Technology Research Presentation

Technology research

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For my second Emerging Technology assignment I went with pretty cool application that allows you to capture images and video that appear on your screen. Jing, is a free program available for download online. With Jing, I am able to take snap-shoots of whatever I see on my screen. I can adjust the size of the shoot I want to take if I only want half the screen let’s say. Videos are also available. This comes with a pretty sweet feature that allows you to use the microphone too, so either you can record whatever you’re hearing or record your own voice as you walk through something.

This is where Jing can become a great educational tool. In particular for computer teachers, you can use this program to record your voice as you walk through how to do something on the computer, for example how to use PowerPoint or the proper way to utilize a academic search engine. Although some teachers may have a SmartBoard that would allow them to do it live, showing a video from Jing could quickly walk through a process that takes some difficulty. Also, when there is a sub in your class, you can do a computer lesson from home and send it later.

Along with many other programs and websites online, you can pay to have a couple more features, but I believe the basic things suffice. With an upgraded version, you can upload screen-shot videos straight to YouTube. I tried to load a video myself, but had trouble.

Pictures of my screen-shots can be found on the side.

I think I got delicious down. Here's my webpage:

http://delicious.com/pnickkellum

Techonolgy Issue

A 2006 article by Royal Van Horn explains the importance of technology in school when such equipment is aimed for specific classroom use and not just evenly distributed. This even distribution of technology may seem fair in the big picture when looking at the school as a whole, but it is important to see what are the needs of each classroom. Van Horn tells he has helped in the design of several school and it his experience that gives insight that some classrooms aren’t going to use the 4 or 5 computers in a classroom when only a couple are truly needed.

Certain idea popped up to me while reading this article. One can be summed up in a quote. “The hidden assumption is that teachers will be flexible enough to integrate these computers into their instructional day” (Van Horn, 1). Van Horn was speaking of how schools are built as one big facility with the same technology within every classroom. The quote tells that teachers won’t always need to use technology in their day-to-day activity. It is possible that the teacher’s don’t have the use at all for some technology in their classroom setting. Although it’s good to work with technology such as computers in all areas of education, teachers may prefer sacrificing less technology for more space in their classroom. Elementary teachers could use the additional space for more active lessons and head to computer labs when the whole classroom needs equipment.

Van Horn stresses the need for technology to be used for more than just a visual aid. He suggests that curriculum needs to call for more spoken texts through the use of audio technology. Of course one of the most important and useful things learned in school is typing, especially through the means of Microsoft Word or some other word processor. It is important to form thoughts through texts, but Van Horn wishes to see more use of spoken speech. Such means can prove to be important to a student, for example, allowing students to hear themselves speak will bring to their attention any slurs, mispronunciations, or other speaking errors they may not have caught before. It’s better feedback to hear yourself speak than for a teacher to tell you later what worked and what didn’t work in your speech or presentation.

I can connect such experiences to my role as a student. In a class this past semester my freshman year I was able to hear myself speak from a presentation I did in my class. However, this feedback came with a little more than just an audio recording of me since it was on video. Seeing myself gave me a little more feedback than just hearing myself speak. I was able to see just how I presented myself and how much I was engaging the class. As a student, I’ve found video to be just as effective tool to audio technology.

I am hoping as a future educator that I can apply technology revolving around audio and video. I’ve messed around in the past with some video editing technology and have some experience with Garageband when comes to purely audio. Utilizing either means be an effective education tool when explaining some concept. I could create my own educational video. This could prove effective to the students because instead of seeing some random narrator, I would be able to have the kids more engaged with a familiar face.

The tools of achieving these things can only be reached through communication from the administrators with the teachers and knowing their individual needs. Van Horn’s main drive in the article is to be aware that the technological needs of one teacher will not be the same as the next. Personally, as a future educator, I would love the access to a Mac computer than that of a Windows. I find the Mac to be an easier system, a more reliable system, and one that’ll allow me to achieve certain tasks unachievable with a Windows. Access to this technology and other desired ones would only be gained if the needs for each classroom were looked out for. Such technology like a SmartBoard would be a great standard object to have for classrooms, but when a set number of computers are being jammed into classrooms and not being used, that is a waste of resources. I know I would prefer a couple Macs than 4 or 5 Windows computers. It is evident to look out for the needs for each classroom and how the technology will be utilized.

Emerging Technology 1-Podcast

I decided to go with Yodio to create my very first podcast. My podcast, like any other, can be used to distribute audio files in periodic episodes. However, my host website takes it a step further by adding images to chosen audio clips. I've always seen the podcast tab in the iTunes Store, but never really explored in it until recently. Some of the podcasts are radio stations that shares daily songs and other podcasts feature video from some leading websites like Current and College Humor. You can really grab some sweet stuff from podcast if you subscribe to them on iTunes. Yodio doesn't seem to have the capability of video, but images and other audio files can be loaded.

Yodio has a unique way to upload your audio on the go. You can call a number after registration and use your phone to speak the audio you wish to use. After you have you audio clips there, and later if you want to add some pictures too, it's just a simply matter of drag and drop into the timeline.

The method of dragging and dropping is not new to me. I've worked with Windows Movie Maker before so I got the hang of it quick when producing my own podcast. I hope I can work with iMovie in the future now that I have a MacBook and haven't really had the opportunity to mess around with it. I used other MacBook features such as iPhoto, iTunes, and Garageband to construct my podcast. I didn't want to mess around with calling Yodio so I decided to record my voice clips on Garageband. I had to later convert the ten audio clips onto iTunes to make it become a MP3, since those are the files Yodio prefers. I choose from my existing pictures on iPhoto so I could have images to go along with the podcast. Like I said earlier, once everything was uploaded onto Yodio, I was able to compile everything together.

It was user-friendly for me because of my experiences with other technology. I just messed around with Yodio once I signed up and went directly into "Create Yodio." I would suggest to others creating a Yodio to speak then upload all the audio first and later upload your photos. Once everything is your queue, construct the podcast. That's the easiest part.

I'm sure in the future, being an educator, Yodio could be useful. If running low on time, I could call the Yodio number so I had my audio ready for a podcast presentation for the class. All I would have to do at that point would be to add pictures if any. I could also leave a sub a message when I was out. The message could also go out the students in the class if need be. Yodio gives a easy way to create a simple presentation.

The final product can be found the "Learn More About Me" tab.

Found A Job

I thought I should tell you guys that I found a job since most of you wished me good luck with that in my comments. I went in yesterday and got the job on the spot. I'll be working at a tennis camp this summer helping kids learn the game. It's a great opportunity for me since of course I'm a Elementary Ed. major and love playing tennis.

I'm Nick and this is my blog. In the fall, I'll be a sophomore at Indiana University. My freshman year in Bloomington was great. While I wait for next semester I decided to take some credit hours at IUPUI since I'll be living home in Plainfield. My major is Elementary Education. Education runs in the family, plus working with kids is great. I'm hoping I can find some work too this summer, but we all know that's easier said then done. In the meantime though I'll make sure to play some tennis and see friends that I haven't seen since last summer. Besides that, I'll just kick it by playing some Mario Kart and enjoying the nights.

Creating this blog wasn't too much of a challenge for me. I'm pretty familiar with Facebook and Blogger works slightly similar to that. I also have several other accounts on different Web 2.0 websites. The big difference is between those and Blogger is that this website offers a lot more customization. I enjoy creating my personal webpage especially with several different options to go about doing it.