Web-Based Courses

I really like the idea of web-based courses for the students because these courses give students more opportunity. I came from a rural area and most of my friends just did work experience to make up for the extra courses. I think students should do a web based course maybe instead of work experience. There are many of courses offered online compared to 6 years ago when I was in school. I had one friend take a web based course for math so they could get into university and not be behind in university. I could also see this as a positive if the student has behaviour issues or issues with the teacher. The student could just do a web-based course and not have to do with these issues.

I see a lot more opportunity with kids now with online courses or independent courses. The downside is the social and engaging part in the classroom and students have to be able to organize and manage their time to finish the course. If a student isn't organized or waits last minute to do a whole years work in a matter of weeks or a month. I knew someone who did this and the course was needed to graduate. Luckily the person did graduate but I can see this as a negative and I might argue that the information learned in these online based courses may not stick with the student. This is just due to the lack of experience and discussion the student is missing if they were in a class. There are online courses that have a web cam with a teacher but I still hear the negatives and lack of discussion.

Today's Teacher

This blog is really interesting on testing you as a teacher to see what you give your students and what you are missing. You could go on the offence and say you don't agree with this blog or parts of becoming a whole teacher.

I agree with what is said and that teachers need to be more whole and give the students a voice in the classroom. Students need to be challenged with questions and discuss about these questions to get a solution. Discussion helps deeper learning and the teacher isn't always going to be there for the student to spoon feed the student. But with giving a student a voice, you as a teacher have to be flexible and the student's peers have to be flexible so respect is key. I thought this topic was a good summary of today's teacher.

http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/whole-teaching-whole-teacher-self-assessment-educator-assessment/

Thirds

This intro video on how to make a better picture or video using the "Rule of Thirds". This video makes sense and shows you how to make certain objects in a video stand out from the background. I think this video would be really good to show to students in an ICT course. Some students do not know how to take a proper picture or video. In my math class I might even bring this up to see if there were any other numbers that would work for this rule such as fourths. You could turn this into a study if the students didn't believe and get your peers to vote on the best photo. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSSOZxLnNyc&feature=youtu.be&list=PL6e_LPIs5f6Ygx8y3sUAS7w7nNYlPp_L9

Internet and Devices

The internet can be a wonderful source in the classroom and the students can research new information and use new tools for their assignments. The downfall is some of the websites are blocked due to school policies and the student can research certain materials. Also at the last school I was with anything with a username that the student needed to sign into was blocked. I found this very frustrating when most schools are wanting teachers to use new technology. Also giving the kids devices meanwhile they can't research or use certain websites such Google products, Prezi, Edmodo, Socrative is kind of a downfall. Basically the student uses the device to download games and take notes with in class. One parent made a good point with kids aren't learning proper keyboard skills with using these devices and with computers the kids would develop these skills. I also found some parents think the devices are a waste of time because the students aren't using the devices to the full extent and the student might as well being using a lab computer or pen and paper.

These thoughts were all going through my mind when Jon mentioned devices to a certain school division.