Dancing Final Grade

It's been a great summer of learning for me online!! My final grade for Education 2201 is: drum roll please!! B just what I thought I would get! Didn't want an A simply because I was just learning how to use Blackboard and I knew I needed higher than a C to renew my teaching certificate! Good luck & STAY COOL!!

TimeGlider Online Time chart

Timeglider is kind of cool in that it allows teachers to set up projects on a timeline as well as can provide the history behind each lesson to be incorporated to interest students in today's technologically advanced society. Students can also use it as part of their projects as well. The first four and fifth parts a and c of the ISTE-NETS-T teaching standards are met using Timeglider in that the Internet is used as creative digital resource.
This is now an optional assignment which I did sign up and get an account established on TimeGlider.com and I will add my timeline when I return from vacation. So look for it around the first of the month! Thanks and have a great rest of the summer! Stay COOL!!

Cyberbullying PSA Photostory

Yet another feat of magic on my part to learn. Being in the world of Journalism, public service announcements (PSAs) are easy for me. I started with PowerPoint and turned the slides into pictures to import into Photostory. However, making a PSA using Photostory is different. Here is my Cyberbullying PSA.  I then downloaded it to Windows Movie Maker to get a different file .wmv to upload on YouTube.com to have it go public. Hope I did it right. Hope it's educational and helpful!
It may not be very long according to the assignment but at least it's done to the best of my abilities. I had trouble with the narration having no microphone to actually speak and hear myself.

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3-ZwIG9X9rU?hl=en&fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

All 5 standards of the ISTE-NETS-T are associated in this assignment since I incorporated the video on YouTube which is digital environment on the Internet. My video should appeal to teachers, parents, the community and the students.

Grade Your Resume

Rezscore.com is a different tool to use when applying for jobs. This tool grades your resume that you upload and based on that grade, allows you to edit your resume in order to get a better grade and essentially a job that fits your experience and skills. Earlier this semester, I published MelGsResume
(embed code:  &nbsp;<a href="http://tiny.cc/m7i2l">MelGsResume</a>
&nbsp;)  and now I've graded it using RezScore.com (embed code:  <a href="http://rezscore.com/">RezScore.com</a>&nbsp)

This assignment can be associated to the ISTE-NETS-T teaching standards 1-5 in that using digital resources such as the Internet, teachers allow their students to engage in creative ways in assessing their resumes to utilize the Internet for public and community involvement in employment opportunities.

YouTube Video / YouTube Converter/ Loop A Video

I chose the following video from YouTube to learn how to create your own online newspaper. Take a look at it and see how cool it is!! You can even download to your Iphone!!

The embed code for Instapaper video is:  <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gIGNfyCY1FA" width="425"></iframe>

How to Save a YouTube Video to Your Computer This is the link I chose to download the video using Keepvid.com. This YouTube video walks you through using Keepvid.com and I downloaded the 360 flv as high quality and it worked so EASY!! This Keepvid.com also allows you to download to MP3 which converts the videos to that format --  all you do is click MP3 and Keepvid converts!! Keepvid.com also allows you to download your video to a PowerPoint presentation and just by clicking that format will expand your presentation to a whole new level! Keepvid.com can be used on Windows, Linux, Mac and even IPhones which is really cool! The possibilities are unlimited! I'm going to try downloading my son's memorial video to this blog using Keepvid.com. Watch for that posting!!

The embed code for How to Save a YouTube Video to Your Computer is: 

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/P3MrkkOcx4M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The other two links above are just links that I tried to use on SaveTube.com and did not work for me. I kept getting errors in file not found. At first you don't succeed, try two more times! If by the third try, you don't succeed, just bite the bullet and ask for help!!

I looped create an online newspaper using InfiniteLooper.com and added the Repeat Video button to my favorites bar. Try it and you might just like it! Really Easy!! Embed code for this is:  <a href="http://www.infinitelooper.com/?v=gIGNfyCY1FA&amp;p=n">Repeat Video</a> button&nbsp;

How to download, convert and loop YouTube videos to your computer is associated with all five of the ISTE-NETS-T standards in that the digital environment is used through YouTube and it's on the internet for public use. Teachers need to be very prudent in allowing students to use the internet this way to prevent cyberbullying!! HINT:  That leads to my next assignment!!

JeopardyLabs

I love the Jeopardy game show for its innovative way it incorporates knowledge throughout the world. With that said, this assignment I found to be easy to set up and use when teaching any unit in English. I would use this method to assess my students' learning and understanding of the material in the unit as quizzes or different test reviews.

The first four standards of the ISTE NETS-T standards are met with JeopardyLabs in that creativity, innovation, knowledge and assessment is fostered in the digital technology world.

Play Non-fiction Writing Jeopardy2 to test your knowledge.

Prezi Zooming Presentations

Prezi presentations are different from PowerPoint in that Prezi gives you the opportunity to expand into more animation features by zooming in on specific pieces you want to emphasize in the presentation. The only similarity I found was that you can use a PowerPoint presentation in Prezi, however, you can only use parts of a PowerPoint and not all of it which will make the Prezi too disorganized and confusing. I believe Prezi to work better because it will keep your students interested more than than PowerPoint with various tools to loop throughout the presentation.

Prezi incorporates the first 3 ISTE NETS-T standards through creativity, digital sources, and the internet.

Take a look at my PowerPoint presentation through My Prezi.
Embed code for My Prezi is:
<div class="prezi-player"><style type="text/css" media="screen">.prezi-player { width: 550px; } .prezi-player-links { text-align: center; }</style><object id="prezi_l1kseuaz4phd" name="prezi_l1kseuaz4phd" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="550" height="400"><param name="movie"value="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"/><param name="flashvars" value="prezi_id=l1kseuaz4phd&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"/><embed id="preziEmbed_l1kseuaz4phd" name="preziEmbed_l1kseuaz4phd" src="http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="550" height="400" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="prezi_id=l1kseuaz4phd&amp;lock_to_path=0&amp;color=ffffff&amp;autoplay=no&amp;autohide_ctrls=0"></embed></object><div class="prezi-player-links"><p><a title="
This Prezi is designed to teach 8th grade English students how to write a Personal Non-Fiction Essay in an easy to understand format to zoom in.    
" href="http://prezi.com/l1kseuaz4phd/writing-a-personal-essay/">Writing A Personal Essay</a> on <a href="http://prezi.com">Prezi</a></p></div></div>

Writing A Personal Essay on Prezi

PowerPoint

Powerpoint Presentation on Slideshare has all my presentations links. This was easy for me to develop since someone I love dearly helped me learn Powerpoint years ago.

Powerpoint Presentations can be associated with Standards 2, 3, and 4 of the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers. If utilized in Slideshare as I did for this assignment, then Standard 5 is also met since I published my slide presentation on the Internet for the world to see.

Grades 2

Excel spreadsheets are easy to create and use when you have the information and know how to setup the formulas. Teachers need this tool when computing students' grades. I just completed English 3333-01 and the professor computed my grade in the exact same format of an Excel spreadsheet as this assignment required.

 I used Excel to complete this chart. I used Google to research the different Excel functions.
The first three of the ISTE-NETS are associated with this assignment in that teachers can use digital technology to assess their students performance and also students can use this spreadsheet program to create special assignments involving formulas.

MelG's Insight Google Calendar

I like using Google Calendar to schedule all my activities and my family's activities. I have a shared calendar on my Iphone through Google where I schedule my family's activities. When my son was alive, I would use my Iphone/ Google calendar to schedule his nurses, therapists, doctor's appointments, teachers and ball games. Just click on this link: MelG's Insight Google Calendar.

All 5 of the ISTE-NETS-T standards are met when using a calendar such as Google so that teachers, students and parents can keep track of all projects and activities and share their calendars using the Internet.

Google Forms I

Please take my Educ 2201 Survey.

Embed code for my Google Survey is:  <iframe src="https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dG5DZ1pOcmdOWWxPNzRyQm9Nbmh6N0E6MQ" width="760" height="1613" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading...</iframe>

I will then post the results in a spreadsheet on Google. I have edited the survey so the questions are understandable and clear for your answers to be placed.

If I were a teacher and needed to send this survey to the parents and my co-workers, I would email it to them given their email addresses. To send it to my students, I would use Facebook or send it in a text messaging provider.

The form being published allows the results to be reported in a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet can be shared or private to certain individuals the creator chooses to view the spreadsheet. There are many different ways to view the form such as:  Google, Facebook, Text Messaging, Blogger and Email. The ways to link the form are: Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, My Space and Diigo. You do need to be a Google docs user and logged in to create the form and spreadsheet, publish them and share them. Therefore all five ISTE-NETS teaching standards are met using the public digital technology of the Internet.


The results are in this published spreadsheet.  The embed code for this is: 

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0ArxALvSMojbsdG5DZ1pOcmdOWWxPNzRyQm9Nbmh6N0E&output=html

It updates with every new user's results. Try this out! It was easy and cool to do.

Shortening URL Using Tiny.cc

I've done it again Friends.
Check it out! Copy your long URL. To shorten a long URL, go to Tiny cc and paste your long URL then click on the tiny button and Tiny does the work! This tool is associated with the first three ISTE-NETS teaching standards in that students use the digital technology of the Internet to creatively shorten Internet websites for easier access and quick retrieval of information.

I then tried this infamous long URL: http://app.zoomerang.com/Create/SurveyEdit.aspx?ID=L26L2QLZGGZQ&bp=ms and Tiny shortened it to:  http://tiny.cc/nomwx  I shortened it a second time using Tiny and got:  http://tiny.cc/s0q2a  Really Cool!!

This really a good tool to show students so they can shorten their favorite links and go to them qucikly.

Reading Assignment #4 Response

Here is the link to my MML Reading Assignment #4 Response .
I used Google docs and Microsoft Word to create my answers. This assignment associates the first four standards of the ISTE-NETS in that teachers can use digital technology of computers and Internet to complete public responses to teaching issues as well as assess students' public responses to any important issue.

Online Graphing Tools Assignment

Hello everyone:
I have learned a new tool and want to share it with you. I learned how to create a graph and use it in a google document to show what I learned.  I charted West Virginia's 4th and 8th grade's mathematics test scores compared to the national average test scores. Here are the document links I created with the graphs inserted in them:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G1Gm1Rvz2gtcFRuJwSoExjVirDTp0kiMdBCyxGO5Liw/edit?hl=en_US#

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Id6rq_G4dZ2lvAs1JG7OSBdIYT1frpEGhIbCQu4IuTo/edit#
The graphing tool I used to create the chart was Kids Zone and can be found at:
This tool associated with all 5 of the ISTE-NETS-T standards in that the digital technology of the Internet is used to locate information in a public domain and is assessed to graph that information in a readable and understandable presentation mode.

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/classic/

The source of data can be found at:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/stt2009/2010460wv4.pdf

Mel G's Insight Survey

Please take my newly created Zoomerang.com survey. Thanks
 http://app.zoomerang.com/Create/SurveyEdit.aspx?ID=L26L2QLZGGZQ&bp=ms

I found this survey tool to be extremely easy to use and adaptable for classroom projects in any subject area. I did not know this tool existed before this class and therefore I will try to incorporate a survey in any project in both Journalism and English classes I teach. I can use it to help assess my students' learning of the content in either or both classes.

This tool is associated with all 5 standards of the ISTE-NETS-T in that it uses the digital technology of the Internet to assess students' answers to simple survey questions.

Reading #3 Questions & Answers

Here are my answers to the third required reading of Multimodal Learning Through Media: What the Research Says.

1.      Explain how the reading expanded your knowledge of how we use our senses and memory to interact with the world.

My knowledge expanded with the three types of memory being identified using a block design to show Sensory (Sensing) Memory, Working (Thinking) Memory and Long-Term (Memory Bank) Memory. I never considered these to be the titles. We all learn differently based on the initial senses we experience with. Then we can choose to store or remember certain information and our memory bank can become overloaded making it hard for us to remember at times.

2.      Provide some examples of the various types of memory from your academic career.

 Three examples of the various types of memory from my academic career are:

1.      I can remember having to memorize certain equations in Algebra class for every chapter in the book. I learned them by visualizing and reciting them over and over again. If I could picture them on the blackboard, then I learned them for the test.

                       2.      In order to remember what I read in Literature class, I learned best by listening                               to the recording of the literature, whether it was a book, or a poem, or a                               journalism piece. I went as far as to make up a simple song and sing it to myself
                              as I took a test or quiz.

           3.      In History class, I would make up Jeopardy clues to memorize certain facts and                   historical information.  Those clues became quiz or test questions which memorize visually and auditorily.

3.      How has this class so far interacted with your existing schema of instructional technology?

This class has opened a whole new world of technology to me first through using Blackboard and then through Blogger. I barely started on Face book before this class and now I know how to create a blog with gadgets and little extras. Far as teaching blogs and creating them for my students to use in class, I think I need a little more experience in order to feel more comfortable teaching my students, so they will learn effectively.

4.      Multitasking: Fact or Fiction based upon your reading.

 I believe multitasking is factual because for me, it has become a way of life. I’m constantly thinking about two or three things while only doing two tasks at the same time. Usually, everything I’m thinking and doing overlap. An example is happening right now as I’m typing this answer, I’m thinking about tomorrow’s activities and what I time I will get this posted, and what time I will go to bed.

Journalism Word Cloud

Check this out!! Cool right!!

This tool I never knew existed but I found it easy to use and can be incorporated in any subject. For Journalism or English, it can be utilized to teach the basics of any lesson as well as it could be used as an assessment tool like a quiz where students would have a certain amount of time to design a word cloud of all of the lesson's vocabulary that was learned. This tool associates the first 4 standards of the ISTE-NETS-T using the digital technology of the Internet to creatively design information so that is visually interesting and appealing and can be used to assess students' learning as I mentioned above.

Jing Screencast

I've tried twice and could not make the video as required.
Here is what I have created:

http://screencast.com/t/qmz1rZXwKfrx
I have no prior knowledge of Jing screencast until now. So hopefully, after learning it in this class, I will incorporate it into my classroom teachings as a special visual presentation for my students to learn with and from. I can possibly create a lesson so they use Jing as a presentation for one of their projects.

Jing screencast is associated with the first 4 standards of the ISTE-NETS-T in that the digital environment used is the Internet and it fosters a different creative learning environment which can be easily adapted to any subject area.
This is the text I created to go with the screencast.

How to Create a Blog:

Log onto to your computer and open the Internet

In the web address window type:  http://www.blogspot.com/home

Then click the Get Started box and follow the steps to creating your blog.

Or if you have a Google account, then log in that box with your email address and password.

Follow the prompts to creating your blog.

You can also compose a post to add to your blog and edit it before and after publishing it.

See how I designed my Blog by going tab by tab to design it and publish each blog post. 
It's really easy and I had no idea that Blogspot existed until the Education 2201 course!                      
Create your own blog and make it all about you or issues going on in the world today or for class purposes. But try it and make it FUN!!

Jing Graphic

Actual website: http://teacher.scholastic.com/teachingstrategies/?lnkid=TNav:TR:Strategies&ESP=TR/ib//acq/strategies_tnav_TR///nav/txtl////

Go check out my Jing Image:  http://screencast.com/t/fPEII5w3UlvI
I tried very hard on this assignment and I think I finally got it! What I learned is how to create a graphic using Jing.com on the Internet. I never knew this tool existed until this class and I intend to use it as an eye-catching part of those boring lessons in literature and journalism so my students can be visually interested and involved in every lesson! I probably could have used in my online non-fiction writing class to present my stories visually had I had a working knowledge of this tool prior to this class.

Standards 1,2a-c,3 and 4 of the ISTE-NETS-T are associated with this assignment in that the digital technology of the Internet is used with this tool to promote and foster creativity in the classroom.

Snipping Tool

I'm having a great amount of trouble using the snipping tool. I've followed all the instructions but just can not seem to get my snip on here. I would have an even bigger problem with trying to teach this to my students to use.

My perception has dramatically since yhis asdignment. This was my first attempt on this assignment but I since grasped this tool and been able to use it in following assignments! I fond it very useful in just getting a glimpse of important information. This tool can be used in the classroom for a creative pictorial approach in any subject presentation.
This assignment can be associated with the first 4 of the ISTE-NETS-T standards in that the Internet is utilized to get this new tool to use in the classroom to foster creativity and incorporate a visual snip of information.




This is the Capture Snipping Tool







  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/help/using

Mel Gs self Portrait by Mel G

I tried to draw myself as I look in the mirror each morning and this is what I ended up looking like! Somethings are quite distorted for me. See if you can pick out those things. I had a hard time clicking and dragging exactly what I chose to use. I didn't try the color variations, just stuck with black and white.

I thought this tool would be a good one for students to try in Journalism class. This is definitely a new cool tool for me to use in my classroom in that it is associated with the first 4 standards of the ISTE-NETS-T which incorporates usage of the digital environment of the Internet creatively through knowledge, skills and innovation.

Please go to the link below and search the Gallery for "Mel G's Self Portrait".
Mel Gs self Portrait by Mel G: "Picassohead"

Dale's Cone of Experience

Why might Dale's Cone of Experience be of interest to someone in an instructional technology course?

The interest is in how students learn and what is best way to teach students in a technology rich environment of today's world. Every student learns differently and for teachers in today's world, we must use their learning differences or modes to help them learn effectively rather than against them and they do not learn at all.

Dale's Cone of Experience: Science or Nonsense?

I think his perception of different modes of learning is not science but rather basic knowledge. We learn through all the different modes one way or another which means all areas of his cone overlap at some point in our learning process. I may learn best by Study Trips to Demonstrations while you learn best through Direct Purposeful Experiences and Contrived Experiences. I don't believe his model to be nonsense because the evidence is out there to support his theory and still in the testing phase due to student's learning differences. Just like Einstein's theory of relativity took years to construct with factual basis, so does Dale's Cone of Experience and that factual basis lies within the teacher wanting to find the best method of teaching all of her students.

What is a browser add on?

According to Wikipedia.com the definition of add on .
I think browser add ons are useful to enable users to view and use different formats of data in a single browser without having to use separate software for each package.

My add ons I'm currently using are: Diigo Toolbar,Diigo Toolbar Helper,Diigo Sidebar,Shockwave Flash Object,Adobe PDF Link Helper,Google Toolbar,Google Toolbar Helper,Google Toolbar Notifier BHO,Google Side Bar, McAfee SiteAdvisor Toolbar,scriptproxy,McAfee SiteAdvisor BHO,Microsoft Silverlight,Bing Bar,Search Helper,Windows Live ID Sign-in Helper,Bing Bar
Research,Send to OneNote,Diigo,Discuss,Java Plug-in 1.6.0,SSVHelper Class,
Sun Java Console.

I don't have direct experience with add-ons. They do work smoothly for me when I know what is needed for the completion of my assignments.

I believe add-ons match the Digital Age Learning Culture and Excellence in Professional Practice Standards because they open up a new way of learning in the internet world once students and educators learn how to use them for research which are the first 4 of the ISTE-NETS-T teaching standards.

What does my Diigo have?

Click here if you want to see my Diigo. I created a  library of useful websites using Diigo. Diigo is realitively new for me in that I barely know anything about social bookmarking on the Internet. Along with learning BlackBoard for online classes, I have learned how to bookmark and make a library using Diigo. As for social bookmarking, I recently learned how to login to Facebook and create a Facebook page.

All 5 of the ISTE-NETS-T standards are associated with this assignment in that the digital environment of the Internet is used for research and social community interaction with creativity. If using Diigo in the classroom, a teacher can have the students research different websites to create a library for quick retrieval.

My Teaching Avatar

Hope you like my Teaching Avatar ! It is so cool Click Here to View  This tool can be used to teach students very valuable information in animated form. I enjoyed making this Avatar because I chose everything for it including the looks and voice. I never knew this existed until this class. I do have the WII system in my house which uses avatars to play the games.

This assignment can be associated with the first 4 teaching standards of the ISTE-NETS-T in that the digital environment utilized is the Internet website Voki.com to create the avatar and it can be publicized on the Web for everyone to see.

Melanie's Resume

This is my resume I put together to apply for  federal jobs on USAJOBS. Click here to see my resume.
I downloaded it to Google docs from Microsoft Word and then to my blog to complete this assignment. I really had not used Google docs for resume building until now.

This assignment can be associated with all 5 of the ISTE-NETS-T standards in that you can use the Internet to publicize your resume and post it for employers to see and offer job opportunities.

VARK Questionnaire Results Are In!!

And the results are in for me!! According to VARK I'm a multimodal learner with learning Visually first and Physically (Kinesthetic) second which does not surprise me. What concerns me is the fact that I'm having to printout all the readings for my online courses so I don't miss anything important which means I'm learning from what I read.

If I were to teach a class of students, I would definitely give them the opportunity to show me their learning styles so I know what works best for them. If I were leading teachers or principals, then their learning styles would be known and I would just work off their strengths to improve their weaknesses.

The first 3 standards of the ISTE-NETS-T are associated with this assignment in that teachers can assess their students' learning styles using this Internet assessment tool and properly teach them.

MeL G's Insight: Mel G's Learning Styles Revealed

MeL G's Insight: Mel G's Learning Styles Revealed:
To define my learning style I would say I'm a combination of Physical (Kinesthetic) and Visual (spatial). I like doing things to learn a new concept and I have to see it to believe it at the same time. I 'm not one to read something and learn from my reading if I can not do it myself. I would say I learn best in Social groups because I like to see what everyone else does first so I don't make their mistakes but learn from them and make my mistakes for them to learn from.

This assignment can be associated with the first 3 of the ISTE-NETS-T teaching standards in that the Internet is used to assess the learning styles of students.

MeL G's Insight: Dancing Finale

MeL G's Insight: Dancing Finale: "So who win the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy tonight? Kirstie Alley is definitely third and Hines Ward and Chelsea Kane are tied. My bets are on Chelsea Kane.

However, Hines pulled out the win!! Chelsea came in 3rd!!

This assignment is associated with all 5 of the ISTE-NETS- T teaching standards in that it uses the Internet to foster creativity publicly.

Dancing Finale

So who win the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy tonight? Kirstie Alley is definitely third and Hines Ward and Chelsea Kane are tied. My bets are on Chelsea!! Who will win?? Tune in tonight and find out if I win the bet!!