Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

Focus Question: What is the meaning of information literacy for teachers and students?

     Information literacy for teachers and students means the ability to access and assess the information from online sources. According to the American Library Association (ALA), information literacy is defined as the "ability to recognize when information is needed and to have then the ability to located, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information." (Windham 2006) Transforming Learning With New Technologies by Maloy, Edwards, Verock-O' Loughlin, and Wolf. Pg 144. Para 4. Before using the new found information, teachers must determine if it is viable and reliable and then teach the students how to do the same. Teaching students how to properly recognize and utilize information for Internet research is a crucial element in information literacy. 

Tech Tool: Flickr

     Flickr is an online photo managing sharing tool that allows you to locate, organize, and send photos that you have personally taken or can locate within the site's online collection. When searching a topic such as Monopoly, 48,684 results appear. I can further advance my search to materials that have a Creative Commons License which means the material is copyrighted but allows other to tweak, distribute, and build upon your work as long as given credit for it. Results jump down to 7,762. Flickr is a great resource to retrieve visual resources for learning. It allows teachers and students to add visual learning resources to their curriculum and or project with providing valuable accreditation.

Summary & Connection:

     With this chapter it brings light to how great using the Internet for information can be but how to properly use the Internet and evaluate all the information it provides. Teachers and students can be taught how to access and assess the information they come by properly and effectively. Having done the website evaluation project I now know the steps needed to be taken when assessing a website for its resources. All teachers and students should know this criteria when determining the quality of a web resource.

• Accuracy
• Authority
• Objectivity
• Currency
• Coverage

In a nutshell

     Hello everyone near or far! My name is Natalie Blanco and I am a 22 year old Cuban American student at Edison State College located in Naples, Florida. I am currently enrolled in prerequisites classes for the teaching degree in which I hope to be accepted into in the upcoming spring semester. Even though I am still unsure on what grade level I would like to teach I am becoming more and more interested in possibly becoming a middle school science teacher. With my naturalistic style and energetic personality I imagine an exciting classroom that I would love to be apart of let alone teach. Teaching language arts and history are possibilities as well.

     I have lived in Naples for about 12 years now and absolutely love it. While others are trying to get out of this town I am digging my feet deeper into staying. Below I have posted a picture that I have personally taken here in Naples, Florida. One evening coming back in from being out on the boat with my boyfriend,  I noticed the sun was setting so gracefully just behind the mangroves and the remaining sunlight was glistening off the water. No one else was around, you could only hear the noises of the birds and the occasional splash of a fish. It was so peaceful and serene. It is this image that represents me. In love with nature and all it has to offer. The beauty, the peacefulness, the silence, it truly is something that many do not take in enough.

Photo Credit to me (Natalie Blanco)
Naples, FL.

Photo Credit to me (Natalie Blanco)
Naples, FL.

Integrating Technology and Creating Change

Focus Question: What are the "digital inequality" and the "participation gap"?

• Digital inequality is due to the students socioeconomic standing in society, there is a lack of access and use of technology displayed.
• Participation gap means that low income and minority students are not as affluent to use technologies for learning due to not having the same opportunities as other peers.

Tech Tool: Edutopia

     Edutopia is an inspirational website for teachers K-12. Providing a vast fine collection of resources in order to integrate technology into the classroom. Integrating technology into the classroom has to go beyond the basic computer skills and software programs, it must effectively support the components of learning. Through Edutopia it provides the necessary "push" to motivate teachers in going beyond basic computer skills and truly integrating technology as well as providing the resources in doing so, allowing the transition to be more easy rather than stressful.

Summary & Connection:

     When teachers infuse technology into the classroom and do so effectively they are creating educational change. A change to better improve their schools and classrooms. From electronic class notes to electronic textbooks, integrating technology can be highly effective in the classroom and professional work.

Developing Lessons with Technology

Focus Question: How can teachers evaluate and assess their students?

     Standardized testing such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, acts as practice for teacher's assessing student learning. Norm-referenced tests which compare a student's performance to another of the same grade or age, and criterion-reference tests, which compare a student's performance to a set of objectives or standards.  The usage of an electronic grading software provides a visual/report on the performance of each student and the entire class.  The use of rubrics can be used as a performance assessment to evaluate student's work on course assignments and activities. They establish known-in-advance criteria to assess student performance.


Tech Tool: Online resources for lesson planning: RubiStar

      Below is a rubric I have made using RubiStar. This website first has you choose a topic then from the topics you narrow you choices down to a customizable rubric. I choose the topic of products and then making a game. This is fantastic way for teachers to define in concrete terms what is needing to be accomplished to meet the criteria.
                                                       Making A Game : history

---

Teacher Name: Natalie Blanco


Student Name:     ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Knowledge Gained	All students in group could easily and correctly state several facts about the topic used for the game without looking at the game.	All students in the group could easily and correctly state 1-2 facts about the topic used for the game without looking at the game.	Most students in the group could easily and correctly state 1-2 facts about the topic used for the game without looking at the game.	Several students in the group could NOT correctly state facts about the topic used for the game without looking at the game.
Accuracy of Content	All information cards made for the game are correct.	All but one of the information cards made for the game are correct.	All but two of the information cards made for the game are correct.	Several information cards made for the game are not accurate.
Rules	Rules were written clearly enough that all could easily participate.	Rules were written, but one part of the game needed slightly more explanation.	Rules were written, but people had some difficulty figuring out the game.	The rules were not written.
Cooperative work	The group worked well together with all members contributing significant amounts of quality work.	The group generally worked well together with all members contributing some quality work.	The group worked fairly well together with all members contributing some work.	The group often did not work well together and the game appeared to be the work of only 1-2 students in the group.
Creativity	The group put a lot of thought into making the game interesting and fun to play as shown by creative questions, game pieces and/or game board.	The group put some thought into making the game interesting and fun to play by using textures, fancy writing, and/or interesting characters.	The group tried to make the game interesting and fun, but some of the things made it harder to understand/enjoy the game.	Little thought was put into making the game interesting or fun.

Summary & Connection: I enjoyed this chapter. It has given me great insight on the future of my lesson plans. Lesson plans that need to fit accordingly with each individual by performing learning assessments to evaluate each student's knowledge, understanding, and performance.

Transforming learning with unique, powerful technology

Focus Question: How do students use technology for learning visually?

     Students use technology for visually learning by removing the restrictions of images only found in books or print materials. Using technology such as the computer one may recreate the past, live in the present, or take a peep into the future. Visualizations such as short movies, animations, 3D virtual reality presentations and tours, real time data displays and analysis, and vodcasts are all ways that students may use technology for learning.

Tech Tool: Web Resources For Creativity

I checked out the website for Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling. I found this website to be very useful and I see myself using it in the future. It features examples of digital storytelling and all the steps one would need to take in order to create a successful digital story.

Summary & Connection:

Chapter 2 we see how technology can be used for visual learning, accessing and assessing information, feedback, student engagement, and creativity. All five ways provide unique, powerful, and transformative learning. It goes beyond the basic teacher-student classroom, if a teacher can associate new knowledge with what students already know or have experienced; such as the internet, online surveys, digital storytelling, email, instant messaging, multimedia presentations, etc, the teacher will have a better outcome on reaching students.