When Technology & Student Collide

Here is my final presentation for ED451 Audio Visual Class.
It's been a pleasure to be in the class =)

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The Philosophy of Transferring Knowledge

I could sit here and tell you that I want to teach because my mom was a teacher. Or that I've had a long generation of teachers in my family. I could sit here and tell you I want to do it because teachers get 3 months of paid vacation time (June, July, August) or that I've always wanted to be one since I was a child. But to tell you the truth if I chose to tell you those things I'd be a very good liar. It would be a crime to give you THOSE reasons why I want to, with sincere fervor to become an educator.

There are so many things happening in the world that every day essentially is history in the making. Teaching like drawing, like conducting lab experiments, like computing math equation is a real occupation. And sure, everyone can be a teacher...BUT not everyone can study well enough in the field to be very good at it. Therein lies the difference. I would gladly fall victim to that difference if it means I am able to harness able, capable minds into the world.

I chose to teach history because its like clay. It's multi-faceted. You can mold it to teach math, science, and hey even religion! You can use it to make students more aware of the box they reside in, allow them to be concerned with those who've occupied that box as well as make ready the same box for use in the future. It's a study of people and things...EVOLVING...changing...revolutionizing. For some people studying history is knowing it...for me teaching history allows me to become part of it. This is the message I want to convey to my students who probably have never had the chance to look at the world & its events with a more open mind, with a more meaningful passionate desire to know more and BE more.

I'm sure you've heard it before. People saying they want to teach because they want to make a difference in the world. Heck, I bet I've relinquished that philosophy a million times in many of my academic essays. But now in my senior year, ready to be launched as a fresh, new out of the box educator...I can say that I no longer want to make a difference. I want to make sure I create, build, facilitate, real-live CHANGE. I want to be a mode of transportation between the history that existed years ago and the history that continues to propel us today. My philosophy of teaching does not only encompass making a difference, but exemplifies BEING the difference. I firmly believe if we have to start somewhere it might as well be in the confines of the four corners of my intellect & the intellect of those I teach. Because then maybe we have a bigger chance against the odds of students not succeeding, of students becoming inactive participants of society who really do not know any better.

My philosophy is to transfer knowledge the best way possible. To teach & to learn unlike anyone else has done before.

A Look at the Tricks in the Bag

MOODLE off the bat is every ED451 Audio Visual student's best friend. It acts like the holy bible of this course which students carry in their online briefcase ready, waiting and accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Through it technologically literate students can have access to the class course schedule, assignment deadlines, and helpful lesson supplements which are organized and updated by the professor. It easily, LITERALLY brings the classroom outside of the campus and allows for active interaction between the professor and the students. MOODLE became one of the most important tools of trade in my quest to becoming more tech-savvy this semester. Instead of being handed a dingy, black and white syllabus (like in my other classes) I was given a living, breathing creature that surpasses any textbook I have ever encountered. MOODLE was this creature which very well paved in its every essence the successes I garnered in this course.

Rating: 5 out of 5 point&clicks



FIREFOX is probably making its way to be one of the most comfortable web browser available on the information highway today. Equivocal maybe even to your favorite pair of denim jeans. FIREFOX is acts like a window to the web, that like it's fiery name, possesses fierce accessibility and reliability for every techie's viewing pleasure. It's wonderful TAB function is every multi-tasker's dream and it supports most platforms on the web. I never hesitate to use this browser every time I do research on the internet for my 18 credit workload, or when I feel the need to surf up a storm checking email, designing websites, searching for new, hip lesson plans or simply for checking the time in New York City. This browser is pivotal and will continue to be a constant during my academic career.

Rating: 5 out of 5 point&clicks




NICENETdespite its name is a internet classroom assistant that left much to be desired. Essentially, Nicenet is was a tool that we were supposed to use to communciate with our assigned group regarding group projects and assignments. It was suppose to build bridges between communication gaps within our group's myriad of contradicting schedules. It was however, a one hit wonder for our group whose members preferred face to face conversing during the early part of this course. Nicenet offered us a place to post up our thoughts and ideas on our first lesson plan to ALL our group members with just one click of a button. It's user-ability however, did not last throughout the semester and Nicenet slowly faded away in the background while other communication tools took centerstage in class.

Rating: 2 out of 5 point&clicks






DEL.ICIO.US is the motherlode of online social bookmarking. It served to very well be THE course's most undeniable tool. Simply put, if a Delicious list ran for homecoming queen in our class, I believe with certainty that it would win hands down. Gone are the days where students can't find a place to store all their favorite sites for future reference. With this tool, websites are placed into a platform which users can continuously, indefinitely build a list of favorite websites and have easy access to it online. Not only can they do this, but through an ingenious tactic users are able to share their delicious findings and surf up other people's lists as well. While most people hit up the fine folks at Google to search for whatever lies under the sun..I search proudly through delicious. As a future educator, it's not only important to look for information that everyone has but more explicitedly for information that everything thinks is cool & "happenin'". DEL.ICIO.US is the answer to up your cool points, happenin' teacher.


Rating: 5 out of 5 point&clicks




GOOGLE SUITE (gmail, interactive docs, Blogger, Google Pages)is a powerhouse of online tools that will appease any techie's thirst for communicating ideas & sending messages across the great divide that is the internet. Gmail, alone is an email provider that holds an indefinite amount of email, serves as a wonderful cherry on top. While the interactive docs brings collaboration to the next level by allowing different online authors to edit documents online. And if that doesnt toot your horn you can always write a blog on Blogger, an easy to use weblog utility or create your own webpage using Google Pages. It was a pleasure to use these tools this semester while I completed group work and posted up materials for others to view on the internet. Be pleased to find these four tools have been added to this future educator's bag of tricks.


Rating: 5 out of 5 point&clicks




iGOOGLE which is one of many of Google's concoctions is an easy-to-access, easy-to-setup start up page that is able to host "gadgets" that feature anything, and everything on the internet. It centralizes on the concept of "one stop shop" where users can display their favorite sites, information, even email within the scope of their homepage. This tool also features themes which users can personalize and create each tabbed page to their own liking through pictures and the changing the theme of the page's online environment. For on the go students such as moi iGoogle (which I made my homepage) is the one place where I can check everything all at once which essentially cuts my internet time in half & gives me more time to focus on other things..like homework for example.


Rating: 5 out of 5 point&clicks



JING which is a software that enables users to record screencasts is a newcomer to my bag of tricks this semester. It however, like any of your handy dandy tools, it proved to be one of the most useful especially in creating tutorials for explaining how one can use and navigate through a website. It takes the pressure of having to explain how to navigate through a website or introducing a new piece of software in the flesh and allows you to pre-record the tutorial ahead of time. This way any technical difficulties during presentation time is alleviated and allows you to seamlessly present tutorials in a timely, productive fashion. I duly hope Jing will continue to remain a freeware for the general internet public as it will be instrumental to many of my teaching endeavors in the future.


Rating: 5 out of 5 point&clicks




FLOCK is a web browser that is also another newcomer tool welcomed into my bag of tricks this semester. It is in every essence a hyped up version of FireFox and features a more technical interface than its competition. This browser caters to all the users needs and includes access to blogs, pictures, search engines, social networks BUILT INTO the browser itself. If you thought iGoogle or Page Flakes brought you "one stop shop", FLOCK takes it to the next level giving you accessibility to your online content within the confines of your internet browser. If students of tech are into trying something new, or advancing to the next level of web browsing then Flock is tool of choice. It was certainly a tool I will continue to explore and use in my teaching in the future.


Rating: 5 out of 5 point&clicks

PHOTO CREDITS

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