Student Assignment

For my technology assignment, I will have students create an account on Twitter to follow the latest and greatest health information. The Twitter 'about us' page states, "The timely bits of information that spread through Twitter can help you make better choices and decisions and, should you so desire, creates a platform for you to influence what’s being talked about around the world." Health is all about making lifestyle changes and advocating for a better quality of life as well. Having my students sign up for an account, reading other classmates tweets about health related topics, and responding to them will aid in their overall knowledge and appreciation for health. It is also a way for classmates to connect and be active in their learning process.

Assignment:

-Click here to access Twitter's home page.

-Click "Join here" and fill out the information required.

-Follow the three step process in creating your profile. Make sure to click on the 'health' topic on the sidebar to get news feeds to help you find resourced health information. Also, add me and your group members (assigned in class) as some of the people you would like to follow to know what is expected of each tweet assignment.

-Lastly, choose an article that shows up in your news feed that looks interesting to you and post the link in your 'What's Happening' profile. This will be global and your classmates and I will be able to check it out!

Instructional Video

Video Chat

I've participated in chats over Skype which seems to be a pretty popular form of video chat. I didn't have any difficulties with it but maybe that is because I've only done it a few times. My family used to communicate with my grandparents using Skype when they were on a mission and I thought it was wonderful because they could still see us grow up while they were gone for three years. If we didn't have Skype I think they would have missed out on a lot.

I think technology is so amazing. We can be half way around the world but see our friends and family on a screen right in front of us. My experiences with video chat have been successful and fun.

Synchronous video can be used in teaching in many ways. Having a guest speaker come to your classroom could cost quite a bit but with synchronous video, you get all the important information but don't have to pay for their travel and stay. Brilliant!

The Public Domain

I was doing a bit of reading about the public domain and it has been very insightful. The first thing I wanted to know was what is public domain? Well, it is any material that is not copyrighted so anyone can use it in any way they want. To find materials like this, you can:

• Look for materials published before 1923,
• Find books that were published between 1923 and 1964 because some people did not renew their copyright,
• Search for US government materials that are usually public domain, and
  
• Look through popular websites that contain public domain materials.

I want to look up some of these materials right now! I am interested in what I would find. Happy searching!

Movie Making

Making the movie in class was so interesting. I had no idea you could do that much with a simple program and a mac computer! It seemed easy and simple when Ben filmed, edited, added graphics, sound and backgrounds but I know it will not be that fast or easy for me.

I was thinking about how I could use video in my classroom and thought how neat it would be if I was going to be out of town and filmed my lecture. Videos, if made properly, can be very informative and inspiring. They are a great aid to a lecture or discussion.

I am excited to learn more about making movies. I have never made one before in my life so I think this portion of the class will be very interesting. This information will be so useful for my future students and even my future family.

Website

Here is the link to my class website! Although this took quite some time to complete, I have learned so much from it. I am excited to use this new knowledge for my future class. I would love to have a website for my class and I honestly think I will use one like what I have! It feels great to be a little more prepared to teach.