Expand- Chapter 1

  I looked at the 21st Century Skills website and enjoyed how helpful it was and how much information they provided.  They laid out there plan very clearly about how they are wanting to combine the three R's and four C's in order to give students the knowledge and skills they need, but in a way that prepares them for work in the 21st century workplace.  One really nice aspect to this website was that it had different state sites that could be viewed to see how they are incorporating these skills into their schools.  They did not however have Tennessee on there list, but the site did give information on how schools, teachers, and states could get involved with this movement.  They also were promoting a little bit of community by allowing teachers to upload videos of their own classrooms incorporating these skills and then others can go on and watch these videos.  This was a very helpful and informative site that I think gives schools a lot to think about as we are in a community that needs to know about these 21st century skills.  This site was a good extension of chapter 1 in the book because it took the information of explaining the skills, strategies for using the skills, and practical ways to incorporate them and really explained and showed how practical it all really is.  It took the questions that one might have and answered it by giving real life examples and schools in which this has worked for.  This site and chapter is a great example for teachers and administers in schools to show how best to prepare students for a world of community and business. 

Expand- Ch. 9

In the gaming chapter I looked at the website called "Alice."  This is a website you would see being used with older students, but one thing that I really liked was they have a section for teachers to get instructional materials and textbooks to use with the classroom.  Alice is a 3D programming tool that makes it possible for students to tell a story, play interactive games, or to share a video on the web.  Alice also has a blogging section that you can go and read her blogs or teachers and students can also go on there and create their own blogs about what they are creating or what they might have questions about. This type of gaming can be tied to the curriculum as shown on the website and again this is one of the concerns listed in the book, but this website does a great job of covering up this problem for teachers and students.  This site, as they talked about in the book, is a student-created games that lets the students develop online projects and they can be as advanced or simple as requested by the teacher.  This site would be a useful gaming site within the classroom.

  

Expand- Ch. 2

The first site I looked at in the cell phone chapter is Shutterfly.  This is a pretty simple site to use and the way that students know how to upload photos and create albums this should be no problem for them.  They can share the photos with others as well as creating albums, calendars, and gifts. The chapter in the book gave many examples of how this site would be useful and what kinds of activities you could incorporate in the classroom.  After looking over both the site and the book it is clear that this chapter can be used for all ages and all levels of classrooms.  It is a fun site and creating pictures is fun but it is also educational by having the students incorporate creative writing, bloggine, or even just documenting concepts learned from a lesson or trip.  Camera phones are very common and can be used in various ways throughout the classroom. 

Expand- Ch. 6 part 2

The second website I looked at was the Skoolaborate blog and this was a completly different virtual world site than Jumpstart was.  This site is meant for schools with students from 13-18 and focuses on connecting and communicating with students from other cultures and parts of the world.  The way to use this site is for the teacher to set up a connection with another school and then between the two classes they can share units and different thoughts on activities with each other.  This will let the students use digital media as well as creating student involvement.  This type of blog website creates a global community and can help students become of issues around the world. 
 
This blog website is a great way to use virtual worlds throughout classroom of the world.  As expressed in the chapter virtual worlds can be used to produce creativity, and imagination.  With the teachers able to monitor and be invloved with this type of virtual world the issues and objections that most have to virtual worlds is gone.  This site is mentioned in the chapter and it says that the activities are only limited by the imagination and this is very true and shows that teachers can incorporate this site in so many different ways to their students.   

Expand- Ch. 6

The first site that I looked at was Jumpstart and this was under the category of virtual worlds.  This website was really fun and appealing to the eye.  This was a site that could be useful not only to students but also to parents and teachers.  The only downfall I saw for looking into it was that you had to subscribe to it and if you used it a lot and had money to spend it might not be to bad, but it did seem a little pricey.  Reading the information about the games and what you get to do in them made them all seem really fun and educational as well.  For a teacher and a parent however is where I found some really great tools to use.  There are a lot of educational resources, worksheets, and activities on the site that are free and able to be accessed and used with students.  They have them split up by grades and are really easy to access.  This virtual world lets students use math, critical-thinking, reading, and art through fun games.  This gives them a way to incorporate the skills they need with interactive online games.  This is something that a parent can subscribe to for their child or a teacher can get a membership for their classroom.  I really think this would be a fun option for kids to have when looking for fun educational games to play. 

This website relates really well with the chapter in the book because this shows us that there really are educational virtual worlds out there for students to use.  Some think of virtual worlds as just a game that wastes peoples time, but I think this gives a better look at what a virtual world is and how it is best used for children.  This also gives an example of how safety can be applied when using these websites and also how time on the computer can be useful for children.  This website shows why virtual worlds are becoming something that schools are starting to incorporate for children.    

HTML website

http://jcgardner.webs.com/index.htm

Digital Citizenship

A model digital citizen is someone who respects both themselves and others when using technology.  Some think this only applies to teenagers who do cyber-bullying, but also adults can get caught up in doing or saying inappropriate things about themselves or others.  If people do not respect themselves then this is where the not respecting others comes from as well.  Using technology is a great thing but people just abuse their use and try to use it as a tool to hurt others.  Another aspect of digital citizenship is respecting the rules and laws that are put into place including laws of copyrighting and plagiarism.  These have become major issues in our world today and people think they will get away with it but in most cases they eventually get caught.  It is important to show respect and restraint when using digital tools in order to protect yourself and others involved.  Most all of my friends and family that I know of seem to be digital citizens.  I guess you do not always know about what people are doing and sometimes you can be surprised by people you think you know, but I do trust that they are doing what they need to for being digital citizens.
     The issue of sexting is big right now in our society and I am pre-K through 3rd so I do not really think this will be a problem for me as much as it will be for our upper elementary and middle school teachers, but if this was taking place in my classroom it is definitely an issue that needs to be dealt with.  Taking away someones full use of technology may not be the most beneficial because it could inhibit their learning, but it would definitely require full supervision when on any form of digital media while at school.  It is also important to talk to the parent and try to get them on the same page as you are and maybe work out where during school hours the child will have to give their phone over to the teacher.  The problem with all of this is that just because you make the student and parent aware and talk about the problems with it does not mean you as a teacher can make this stop.  The students will leave school and that is probably when they are doing most of their sexting anyway so it will have to be some sort of parent led teaching experience that will really impact the child in what they are doing.  I think teachers should do what they can but you cannot babysit the child all day because eventually they will be on their own and will do what they were going to do anyway.     

Creating Content-Images

     I have had a lot of use and experience with both uploading and viewing photos and videos online.  These are features that I have been using both personally and educationally since I was either in late middle school or high school.  Just through college classes and doing teacher educational portfolios uploading photos has been crucial.  As well as personal websites like myspace and facebook where everyone uploads photos and views others photos.  Even in Dr. Templar's class two weeks ago we were uploading photos from the camera in order to use tools like Picasa, Animoto, and iMovie along with others.  Most students in school will already be able to upload photos and videos so using this in the classroom will be something they already know and can be an effective tool to use. 
     Creative Commons is a place to set up legal sharing and creating using digital media tools.  The idea of having a creative commons area for teachers is that it gives a place to set up and share lectures, papers, and lesson plans as well as collaborating with others.  This is a place that makes work by others legal to use and view and so having a place like this for use in the classroom would really help with the problem of copyrighting. 

Creating Content-Writing

Blogs, Wikis, and Web-based word processors are all three great tools to use and all have a similar function but vary a little in how they are used.  Bogs are an online writing tool that lets you set up your own personal site and space where you can go on and enter data entries and they will then show up with the one you posted most recently first and then continuing so the one you posted first will be last.  What we are doing on this site is consided a blog.  A wiki on the other hand is a web site, that you can personalize if you want just like a blog, but it is a site that allows other visitors to come on and add or edit the content you have put up.  An example of this type of site would be Wikepedia.  And finally a web-based word processor is a feature that allows people to upload files and store them online and then if they want to publish them at some point they have that option as well.  All three of these tools would be useful in different ways within the classroom.  Blogs would be good for students to respond to lessons from class or just questions that the teacher gives, like we do for this class.  Wikis would be helpful to have for different class projects when students are creating and collaborating on what to do.  Web-based word processors are just useful when kids need somewhere to save their work or they can even use it to work on team writing within the classroom.  All three of these sites are useful for the kids to work with and learn.
     The only one of these three that I have used is the blogging.  We have the blog for this class but in high school we were asked to blog some to.  I do not have a problem with blogging and it would probably be a go thing for students to learn how to do, but it is not something I would just do all the time for fun.  It has been a good experience though to have to sit down and blog everyday.  There are many different ways to teach students using blogs, wikis, or web-based word processors so using them ourselves gives us good practice with it as well. 

Gaming

   I have played games on the computer and through video games before and sometimes I do enjoy how fun they can be, but I have never been a "gamer" in the sense that I am a bit add when it comes to just sitting and playing games on a machine and I get bored quickly.  I do not think games should be played for hours because I think it eventually becomes a waste of time.  As far as games being considered educational I feel that it depends on the type of game and the purpose.  There are some sites like National Geographic that have games that can be fun and educational both.  The iPad also comes to mind and a lot of what we have on the ones we use are fun but also can contain some educational value for students.  I think there is a time when you can let kids play these games because it is still reinforcing or even teaching them new ideas, but it gives them an opportunity to have some fun as well.  Taking video games away from children is never going to happen, but monitoring what they are playing especially at school is a good idea and really focusing on how much time you are allowing for this type of activity is important.  There is a time for fun and games and in this time as long as the teacher knows what is involved with the game a little bit of gaming would be ok for students.  As teacher however we should emphasize other ways to spend time as well because you do not want your students going home and playing video games all day with no exercise or learning to play games that are not electronic. 
     Depending on the age of students and how creating a video game would go along with a unit you are teaching, letting them create their own game might not be an awful idea.  It would be appropriate to monitor the type of game the student is creating, but if you had them make a game that went along with the unit you could have the other students in the class play them and it would be letting them use what they know and teach the other kids through their game.  This would be a fun way to incorporate technology but also just to show them the amount of work and time that goes into making the games that they play.  With the right supervision, planning, and tools this activity could be fun for a classroom to use. 

Virtual Worlds

     I have never personally been on a virtual world myself and they have never really interested me.  My husband's little sister was really into webkins and so I saw her playing that a few times.  I personally would much rather spend my time doing other things and I would much rather interact with people in real life than what they call "interacting" in a virtual world.  Friends that I have had that are involved in virtual worlds spend so much time doing that and are so involved in the games that to them it feels like an actual part of life, which I think is weird.  When I get on the internet I am usually doing homework, checking email, or spending my extra time on Facebook and other than keeping in contact with people in the way of Facebook I think virtual worlds are a waste of time.

    They did give some examples in the book that they say are educational virtual worlds that can be used in the classroom and that could be useful if it went along with what you were teaching.  If I was going to try to use a virtual world I would want to go in and really check it out and make sure it is useful for my students.  I am not a big fan of using them in the classroom because I think there are a lot better ways to interact with people and spend time.  I also think by promoting using virtual worlds will cause children to spend even more time outside of class being a part of them and I do not think that is how children need to be spending all afternoon after they get out of school.  I am staying open minded about virtual worlds, but they would really have to go along with what I was teaching for me to use them in my classroom.   

Social Networks

    I have used a couple different social networks over the years.  The first one I was a part of was Myspace and I got that when I was in high school mostly because all my friends had one and it was the new thing to do.  This was just a fun way to see information about friends from school or I used it as a way to keep in contact with people I went to camp with.  When I got to college I stopped using Myspace because it seemed like it was being used by younger and younger kids and alot of the stuff you could do on there started to not interest me.  So I did get a Facebook and I am from Michigan so it is a great way to stay in contact with my friends and family who still live up there.  Facebook is much less kidish than Myspace and I still have my Myspace account just cause I never canceled it but now that I have Facebook I see no need to use Myspace.  This has been a great and fun tool for me to use and I really enjoy the social networking, but only with people I already know and never with strangers. 
     I don't really know what the 21st century role of social networking will be in education, but I think that the use of social networks will continue to increase so educators should prepare.  It seems that children are getting into the world of social networking younger and younger these days and so teaching students the proper ways to use these networks are important.  There will always be the issue of predators and cyberbullying, but it is just our responsibility to prepare them and try to set them up for success.  There are also social networks out there that can be set up for just your school and can be monitored by the teachers.  I do not think this will prevent them from getting outside pages of their own, but it will hopefully be able to teach them responsibility when using the internet.  Socail networking will just continue to grow over the years so adapting to this and using it to help the students and teach them will benifit both the learner and teacher.