Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Video Reflection
I am really glad I have gotten to do this video assignment. I have never made a video or uploaded anything onto youtube before. In high school I use to love to make slideshows of pictures from different events and activities but that's about as advanced as I could get until now. I now know that making videos is really easy, though time consuming. I am a perfectionist and so I spent hours making things look good and lining up the music to the pictures and stiff like that. Though I did take a long time finishing this project, I didn't mind because I found I was enjoying it. Now I hope to continue making videos so that I might be able to create really high quality stuff. Then maybe when I load them on Youtube, people will love them so much that I will quickly become famous and rich. Maybe.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Internet Safety
The internet is such an amazing tool when used correctly. Unfortunately, you don't have to have bad intentions to come across something horrible and dangerous on the net. Viruses that destroy your computer and pornography are two very scary things to me because these two things are irreversable. Once an image enters your mind, its there forever. For this reason, I am very grateful that we have taken the time to discuss internet safety. I have learned more of what to watch out for and how to proctect my students in the future when using the computer.
The coolest thing that I liked learning about was the net nanny site that makes it possible for you to limit the amount of time your kids are on the computer. I know that when I was a kid my parents tried setting a 30 minute computer limit on us but if they were around, and even if they were, it was never followed. This program will make it so that there is less parent/child comflict while still allowing for the time limit to be followed.
I will also use virus protection/scanning systems such as Norton Anti-virus and become more aware of the scams that are out there so that I can warn my students of what to avoid. Another thing I wiould like to warn my students about are the social networks online that allow people to make a cartoon character of themselves and live a fake "dream life" through that. This is actually really dangerous and not healthy psychologically. Plus, I just think its creepy.
Elder Bednar has said something profound on the subject of the bad affects of being lost in the internet: "Sadly, some young men and young women in the church today ignore 'things as they really are' and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value." Its a really great talk called "Things as They Really Are" and it can be found on lds.org: http://lds.org/liahona/2010/06/things-as-they-really-are?lang=eng&query=%e2%80%9cThings+They+Really+Are,%e2%80%9d .
The coolest thing that I liked learning about was the net nanny site that makes it possible for you to limit the amount of time your kids are on the computer. I know that when I was a kid my parents tried setting a 30 minute computer limit on us but if they were around, and even if they were, it was never followed. This program will make it so that there is less parent/child comflict while still allowing for the time limit to be followed.
I will also use virus protection/scanning systems such as Norton Anti-virus and become more aware of the scams that are out there so that I can warn my students of what to avoid. Another thing I wiould like to warn my students about are the social networks online that allow people to make a cartoon character of themselves and live a fake "dream life" through that. This is actually really dangerous and not healthy psychologically. Plus, I just think its creepy.
Elder Bednar has said something profound on the subject of the bad affects of being lost in the internet: "Sadly, some young men and young women in the church today ignore 'things as they really are' and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value." Its a really great talk called "Things as They Really Are" and it can be found on lds.org: http://lds.org/liahona/2010/06/things-as-they-really-are?lang=eng&query=%e2%80%9cThings+They+Really+Are,%e2%80%9d .
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Website Creation Reflection
I am so grateful that I have gotten to learn how to make a website/blog for myself. I have never done any of this before and I think it is fun and will be very useful to me in the future. I was especially excited to learn how to embed things like videos into my website because before, all I knew how to do was copy and past an ugly link onto the page. Having the video right there is a lot cooler. I would have to say that embedding the map into my website so that it would look how I wanted was the most tricky part of the assignment. It was the most complicated step I think for all of us, but I got my map up there so I guess that's the most important thing. All the time I spent messing with the size of it and all that was just the nit picky, perfectionist stuff.
I really do think that I will use a website when I am a teacher. I think it will be useful to me, my students, and the parents in many ways. I think it will be useful for parents to know what their kids are doing in class and to find quick information about how to contact me. I also think that it creates even more opportunities for the students to continue their learning outside of class. Maybe not all students will use it, but maybe some will and that's good enough for me. I hope that through a website I will be able to show my students how to access valuable, fun, and interesting information on the Internet. Also, I would like to have the website available to post assignments and things so that my students will never have an excuse for not knowing a due date or for losing a paper. I will not let this replace my actual assigning and handing out of assignments in class, however, because not all students may have easy access to a computer or the Internet at home. I don't want that to hurt their learning abilities or grades in anyway when its not their fault if they don't have a computer.
I really do think that I will use a website when I am a teacher. I think it will be useful to me, my students, and the parents in many ways. I think it will be useful for parents to know what their kids are doing in class and to find quick information about how to contact me. I also think that it creates even more opportunities for the students to continue their learning outside of class. Maybe not all students will use it, but maybe some will and that's good enough for me. I hope that through a website I will be able to show my students how to access valuable, fun, and interesting information on the Internet. Also, I would like to have the website available to post assignments and things so that my students will never have an excuse for not knowing a due date or for losing a paper. I will not let this replace my actual assigning and handing out of assignments in class, however, because not all students may have easy access to a computer or the Internet at home. I don't want that to hurt their learning abilities or grades in anyway when its not their fault if they don't have a computer.
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