Senior Research Presentation

This is the presentation I gave for my senior seminar class. My topic was on the transition from high school to college for students with Asperger's Syndrome. Obviously the presentation is lacking without my explanation of the slides but I was proud with how it turned out. One of the main reasons I had to post this here was because I was unable to have my class view it in any other way and they needed access to it. Enjoy!

MC 498 Presentation on Prezi

Wikis...and Websites...and Blogs

As I am finding, it is incredibly easy to be overwhelmed by technology - I know I have stated it several times in real life and on this blog. It's so exciting and so intimidating to know the extent of what you can create, share, and discover online. There are many different online resources that are being created and changed daily, but there are some that have been around for a long time. So what is the difference between blogs, wikis, and websites? Obviously, a website is the easiest to understand and most recognizable of these three mediums. It is a location on the internet that provides any type of information. Originally, they were difficult to make and code but they are becoming a lot more user friendly. You don't need to know how to use html or any type of coding to create a personal website thanks to sites like Weebly. So next, wikis. Wikis are very similar to websites but the main difference is that anyone can be invited to share and contribute information to them. They are slightly less professional and polished and there is little to no flexibility in the design of them. The purpose of a wiki is mainly to serve as an online resource and workspace for a specific group. Lastly, we have blogging. Since the days of LifeJournal, blogs have been a type of online journal that individuals can use for everything from everyday rants to organizing social movements. Blogs allow ideas to transmit very quickly in an informal setting. One thing that I see as both a positive and negative is that you are allowed to say virtually anything on a blog. This allows for complete freedom as an author, but also leads to a lot of claims or thoughts with no basis.

This week I spent some time creating a Wiki. I chose to use a site called PBworks. I found it fairly easy to use and easy to edit while I was making the page, but my only complaint would be that the design and creativity level is fairly inflexible. You can put any amount of content on it, but visually it is not as interesting as some sites. I have also continued my work on my website, which I am becoming more and more proud of. I think it will be such a great tool to have at my disposal and something to show off in interviews. It is a smart and professional way to display my skills and interests and I am looking forward to developing it even more. I definitely plan on keeping up with it beyond this class to change with me and my studies. I would also really like to continue using my blog as a way to network with others and organize my thoughts. Hopefully I have enough to say to keep people interested!

Skeptical about the iPad

To be entirely honest, I still don't understand the purpose of an iPad. Is it a laptop or just an over sized iPhone? It seems awkward and bulky, which is very unlike most Apple products, and all around kind of unnecessary. I would like to play around with one to see what the hype is about - if anyone can explain it to me, be my guest. It is really too bad because Apple is very much a company with its finger on the pulse of the next big thing. I guess every single product can't be a huge success. Here is a really interesting article I found by an Education student suggesting ways the iPad could be used in classes. The biggest problem I have with most suggestions for technology integration in classrooms is the complete disregard for issues of funding. Of course I want every one of my students to have a laptop to do in-class research, but realistically I am planning on working in districts that currently have textbooks that are years out of date, so no matter how much I would like to incorporate technology, it just isn't feasible. Such a frustrating dilemma! iPad Stand - Flickr Photo

Click, Click

I hate multiple choice questions with a passion. I think they are meant to confuse and trick students without actually testing knowledge. I dread these types of tests, exams, and quizzes as a student and I have vowed to never use them as a teacher. I view assessments as a chance for students to prove how much they know and understand - it should enforce good things, not punish bad things. I personally think that writing and discussion are the best ways to test knowledge and I plan to use them as much as possible in my future classroom.

This brings me to the idea of clickers. I have had one class while in college that I was required to purchase and use an iClicker for. In case you haven't heard of them, these are hand held remotes that allow everyone to 'click' in an answer to a question. These keyed responses then show up on the screen instantly. There are many different types but the one I used just had options for A, B, C, or D. The idea behind these systems seems good. It allows the teacher to get immediate feedback, if there is confusion it allows for questions, and it is an easy way to take attendance. My personal issue with these systems is that is only lends itself to more multiple choice questions. Of course, as with anything, it can be used creatively to elicit discussion, but unfortunately that is not their prominent use.

I can see many opportunities for uses of Classroom Response Systems (CRS) similar to iClicker in schools but I worry that it breeds a mentality of 'just showing up' without actually comprehending the work. I may be jaded since this is the overall opinion at the college level, but it is not something I would want to start in younger grades. Another negative aspect of them is the expense. In a high school it would be unrealistic for each student to be required to buy them, and for a school district to foot the bill would also be inappropriate. Overall, I am intrigued by CRSs but definitely not converted. Photo

Hmm..

I thought this video was really interesting! I'm not 100% sure if we should trust all of the statistics because I'm not entirely sure where it came from but it is thought provoking and definitely something to think about - enjoy!

MSUMUN

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to participate in my fourth, but hopefully not last, Model United Nations conference on campus. Since I started at MSU I have been involved with an organization on campus that creates, organizes, and staff a conference for high school students to compete as delegates to the UN. When I was in high school, I had heard about Model UN teams and conferences but never chose to participate in them myself. Through James Madison College, some of my friends convinced me to interview to be on the staff when I was a Freshman, even though I had no idea what I was doing. Luckily, they gave me a chance and I completely fell in love with the program. We begin initial conference preparations in October and then work all year to train and prepare ourselves to host high schoolers on campus for the whole weekend. Personally, competing in Model UN is not something that interests me, but being a part of the staff has been a really wonderful experience. It combines my passions for history, social issues, and teaching in such a perfect way. The students, both college and high school, that I work with are the most interesting and engaging individuals that I know. In just the four years I have been on staff I have seen the conference grow into something really amazing. It has become more professional, better respected, and more successful than any of us could have imagined. This year, we had almost 500 delegates from 30 schools and four different states, discussing some of the biggest challenges that face our world today.

This year, I was responsible for a group that, instead of being an official UN committee, was a mock Michigan Senate for the weekend. It was a challenge for us because it had never been done before and went against what most people were expecting at an MUN conference. We were nervous about how it would be received and whether or not the students would understand why we felt that this was an important avenue to explore. The committee far exceeded our wildest expectations in even just the first day. The high school students were prepared, involved, and passionate about their topics. The truly embodied their Senator's positions and eagerly jumped into the topics we had prepared for them (Revitalization of Detroit, Reform in K-12 Education Standards, and Transitions and Innovations for the New Michigan Economy). I am so truly inspired by these students and it just helps remind me that I am doing exactly what I need to with my life. Sometimes it so easy to lose sight of that and being involved with programs such as MSU Model UN has really helped me develop my own passions. Explore our website for more information about the conference.

Getting Jing-y With It

My frustrated battle with technology continues on. The thing that I have noticed most about working with various types of technology is that, for the most part they are created to make a task easier. However, they take several hours to find, register for, confirm, and figure out before you can even start using them. I have created so many new combinations of user names and passwords, my head is spinning. Ultimately, the programs do prove to be useful or time effective, but it always seems to take a lot of trail and error before reaching that point.

I have been playing around with a program called Jing. This is an online screen capture that allows you to take real time pictures or videos of your computer screen as you work on it. The purpose is to create short tutorials or explanations while using certain programs. One really interesting feature that not many other free online programs have is the ability to add a voice narrative as you work.

I found this program incredibly visually appealing and easy to use at first. It's pretty straight-forward because it doesn't perform a huge range of functions. That being said, I was really disappointed when it came time to save and attempt to export the video I had made. Even after watching several tutorials and trying several different things, I was unable to figure out where my projects were saving and how to get them into a usable format. One tutorial gave an explanation for how to embed a file, which I got very excited about. After signing up for yet another program that was meant to house my work in between Jing and it's final destination, I found out there is a size restriction on uploads. The video is of me simply opening Firefox and finding a website. Overall i think this could be a really interesting tool but I can't see there being many instances for use in a classroom.

Fools!

Happy April Everyone - you know what that means...watch out for pranks all day! Leave it to Google, who have a monopoly over most things on the internet, to pull a trick on all of its customers. Not that it was super convincing, but fun nonetheless. Google claimed ot have changed their official name to Topeka to honor the city in Kansas that wants to change their name to Google.

Just for fun and in case you didn't know, the history of playing jokes on April 1st is thought to have come from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Check this out for a list of classic pranks that TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers have played on their viewers.