Security and Online Communication Tools

Reflection of Online Communication Tools

I have enjoyed learning about and discovering benefits of online communication tools. As technology continues to expand in our lives it's important for us to embrace the capabilities available. Some of us do not want to adapt to the changes that are happening around us and whether we like it or not those changes are what our students and children are growing up with. There are many benefits that we need to be aware of by using online communication tools.

One benefit of online communication tools that I like is the ability to share the student’s grades with their parents. Parents are able to use a computer at any location and check their student’s grades. Teacher can also talk with parents online without having to leave the house or have meetings at school (unless absolutely necessary). One program that we are able to do this with is Infinite Campus. Teachers are able to post grades on here, look at student information, add attendance, etc.

We have worked with a few online communication tools in this class and the one that I enjoyed the most was the webquest. Webquest are amazing in the fact of the creativity that can be involved. There are also many webquest lessons available online that teachers can use to suit their many lessons. Teachers can also create their own style of webquest that they can use and share.

Computer Security

At our school we have computer technicians who take care of our computers and monitor online activity. These computer technicians add anti-virus software to our computers and monitor our emails so that we will not get infected with viruses. Most of viruses at businesses and schools I believe start from infected emails.
Another way that our computers and students are protects is by teacher observation. Students are not allowed to visit any sites with explicit materials and are asked not download anything unless it is approved. We have 3 computer labs at our school and at any time when students are in those, there is always a teacher with them.

On the computer that I personally use at school I am not allowed to download anything without administrator permission. If I have updates that need to be on my computer I always have to call on the computer technicians and have them to fix this for me. Sometimes this can be annoying because I may have to wait a couple of days. If it is something important that I would like immediately I usually wait until I get home and get it from my computer. There have also been days when I have taken my laptop and used it at school.

Everything is PASSWORD Protected. This sometimes encourages students to try their best to break this protection and sometimes they are successful. There are times when you have a student who can hack your personal online information. Facebook and Myspace are a couple of sites that students like to hack.

Here is a video from youtube that shows you how easy it can be to get around password protection.
 

 Resources

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l5huB0g4nc
virtualassistantchick.com
marketing.blogs.ie.edu

extremetrix.com
technoramblings.info

53302_Hibbard_Software in the Classroom

A. Pick one piece of software to use in the classroom. Identify the software and the instructional objectives and goals you will meet.

One piece of software that I use in the classroom is called Mypyramidtracker. Mypyramidtracker is a program that you can find on www.mypyramid.gov. Mypyramid.gov was developed by "The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion" this is an organization of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The center was established in 1994 to improve the nutrition and well-being of Americans. The center focuses its efforts on two primary objectives:

1. Advance and promote dietary guidance for all Americans
2. Conduct applied research and analysis and nutrition and consumer economics.

The reason this was created is to develop a dietary guideline for Americans, a MyPyramid food guidance system, a healthy eating index, U.S. food plans, nutrient content of the U.S. food supply, and expenditures on children by families.

My instructional objectives for this software are to help students learn the importance of the dietary guidelines and physical activity that will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle. I want to guide the students through this website and teach them how to use it.

The portion of the website that I will focus on the most is the MyPyramidtracker software. MyPyramidtracker is an online assessment tool that students can use to track their daily food intake and daily physical activity.

The way we use the daily food intake portion is by entering the food that you ate. When you enter the food it brings up a variety of options that you can enter. This can include: a Mcdonald's biscuit that you ate that morning, fresh fruits and vegetables, or a Burger King Whopper. After you choose what you ate you have to enter the total servings that you ate. When you are finished entering your food servings click save and analyze and you will be able to calculate the amount of servings that you ate that would fulfill your dietary guidelines. This will also show your nutrients intake and give you recommendations on what you need to add or take away.

The way we use the physical activity intake is entering your daily amount of activity for the day. When you are finished you click save and analyze and this will give you an analysis of your energy expenditure. This will provide you with information about what you need to do to maintain your weight or if you want to lose weight. This can also help you develop a daily plan to lose or maintain your weight.

B. After using the software with your students, discuss what went well and what challenges you faced. What would you do differently if you were to use the software again?

The biggest challenge that I faced was with the site loading. When all the students were trying to access the site some of them had to wait a long time on the site to load. This was difficult because it was hard to keep everyone of the same page. I started teaching different sections of students who had the site loaded. I had the other students to research a fitness plan that they could use to help them stay physically fit.
When I teach the lesson again I will teach the lesson in sections. I will have half the class working on mypyramid and half the class researching fitness plans and diet plans.

Resources:

http://www.mypyramid.gov
http://www.heartlandnutrition.org/Contents/Child%20Care%20Acitivites.aspx

53302_Hibbard_Webquest

What have you learned about online communication tools?

Online communication tools are a great way to engage students in learning.  The tasks involved have to be creative.  The teacher has to be creative to make the project interesting and connect it to the students.  One webquest that I looked at this week was very interesting, creative, and was linked to real-life situations.  When this happens I believe students want to become more involved.  The webquest was created by Mr. Urich.  The webquest was called “Look Like a Rock Star”.  He related the webquest to music stars who are on MTV.  Some of the key components he wanted the student to explore were:

v  What is health fitness?

v  What are the components of physical fitness?

v  Why are each of these components of a workout important to become and stay physically fit?

v  How often do I need to workout?

v  How long should I workout?

v  What exercises should I perform?

v  How hard should I workout?

I liked this webquest because students will become more involved when it is something that interests them.

Webquest breaks down a project into different sections and allows the students to become involved over a period of time.  The teacher uses the webquest to guide the students through the project.  Students can work on these webquests as an individual or it can be group work.  Webquests are a versatile tool that all teachers should utilize.  The webquest is online so it is easy for both students and parents to view assignments.  I think it would make instruction easier and more fun for both teachers and students

1. Begin this week by visiting the QuestGarden Web site and signing up for a free 30-day account.  Then create a WebQuest for the students in your classroom.  Any educational WebQuest site is acceptable. 

URL: http://questgarden.com/118/90/3/110210072724/

3. Finally, discuss any challenges you faced when putting together the WebQuest on your blog for this week.

There were a few challenges that I faced when putting together this webquest.  One of the challenges was that I had some technical difficulty with the website.  I started putting in information and left the computer for just a minute and a message popped up that it had timed out.  I lost all of that information and had to start again.  What I started doing at this point was putting my information in Microsoft Word and saving it there.  This made my problem easy because I could copy and paste. 

The next challenge was that I wanted to make the webquest look appealing to students.  I believe that with the creativity involved in the making of a webquest teachers will work harder with the tools that are available.  The more appealing and the more it relates to the students lives, the better the engagement and creativity from both teacher and students. 

The webquest takes a little longer to set up for an assignment but the assignment can be setup to last for a long period of time.  This can also be used year after year. 

I enjoyed using these online communication tools.  I hope in the future I can speak with my principal and see if I can incorporate these into my classroom.  The challenge that I will face here is the availability of computers.  Maybe I can work out a schedule with the computer teachers and try to get into the lab on a consistent basis. 

Resources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMHl2riF4oc

http://laspocoyo.blogspot.com/

Online Communication Tools

  As I reflect on my learning this week I have found that I have learned a lot about online communication tools.  I have used email a lot for online communication for specific reasons at whatever job that I was currently active in.  I have also used Facebook and Myspace for online communication with my youth group when I was working as a youth career advisor. 

The specific online communication tool that I have learned the most about has been blogs. Blogs can be used for multiple things. I have learned many uses for blogs in the educational aspect. Blogs can be used for book clubs, posting information about your travels, fitness, news, sports, posting about emergency situations, etc. This online tool is an amazing application that can be used for businesses to post advertisements. This is a great marketing tool for businesses. Blogs are a wonderful multifaceted utilization tool.

1. Have you ever used online communication tools in the classroom before?  If so, detail your experiences.  If not, what has prevented you from using online communication tools?

When I was working as a Youth Career Advisor at KCEOC Community Action Partnership I used Facebook, Email, and Myspace as an online communication tool. My job as their advisor was to schedule workshops such as: ACT preparation, financial aid help, guest speakers from different career and educational backgrounds, community services, etc. I scheduled different career site tours to visit so that the students could experience in person what is required of certain jobs that they had interests in. During the summer I scheduled different job sites for the students to work at and earn money.

I used the online communication sites to provide the times when our events were scheduled, list community events, list job openings, and list informational websites about careers. The kids enjoyed Facebook because they all had one. They all became a fan of our Facebook page and then had access to all of the information.

2. Identify one online communication tool you can use in the classroom and discuss how you will prepare your students for using this communication tool.

I am very interested in using blogs in the classroom. The reason is because of its versatility. This was my choice in my paper that we wrote this week about online communication tools. Blogs are amazing in the fact that students can be creative and have a choice of designing their work to their style.

The way that I would prepare my students for using blogs would be to design lessons in a step-by-step guide on how to create and design a blog. Students are technologically savy this will not be a problem for them at all. I believe that the students would talk about their work to their friends and have them check out their designs. I believe that having the ability to add music and other media that the students would be excited to get started. A few problems that I would run into would be the use of the computer lab. If I try to get them to work on them at home some students may not have access to a computer.

Online communication tools are the future of education. This tool is gaining popularity in the college atmosphere because of its accessibility. People who are not near a college they would like to attend can get online and take courses. If gas continues to rise I think high schools may eventually use this method.