Today I viewed a webinar created by our district on Google Chromebooks. The district has purchased many Chromebooks for various schools, and has been offering many opportunities to learn about the laptops and operating system (OS). A video created by the district (as another opportunity) can also be found here on their tiny url link.
I believe that webinars are beneficial for two primary reasons. The first is that live webinars are almost on par with talking to a real person. Webinars provide interaction and the chance to ask questions. Some believe you can have more interaction with the host in webinars than in the traditional conference or workshop setting. Personally, while I am a tech nut, I would still rather the face to face interaction. The second primary reason webinars are beneficial is because it allows a quick way for teachers to stay on top of advancing technology, often in the comfort of their own home. In this case, it provided me with a chance to familiarize myself with an OS that is quickly on the rise. I am a primarily Mac user myself, but am familiar with Linux, and very familiar with Windows. I have used Android extensively in the past, but have had limited experience with the Chrome OS. I believe it is vital for LMS to stay on top of new technology, even if you prefer a different OS or manufacturer, teachers and students should be exposed to all types, and thus the media specialist must know a little about everything in order to support that.
1 Comment
Gould Elementary has an exciting time celebrating Black History Month each February. This year, the multicultural committee decided to hold a Poster Contest for students to research a famous or historical African American, and create poster to display what they learned. Working with fourth and fifth grade teachers, I decided to use this as my enrichment unit. Over the past few weeks, students have researched their chosen figure. Students used their research to write informational paragraphs on their person. During this time we also discussed copyright, plagiarism, and fair use. We also discussed how to give credit and site work. At this point I placed a template on the project page. The template was a powerpoint file, with a picture, headline, tagline, and basic body text. Students placed their own text and information on the template, and then they adjusted fonts, colors, and text sizes to make the posters their own. Students also used Google to search for images using the "labeled for non-commercial use" search filter. Once a photo was found, students placed a photo credit on their posters. I was very proud of the results and final posters the students produced. Some of the final products are shown below. This week I worked with a fifth grade class using the flipped classroom model. After discussing with a couple of the fifth grade teachers, we decided that many of the students did not have basic digital etiquette or digital information literacy skills.
Using this information, I created three modules. The first module is based around cyber safety, and what things should or should not be posted on the internet. The second lesson revolves around cyber bullying, and how it can be a dangerous thing, and many could be a perpetrator without even realizing it The last module dealt with information on websites, and how a student can evaluate a website to decide if it is reliable or not. For each session, students watched the videos, or viewed the websites at home, and then discussed, participated in role plays, and other group discussions in class. Students who did not have internet access at home were allowed to come in the media center or computer lab before or after school, as well as during homeroom. The last module based on website evaluation, has a printed packet that could also be given to students without internet access at home. I would have to say that Lesson 3 was by far my favorite, and went over the best with the students. They loved the off the wall topics many of the fake sites were on, and agreed that it is sometimes very difficult to determine the validity of a website based on looks. |
Jason SmithJason Smith is the 3rd & 4th Grade Gifted Facilitator at Gould Elementary. Archives
March 2017
Categories
All
|