WebQuest

I've begun my first WebQuest using QuestGarden. Working off an idea from my credentialing program, I decided to create a WebQuest on the following topic: 

This topic is aimed at students who are taking a Spanish class for the first time.

Now, QuestGarden has been an interesting experience. I feel like I'm working with a layout similar to those super cool personal websites all my friends and I made in middle school, you know the ones that featured "favorite quotes" and "shout-outs" - can you tell I grew up in the emerging technology age? Like those websites, QuestGarden feels very boxy and limited.

While I love that QuestGarden shows you exactly where you need to input all your information, I don't love the formatting. Additionally, during my time working on my WebQuest, QuestGarden has often frozen up, failed to save, or refused to paste my copied information.

So far, I have added all my info and required pictures as well as a video. I would like to flesch out the information and provide more instruction for students because currently some of my information is vague and too concise.

Copyright

I ventured over to CopyRight-CopyWrong? to read about copyright laws in relation to education.

After taking the CopyRight Quiz, I scored 76%. Some of the questions were a little frustrating because the concepts had been addressed in the article by Hall Davidson, but some of the questions referred to exceptions to the rules. For example, the article stated that recorded television shows could only be shown in a classroom for up to 10 days after broadcast, and though I suspected that Bill Nye was allowed to be shown for educational use, I went with the rule I had just read and got the answer wrong. Aside from that, I learned that while copyright laws are strict, they are very flexible within the walls of education.

Good luck if you decide to take the quiz.

Digital Natives

By Marc Pensky's definitions of Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives in his article "Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives," I am a Digital Immigrant, though I don't feel much like one. I remember when I was very young and my family bought its first computer. I remember the introduction of instant messaging. I remember when my parents bought their first pair of cell phones that held only 10 contacts each. Even though I remember what seems like the beginning of this generation of technology, I don't feel very connected to Pensky's description of Digital Immigrants. That being said, I find myself somewhere between Digital Immigrant and Digital Native. Rather than having my "foot in the past," as Pensky puts it, I feel like I have my pinky toe in the past, and that's simply because I remember what it was like before many of today's technologies were fully developed.

Having read "Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives," I agree with Pensky. The way students learn today is much different from the way previous generations learned, simply due in fact to the vast presence of advanced technologies available to all. Keeping this in mind, we as educators need to adapt our teaching strategies to meet the needs of today's students, which inevitably means incorporating various technologies.

While I think games are a great way for students to learn and practice what they have learned as mentioned in both "Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives" and "Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives, Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?" by Pensky, I wonder how much experience and time is needed to create such resources. While I would love to provide educational games to play for my students, I don't have the slightest clue where I would begin to create games like this. My first thought is to locate games that already exist, but that can be difficult at times to find a game that matches exactly what you're studying in class. That being said, I very much agree with Pensky that we need to find more technology-infused ways to reach our students.

WebQuest Project

Subject: Spanish

Topic: Why should I learn Spanish?

Key Common Core Standard: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically (using appropriate eye contact, adequate volume, and clear pronunciation) such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose (e.g., argument, narrative, informative, response to literature presentations), audience, and task. 

Key Technology Standard: Create original works as a means of personal 
or group expression.

Final Product: Poster recruiting students to take Spanish courses, including advantages to learning Spanish, to be presented to the class

Scoring PowerPoints

After reading Jamie McKenzie's Scoring Power Points, I see little difference between McKenzie's description of effectively created and graded PowerPoint presentations and skillfully executed research papers or persuasive essays. The difference, however, is that a PowerPoint presentation should have main ideas, phrases, and key points rather than flesched-out sentences and paragraphs. Nonetheless, the guidelines outlined in this article would be helpful to any student preparing a presentation or any teacher assigning and grading one. Though McKenzie's rules parallel that of a good essay, he also makes good albeit obvious points about PowerPoint presentations: 

• PowerPoint presentations should never be too flashy so as not to distract that audience, and 
• Presenters should not read the material off the screen.
• Images should be powerful and
• The layout should be coherent and easy to follow.

Additionally, PowerPoint does not make the presentation. On the contrary, this is up to the presenter. Even the most well-done PowerPoint presentation can be a total bore if the presenter is not well-spoken and engaging.

I agree with McKenzie's points about PowerPoint presentations, and even though this article was written in 2000, its guidelines for PowerPoint use are still very valid today in 2013, though, let's just avoid clipart altogether, shall we?

Getting to Know You

Who you are at home
My wonderful husband Caleb and I have been married for a year and a half. I'm from Indiana, and he's from Missouri, and having met through mutual friends, we didn't fall in love until he moved to southern California. I happily moved to join him after we were married.

I wish I could say more about how interesting my home life is, but my husband and I are both graduate students, and that leaves very little time for much else. We did, however, recently adopt the most adorable puppy in the world. His name is Wentworth.

Who you are at school
I've quite surprised myself in my return to school. You see, I was quite the achiever in high school. In fact, I was valedictorian of my graduating class, though bear in mind that I only graduated in a class of 40 students, so the odds were much easier. In college, I experienced some personal difficulties, and as a result I let my grades suffer. I was determined to turn it around in post-grad, and so I have done. Though I still would prefer to be elsewhere when class is in session, I've put in the work this time so as not to disappoint myself. Thankfully, I've recently finished my credential work, and I'm looking forward even more to my Masters classes and what I can learn from them.

Who you are when you are out and about
In my very limited spare time, I like to go out with my husband. This usually means dinner at a restaurant followed by a trip to IKEA or Target. Sounds boring, right? Well, we like it, plus there aren't a whole lot of options when you're a grad student!

Tell me something unique that happened to you or that you do
My most unique experiences by far have been abroad. I spent a semester abroad in Ecuador during college, and after graduation, I moved to Honduras for a year to teach fourth grade in a bilingual school. Please click the links if you'd like to read more about my adventures.