Journal #7: Professional Learning Network

It has been interesting to learn about the different uses of a professional learning network throughout the course. I really like the fact that we have used a lot of these different networks in the past weeks because I have learned what might work in the classroom when I am a full time teacher. The most powerful networks have been Blogger and the affinity group (Edutopia). Blogger has been a unique way of sharing ideas and viewing the ideas of others. This might be a biased answer because we have been required to write in our blog the entire quarter, but I know that I often look at other people's ideas on their blog, both for interest and guidance. I know I would be able to you a program like Blogger with upper grade elementary kids. This would be a great resource in the classroom, especially during computer lab time. For example, students could work on writing that relates to any content area and be able to add links, pictures, and most importantly collaborate with their own classmates. If the writing activities are structured and modeled correctly by the teachers, then the class could really benefit form the use of this type of learning network. In addition, this type of network could work with parents and teachers to communicate and share ideas.

The affinity group that I chose to follow was Edutopia. I was exposed to this non profit organization during my coursework for my teaching credential and I found their ideas in education to be innovative. Although I signed up to be a member directly through the organization's website, I have used the information they share through their posts in Pinterest. I am an avid "Pinner", and it is an app that I frequent a lot. What I love the most is that I am able to save ideas, resources, practices, etc into specific folders that I have created. For example, I put Edutopia's pins into folders titled classstroom ideas & classroom strategies. My ultimate goal is to have specific categories like math, language arts, social studies, science, behavior management, differentiating instruction, common core, parent communication, etc. I realize this will probably take a lot of time, but I know it will end up being a great resource with ideas that came from a trusted source.  Its unfortunate that I didn't have a lot of time to interact and share ideas with other educators, but I will make that one of my long term goals. I am certain that I would be able to use Edutopia's resources as a full time teacher through apps like Pinterest.

Digg, the RSS feed, provided me with a variety of information that I used when I needed a little break. I was able to read interesting stories, that for the most part are not publicized in the mainstream media. From learning about the rise and fall of Groupon to finding out why drinks cost so much to a new water park in North Korea, I felt like I was found out about something new that was happening. I did add Edutopia to my RSS feed, but for some reason I preferred to view it through Pinterest. As for using an RSS feed in the classroom,I can't picture myself using it consistently throughout a school year, but I think it would be a good idea to read some of the articles as a class and build a grade appropriate lesson. I found the National Geographic feed to be very interesting and their pictures to be captivating. I know students would love a lesson built off of an article about Cheetahs of the Serengeti!

Finally, Twitter was another tool used as part of our professional learning network. I must admit I didn't really use it. For the most part, I added celebrities and checked it once in a while. This could be because I didn't have anybody that I knew personally that sent tweets constantly and that I could interact with, but it really didn't serve much of a purpose for me. Twitter could work as a resource for students to use amongst each other in the classroom. For example, the very popular mission projects could be made more interesting by having students ask two classmates questions on their twitter profile that can be answered. In addition, students could retweet information that they found to be interesting. There are many opportunities for the integration of Twitter for the purpose of collaboration among students.


All of the different tools that I was exposed to can have a purpose in my professional development and in the classroom that I will one day teach. I realized that I have to be open to different kinds of tools for the classroom, because there are a lot of good resources that are not part of the day-to-day lessons that students are exposed to, that would really make learning a fun and collaborative process. I also think it would be a good idea to test different tools and see what works best for the subject and group of students that are taught. As for my professional development, I want to make sure that I am constantly learning. Things are constantly changing in the education field, and being informed about lesson implementation, classroom management strategies, and addressing the needs of students with disabilites will be essential. Being a life long learner will be just as much of a job as being an educator.

Journal #6: Self-Reflection

When I started this quarter I felt overwhelmed, very quickly. I can't say that has changed a lot, but I feel like I have the tools I need to end the quarter successfully. Having people that I know taking the same classes has been a great help. We have been able to work together, share ideas, and support each other. I knew about HTML before starting the program, but I didn't know how complex it was. For me personally, it's like learning a third language. Any tag or space in the wrong place can mess up a web page, and then you sit there staring at the markup, until you figure what's wrong or you simply give up for a while. It can be daunting, but the class and book exercises have definitely helped me understand it more. The last classes have focused on CSS, which is used to style a webpage so that it's not just text that you see, but a formatted page with proper spacing, color, and font. After last class' lesson on formatting a web page properly using CSS and HTML, I can say I feel a little bit more confident with the creation of my own web page.

As for this class, the most difficult and rewarding task has been FTP. I was finally able to upload all of my work to my server about two weeks ago, but it was a headache! It was a combination of class lessons, Richard's help (lab assistant), and my own exploration that allowed to finally upload all of the files in an organized format. I had to deal with switching from saving files locally to switching to using my flash drive, which I should have done from the beginning. That was the biggest mess I had to deal with! Trying to FTP my saved local files was very confusing because some files were doubled and I didn't know what to erase and what to keep. When I switched to using my flash drive, I was able to organize my folder with the help of Richard and then I put everything up myself. It took a lot of work to have everything organized and up on the server, but when it happened it was like a weight had been lifter off my shoulders!

Here the link to my server: 512 folders

Journal #5: Twitter

I started up my twitter account about two weeks ago. It was a little bit confusing at first, but slowly I'm learning more as I explore the site. I started following Edutopia, which was my PLN of choice for this quarter. I figure if there were more ways to be exposed to their posts, the better for me. I am also following celebrities and some classmates. I have really tweeted myself, but have retweeted things that others had posted. I have a several followers, some classmates and others in education. I sometimes use it to look at what people have posted, but I am not in there as often as my other social media sites. It could be because I don't have much personal friends on it, like Facebook and Instagram.

As far as using twitter in the classroom, I cannot imagine using it with students, especially in elementary school. Although maybe it wouldn't work with students, I could see how I can use it to communicate with parents. I would only use twitter if parents were users of twitter or had access to it.  I would have a separate twitter account for my class, as I don't like mixing my personal life with professional matters.

Here are some things that I could share with parents on a normal basis:

• sites to support what is being learned
• important articles regarding parenting, behavior, disabilities, etc.
•  student work
• pictures (students doing a project, student work)
• Tips of the day
• Learning for the day
• Standards addressed
• Upcoming Events/Meetings

Journal 4: Project Plan

Project Plan

Site title - Becerra Drywall Repairs

Developer - Karla M. Becerra

Rational or focus - The main objective of this site is to welcome new clients. There will be information regarding estimates and a photo gallery to help attract new clients.

Main features outline - The website include a photo gallery, a client/reference list, contact information, services offered,  and a permanent menu to the left of the pages. 

Content - There will be four individual pages, possibly more, if I decide to provide separate pages for each of the pictures. This is something that I am still considering as there will be a lot of pictures in the site. At the same time, I want clients to be able to see the detailing in each job.

Target audience - Prospective Clients: Contractors, Home Owners, and Developers.

Design considerations. I want the design of the website to be simple and easy to navigate through. Many times I find that websites have too much color or information on one page, so definitely want to keep it simple and inviting.

Limiting factors - It worries me to think about the permanent tab list that I want to create to the left of the browser but I am prepared to work hard to get it on because it would really help with the navigation of the site. Also, I am concerned about the photo gallery, as I plan to add a lot of pictures. I might have to think about adding pictures that are a great example of the quality of the work. I think its going to be about quality and not quantity when it comes to the photo gallery. One way that I can attract possible clients to the website is by adding the URL to business cards that are handed out after job completion. The hard part is going to be attracting customers that have never heard of the company. How will they visit the site? That's definitely something I need to thing about.

Site Map

 

Wireframe

 

Journal #3: Commercial Concerns in the Web

Friesen, N. (2010). Education and the social Web: Connective learning and the commercial imperative. First Monday, 15(12). doi:10.5210/fm.v15i12.3149

Learning is now much different than it was when I was in school. There is much more available online and most look online to find what they needs to know about any topic. How much control does the learner have online, though? Friesen argues that social networking sites provide the online learner with a web of connections to people, information, and advertising, but do not provide the learner with control over their own learning. As a result, the learner is controlled by the ads and information that is organized in a very specific way by social sites.

The article demonstrated how the learner of today's age is surrounded by a variety of different sites that provide them with information that is tailored to their interests. In addition, these sites shape the way learner's become aware of different pieces of information. Also, there is much interaction between the learner and other people, which really changes the process of learning because it is influenced by the thoughts of many other individuals. Friesen explains that sites are full of different advertisements that limit the amount of learning that can occur, which is changing the learners of the web in a negative way.

The business model of the media focuses on one thing, making money. Friesen went into detail of how much money Facebook and Google made as a result of the ads on their site, and its quite something. I see how they get to make that much because I have experienced a great change in ads online. Now, many of the ads that appear in my pages are tailored to the sites and specific products I have looked at. It's almost as if they know my every step and just want to suck money out of my pocket. What I got out of this information is that there is a special relationship that content and ads have on social sites. The information given to the learner is shown and given for free in return for a possible/likely ad click that is specifically tailored to the learner's interests and recent searches.

The article explained how Facebook works in a particular way that allows it to be very successful. Users are constantly shown ways in which they can join/like certain pages. Now more than ever, I'm getting daily invitations to download apps that my friends have. I'm supposedly getting an invite to play with them, but really, these programs got a one time permission from my friends to constantly message their entire friends list. It's quite annoying for me, and I could see how many people will surrender to the requests. This just goes to show how much control social sites and programs have over their users and the very intricate relationship that they hold. It is all about making proper business decisions that will make all affiliates get wealthier. That is why there is not dislike button on Facebook. It just would not make sense for people to dislike certain companies that have a business relationship with Facebook. This option is taken away from users, and thus again, limiting the amount of control that the web learner has.

So how does all of this affect the learner? In my opinion, I think it limits the amount of personal decision the learner can make. The web also allows for much social interaction because of the ease of people connectivity, but then, how much of this affects and shapes the learner's way of thinking and learning. Personally, I think it has a strong impact. Social sites are organized in a way that can really limit the control of the user's learning. 

1) How can the learner have more control in sites like Facebook? Although we are bombarded by ads on a daily basis, we can ultimately choose what we want to like/buy and what we don't. I know we cannot have full control over what appears on our Facebook account, but we have the ability to hide certain things from our view. We also have the ability to unfriend the people that always post things that really disinterest us.  In addition, there are much less ads on the mobile version of Facebook.

2) What is Connectivism? According to Wikipedia, Connectivism is learning theory which based on the influence of the social and cultural context of the learner. It is all in the word, learning is a process of creating connections within our personal social and cultural context.

Journal 2: Affinity Group & Digg Stream

Affinity Group
I joined Edutopia! Here's the link to my profile: Edutopia Profile
I hope to be able to learn more about Common Core and save different resources that I can use when I begin teaching. My goal is to join a couple of active groups in order to be able to communicate with professional in the education field. In addition, maybe I can gain some insight into learning how to land a job:)

Digg Stream
It has been quite an interesting experience with Digg Stream! At first, I found myself playing with how to add different interests of mine, but slowly I'm understand more of how things work. I was able to look at various blogs and websites that were filtered using my interests. I still have yet to find a lot of meaningful elementary education blogs and websites, but I have not given up. Although I haven't been completely successful with finding all that I wanted to find, I have enjoyed looking at fun, weird, and captivating sources of information. I have attached some links to my like Diggs!

• Sandy Hook to be torn down
• Cyclone in India
• Seal evades Great White
• The Roots and Miley Cyrus
• Mexican Drug Cartels-Chicago

I believe that using Digg Stream is one way that you can stay up to date with what is happening around the world. I feel like I can find information that I wouldn't have found out from another source. I like the fact that I can get all kinds of news, and not just news that is happening in the L.A. area, like the television news broadcast. In addition, I feel like these days, information is posted faster on the web than it is reported on television! In some ways, having an RSS stream is useful because I don't have to go to a bunch of different websites to find something that I am interested in reading. Although it has been great to read all kinds of different information, I still have to "shop around" for more websites and blogs that are more tailored to my interests. I guess it takes a little bit of time to figure out the feeds that I enjoy and the ones I dislike. I have been deleting some that have not really been enjoyable or the ones that do not have any posted pieces of information. I downloaded the app on my phone which has been great! I like the fact that when I have chosen a source, it shows how much posts it has, but I wish this appeared before I add it to my feed, as some do not have any! Then I have to go and delete it because there's no use in having it (deleting is quite easy though). Overall, I have enjoyed having it and look forward to adjusting it as the quarter progresses.

1. How can I get more elementary education sources?

I was able to look up education feeds, but I felt like their information was not that tailored to my interests in education. I found the Sandy Hook news through one of the education sources, but that was the only page that I found interesting. There was not anything that was directly related to resources or experiences in the classroom. I was able to find one source that I am not very happy with, help please!

2. How can I check if a source is "dead" (no posts), before I add it to my stream?

If I look for sources by browsing different categories, the turn out is good (no dead blogs/sites). When I search specific topics, its easier to add those dead sources, especially if I use the app on my phone. I haven't figured out how to look at the source. When I click on it automatically gets added to my feed and then I have to see whether it has any posts. I have found somewhat of a solution, using my laptop. If I look at specific categories, I am shown how many posts it has, which prevents me from adding one that is dead.

Journal 1: Chapters 1-3 Getting Started

Robbins, J. (2012). Learning web design : a beginner's guide to HTML, CSS, Javascript, and web graphics. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.

Summary
Web design is broken into four separate categories which are the following: design, development, content strategy, and multimedia. In many cases web design is completed by many people that use their expertise and focus on certain aspects of the development of a web page. I understand the web is very complex, but Robbins went into detail about each aspect of web development, which really helped me see what goes into the creation of a site. As I pursue my goal to be an elementary school teacher, I do not think I will be making any HTML documents for my site, but I will be using some aspects of web design. For example, content strategy creation has to deal with choosing the proper text and pictures for the brand of a site. If I am creating a website for my classroom I would want to make sure that everything that I included as part of the site reflected my "brand" (grade, school district, school mascot, grade appropriate resources, etc.) Since I am new to technology terminology, the first chapter briefly described the terms used in the field, which was quite helpful. I noticed that these terms were used often in the other chapters, so I definitely want to make sure I constantly go back and make sure I have a clear definition of what these are, how they look like, and how they are used. 

Figure 2-5 in Robbins (2012) gave me a clear and detailed picture of how a web page is chosen and then viewed. There is so much more that happens "under the hood" as the author describes, that I was completely unaware of. The most shocking was looking at the HTML files of the text by following the simple directions that were provided withing the reading. By simply clicking on the view tab, then source, the visitor is able to see the HTML file. Viewing the file can be daunting, but one can begin to see the patterns withing this "secret code" like language. Tags (< >) are used to display certain information, links, and pictures that appear on the page that is viewed. These are organized in a very precises manner in order to ensure that the browser is able to interpret them one by one and also so that the pages on the site work as quickly and efficiently as possible for all visitors.

In the present time, there is no certain way of accessing the web. People are using their mobile devices to access web pages, e-mail, etc. on an every day bases. Ten years ago, most people relied on their desktop and laptop to access the internet, but now there are many other devices that have been introduced to the market that are used frequently. The point here is that web design is constantly changing, adapting to the different devices and features that are out there. Progressive enhancement and responsive web design attempt to address this ever-evolving web and devices that are used to access it. For example, in regards to responsive web design, browsers automatically adjust to the type of device that is used to access a certain website. The goal is for the visitor to have a good experience and see what it has to offer with the use of any device. I have noticed this aspect of the web using my smartphone vs. my laptop. Right away, the page is much more direct, with pull down tabs that allow me to find what I need as quickly as possible. This is not the cases for all sites, but I have definitely seen the shift.

Question 1: How is HTML created? 
"HTML Basic." W3 Schools. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct 2013 <http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_basic.asp>.

In chapter 2, Robbins (2012) describes HTML as a text document that directly relates to what is seen by the viewer. The browser that is used interprets each part of a tag. I wanted to research a little bit more about HTML as it is something that seems so complex, and found some additional information. According to the site, there are certain tags that are used to show where specific content is placed on a webpage, such as <h1> for a heading, <p> for paragraphs, and <img for pictures.  I understand there are a lot of different tag types, but it was amazing to learn a couple and be able to practice using them on the site. This was briefly discussed in Robbins (2012), but the site really helped me broaden my understanding of HTML a little bit more. 

Question 2: What is the difference between internet and web?

This might seem like a pretty straightforward answer, but I use them interchangeably every day. Robbins (2012) described the internet as a network of computers and the web as a sharing medium for information. In trying to make sense of these terms, I see the internet as a "spider web" of billions of technology devices sharing information. The world wide web is sort of tool that is used to access the information that is available in the internet.