Course Survey and Evaluation

I have completed the course survey and evaluation.

Internet Safety Assignment

The fifth article that I read was William C. Porter's “I Have a Question” in the Ensign, March 2001, 58–59.

Technology should always be used with a good purpose in mind. When technology is used to simply pass the time, its dangers are more likely to present themselves. The internet should not be a place to simply idle away one’s time. There should be a specific task in mind before you even log on. That is a rule that I as a parent should establish with my children as well. If they want to get online, they should be able to tell me why. Once they have accomplished their task, they should get off. I was already familiar with the idea of having filters and keeping the computer in a public place. As a parent and a teacher, I will advise children and youth to never give personal information online and to never communicate with strangers online. I will advise my children to get my wife or me immediately as soon as anything seems a little off with the computer. I don’t want them to try handling things on their own and accidentally being exposed to something bad. It might also help us to avoid some computer bugs.

I looked at the resources on:
http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/reallife.htm
and
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/view/main.html

I want to make sure that students never get the impression from me that I ever expect them to share any personal information online. For class websites or blogs I will require that students not list their full names, and I will also keep everything password protected. I plan to give students opportunities to incorporate new technology into the classroom as long as they acquaint me with it first.

I spoke with a 23 year-old mother. I had a valuable discussion with her, establishing the need for specific goals when using the internet and the dangers of simply wandering around online. We discussed how requiring children to have a specific purpose for getting online can help keep them safe. We also confirmed the added safety that having the computer in a public place brings. Finally I claimed that children should never communicate in any way with someone who they do not know. We had a very positive discussion, and she was very open to the ideas that I shared. It was a discussion that will be valuable for the future of her children.

Content-specific technology integration project

Idea: My project will address World Language Goal 1: Beginning Standard 1, Objective 7: Ask and answer questions, and Standard 2, Objective 6: Comprehend and respond to simple personal written communication such as notes, invitations, and letters. I am using Google Earth with placemarks in places that played important roles in Mozart's life. Students will go to each of the locations and answer the question(s) that they find there. In the process of getting to know Mozart in German, they will also be writing answers to questions about information about themselves that directly relates to the information they have just read about Mozart. Not only do they get more acquainted with an important historical German-speaking person, but they also practice their ability to describe themselves. They will turn in a paper in which they will have answered all of the questions. Then they will form small groups and pick an influential German-speaking person. Each student in the group will be responsible for gathering information about a specific place that played an important role for their influential person. They will need to put together a brief description of why that place was important in German as well as find an applicabe picture online. These they will submit on the class blog.

Project link: http://germancapps.pbworks.com/f/my%20project.kmz
I would use this activity during a unit on getting to know others. In the process students should learn some important vocabulary and phrases that will help them to ask others about their lives as well as describe their own.

We will use Google Earth as our technology to help connect the class to a place that is geographically distant from the classroom. Students will have to read, respond to and then generate some of their own discourse in the target language while learning about German-speaking culture, stressing their content knowledge. Pedagogically, this project gives small groups a valuable context in which they can feel more connected to places that sometimes seem like random names rather than real places.

Using RSS

This post should have been done a long time ago, but somehow I missed it. It's here now for what it's worth (which may not be much). RSS feeds can keep me up to date with news stories coming out of German-speaking countries, adding to the authenticity and novelty of my class. Rather than spending time hunting down current events, they will simply be there when I sign on, keeping me current and making what we talk about as a class more applicable.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

In some ways I preferred synchronous because it seems like it would keep students' attention better. Students would be more likely to goof off during a recording, causing us to possibly re-record, but there's no going back if you're live. Synchronous would work better for demonstrating actual communication in German with a native speaker. For such activities, synchronous could be very helpful.
Overall, asynchronous seems to offer more benefits for German. As a class, we would have the opportunity to replay difficult speech patterns rather than asking someone to repeat themselves. It would also give me the opportunity to make sure that all video that we as a class might send out will be respectful. I would like to use asynchronous video to communicate with a class in Germany. It would be a big step above having a German penpal. Students would prepare video messages to send to their German peers. This would give them a realistic context for communicating in German.

The Difference Between TPACK and TPK

TPK in German instruction will simply be using technology to help students to learn. This could be anything from having students collaborate using Google docs to using powerpoint presentations to keep students' interest. These activities could be used in almost any other classroom to help students learn while using technology. Collaborating can help students to share what they learn and gives them a way to share it while Google docs give them technology through which they can do it.

TPK only becomes TPACK when it involves an activity that is only applicable to the German classroom. Having students create videos in which they perform a script which they have created, focusing on proper German pronunciation, shows TPACK. It serves a specific purpose in German, it gives the students an opportunity to be creative as they approach German, motivating them to learn, and it utilizes technology to do it.

Synchronous Video Messaging

Asynchronous Video Screen Shot

My experiences with new web tools

It wasn't long ago that I had questions about "embedding." Now I totally love it. I enjoy being able to gather tools that I could use for my class all into one place without using a ton of memory. HTML actually means something to me now. I've embedded videos, maps, calendars, and a google doc. Videos will help me to keep the attention of my students while introducing and/or exploring important themes that we will address in class. I can access videos that are meant to educate on teacher tube. I also learned how to put together a wiki, a place where I can gather everything. The wiki is probably the most important resource so far because it is a place where I can gather and offer access to important materials for class. The diversity of tools that can be connected with a wiki seems to extend into realms of technology that I am still not familiar with. At the same time, the wiki was probably the most difficult tool to use. I had some difficulty getting items to show up on the wiki and it kept causing my internet explorer to randomly shut down after 30 second increments (probably a virus, bug, or other fun-loving technology blip). In any case, the trouble was worth it. Google docs and google maps were nothing new, but google calendars seems to have a lot of possibilities. I feel like a barely touched the surface with the events that I put in the calendar. I didn't use any special functions. Beyond the google apps, I found that it was really easy to put together an online survey that I could use for my class, and skype seems too good to be true, causing me to consider making skype calls rather than phone calls to my family and friends, as well as native Germans who could demonstrate valuable language skills for my students.

Which video is actually mine?

I was really tired when I was completing all of this and I thought I needed to embed others' videos. Once I regained my senses, I realized that only my video was needed. It's the chocolate one.

Chocolate Video

Tag der deutschen Einheit

Berlin Video

Storyboard difficulties

I am in the process of figuring out why I cannot post my scanned files of my storyboard to my blog. I have done the work, but the technology is not cooperating. It states that there is an "internal error."

Storyboard Success

Idea for instructional video

I want to introduce students to some of the vocabulary and phrases used in connection with food through video. This will include tasks like requesting food, expressing food preferences, and becoming familiar with some of the cultural foods of Germany. Pronunciation will be modeled and there will be visual representations of vocabulary and phrases rather than only having verbal and written references. The dialogue of the video will revolve around amazing German food and the skills needed to obtain it. This will address Utah Core Standard 1, Objective 2: Express basic physical needs; Objective 5: Express likes and dislikes; and Objective 7: Ask and answer questions. http://www.uen.org/cc/uen/core/pub/displayCoreCourse.action?ccId=4700

Past technology experience

My experience has been fairly limited. I have used blogs, wikis, and nings for some of my classes. I also use Facebook, but I sometimes struggle to figure out new things. I know how to do many things with excel and word, but there are still many things that I do not know how to do. I have not created my own blog before, and do not keep myself up to date with Facebook on a daily basis. I feel much more comfortable with technology since coming to college. My family is very conservative, including their use of technology. We put off using the internet for far too long. Luckily, college has forced me out of my comfort zone.