My word cloud of the website: Teaching Today - Middle School Resources
CLOUD COMPUTING SITES
WeLearned.It - Project Managment System for Classrooms
I thought this would be a great cloud computing site to use for the classroom because it would be great for project-based learning ideas to use in the classroom that will help create a more student-centered environment. It has rubrics that can be shared for grading projects that have been created. Teachers are also able to share their differentiated learning groups. For someone who is looking at creating a more student-centered and project-based classroom this would be great!
Class Flow - A Cloud-Based Teaching and Learning Platform
This peaked my interest because it is a new way to create and share lessons with students via the computer or tablet using the class code. Instead of presenting lessons on a board in front of the classroom each student would be able to see the lesson right in front of them using their own computer or own tablet. This would help students who have trouble seeing the board or cannot copy down the notes quickly. It is also a quick way to assess and analyze student understanding because you can poll students or allow them to type/write on their own tablet and see right away who has the correct answers. Another benefit to this cloud computing site is that it allows the teacher to differentiate instruction.
Class Owl - Assignments and Discussions for the Classroom
This cloud computing site is one that I would like to use in my classroom because it is a great way to keep students up to date on what is going on in the classroom. This site comes with a daily organized checklist for homework and class deadlines so students are always aware of assignments that have been given. It is a great way to keep students engaged through discussion on their phones and tablets in or out of the classroom. It would allow students to ask questions they have at any time about what is going on in the class or about material that is being covered. They would be able to post their questions whether they are in or out of school.
PEARLTREES
My Pearltrees Account
Social bookmarking, something I have never heard of before let alone used, is a fantastic way to get ideas and share ideas with others on a public website. It helps organize and categorize resources to use in the classroom or while doing research. In the classroom, it would allows students to work collaboratively with one another by allowing them to share their Pearltrees accounts to see the resources each has saved while working on a project or research.
SUMMARY
I learned about a lot of new resources that I had never heard of before that I will be able to use in my classroom. According to the Cloud Computing Explained video, cloud computing is a way to save time and money for the school. It makes information accessible from any device that is being used. The three benefits to using cloud computing are: 1) scalability, 2) instant turn on/off, and 3) save money by only paying for what you use. I had heard about the cloud, but never fully understood what it was or how beneficial it is for schools until now. The 2011 Horizon Report says the challenge of using cloud computing is the privacy and control of the cloud, but I think most people have figured out that these challenges have been outweighed by the possibilities and saved resources it provides. I really like the idea of using Wordle as a vocabulary unit review for the end of a unit or even as a key-word cloud at the beginning of the unit. It helps the students understand the important words and ideas behind the unit. Social bookmarking is definitely something I will be able to use for myself as a student and also for in my classroom with my students. I love the idea of being able to search for other Pearltrees that will give ideas and websites for anything that I am looking for. Being as organized as I am, I also like the idea of being able to organize and categorize anything I decide to add to my Pearltrees account.
Betsy:
ReplyDeleteYour Wordle was intriguing and if I had to guess, came from a class mission or school mission. I really enjoyed doing the Wordle and wanted to apply it to some of UT’s policies to see what would happen and which words would be used the most.
I loved the three sites you posted from the cloud computing sites. I think the project management site would be especially helpful for our group projects as you mentioned and am anxious to take a closer look at it. The Class Flow site would be good I think for the K-12 group, but I think it could be utilized for higher education as well in certain courses. I like your suggestion for using tablets to have the course information right in front of each of the students with the means to take notes directly. How useful this would be for some students who do have trouble with keeping up with the lessons and seeing the board as you indicated. Nice find! The third one you listed, Class Owl was actually one I looked at initially but saw another one I selected. This one looks like a wonderful organizational tool that could be really good for someone like my son who is struggling with ADHD, but is very tech savvy. His school uses Schoology and it sounds similar.
Your Pearltree shows your dedication to teaching with all of the resources you selected. Like you, I had not used any social bookmarking before, but can see how this can be helpful to organize interesting sites and resources. I found adding information so easy and have to remind myself to go back and use it since it is new to me. Do you think you will be adding to this and using it in the future?
Finally, your summary was spot on with about the same takeaways I had for the week – some useful sites and resources that I can start using now in my career and everyday life. I also see the huge cost savings that can be made in using cloud computing and such, like the way we did not have to buy a book for this class and can access the site for all we need and look back at prior lessons to review information. I also found the Horizon Report interesting in their predictions for upcoming technology. From what I have found so far, the report has been spot on with their information.
Great job on the blog and I enjoyed reading it!
Michelle
Thank you Michelle!
ReplyDeleteI do think that I will be adding to my Pearltrees in the future. My goal for next year is to turn my classroom into a more student-centered classroom and I am hoping that by using Pearltrees and looking for things that have worked in the classroom it will give me some inspiration as how to begin working towards my goal. I also have two more classes that I will be taking this summer along with the two that I am taking now, and I can see myself using this for research for some of those classes.
I agree with you about the Horizon Report. I enjoyed reading over what they had to say as far as where they saw education in the future and how close they thought some of the technologies are to actually becoming a part of the classroom and education of students.