Copyright Challenge: Gap Steal

Copyright Challenge: Gap Steal

I believe that this could be a violation of copyright.  Some may say that the onesie makes the picture transformative-- but I do not believe that there is any added value to the work.  Especially because these onesies will be marketed for profit, I believe that it is in fact violation of copyright.  If this picture was used in an educational setting, it would be slightly different in that the photo would not be marketed to others.  Students may be able to use an image like this one in a comparison of older cars to newer models, thus making the work transformative.

Disciplines in Education: 5 Apps for Elementary Students

Disciplines in Education: 5 Apps for Elementary Students

App #1: Sketchpad Explorer for iPad

This app seems like it could be an incredible app for a student of any age.  Elementary school students could use this app to practice plenty of concepts, including base ten operations and various operations.  This is also a tool that they could use as they grow older to learn and practice whatever they are learning at the time.

App #2:  Leafsnap for iPad

This app is so cool!  With this app, students can look at various leaves and their corresponding tree species.  Students could compare pictures on the iPad to actual leaves found from the trees in their own area.  It can also help them learn about classification and scientific nomenclature.

App #3:  Read Me Stories

I think that this app could be useful for getting students engaged in reading who might otherwise have a hard time being motivated.  It would help younger primary students with concept of print, and the book highlights words when they are read so that young children can follow along.  The interactive aspect of being able to click on characters for more storylines makes it interesting and engaging for students.

App #4:  This Day in History

I think that this app would be a great way to grab students' attention at the beginning of a history lesson.  Learning about various events in history for each particular day could spark good classroom discussion, and it could even be an app to use as a sponge activity with a little bit of extra time.

App #5:  Play2Learn Chinese

This app would be wonderful for elementary aged students!  It has an interactive interface where users can point to various objects in an illustration to hear the corresponding mandarin word read out loud.  Then it gives students the option to test their knowledge as they listen to words and attempt to point to the correct object.  I think that many primary aged students would be interested in using this app.

GAIN Extended Assignment: Google Sites

GAIN Extended Assignment: Google Sites

My Experiences:

• I think that Google Sites could be a great tool for teachers to communicate with parents and with the community around them.  There are several features that make it a wonderful tool for sharing various types of media all in one place.
• However... I was a bit frustrated in trying to figure out how to make things look just like I wanted them to look.  Some of the widgets were confusing, and a lot of what you can put on your website must first be created through another Google App.  For example, when I wanted to include a slideshow in my site, I had to first create a Google Slides presentation.  When I wanted to place a calendar on the page, I had to import a calendar from another source.
• Some of the design elements are not in the same place.  For example, the way that you change the layout of the page is in a different location than the way that you change the theme or background of the page.

Here is the link to my site:

https://sites.google.com/site/misscinnamonsfifthgradeclass/home

GAIN 5: Google Drawings

GAIN 5: Google Drawings

My Experience:

• I had never used Google Drawings before this assignment, but it is definitely a tool that I will make use of in the future.  Everything about this tool is straight forward.  What I love about Google Drawings is that it has a sole purpose of formatting an image-- it is not a tool that is embedded in another resource like a word processor.  This means that the features are very accessible in comparison.  For example, if one were to create a shape in word, they would have to right-click that shape, click format, and then navigate a formatting menu in order to change the fill and line colors.  With Google Drawings, these options are found right in the toolbar at the top.  I think in the future I will definitely create my images using Google Drawings before I insert them into another document.

Exploring Shapes Lesson Plan:

• This lesson plan gives students the freedom to play around with shapes by rotating and flipping them.  Students would become acclimated with the concept of a 90-degree turn, horizontal and vertical flipping.  I believe that the lesson would be easy for students at the primary level to complete.  Teachers could make the lesson more engaging by asking students to duplicate a previously created image by using only a few shapes.  This would encourage students to rotate and flip shapes in order to place them in a previously determined pattern.

Graham Chapter 8:

• Graham emphasizes the fact that by using Google drawings, students can create collaborative drawings that express learning.  Many different types of images can be created by students for use in the classroom, including flowcharts, graphic organizers, and mathematical patterns.  The way that students can use this tool to manipulate shapes makes it useful for meeting plenty of elementary mathematical standards.

GAIN 4: Google Forms

Gain 4: Google Forms

Outside Sources:

• When I attempted to follow the link to the tutorials for Google Forms, all of the tutorials were locked.  However, I did follow a link for instructions on how to create a self-graded quiz-- entitled Self-Grading Multiple-Choice Tests with Google Docs-- found at rpollack.net.  I found that these instructions were quite clear until the step of creating the array formula for the self-grading portion of the form.  No matter how many times I checked myself and the manner in which I was writing my array formula, it did give me the results that I desired.  At this point of instruction, I stopped using the steps in this site and instead began following the steps presented on my professor's guide sheet.

My Own Self-Grading Quiz:

• Here is the link to my quiz:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/155tCpUtolJ-9ZSm7eI3itc_TklgPHmDodBneskbrAso/viewform?usp=send_form#start=invite

• Here is the link to the spreadsheet with the scores from my quiz: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tcGR0aOL9wi2dcBBnUdZZnSbbk6VzOhNOR847UvXqqc/edit?usp=sharing

Educational Use:

There are plenty of ways that Google Forms could be utilized in a school setting.  In Google Meets Common Core, Graham mentions several uses from a school staff point-of-view.  Special education teachers can create forms that monitor information about students that will be useful for their Individual Education Plans.  Principals, or even teachers, can create forms that monitor disciplinary actions that are taken with a student.  The form can monitor the time of the infraction, the class period, student, and the type of misbehavior.  These forms can be as available or as secure as they need to be.  Counselors can use forms as a way for their students to communicate with them.  As far as students go, students can create their own surveys to harvest data for research projects-- this would be a great way to get students using technology to make sense of the world around them.

GAIN 3: Google Sheets

GAIN 3: Google Sheets


My Experiences with Google Spreadsheets:

• When I first began working on my spreadsheet, I tried using a grade book template that someone else had created.  Though the template looked professional, it was difficult for me to use because I did not know the equations that had been typed into the different cells.  I decided to make my own spreadsheet from scratch so that I could learn how to program the cells myself.  There were several things that I did not how to do, including writing different equations within my cells.  I had to look up instructions on how to do this from Google Support.
• The easiest part of the spreadsheet to master was manipulating the columns and rows.  It is very easy to add forgotten columns, or delete unwanted ones.  Merging columns is also a cinch, just by highlighting and pressing the merger button.  It is also very easy to change the size of various columns.
• There are still a few formatting things that are unclear to me.  I noticed on the template that some of the boxes were colored.  My spreadsheet looks very basic.  I will need some more instruction on how to make my spreadsheet look more professional.
• Here is the link to my own spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/uMYbo4

Spreadsheet as it Relates to Common Core:

• The Standards for Mathematical Practice for Common core are created to instill critical thinking skills in students when working with mathematics.  The standards are created to focus on how the student uses the mathematics and not just the knowledge that they acquire concerning a mathematical skill.  Students need to have not just a memorized skill or algorithm, but they must understand how the concepts are applied in order to succeed when they are thrust into a world of data analysis and decision making later in life.
• Google Spreadsheets allows students to not only record their data in a spreadsheet, but to use their charts and graphs to help to explain their evidence.  Instead of a software that provides mathematical solutions for the students, the students must provide the solutions themselves in order to make the spreadsheet work properly.
• By entering formulas and manipulating their own charts and graphs, students will be critically thinking about mathematical concepts and applying them in practical settings.  Students should be able to choose the right tool to help them conceptualize, share, and present their mathematical understanding.  Google Spreadsheets can help students to do all of these things.

Tablets: Literacy for Education

Tablets: Literacy for Education

Preparation Apps:

Dictionary.com

• This is already one of my favorite apps, because I love to use dictionary.com.  Mainly I like to use the Thesaurus option, which is easily found along with a translator tool on the side toolbar.
• The homepage of dictionary.com has a section of trending words, interesting articles concerning words and their meaning or origins, and a largely displayed word of the day at the top.
• When a user uses the bar at the top to look up a word, they are taken to a page that displays the part of speech and several definitions of the word.  At the top, the word is displayed with the pronunciation and a speaker that, when pressed, offers an audio clip of the word spoken out loud. To the side of the definitions, the user can look at the origin and history of the word.  Additional context is also an option at the bottom, where a user can look at example sentences that use the word.  At the top underneath where the word is displayed, there are four tabs:
• Definitions: This is the page that the user is automatically brought to when they search the word.  It displays the common definitions.
• Synonyms: This tab gives a list of common synonyms for the word.
• Learners: Here, users can gather information about the inflection of the word, the specific part of speech, another explanation of the definition, and a context sentence.
• This tab offers several options for upgrade expansion packs for the dictionary app.

Grammar Express:

• This app comes in several different versions.  There are versions to teach parts of speech, tenses, figures of speech, and much more.  The version that I chose is Grammar Express: Active & Passive voice (because this is something that I have struggled with in my own writing).
• Upon launching, the user can click a book in the top right corner that will give the user an overview of the topic, further explanation, and examples.  There is even an option to print these pages.
• There are several tests that the user can take to test their knowledge of the subject, and to practice the concepts.  There are 40 questions to each test.  This light version of the app does not allow users to actually complete the quizzes, but rather the answers are already highlighted at the top.  After the user scrolls through all of the questions, they can see the explanations for why each correct answer is correct.
• I would say that this app could be a good tool for students to practice basic grammar skills.  The light version is not very helpful, though.

Presentation Apps:

Educreations Interactive Whiteboard:

• This application is pretty simple to use.  Teachers and students can use it as an option for a whiteboard that is more interactive than the traditional dry-erase kind.
• If teachers do not have a smartboard, but they have a projection system, they can use the educreations app to project a whiteboard that comes with several different useful tools.
• Just like a normal whiteboard, there are options to choose a color to write with, and then users can use their fingers to write on the board.  There is also an eraser tool that functions just like a normal eraser would.
• The recording tool is a neat feature that will record not only each stroke that the user makes on the board, but audio recording as well.  This can be useful for teachers to playback what they have written and taught in a lesson from the board.
• Users also have the option to import images to write upon, so that teachers can perhaps draw their own diagrams or labels over a real image.
• Though this app is fairly simple, it could be a good tool for teachers looking for a tool that is a tad more interactive than the traditional marker whiteboard.

Comic Life:

• Comic Life is an application that allows users to create their own comics using images and drag-and-drop elements such as speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and various types of text.
• Comic Life offers several different types of templates for users to choose from, which they will then customize with drag-and-drop features and their own uploaded images.
• Comic Life users can share their comics with others who can then read them in various downloadable formats.
• This app could be useful as a presentation tool for students-- especially for narrative presentations that describe things like trips and events.