teacher you must never stop learning. No teacher will be able to integrate technology into their classrooms and be beneficial to their students' if they are not willing to learn about it themselves.