Final post of the class & Portfolio

Well the semester has come to a close. I really enjoyed this class and keeping up with my blog for this class. I had a great time reading other students blogs, especially those within my house. Also it was great to see all the different ways that technology could be incorporated into the classroom. I found this class very helpful in reaching out in different directions for bringing technology into the classroom and integrating it with the basic lessons that are taught. There are so many different ways to do things and technology is really a great tool. I wanted to post my portfolio to my profile just in case there was something wrong or the FrontPage would not load. So here it is. I am proud of my portfolio and did work hard, but there is always room for improvement. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Candice

Candice's Portfolio

Differences between blogs, wikis and websites

After finishing most of this class and testing out all the different types of mediums we have done within the labs, I have found many differences in each. I think that blogs are best for wanting to get your own opinion and personal message across on what you are discussing. I also think that blogs are a way to look at other peoples ideas on things and current topics. I also have found that it is a good place to see how different teachers (if they have blogs) in different areas teach their classes, or run their lesson plans, also how the students react to the lesson at hand. Personally, blogs are my favorite type of pln just because they are so personal without the other effects of websites. I am not sure yet how I feel about wikis, but I think they are something that would be extremely useful in a classroom setting when working on homework or a class project, if there were a class wiki. For that type of thing, I believe a wiki would be the best venture, not a blog or a website. This is because for a wiki you can add and change things whenever you want and for a project this would be perfect to adding and changing information that could be useful to all students within the classroom. I also think wiki's such as wikipedia are interesting because there is so much information that can be put on them by many different people, each having a different take and therefore being able to see different views and perspectives in the same place. As stated before, I think a wiki is best for using a group project, or classroom wide project over a period of time, also for posting and checking homework by the teacher. Then for the blogs, I find the best way for posting information about classrooms for all teachers possibly within the school and even teachers at home to be checking in on classroom information posted by the teacher of that classroom. As for websites, I think these are important as well. I think they are an important part of the pln, and can again be used many ways within a classroom and for personal use. Websites can be used for personal use, stating information about themselves and their resumes and also any lesson planning or lesson plans that you have done posted on there as well. I also think similar to a blog you can have a classroom website. A site devoted just to the classroom students, curriculum, and things going on within the classroom at that time (projects, parent volunteers, field trips) these things that used to be sent home on paper, can now be viewed via the website. Personally, I think I would use a website for my classroom information and everything that could be sent home on paper being put up on that website. I think a blog could best be used for the teacher or students views on certain things going on within the classroom, the school and even the assignments taking place. As for a wiki, this would best be used for projects. In a previous blog post that I posted, I thought a really good assignment for a wiki project for the entire classroom could be about plants growing. Watching them over the course of a few weeks in the dark or the light and seeing how they are growing, and posting on the wiki every few days or weeks with the progress that the plants are making. This way all the students could see the difference in each others plants and their growing habits. I think that all three of these mediums are good and can be used different in each of their own ways. I find that you have to find one that you like personally and use it in a way that you think would be best. I think that all three of them can be used in a classroom and each can be successful in each of their own ways.

Wikipedia Page

Updating of Wikipedia website:

I added information to the East Lansing elementary page on Wikipedia. This page contained all the different schools within the East Lansing area and I added information to the Marble Elementary School section. I added that there are many elective subjects for the students to take such as art, music and gym. I also took a screen shot of what I added to the page

Click on the image below to make it larger:

My wiki site

A link to my wiki page (a work in progress)

my wiki

Wiki's in the classroom

Within my classroom I think it would be wonderful to have a wiki page. There is so much that can be done with something like this within a classroom relating to almost all different kinds of projects and activities. I think it would be really helpful with the older elementary grades (4th-6th) to use a wiki because that way it can be used outside of school and it requires the internet. An example of what a wiki could be used for within a classroom setting could be a science project on growing plants. Similar to how our wiki is set up with the gallery, each student could have a part of the growing process, or reproduction patterns and watching the plants over time and observing, could update and post information onto the wiki. This way, all students would be able to see everyone else's work, as well as the information uploaded would be useful for the project. This way all the students are collaborating on the same thing together, but updating and editing with information along the way. I find that this would be extremely successful with the students because they are the controllers of the website and the information. This is just one example that could be used with students all working together but there are so many more they cannot be listed. Even what we use with the gallery is extremely helpful because everyone posts on different topics, and each week there is something new to look at. Even for a classroom daily homework questions or topics could be posted on a wiki for all to look at, and then learn from as well. That is what I think is the most important thing about a wiki, being able to learn from others and see what others have done. This would have to be monitored within a classroom because this could be used as a medium for cheating or copying off one anothers work and not posting their own original work, but that would have to be monitored. For instance the teacher could be able to go through on random checks to look over the wiki and make sure that everything is being done with honesty and no plagiarism. Another thing that a wiki could be used for as working together for the students within the classroom would be uploading homework. This could be really helpful to the teacher because him or her would just have to go to the wiki page, and click through each post/link and grade it. Overall, I think the best way to use a wiki within the classroom is with a project, and all the students gathering different information and posting it on the wiki page for all to see. It allows the students to work together and give feedback as well. I will most likely be using a wiki in my classroom once I become a teacher if I am in the upper elementary.