Independent Learning Project

I decided to do a Podcast on affordable education. I think this is a very important issue to the future of college students, because a lot of people myself included acquire a lot of debt in college and it's not fair when a lot of other developed nations have free or affordable education. I hope you enjoy.

I took a 3 hour course tutorial on Lynda.com about iPad Music Production. I found it to be really interesting and informative. My roommate is a rapper and he told me to check out this course because it shows you how you can plug in almost any instrument into an iPad. That is not as easy as it sounds apparently. You cant just plug an instrument into a tablet. It turns out its a very costly process but it is feasible. They make several adaptor accessories for almost every instrument so that you can play and record that instrument on iPad programs like garageband. They went through at least 13 different adaptors and showed you how to use them from the guitar to the microphone. They also went into detail explaining more about how to use Garageband with the instruments plugged in with the help of the adaptors. Here are some photos from the course.

Blog Post 10

I think teachers could make great use of data collection tools. They include all types of graphs that measure different types of Data. Graphs are a very important part of showing data and can make the data easier to understand or read. Teachers will definitely have to use these data collection schools for pretty much every subject, especially when comes to calculating grades and measuring them. When I’m a teacher I could see these tools being very important in teaching math and science which are two fields I’m interested in teaching.

Looking at my classmates’ blogs was a lot of fun, I enjoyed reading their posts and seeing how much they had in common with the posts I made. My favorites were always reading the blogs that were posted about projects we had done because I could see the screenshot of their project too. It was really cool seeing everyone’s project was really unique to them

I really want to learn how to use Photoshop. It is definitely a technology related skill that I have very minimal knowledge of. I think learning Photoshop would be great for me personally but as a teacher I could use it to make appealing posters and a different way to decorate the interior of my classroom

I can use the resources I have at FSU to help me broaden my horizons on classroom technology. FSU still has so many resources I did not even know existed before I took this class. The tech sandbox could definitely be a great place to continue to learn about tools like the Smartboard. Though one of the best things I’ll always have at my disposal is the internet to learn about and watch tutorials on new technology and stay informed on topics.

Blog Post 9

When looking at a flipped classroom you see the opposite of what youd see in a normal classroom. Homework occurs inside the class and instruction occurs outside. They listen to online lessons to prepare them for the activities they will do in class. This method allows for the teachers and the peers to be around the student while they do their work. The homework becomes the classwork which is another aspect of the flipped part. I think it’s a cool idea but some students will definitely need more hands on instruction than others so I don’t think a class could work entirely flipped I think it could work with some give and take aspects. I found some solid instructional videos at https://www.khanacademy.org

The majority of web-based resources are either on scholarly sires that use correct information that is used to support in class lesson plans. When I’m a teacher one of the sites I’d plan on using would definitely be PBS since I want to work with kids. Any site usually ending with .org would supply accurate and informational data.

Working on this powerpoint assignment I learned a lot of new skills. I had no idea how to add hyperlinks and further more how to use them to make a non linear presentation. I thought it was really cool that I could make a picture into a hyperlink. It reminded me of Portkeys in Harry Potter. I enjoyed making my quiz and thought it was a really cool and creative assignment.

Blog Post 8

When considering the advancements that have come out over the years I think that Cloud Computing will be very important for education. Cloud computing is the storage of programs and user data over the internet rather than your computer hard drive. With Cloud Computing you can easily transfer information and share it with teachers, the school, the parents and most importantly the students.

When I’m measured on the scale of digital divide, I’d easily be placed on the side of those people who have had direct access to hardware, software and internet devices. Having had attended private school for high school I graduated with students who were given ipads that we got to keep until graduation. I’m thankful for that experience having all the students be granted access to the same technology was beneficial and fair. I hope when I’m a teacher I will work in a school where I can do the same for my students. It would certain make my job as a teacher easier because I will know all my students have the same access to my lesson plans. If I’m in a BYOD school, I’ll just have to learn the software each of my students are using and adapt accordingly.

Like all the assignments I have had I learned a lot from this PowerPoint assignment. I knew how to use PowerPoint and have used it a lot in the past, but I didn’t really think how I would teach a lesson to students in the future. I don’t think I physically learned anything new about the technology but I did learn how to incorporate in ways I could use to teach. This was also my first time using speaker notes, but I’m positive that it wont be my last. The only ways I think I can improve on are making my PowerPoint more aesthetically pleasing. In the future I hope to create more PowerPoints to effectively teach my lesson plans.