Mrs Goff's IT465 Odyssey

Life holds many challenges and rewards. Not every accomplishment comes easily, those that are the most challenging are the ones you find the greatest rewards once they are conquered. Technology is not a strength that I possess, but I do have a desire to learn and a drive that will ensure I can achieve the goal I set out to do. I have taken many classes on-line, have done many projects that require technology, and have used technology as a teacher’s assistant, but I am still not as confident with technology as I wish I were. From the very first project I was sure that I would need to take extra time and effort to complete my assignments. There were many first’s this summer in this class: first time to link an email, first blog, first web page, first time to set up a Google account, first movie to make, first concept map and the first and last time to plagiarize a paper (it was an assignment for this class). I must say that they will not be my last; I plan to devote more time to learning to use them more efficiently and understand them well enough to be able to use them in the classroom.

            This class has been a learning experience that I am glad I undertook. I have been exposed to and completed many projects that I never dreamed I would. I think I have gained a small amount of courage when it comes to technology.  I find that the more projects that one does using technology the more knowledge that is gained, it is always helpful when you have directions and a person you can count on the help out if you experience technical difficulties. I hope to continue to learn, explore, and grow with the technology knowledge I have gained in this class.

            This class was filled with opportunities for many interactions with peers and Dr. Wang was very receptive to any and all questions, emails, and discussions that were asked of her. I feel Dr. Wang is very fair and encouraging to the students. When I experienced difficulties, which was often she would respond in a very timely fashion and give advice that would solve the problem. The assignment we were given working in groups was a good example of what we as teachers should model in our own classrooms. This helps the students be independent thinkers but they must do whatever needs to be done to contribute to the group and get the targeted assignment finished.

            We had many forms of communication in this online class, the discussion board was used weekly to discuss topic from chapters in the book. This was extremely helpful with understanding the chapters better. There were times I would read the chapters numerous times but when I read post on the discussion board it cleared up misconceptions. Email was a great tool to communicate with peers and Dr. Wang when problems arouse with assignments, setting up the link to our regular email account was new to me, but helped me get messages in a speedy manner. I did check in the chat room on occasion but not much was happening between class members. Neither the Live Classroom nor the Voice Board was used in the summer online class. I have had the opportunity to use the Live Classroom or Wimba in other classes and find that is it a wonderful way to have interaction with classmates and for the teacher to lead students in discussions or lessons about topics of interest. When using Wimba the students can use buttons to raise their hand to ask questions, answer yes or no by pressing a button, students can type in messages to class or just to the teacher. Students are also even able to talk with the teacher or class members through Wimba. The blog was a major project in the summer class. We were to post a link to our finished projects to our newly formed blog page. The blog experience is one that I probably would not have enjoyed if I had not taken this class. Before this class I had never visited a blog site, but I will have one to help promote learning in my classroom and have connections to parents and the community. The blog is a great way to communicate in an environmentally friendly way; it is quick and easy on the environment. The blog is a perfect avenue to share ideas with others.

            Technology is a vital part of our lives. There are many possibilities that technology provides that would not be attainable otherwise. Technology definitely has a place within the classroom. Today we are so intertwined throughout the world, the use of technology is far reaching and encompassing. In the last twenty years there have been many changes with the way we interact together; it will be interesting to observe the next twenty years to see where technology takes us. Thanks for a great summer.

In order for students to be successful  a teacher must differentiate instruction according to the student’s academic needs. This assistive technology assignment was intended to be a learning experience for prospective teachers to help future students who have special needs. If the power point was done correctly this would be a presentation that could benefit students with visual impariments, physical impariments, or hearing impairments. The use of technology in the classroom can be a tremendous benefit with students with disabilities or any learner who needs reinforcement in special areas. This power point project was time consuming for the first time but once all the materials, sounds and images, are collected it should be fairly easy to assemble future presentations.

Goff_IT 465_AssisstiveTechnology

The teachers web page is complete! I am thrilled that this assignment is over and turned in. As with many of my other projects seems like, if it could go wrong it did. I am now the proud owner of a new computer, which I need to use everyday so I can acquire enough knowledge to use it in a technology  way. This project held many challenges. The directions were written well and I tried to follow them exactly as written. The web assignment was on that I was looking forward to, but also dreading. I had never undertook to build  a web page. When building a web page there are many considerations. There is a great amount of planning that must be completed in order to successfully complete a site. We were given specific requirements as to what our site should contain. We were to include hyperlinks between pages on our site, between our site and other sites, and mail hyperlinks. We were required to add images to our site, give personal information, and place a calendar and schedule on our sites as well. A web page is an ideal source of communication with the teacher and an opportunity for parents to get updates on students assignments and class projects. A web page is a way to form a community between teacher, parents, students, and the local community.  We are fast approaching the end of the class and this is another project I have completed, not perfectly, but when I  turn in a project I consider it a victory.

https://sites.google.com/site/goffsclassconnection/

Turnitin proved to be a doable project, unlike many other techology  projects that I undertake.  This was my first time to use a  plagiarism detection software that checks for plagiarism in written documents. Plagerism is the unlawful copying of someones words or ideas.  Plageriam is a growing concern because of the easy access to much material on the internet. Plagiarism is against the law, it is a felony and punishable with time in jail, if convicted.  Turnitin is internet software that scans your written document and can tell if your words were copied from anothers printed words. We were given an assignment to copy an article straight from the internet, then turn it in to Turnitin to be assessed for plagiarism.  Turnitin gave a 99% reading when I cut and pasted directly from the internet. When I revised the paper, I received a 9% rating for plagiarism, that was because I used the same exact questions that I  turned in on the first paper. As a teacher this will be a tool that will be useful for checking students work. Also the student could benefit by using it to monitor their written work.  This assignment was a very good learning experience. Below are my  links to my turnitin assignment:

IT 465_Goff_Revised Paper.docx
IT_465_Goff_Revised_Paper.pdf

This project was very interesting and I learned many lessons.  I feel this technology has a place in the classroom, for teachers as well as students. There were many variables to consider when undertaking a project that is as in-depth as this. All members must be willing and able to do what it takes to get the job done and to finish the assignment by the deadline. All of the objectives for the group assignment were met. Our group  story is very comical, based on children’s stories. The power point helps us to be healthy. My part in our group project was the survey using the form from Google Doc, included  10 questions on technology and personal data.  This was my first attempt to use Google doc for any type project. Actually I have not had a google account before taking IT 465 and did not even know you could use Google for this type project. I did found that completing the form was fairly simple to accomplish. There were lots of different backgrounds to create a custom look, there were also many formats to choose from.  Thinking up the questions to include on the survey took more time than actually typing up the survey. I did however experience some difficulty when sending the survey to my group members. Instead of the members receiving the survey they received the spreadsheet that was made to record the data gathered by the survey. Fortunately for me, I was in a group with a tech savvy person who help to rectify the problem and we were able to finish our project. Sometimes it does take a village. Please check out our projects using the URL’s below.   :  )

Power Point Presentation URL :      https://docs.google.com/a/eagles.usm.edu/present/edit?id=0AZ_br_0JQEotZGY4ajJoemNfMGNmZG14cGRz&hl=en_US&authkey=CJfTo70E

Story URL https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xltzfQdaRns8RgiIPaz00ecPeX7zwZZJ99tAdmZVKgg/edit?hl=en_US

Spreadsheet URL :  https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/eagles.usm.edu/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ap_br_0JQEotdG15M2hSS0JoUGlJT0U3N0MtdWdzSXc&hl=en_US#gid=0

Survey URL https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHBTZjJneTRoczFXdjJUcjJhakpoMUE6MQ

Group Discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/it-465-group2

Group listserv address:  http://groups.google.com/group/it-465-group2/topics

This was a project I was really looking forward to, but was also dreading. This was my first time to ever attempt such a project.  I thought about and planned out my project. I also watched several extra tutorials on “How to make a Movie” and reread the directions from class. I set out to gather pictures for my movie. This past weekend was an event on the MS Gulf Coast called Scrapin’ the Coast, it’s an annual event that features many different makes, models and custom vehicles. After gather a great number of pictures, I loaded them on the computer. Next, I started to download the windows movie maker then realized it was already installed on my computer. The fun part. The windows movie maker was really fun to use, there were lots of different applications that could be used. I can understand people spending many hours editing to produce a movie. I thought it was coming along nicely. Finally finished, getting ready to submit, then computer just went black. Panic set in! Still do not know what happened. I had to borrow a computer from my niece, hers is a MAC, mine is PC. So I learned how to use the I-Movie also. The project was submitted to Dr. Wang before the deadline. YEAH! Time to post on Blog, can’t get the movie to upload. If it can go wrong, seems it does go wrong. Still trying to solve that problem. I have the movie on my computer, flash drive, and CD, but my blog will not recognize the file/movie  in any of these forms. If anyone has a solution for that please let me know. Overall the simple movie was fun to make, but getting it to post on the blog was a whole different story.  I would like to use this technology in my classroom one day, the students will love the whole process, from gathering/taking pictures or videos, to planning and research, to storyboard, then putting all the pieces together to make a movie. I hope to do more storytelling movies to build up my confidence with this wonderful technology and be able to use it in the classroom one day. Drop back by one day to see if I was successful getting my movie to post, wish me luck!

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4O7cxeooRE5NGY1NWNjNWQtMWFmNi00YTc4LThjMWYtYmJhYzY4ZGFhMzgx&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

CONCEPT MAP
My reflection on making and uploading a concept map. A concept map brings complicated material together to simplify it, this in order so we can better understand the material. Therefore using concept maps in the classroom is vital for differentiated instruction for students. I found the Inspiration site to be very easy to use and was actually “fun”. I found myself spending way too much time editing my map for color, phonts, and clip art. This type product would be a tool that I will enjoy using in my classroom and helping my students learn the importance of a concept map. My problem with the Inspiration was the delete button would not always take care of my mistakes and the undo button undid too much of my work at times. There must be a solution to this, but I have not found it yet. Overall this was an enjoyable project.  : )

 Goff_Concept Map_Ocean Life05

Hello,

I am a student at the University of Southern Mississippi working on a certificate in Elementary Education K-6. I have worked in the George County School System for the last 9 years. I currently work in the S.P.E.D. department at Benndale Elementary.

I have been married to Lonnie for 25 years; we have two grown sons and two yellow labs. I enjoy getting together with family, taking pictures, scrapbooking and outdoor activities. Gardening is also a favorite activity.

This is my first Blog experience, I’m excited for the opportunity, but dreading the mistakes I am sure will happen. I sometimes joke (sometimes it’s not) about being computer illerate, so I will appreciate help and advice whenever anyone would like to help or advise. The best of luck to everyone this summer.

Sharon Goff