Day 19 - 3/30/10

Today in class we participated in a WebQuest about WebQuests. We collaborated in groups of four to decide which WebQuest was the best. My role in the group was the Efficiency Expert, which is to decide which WebQuest is the most time efficient.
I thought the best two WebQuests were the Ancient Egypt one and the Ice Cream one because they dealt with a lot of information and creativity in a short amount of time, and they are fun.
The worst two I thought were the Underground Railroad one and the Gardening one, because there was a lot of exra work to do, and they would take the most time.
I decided the best and worst within my task as Efficieny Expert, and I chose based on time efficiency.
I thought this activity was a good example of the ISTE-NET standard for Students that deals with interacting, collaborating, and publishing with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

Day 18 - 3/25/10

Today in class we watched the students' PhotoStories. They were all very very creative. I hope that the students had a good time collaborating with us on their stories and creating these videos, I know I enjoyed contributing and watching the results. :) PhotoStory is a great application for students to get creative and use innovative technology, not to mention working on their writing skills and art/design skills. This activity is a good example of the ISTE NET for Students standard that involves evaluating and selecting information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. The students had to select which story they would like to continue with, and select which pictures to put in their digital story, from the wide array of images the internet has to offer. I thought that they all did a very good job finding appropriate pictures to put in their videos, which I know from making my own PhotoStory can be a bit challenging.

Day 17 - 3/23/10

Today in class we made a mini-biography for our Ning profile. This consisted of our astrological sign, someone who shares our birthday, an important event, and the weather. While the only event I had was related to cricket, it is still neat for everyone to find out what happened on their birthday, etc. We then searched for images to go along with our facts, and assembled a biography from these elements. This activity involves a number of different websites and search engines to find information about our birthdays. This is a great demonstration of the 21st century skill that says involves using technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information.

Day 16 - 3/11/10

Today in class we designed a magazine cover with our own picture as "Teacher of the Year." I thought this was a great activity because it gave us a chance to get creative while learning how to use new technologies and portray ourself in media. I think this covered the Media Literacy standard that says: Understand and utilize the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions.

Day 15 - 3/9/10

Today in class we looked at "Deconstructing Arnold" which shows Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed as a politician and as an action hero, and how he was portrayed on the two different magazine covers. We talked about the use of poses, colors, camera angles etc., and we will use this information to create our own magazine cover. I think this covers the Media Literacy standard that says: Examine how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of view are included or excluded, and how media can influence beliefs and behaviors.

Day 14 - 3/4/10

Today the activity was to work together in groups to make a Worlde to describe Web 2.0. I was not in class but I think the Worlde activity meets the 21st Century Skill that states: Use a wide range of idea creation techniques (such as brainstorming).

Day 13 - 3/2/10

Today in class we organized our personal links in Blackboard, and made links to the Course Website, Blogmeister, Classroom 2.0, and our Facebook group, similar to the links we already made on our blog. I think this is great because it is much easier and efficient than remembering a bunch of links or following the links through our Blackboard class section. It is just easier to have them all in one place that we'll be visiting all of the time anyway. I think this perfectly exhibits the Information and Media Literacy Skill that says: Access information efficiently (time) and effectively (sources).