Blog Journal 8

Diigo has actually been very beneficial in learning how to annotate different works. I can see myself using Diigo in my future classroom to have students do research and collaboratively annotate, comment, and discuss articles online. I like that Diigo is something I can even use on my own. As a future geography teacher, it can be great to focus on specifying what I want to teach my students. It is really useful for navigating many sources.

Powerpoint can be very beneficial when going through and incorporating Bloom's taxonomy. For example. Lets say my class is learning about Europe and its specific countries.

• Remember: List the countries and major cities for what needs to be memorized. A blank map can be provided on the next slide so that students can verbally practice. 
• Understand: Mention the history of the region. Creating a timeline through powerpoint can be very beneficial. 
• Apply: Implement an interactive Globe where students can participate. At FSUS the teacher I observed used one in her slides. Kids can actually touch the screen and zoom in.
• Analyze: Use tables to compare/contrast regions and come to conclusions.
• Evaluate: support the information by using visuals and animated food specific to the region
• Create: Have the students create their own powerpoint that mimics yours with a different continent. 

I am actually a mentor for a professional development organization on campus, and Linkedin is one of the main sources that we encourage students to use. Polishing business cards, resumes, and cover letters can actually be done through templates online and can be corrected and edited at the careers center. Not only that, but public speaking and the way you negotiate with people is extremely important. I think it would be cool to have VR where you can practice public speaking like in the tech sandbox.

https://www.teachhub.com/staying-current-technology-classroom

This article mentions the best way to keep up with technological trends in the classroom. It is important to communicate and ask your students, be active on social media, and to surround yourself with techies. The section about pursuing professional development courses is important to stay updated with trends. 

Blog Journal 7

My experience using twitter so far has been decent and I can definitely say that I have been exposed to many different ideas from geography teachers. Overall, I am not regularly active on twitter and with everything going on in school I find it difficult to keep up with tweeting every week. Although it is tedious, I like interacting with other students and teachers. I think that in the future it would be easier to be graded on a weekly basis for twitter assignments so that it makes it easier to keep up.

The website was very beneficial in learning how to structure the content for my future classroom. I like that Weebly makes it easy to design the webpage as a whole. The aesthetic is very pleasing for parents and students alike. I actually like that although I made my website very simple, it got me thinking about what I would like to implement in my geography class.
http://andreasclassroom96.weebly.com/

Assistive/adaptive technologies are very beneficial when helping support learners, especially communication. For example, I observed a speech pathologist working with an autistic child who had trouble speaking. By using the software on a tablet the student was able to compose words and communicate very effectively. By using them in my classroom I can incorporate a safe space that is equal for everyone. The only challenges I foresee is that it may have a learning curve for both myself and the student.

Blog Journal 6

The website I decided to look at was for Florida State University Schools. FSUS website content and organization is great because it is easy for parents to navigate in order to stay updated with current school news. On their website, you can actually pick elementary, middle, or high school along with specific grade level or subject. This will navigate you to direct teacher pages. For example, I found a geography teacher's website for 6th grade listed in the middle school section. The website allows me to see all of the content and can even navigate me to google classroom if I chose to do so. This is a great tool because it saves paper and parents always have a direct guide to view necessary information. (https://www.fsus.school/Page/1070#calendar4226/20191017/month)

Technology is critical in order to enhance the learning experience of a student. FSUS has TruTouch (or touchscreens) in all of their classrooms along with individual student laptops. Having access to these technologies allows teachers to implement software that will benefit student learning in specific subject areas. I envision using similar tech to fulfill my professional responsibilities as a geo teacher. Having a virtual globe to zoom in and play with is significantly more effective than a model in this case.

Which brings me to my next point, about how my sandbox experience really made me reflect on real life. There was one tech cube that could be ordered or printed and created that pairs with an app to created virtual 3D models. This would be amazing to use in earth studies and in my own classroom. The second piece of tech that caught my eye was a VR headset that could use a teacher training program. You can lecture virtually and practice in front of a fake classroom to get a feel for what will be effective. My experience in the sandbox made me think about where schools will be 10 years from now.

Blog Journal 5

Based on my experience using Diigo, I feel that I still have a lot left to learn. I think it is a very useful tool because of its interactive features and capabilities. I like that the whole class can participate in the same space. It does have a learning curve like any other tool, but I hope to get a grasp of it with more practice.

So far I have actually really enjoyed blogging. I think it is a great way to participate in discussions that people can follow beyond the typical discussion boards I consistently use in my other classes. I think that this can be a very useful tool for me to use with my students in the future. So far, especially when posting my newsletter, I discovered different ways to download materials through blogger. Sometimes you have to play around with what you are trying to post so that it uploads properly. This learning curve will benefit me when using similar websites in the future.

Since I have no time to post blog 5 tomorrow, we have yet to discuss Web 2.0 and its functions in the class. However, based on what I can see so far Web 2.0 can be used for things like Blogs, MOOC's, Podcasts, social apps, and social media. Although there are many concerns with using Web 2.0 with students, it is a great way to collaborate and create an educational space online. Web 2.0 tools include, but are not limited to, things like Blogs, wikis, Twitter, Diigo, and youtube. As a future geography teacher I actually found a super cool collection of videos called GEOgraphy focus: The world as we know it. It helps students learn about different parts of the world through detailed and fun videos. This channel is very useful and friendly for kids of all ages. Maybe I can create my own collection of videos for the future.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8HYERScBt-e0kV0fpe0asg

ILP Design - Google Classroom

Check out my voice thread that talks about Google Classroom and how teachers can use it to their benefit! During my service learning hours at FSUS for another class, the world history teacher uses this tool regularly. It was great to finally learn how to create my own classroom and how to manage the different features. As a future geography teacher, this will be very beneficial when posting study material and assignments.

https://voicethread.com/share/13108778/

Blog Journal 4

From what I can remember, Twitter became more popular when I entered Highschool. I never actually used it until this class where it became necessary. However, I always did find that my closest friends used it to communicate and primarily used it for humor. So far, I have actually found twitter to be very beneficial because I am connecting with other geography teachers. I can see what ideas they have to structure their classrooms and plan their curriculum. It is extremely important for students to learn about world cultures in the most efficient way possible. I think it will continue to be helpful in my future career because it is a great networking platform for social science teachers in general.

The digital divide is a term that refers to those students that do not have the same access to educational technology as we do. It causes students to fall behind because it can be more difficult for them to get their hands-on technology. The digital divide affects the success and educational outcomes of students because it creates disparity among them. The digital divide can be caused by socioeconomic factors as well as place and location. It is a social issue as well as one of privilege. As a future teacher, I may encounter that my students have unequal access to technology in general. It is my job to provide them with whatever resources possible, whether that be at my school's library or other community resources.

Academic software can be very beneficial for strengthening the tech skills of students. One software that I would be very interested in incorporating is something similar to Blogger. It can be a great way for students to get familiar with the advantages of the internet. When doing a little research I actually found a very interesting software called Montessorium: Intro to Geo. This can be very beneficial to geography teachers because it can provide students with a virtual map experience. This is a great database with information about different world countries. I would love to use something like this in the future beyond google earth and google maps.