Week 7 Reading 6809

1. What surprised you, concerned you, or intrigued about students' engagement with gaming?

What surprised me was the stats the book listed about the percentage of American households that have game consoles (80 % in 1999) and the percentage of Americans that play games everyday (90 % in 2008).  I figured these numbers would be high, but I didn’t think they would be that high.  I would like to see the correlation to household income compared to these stats.  I would especially like to see the percentage of low-income families that have game consoles, smart phones, etc. 

2. What aspects of your own gaming experiences were reflected in the case studies?

I grew up in a family that only owned one game console—the Attari.  My mom didn’t like the idea of playing games all day so I rarely played games.  However, I remember playing the online game Slingo when my sister got a computer when she went to college in 1996.  The role I played in this game compared to the case study of Rachel Cody.  I played the game because I thought it was fun and I got to socialize with people from all around the world.  Now that I am older, I play a lot more games than I used to.  I own a Kindle so I find most of my time playing puzzle and I-Spy games.  As a teacher, I was interested in the case study about Tom.  I think there needs to be more educational games created. 

3. Read the last paragraph on page 240. Do you agree or disagree with the comparison between sports and gaming and the benefits they offer children in terms of learning.

I agree with the comparison made in the last paragraph.  There may be hidden benefits that children don’t see when they are playing sports or video games.  They are learning how to socialize and interact with each other as they learn to play the game.  I think this concept is important in the classroom.  The students can play educational video games and think they are having fun, but may not notice that they are learning at the same time. 

WebQuest 6809

 WebQuest

I chose this webquest because all middle school students are required to learn about Newton's Laws of Motion.  What I liked about this webquest is that the requirements to complete the task align with content standards.  I also like that the tasks are very specific and flow in a logical order.  I do not like the color theme that they used and of course the webquest does not involve using any form of multimedia to present their findings.  This is an excellent topic with great potential. 

WebQuest about WebQuest Activity 6809

I took on the role as an affiliator when I was evaluating the webquests.  As an affiliator, I look for activities that are centered on group collaboration.  To me (as an affiliator), I found that the two worst webquests are The Diary of John Wilkes Booth and Poetry of War.  While both of these webquests are excellent and well-designed, both of these webquests lack group collaboration.  The Poetry of War specifically states that the work will be done individually and The Diary of John Wilkes Booth said that they could share their information with their classmates.  On the other hand, the best two webquests are Ancient Egypt and Creative Encounters.  Both of these webquests include group work where each student in the group is required to complete and present a particular section of the assignment. 

Case Study 6809

Case Study

Week 6 Reading 6816

1.How can schools meaningfully support the development of all students' new literacies; particularly those literacies engendered by Web 2.0 that foregrounds interactivity and collaboration around shared content?

I think the use of blogs in the classroom is the best way to support the learning of new literacies.  Students can post the information they learned (which can count as an assessment) and reflect on the work of their classmates.  What I like most about using blogs, is that it seems to be a safe way to collaborate online.  As the teacher, you can control what personal information your students put on their page. 

2.Why should schools engage students in the new literacies engendered by Web 2.0?

Schools should integrate new literacies in the classroom, because the new skills they learn will help them prepare for life out of school.  New literacies teach us critical analyzing skills that can be used to interpret images, videos, TV programs, etc.  These literacies can teach us additional skills about the world around us, and not just the typical reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. 

3.What are the differences between new literacies and conventional literacies?

Conventional literacies refer to the standard way we learn information—reading texts, taking assessments, researching topics, etc.   New literacies require new forms of collaboration.  We can learn and share information by posting to blogs, contributing to wikis, using videos and images, etc. 

4. Provide your own example of a classroom use of Web 2.0 that promotes a "Mindset One" approach and a classroom example that promotes a "Mindset 2" approach (the examples do not need to be from your own teaching or learning experiences; you can make them up).

Mindset One-- Students play the game Selene to learn about how the moon was created.

Mindset Two-- Students use Diigo to look for websites about how the moon was created.  Students then post a blog about what they discovered and comment on their classmates’ discoveries. 

Week 6 Reading 6809

1. What surprised you, concerned you, or intrigued about students' access to technology in their homes?

I was surprised to learn that economic status does not determine how much access to technology a child has in their homes—the amount of access of technology is determined by the attitude of their parent.  Sure families with a higher economic status are able to purchase high speed internet, but lower income families that have access to technology may not control how much their children surf the web or play video games as much as parents with higher incomes.  I would think the education level of the parents would be a determining factor as well. 

2. What kinds of household spaces related to technology, or rules about using technology, were similar or dissimilar to your own household environment?

I had my own computer since I was in middle school.  The computer was in my bedroom then later moved into the office.  But both locations offered privacy from the rest of my family.  I had a good upbringing, so I knew what I could do and what I shouldn’t do.  My parents trusted me, but still warned me to be careful what I say and do online. 

3. Could this chapter be helpful for teachers who seek to integrate technology into their classroom activities in more meaningful ways? Give an example from the chapter.

The issue of safety and privacy exist not only in the students’ homes, but in the classroom as well.  Teachers not only need to monitor what their students are using the internet for, but also inform them about how they portray themselves online.  A bad Facebook profile could prevent you from going to a good college or getting a good job. 

Week 6 6816

1. Do other people's annotations add to your understanding of content or hinder it?

I would hope that other’s annotations could help me to better understand the source, but unfortunately it could also hinder my understanding.  We have to be very clear and precise when we describe something because the description could lead to an incorrect interpretation.  But an annotation could provide a summary that would be useful to determine if this is a source we need or not.

2. Provide an example of a Diigo annotation that in your view is useful rather than spamish.

An example of an annotation that would be useful would include a short summary of the source, useful features of the source, and provide examples of how the source could be used.

3. How did you use tags to make searching more efficient and beneficial?

Adding tags makes searching for a particular topic more efficient because the source directly related to the topic you are searching for.  You could narrow down your source choices by looking at other tags selected for that source. 

4.  In your opinion what is the potential of social bookmarking to promote content area learning and/or information literacy.

Social bookmarking allows students to research topics and save their sources to a site that they can access outside of school.  Students can research a topic, post their sources, and comment on their classmates sources.  This is a great way to teach information literacy, other than just using a textbook.  Social bookmarking could be used in every subject and is easy for everyone to use.