Erin+Cook

1201109494

toc =Biography= > I would like to learn more about I-Movie because I think it looks really cool and I think it would make for fun projects in my classroom someday.
 * Preferred Contact Info: ekcook@ku.edu or facebook
 * Basic Background Info: I'm from Lenexa, Kansas. I'm 21 years old (yaaay!). Read my facebook if you want to know more about me because I don't feel like typing anymore, ha ha.
 * Level of experience with technology: Moderate
 * Middle School English Major
 * I think technology is vital for the classroom today because it has become so incorporated into our lives. It is constantly changing and uprgrading, creating all kinds of new possibilities. It provides a great tool for sparking interest in students.
 * Fortunately, I have no horror stories regarding technology...yet...

=Assignments=

Web Exemplars
http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Christopher_Columbus good I retrieved this website by searching through google. I would consider this a good website for kids to use to research Christopher Columbus because it includes a lot of information, but the information is organized and easy to navigate. Students who are particularly interested in learning more about Christopher Columbus and the world in which he lived can follow the links provided on the website. The website also has minimal distractions—only a few advertisements. Pictures are also included which will help kids visualize what they are reading. The website isn’t too cluttered and appears well organized. Also included is a small bibliography which assures that the information given is credible. [|www.surfnetkids.com/christopher_columbus.htm] bad

I also found this site through google. I would not use this website in my classroom. There are way too many advertisements that would distract kids and lead them to questionable places on the web. This could cause them to not pay attention in class and worse, to find inappropriate websites. Distractability is particularly important for young students: you have to be able to maintain their attention span and keep their interest. If there are too many other distractions on the site, they will learn nothing. The site is cluttered with link after link appearing in an unorganized fashion. Again, this is distracting and frustrating when you are trying to glean important facts from all of the information. Most of the links are not related to Columbus at all. Some of the links claim to take you to a worthwhile place, but you end up right where you started. Only small blurbs of information are provided about Columbus. Also, only some of the website is accessible: the rest of it is reserved for “members only.” If the website is geared toward making money and not towards educating students, I would deem it inappropriate for my classroom. Information about Columbus should pretty much be public domain--if their website is going to charge me for it, I can find it easily and for free somewhere else. Another concern about charging for the information is the potential scheme this creates for children. Kids might be unaware that they have signed up to receive information that their parents could potentially receive a bill for in the mail.

Talk Page Assignment: 1-29-08 - Web Exemplars - Erin Cook
I think that three important criteria for selecting a website to use for instruction are readability, organization, and credible source information. First of all, as I learned in class, it is important to consider readability when evaluating a website because the information obviously needs to be accessible to the studen of whatever particular grade level you are trying to teach. I also value organization in a website. If a website is too cluttered, I will quickly lose patience and interest with it and I imagine students will react similarly. Included, in my mind, under the organizational category is the whether or not the website has excessive advertisements and links that may cause a student to wander the web. Since I plan to be a middle school teacher, I am especially concerned about maintaining my students' interest and attention--excessive links leading to games and other lures would be very distracting. Lastly, I think its important that a website cites its sources for the information it includes. If this isn't listed on the site, who knows if the information there is accurate? If this information wasn't listed on a site that I liked, I would still use it but I would double check on my own to make sure the information is credible. My criteria seems to be very similar to Lindsey's and others. I think Lindsey's "good" website is a great site, but I didn't see a citation section so I would probably read through all of the information to make sure its correct. Even though the link to her bad website didn't work when I clicked on it, I agree with her choice to name it as a bad ste based on her descriptions. She said it included advertisements, and I especially hate distracting advertisements. I would disagree with Lindsey and others who do not like wikipedia sites. Although I realize these sites can be edited by anyone, I have generally found them very useful myself. I would definitely read over the site to make sure everything was accurate (although most do include citations!) and maybe make some adjustments for readability.

3-9-08 - Site Design - Erin Cook
When creating an organizational scheme for a website, the most important criteria seems to be that the links are titled clearly to eliminate any confusion about where they might lead, and to make all information availble to the students and parents using the site. The map for the site should be designed so that the student can easily predict where the link might lead. The student needs to be able to easily access any information they might need. Clear and concise titling is key. The resources on the website should be relevant and useful to the students and their parents. The point of the website, after all, is to foster student success. Laura's organizational scheme was very good. All of her links were clearly and relevantly titled. She seemed to have useful resources for the student. Although any negatives were hard to find, one could be that the title of the link "handouts" could possibly be a little clearer. Also, some information seemed like it could have been condensed under one category instead of two seperate ones. These changes might not even be necessary--her scheme is pretty good!

3-9-08 - Site Design - Erin Cook
I found the essay to be entertaining and informative, despite its challenging nature. Pynchon writes in a comic way that keeps the reader engaged. I particularly enjoyed and appreciated his references to Frankenstein since I've read that book twice. Relating Frankenstein to being a Luddite brought me a new perspective on the book. The article was basically trying to describe what the term Ludite means and its historical origns. He lead the reader through a chronological explanation of what being a Luddite meant in a specific cultural context up to today's technologically growing world. To make the essay a bit more accessible, Pynchon could have used charts to illustrate some of his points. I think the reader would also be better able to keep up with the article if he broke the piece up with headings. A table of contents could be included at the beginning with clear links leading the reader to a particular section. If I were to use this for high school students, I would definitely provide them with a historical context of the Industrial Revolution and a literary context of Frankenstein if they didn't already feel familiar with it. I would also go over some vocabulary terms. This could be done using powerpoint. Using Inspiration, I would definitely have students create charts illustrating the progression of the understanding of the term Luddite. This would give them a good visual representation of the progression. I would have my students write about whether or not they think Luddites still exist in today's world and if so, how those Luddites exert and demonstrate their influence. The students could post this infomration on their wiki.

Wiki Assignment Link:
weheartliterature

Talk Assignment: 4-4-08 - Universal Design - Erin Cook
Name: Tanning Beds Problem: To adjust the levels of the face tanner or the air conditioning and music among other things, you have to look at the buttons above you to read which button is which. This often causes you to accidentally lose your protective eyewear, or you are forced to take them off because they make your vision too dark to read the buttons. Modification: Either make the buttons much larger with clearer labels, or preferably, create a voice activated bed that allows you to simply say "increase face tanner" or "increase air-conditioning," etc. Universal Design: Those who are blind (hey, they still might want to get tan) will be able to adjust their preferences on the tanning bed without having to search for the proper button. Also, people's eyes will be better protected. It would make the tanning-bed experience less anxiety-provoking for new users worrying about adjusting the various levels while still proctecting their eyes and enjoying the tanning experience.

Media Assignment
media type="file" key="Prejudicetheme.m4v" I choose to use I-Movie primarily because I think it is a program that my students would be interested in. I think using the program itself would be a motivation to complete the assignment. I feel that that this allure and trend status that I-Movie has is a significant strength of the format. I-Movie gives you the ability to play with different images that you might use in your video- for example, using the Ken Burns effect on images- that might not be offered on other formats. It also lets you adjust different settings such as speed, music, cropping per image that other programs might not offer. I-Movie's primary weakness, in my opinion, is that its icons and available option buttons are not necessarily that self-explanatory. A program should be easier to figure out on one's own than I-Movie is; and I had to spend a lot of time asking questions about how to use it. I want to be able to figure things out on my own without messing up my entire video. This may be attributed to the fact that I am unfamiliar with Macs. This is also a weakness of I-Movie: that it's only available for use and viewing on Macs.

Communities Assignment
[|Atticus Finch's Facebook Page]

I choose to use Facebook for my wiki to help my students create a project that they would find entertaining but also educational. I want to teach middle school and I have no doubt in my mind that most of these students will be familiar with Facebook. I think using Facebook to create a character in a novel's profile page is a great way to explore the concept of character while using a technology that is enjoyable for students. The profile page lends itself nicely to exploring character: you are able to lists interests, setting details, activities, and favorite books, movies, and TV shows. This helps students see all of the different components that combine to create the concept of character development. The favorite books, movies, and TV shows section allows students to use creativity and have a little fun. It was fun, for example, to think of TV shows that Atticus Finch might enjoy (i.e, Law and Order), but it also helps students think outside the box in terms of character. The About Me section also leaves room for creativity and gives the students a space to respond to a question I proposed (What was your character's reaction to the outcome of the story?). This also allows them to explore character development and to recognize that it is directly linked to textual evidence. Facebook encompasses lots of elements about character and allows students to explore the concept in a fun, familiar way.

**4-30-08 - Course & Wiki - Erin Cook**
To me, like many of us in the class, the wiki was my favorite part of the class and the most useful to me for the future. Although creating the wiki was stressful at times, I think all of the work that was put into it will pay off. Through creating this wiki I learned about different educational technologies that I will definitely use in my classroom. I learned how to create an ordered, purposeful web page that will be very useful to me, my students, parents and administration. Also, a strong emphasis was put on adhering website content to State Standards and NET Standards. I think this will help me become a better more accountable teacher. Structuring the course around the wiki really created a practical springboard into learning other technologies. Creating a wiki also put meaning and context to our work: I very well may actually use this wiki for my future students. The application is easy to manage and edit. I am pretty certain that I won't be using HTML since I found it complicated and bothersome compared to the ease of the wiki.