Why wireless, I'll tell you

This is 2009 that should be enough of an answer, without flying cars the least we should be able to do is get onto the internet wherever we want and it should be used to the full extent of its ability. The uses allow freedom to anyone within range and how dose not like to have a class outside from time to time though I'm sure they are not doing that in high schools much. Either way the choice should be a simple one for why to have wireless and its simply, why not.

When students can have another way of connecting with teachers and each other and the material in a way that more and more children are becoming comfortable with why not try and introduce it to schools. The ability to check assignments and grades as well as any school events coming up would make life that much easier on an already hectic school schedule.

English teachers would be able to tell the class to pull up an article from a journal database and instead of having just some book in front of them the kids can see an actual scholarly publication. Science teachers can load groundbreaking reports for students to see where the world is heading and how what they are learning in class is being used outside the walls to change the world.

Many people react better to learning when they can see the results and that is sometimes hard for some teachers, but with the option to bring new information into the classroom they have a better chance of influencing those students. Group projects become easier to collaborate on since the participants could have access to items like Google docs and be able to make comments to each other on how they feel the project should go. the interaction of student with student in a more comfortable is what the world will be demanding of them when the attain "real" jobs in a world where most business correspond through the same kind of means they will be taught.
So not only why not wireless but almost, we have little choice but wireless.

Prior Student Podcasts

The first podcast that I listened to was about youtube and from the very beginning I felt it was off to a bad start. One of the first things people learn when talking to a group or anyone for that matter is to not use the word "umm" of "uhh". There were far to many instances in this particular podcast for me to be able to tolerate it for much longer than was required.
However the information itself was fine, the students at some points seemed to forget what they were talking about but one of the others would jump into the conversation to bail them out. The parts where they began to get into it and have more of a conversation were much better. The podcasts that I listen to are formatted in that way making it much easier to listen and retain information from. Taken from this podcast is to have what I want to talk about laid out in front of me at the time and to be able to have a conversation about it with whomever I am to do the podcast with.

The second podcast was talking about ALEX and ACCESS and was quite well done. Both students had plenty of information on the subjects and were able to get that information across without being terribly dull which can be tricky on not so upbeat subjects. Though they did not converse in the conversation style that I previously said I liked they almost never faltered and kept a steady rate of speech with few mistakes keeping my attention.
The only real falter is that one of the students sounded scared to death while she was talking. I understand that some people are shy and that this was a miserable assignment for them but if someone is going to do a podcast or speak to people in anyway they need to get over that shyness and fear. Again in this podcast I harden my thought that when my time comes to have the information at hand and to give the information straight out though hopefully I will be able to have a subject that allows for me and my group to be more upbeat.

Podcast

First off I love podcasts. More often than not I have one playing in my car anywhere I go, they tend to be filled with information and give you said information quickly and to the point. The podcasts for this assignment are naturally about education and tech and how they work together. Normally podcasts are formatted in a way that makes the listener feel as if they are in a conversation with the podcaster more so than getting a lecture.

At first I listened to the smartboard podcast and was impressed with the way it was presented though I wish they could get rid of the echo. The great part about their idea was to bring teachers and parents together with oneanother. Much like what we have read about ALEX and ACCESS this to is a new frontier of bridging the gap between classrooms and homes. Anything that brings teachers together to learn from one another and also allows parents tha sccesability to the information has my seal of approval.

Some classrooms may even decide to use podcasts in there lesson plans to bring other views and even ways of teaching into the class to give the students more variety and would increace their learning potential. I also enjoyed the Kidcast. Brilliant! Students talking to eah other and even teachers being able to see the students side of the learning expierence. This site puts the kids in charge and allows for them to post their own posts and that creates a doorway into their world that is wide open for parents and teachers alike.

One podcast that I listen to is 60 second science and though not an educational site it is a science based site. I was actually introduced to this from another teacher. The podcast has short snipits of new and up coming scientific information and breakthroughs. The podcast is not as interactive as the others such as Smartboard but since the entire thing is only 60 seconds the information does not need to be given in such a personal way.

Marisa L. Dudiak's second-grade class from Frederick County, Md. were told to sign on to their classroom Web log to write about their field trip to a Native American farm.They wrote about what they learned from using the bow and arrow,playing in a tepee and seeing a buffalo. Though the quality of the writings were still of a second grade level, there was a greater responce from the whole class. even the quiet children wrote out their take on the trip coming alive more so on the blog than in calss.



Mr. C's class at Noel Elementry school in Missouri. Mr. C posts numerious videos up on the site andhas the students make comments on them. The site brings parents into the lives of students more by allowing them to see what is going on in their childrens lives. The site has links to other items such as writing assignments, class itenerary.

Did you know?

I first saw this presentation about three years ago, my friend had to watch it in a business class. The version I saw was Shift happens and a new Did you know 3.0 is out basically the same thing with better music and graphics I think. Some of the things are mind-blowing still though, the amount of graduates from India all speaking english when so few Americans speak a second language, and the fact that english will be spoken by more people in China than in the United States. Scarier than anything else is the bit about trade schools and collages teaching information that will be out of date so quickly. The issue there is that we cannot do anything about it, we cannot hold off new information and technology so the eventual outcome will have to be some sort of balance between what we are able to do with what we have.

This information has changed some since then though, today India has a shrinking population as does China some years, so since nothing is constant predictions cannot be made. We may have the fiber optics to transmit vast amounts of data but there are also companies working with computers that will require better than what we have already just to work. Computers that understand: yes, no and maybe. This concept will alter everything that we think we know and all that we hold constant because shift does happen.

ACCESS

ACCESS, Alabama Connecting Classrooms Educators and Students Statewide, is a site developed to link educators in less fortunate areas to a more varied and "higher-end" classes. This tool brings the more privileged classroom to any who want it, teacher and student alike. Since most areas have some method of internet setup the only thing keeping these places from gaining from the program is their own laziness or ignorance of the program.



The classes themselves are not in the traditional teacher spout off information to idle students. Instead the entire system is interactive, with teachers talking to other teachers and students conversing with other students. This ability allows for better questions to be asked of both sides of the classroom increasing the learning of both sides of the class as well.

The site and the concept are wonderful evolutions in the educational world. This makes the gap between less-fortunate schools and the more budget-tight ones closer together in their ability to provide a better quality learning experience. The world itself is shrinking and the freedom of information allows everyone to have access to anything allowing everyone to have everything. A great tool that hopefully is being used in other states as well.

Alabama Learning Exchange

The Alabama Learning Exchange is a teacher resource site, also known as ALEX.The site is used by students as well as hosting links for teacher and other faculty. It is a very helpful resource for Alabama school teachers of all ages. The site also offers lesson plans for multiple courses. Accounts can created to form ones own workspace.

Educators can log in to their own workspace, and upload or create lesson plans to submit and share. There is also help for professional learning, links for teachers to websites that help them to maintain and build upon their own learning process, furthering their skills as educators.

This site is has a wide range of resource tools that help all who are affected by it. There is virtually no reason why all teachers do not use this program. Other states should fund like programs so that their teachers and students have the opportunity to grow.