Journal 1

Power of the Mashup-Combining Essential Learning with New Technology Tools
By Suzie Boss and Jane Krauss

The article discusses how Jerome Burg, a high school teacher, combined students interests in technology with literature. He was able to create Google lit trips that used Google earth as a tool to give the students a better visual of where characters where from and the situations they lived in. It allowed for his students to be more involved with literature. For example, Burg had his students watch a dust cloud so that they could get a better visual of what it was actually like in the story Grapes of Wrath. Being able to incorporate this this kind of technology not only enhances education but also helps bring up more discussion catching the interest of more students. Furthermore, David Fagg ,an Australian hisory teacher, realized the technology that the students were using such as the ipod and found ways to make it useful, such as pod casts. He gave his students access to pod-casts about history to enhance his lessons. The web has given teachers access to great ideas and ways to incorporate technology into the classroom and allows teachers to contribute their ideas as well.

Questions
1) What benefits are there for the students using a podcast?
Podcast are great for students to use because they allow students to learn according to their needs. For example, they can go back over the information they missed or did not understand. Many students have an ipod and using pod casts allows them to use a technology tool in class that they enjoy.

2)How can I use these ideas in my classroom?
Google earth is a great idea to give visuals. I would like to teach science and I could use it to have them look up different regions of the earth to see the difference in climates and biomes. Pod-casts could be useful as well but only if all the students have access to an ipod or pod-casts. I am not sure how I would be able to coordinate pod-casts considering the limited amount of funding.

intro

My name is Jacki Hansen and I am from the Temecula area. I went to Kindergarten in Chino Hills and then moved to Lake Elsinore. I attended to two different elementary schools and also middle school in Lake Elsinore. You can probably guess where I went to high school. That’s right Lake Elsinore. Unfortunately I do not have a very exiting story to tell. Although I moved houses many times I stayed I the same area all through grade school. I attended Cal State Fullerton and received my degree in child and adolescent development. I coach high school swimming and plan on teaching high school science.

I had some experience with technology in high school but mostly from college. I am pretty comfortable with word, excel and PowerPoint. I enjoy learning new programs and I catch on quickly. I play around with photo shop and use the Internet on a daily basis. My husband and I run a business so technology is a huge part of my life. I am more of a PC person just because I am more familiar with it. I have been trying to convert to a Mac after I learned how user friendly it was. With how fast technology is advancing I have so much to learn.

The last sentence of the College of Education mission statement states, “Our practices demonstrate a commitment to student-centered education, diversity, collaboration, professionalism, and shared governance.” This caught my attention because it informs a prospective student that the college of education is personal. This is important to me because everyone has a different personality and learns in different ways. Therefore, these practices let me know that the college of education takes differences into consideration. The mission statement did not help me make my decision but I did hear a lot of good things about the school and that it is very student-centered. I hope to take what is demonstrated through the college of education and apply those same practices in my teaching profession.