Assig. 2 Taking notes using mobile devices

How can students use their devices to take notes and organize their information?
I don't see my KIII children using the Evernote app as a note taker. But maybe Skitch could be easier since they have the "keyboard" from which they can help themselves to write words and they can also draw on it; they can draw what ever word they don't know how to write instead of having imaginary lines, etc. The other good thing that I see here is that they can then share what they did (wrote or draw) using the projector, or even sharing it in the classroom blog.

How can students use mobile devices to collaborate and make research more effective?

First of all I think they need to be introduced to the mobile devices and what can they do for us, since at their young age they think that a mobile device is just for games. We need to show them the different apps and uses. Then maybe give them small projects for them to work on such as to give them a theme (from the PYP unit) and have them take pictures, notes, record their voices, etc. and then maybe with our help or even include ur HRM's in the project create a simple slide show, a presentation.




 Which strategies can be used by teachers to support different learning styles and levels of competency?
It is possible for them to use visuals such as taking pictures, drawing, etc. this would be helpful for kids that need visuals and the kids that can't write yet, so it will help them not to stress so much. If there are children that are more auditory they can record themselves taking the notes, and then probably upload something to create a podcast, this would be great for our native speakers and then they would be able to share it with the rest of the group. Although we would be needing a different app. And of course we have the children than begin to write and the ones that are already writing. 

Bill Rankins m-learning presentation Preassig. 6

• In what ways did the lecture make you think about your own perspective of education in time?

I do relate to what Bill Rankings is saying when he mentions that we are just at a stage in which we are in between destabilization and innovation.  We, as adult teachers, we are the ones in the destabilization stage,  we need to "relearn" it all. While our children are the ones in the innovation stage, natives.  We need to learn and keep moving along with them, trying to catch up when they are already, creators.  The problem of accessing information does no longer exist, yet now we need to to be able to make the right choice of the information that is actually useful to us, and most importantly be able teach our students this by motivating them, guiding them through the correct inquiry for them to get involved, engaged and willing to go out in the ocean of information and apply the different models. It is so true when Bill Rankins mentions that we need not to teach information, but informational models, meaning how to apply models in all sorts of different situations. That way no matter how fast the information load keeps on growing they will always have the ability to apply the models. I guess that what I'm understanding about this is that now a days the most important thing in education is not only the Goal...but the strategies, methods, etc. used to be able to reach that goal without drowning or feeling so overwhelmed with all the information that is available to them.  Definitely we need to have a classroom in which they are able to access all the information in all kinds of ways, and see that it is all information connected.
It is not a matter of if the student passed or not, it's not "his problem", there most be collaborative learning, with the teacher assessing along the way, serve as a mentor and not as the "nexus" of information, we want our students to be able to CREATE  not only consume or memorize, there is no way of doing this now.

• How does his lecture change you view on mobile devices and their use in education?

I understand the reason behind the use of mobile devices in education  and I don't think that it is just because it is a "fashion" moment. With the use of mobile devices the students can connect with the whole world in just a few seconds, we are able to video conference and for example learn about other cultures by actually skyping with somebody on the other side of the world, very enriching.  The students definitely need to develop thinking skills therefore it enhances levels of understanding and attainment in other subjects.  Even though there is a mentor present for them who will guide them through their inquiry they become effective independent learners, in which they know how to gather the information wisely and in a not so time consuming manner. The appropriate use of mobile devices in education is not optional anymore for me, or for any teacher, it is a MUST.

TED questions/answers

Mariana Perez, Mariana Rendon, Michele Muñoz, Mariana Lavin

TED ASSIGNMENT

Mae Jemison on teaching arts and sciences together

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/mae_jemison_on_teaching_arts_and_sciences_together.html

1. What is the purpose of this media/information resource?

A-To communicate to the masses certain ideas that want to be shared. Anytime, and everyone with access to the Internet, may access them for free to share ideas in an easy and effective way. This video specifically talks about how the sciences and the arts, should be taught together. It suggests that intuition and logic are one, and that students should be taught to create bold thinkers.

2. How is this produced?

A-By recording the talks that happen in the live TED conferences and uploading them online and allowing public access.

3.Who created it?

A- TED invited Mae Jemison, an astronaut, doctor, art collector and dancer among others. She is the first African American Woman to go into space. She spoke and TED filmed her and shared the video for free online.

3. Who is the intended audience? How do you know?

A- People who are involved with education in the first place because they are the ones being invited to contribute and make the change. The entire education system is the main audience . Everyone who learns or teaches could be involved and interested in this project.

We know because it intends to reform education. The conception of the arts and sciences is approached as well, so everyone related to these areas might be interested.

4. What is the main message?

A- That both the arts and sciences are representations of human creativity. And with this said, she promotes that they stop being taught as two separate areas and to start being conceived as one.

5. Who benefits and what do they gain?

A- Everyone who sees it and appreciates this new proposal for a new conception on the arts and sciences. If this triggered any changes in the educative system and if she were right, the students would learn from this new way of teaching.

6. What would have been my information needs that would have led me to this video?

A- If we were wondering how to integrate the teaching and learning of the arts and sciences. How to teach sciences and arts and implement them as a whole and not as separate subjects. If we wanted to learn different ways to teach logical thinking, if we were wondering if creativity is involved in the sciences, and not only through the lens of the arts.

7. How would I understand, organize and assess the information found?

A- In order to understand the information we would need to watch the video, and if there were some information we didn´t understand, to look for info in the specific subject to have a better understanding by refining my search.

The information is presented in a clear way in her speech.

To organize one could answers several questions that might help place the information in categories and ask question about the recently obtained information.

To Asses the information, we would comment it with a peer and share our thoughts about it. A peer assessment might give us valuable feedback, space for reflection, as well as providing feedback to others.

8. Identify and explain the Big6 steps you're applying in this activity.

A- Task Definition: We had to go to our moodle and find the assignment. Then we had to browse several TED talks and chose one to work with. After watching the video we had to answer questions relevant to the process of searching appropriate information to review it.

Information Seeking Strategies and Location & Access: After finding the assignment

Planner Reflexion

It was very interesting to work with the planner taking under consideration the super 3 and Bloom's taxonomy. We decided to do a 2 week project in which we used the backward design, we established what was it that we wanted our students to accomplish, and we started working from there, focusing on the big 6 (super 3) standards and integrating Blooms taxonomy to it. By making use of the standards we were able to develope different activities in which we get the students involved, as well as parents, and begin traceing a path towards becoming information literate. We came up with various activities in which they need to use different technology devices such as ipads, iphone, skype, research tools and will use the library as well. We are looking foward to making technology be part of their learning on a daily basis. I understand the importance of following each step from both, the big 6 and blooms taxonomy so that the learning experience can actually make sense to them.

It took us a long time to do it, I guess that's because we planned a 2 week project and because we are still getting the hang of it in order to apply the super 3 and Blooms taxonomy we need to go back and foward through all the steps.

Google vs. Database

The data base in Middle School provides several search engines which are trustworthy and user friendly. As search engines most of them are easy for the students to use such as "The Day". If students were asked to search for current events, it is easy for them to be directed to the topic of interest with no difficulty.

EBSCO provides easy access to trustworthy information which is clearly categorized for students to identify the source of the information.The sites are appealing, such as Kids search, yet there are no links on the pages for other related sources.

The search engines within the school's sites have more credibility and when thinking about students, they provide web safety.

However, google does offer more choice and design is much more appealing.

I believe both tools are useful and the successful use of search engines depends on a well defined task. The more defined, the easier it is to search for information once we become aware, as teachers, of the online available resources.

QR code activity

I learned how to use the Qr code such as I-nigma app and a use for it. We were given a task, find the resources and we had to find the location. There was team work as well as a lot of competition and frustration at times! We saw all the different uses of technology inside the library for us to be able to use all sorts of materials such as books, magazines, videos, etc. And how there are fun ways of learning and using, applying the big 6. There are so many things out there we don't know about and can't even imagine, I had never heard of a QR code or couldn't even find its use.

SUPER 3 PLANNER

Directions for the super 3 implementation were written down in blue.

Room 8	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
7:30-7:45	Flag Honors	Arrival/Prep Time	Arrival/Prep Time	Arrival/Prep Time	Arrival/Prep Time
7:45-8:00	Morning Meeting	ESL: Ss make a list of things found in the classroom/school.	Morning Meeting	Morning Meeting	Morning Meeting
8:00-8:15	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack	Snack
8:15-8:45	Circle Time: Calendar, attendance, job assignment, ABC review. Students are given a set of letters and they are asked to find things beginning with those letters. Students are asked about the possible places they could look for the particular beginning sounds. PLAN Ss are assigned to the different areas to work on finding the objects.	Circle Time: Calendar, attendance, number review 1-20. Students make a selection based upon the list made the previous day, to select best possible resources (ipads, classroom books, library books, posters, people interviews and magazines). PLAN	C.T.: Group discussion about the things/people that can be found in the ECC. Group list is made. Students are asked to use the resources and guided in small groups to retrieve the needed information. Small group discussions are held to informally assess their ability to identify the information needed. DO	Circle time: Calendar, attendance, days of the week, and months of the year assessment. Students present in small groups the information obtained from the different resources. They answer basic questions about the origin of their findings and talk about the best resource that allowed them to complete the task. REVIEW	Circle Time: Calendar, attendance, job assignment, ABC review. Students make a bar graph about the resources used in the classroom to compare results and open up a class discussion about such results to record their answers and monitor their progress. REVIEW

Information Literacy / Media Literacy

Information literacy is focused on how we actually access the information, then how we evaluate it and the ethical use of it.

Media literacy is focused on the understanding of media functions and how we relate them for self-expression.

I would say that the first step is information literacy, and our main concern as teachers. We should be able to teach information literacy at all times, provoke our students to be critical thinkers. And then we can approach media literacy

Mind Map

http://www.webspirationclassroom.com/view/1102216a9239

ASSIGNMENT 1

Sir Ken Robinson starts of with an important matter, saying that we are educating our children with the abilities of the 19^th century, with the past. We are trying to educate our children in the 21^st century, but how will we predict the economy for their knowledge. Yet he goes on saying “we don’t even know what will the economy be like be the end of next week”. This bring up the question on how will we actually do it? As he says I think we need to ‘wake them up to what they have inside of them’, give problems that get them engaged and therefore provoke them to think, but not only think the way we were taught but to think and be able to get different ideas, creative ideas, different solutions and ways to manage, by using divergent thinking, which Sir Ken Robinson describes as “the ability to see different possible solutions, see multiple answers’. When we teach the kids how to create and think outside the box then will they be prepared to face the economy 10, 20, 30 years from now. Me as a kindergarten teacher, as he says, I am working with geniuses, and wouldn’t like to be held responsible for having them lose this capacity (which he says we all have but have lost by being educated) because of the way we teach!!! (it seems to be going backwards!) By experiencing creativity and having them get interested and engaged I think we have a good chance for them to continue having a high percentage of their genius self.

ASSIGNMENT 7

Now that I have been researching and reading more about information literacy and it’s importance since early years I can understand now why we should integrate technology in our classrooms. So whats the way to approach information literacy? Show all the different options they have to be able to do research work, there is more than Google (and now I Know!). Then assign different projects, maybe at first weekly so that if doubts come up these are attended quickly. Let them inquire, and from their interests build a project. This is a progress and schools are just beginning to see the benefits and the importance of including information literacy competences in their students. We as teachers need to set and example, and let them see how do WE make use of information literacy, get them excited about it so that they actually do get engaged and work on it. Let them discover the use of it. The younger we start there will be a point in their lives in which they can apply it in different aspects of their lives, even then at their work space. I believe that critical thinking, divergent thinking and information literacy may be taught since kindergarten, they are already living a life surrounded with technology, let’s teach them to look for the information that actually helps them with their goals or objectives. We are all trying to get a hang of this digital era, so let’s get involved and make a change in our way to teach, because if we don't our kids will not develop the competences needed in a near future.

ASSIGNMENT 4

1.I am focusing my PLN experience in using creative ways on how to teach to read, and a way to introduce technology in the classroom. It is definitely something that I am just discovering, yet as the video says I need to take baby steps and set goals.

2 What actually comes natural to me is using facebook, yet I am beginning to get the hang of twitter and login on to the pages suggested by collegues. I would like to invest more time using my twitter account and focusing on the links provided.

. 3.-The tools that I could start off by using that sound interesting yet, still not know much about them are Diigo web and Google Reader.

4.The best moment for me to be able to dedicate time for my PLN and research (learning) would be on my “easy” days, which are the days that I finish my work day earlier therefore I’m not so tired, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at night, after 8 o’clock when my daughter has gone to sleep.

5.-I still don’t feel in the position in which I can give tips to others, or even to myself but to follow the suggestions given in this reading. Yet with my experience up to now, I can suggest reading, a lot of reading, and sticking to someone who can help you out when doubts come up.

ASSIGNMENT 6