Blog Post 4

After having taken a look at some standards on the CPalms website, I chose the standard “Enduring Understanding 2” which applies to high school students taking a visual art course.  This requires students to be reflective both on their art and other’s art.  This is the link to the standard: http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewIdea/Preview/1318.Students could utilize numerous web-based resources, but the most beneficial would be their own personal digital art making accounts and blogs where they post progress photos of their work, create art in an artist community, write reflections, connect with their classmates, and research other artists. They could websites such as blogger or wordpress and art software such as Adobe Illustrator. This would fit under graphic software. I would have the students familiarize themselves with digital art and traditional art using both Adobe Illustrator and traditional media. I will then photograph and upload these pieces along with progress shots. Once uploaded to their blog, they will write reflectively regarding their art-making process and comment on their fellow classmates work to facilitate an art community.  

The Internet is endlessly useful for student research. The time when the Web isn’t beneficial to pupils is when the information is faulty or incorrectly stated. The Internet does provide wonderful resources such as academic journals, peer-reviewed articles, and large databases. Research must also be age-appropriate and meaningful in the curriculum. It’s not appropriate to give elementary students full access to internet databases because of content issues. In addition, using information from the Internet also brings in the issue of copyright and citing sources.

In my academic career, I have used Google predominantly to research. I really liked using Britannica Encyclopedia because it provided me with valuable and reliable information. I realized a source wasn’t reliable if I didn’t contain any sort of citation when stating statistics or facts. I was often told by teacher what is and isn’t a valid source, like the Wikipedia isn’t a valid source. I would also go with the aesthetics of the site, which is not a sign credibility, but if looks nicer people tend to trust it. The podcast describes a much more systematic way of evaluating sources using the acronym ABCDT. This method analyzes websites based off author, bias, content, design, technical elements. Stability is also important.

The web hunt gave a few new skills as I searched for the various items on the list. For example, I learned how to restrict what results would come up by placing a minus sign in my inquiry. In addition, I learned how to prioritize search items. For example, I would put terms that aren’t as important toward the end of my search. I didn’t really encounter any surprises.

Web Challenges:

·         Find painting by Van Gogh

·         Find article pertaining to the Vietnam war and have it be of the time period

Blog Post 3

         

     An infographic is a visual which presents information to the reader using elements such as symbolism, diagrams, charts, and text.  The infographic I am critiquing speaks on the education of girls in an international perspective. The title automatically tells the reader what they’re getting into and provides a clear purpose.  The aesthetics consist of bright eye-catching colors and appealing visuals. The infographic is set up in three categories, divided by color. The purple section discusses the consequences of not education women, the pink presents the benefits of educating women, and the orange displays the results of their current efforts. There are examples and statistics which work to provide evidence backing their claim.

     In the situation that I were a teacher, I would love to implement blogs and emails in the class curriculum. This would give students the opportunity to express their creativity and stay connected outside the classroom. In terms of digital citizenship, privacy and appropriate behavior online will be my main concerns. The best way to prevent any issues arising is working with parents and filtering what the students can access. I would try blog with students at the high school level  and would implement software which blocks off inappropriate websites and have parents and students sign an agreement regarding online use.     

     While working on the newsletter, I learned how to use different functions on Word and worked to make my document aesthetically pleasing. I liked that I was able to be creative and make the newsletter my own. Word did give me some problems and would often re-position items on the page when they didn’t need to be moved. I also learned how to change the color schemes and create items such as text boxes.  

     Here is the link to the infographic: http://www.educationforallblog.org/issues/girls-education/investing-in-girls-education-delivers-results-infographic

Blog Post 2

                As a student, I have used Microsoft Word for a variety of reasons. For example, I have utilized this software to write papers, write lab reports, create graphs, create tables, write stories, and write articles. Microsoft Words is very versatile and accessible, which is why it has remained a constant throughout my educational career. In terms of teachers, they often have often used Word to create handouts, worksheets, tests, and quizzes for students. My previous educators used Word for its functionality and ability to work as an effective word processor. When reading through the text, creation of quality instruction could be made using Word. Writing ideas, planning, and designing an effective way to teach can be easily recorded with Word and allows for future editing.

                In an educational setting, copy writing and fair use of materials has come up quite a bit. For example, when working on projects such as PowerPoints or research papers citing sources is necessary. I have used MLA and APA formatting to give credit to website, articles, and books which helped me further understand and explain my topic. In addition, I encrypted my AP art portfolio images so they could not be reused. Watermarks have also been useful with photography. As a teacher I will show my students how to protect their own creative work and original knowledge.  I will also serve as an example of how copyrighted information is to be treated and cited.   

                I did not have Twitter previously to needing one for my first semester of classes. I know now the mechanics of the site, understand its popularity, and have grown to appreciate how it facilitates community. For example, twitter has allowed for me to stayed tuned with my fellow classmates and explore new content related to educational technology. The use of hashtags also makes navigating the social media platform much easier and makes particular topics accessible.