Technology, Social Studies Education and Concept Mapping

Technology is becoming a force that must be reckoned with. Not only is it becoming increasingly more difficult to be successful without some sort of technological competence, but technology allows us to create a powerful world bigger and more meaningful than ever before.
Through technology and the use of the internet, we can help our students develop strong academic skills through engaging them in new and exciting ways that stimulates curiosity and increases motivation. If we can use the internet effectively like this, we can increase the ability of our students and their achievement in so many ways. We can approach education in a way that may further facilitate student learning and comprehension, as well as help them develop the skills needed to be good researchers, to formulate well articulated ideas, and to be good writers and speakers.
As social studies teachers, we should always strive to give the least subjective view of history; however, we all know that this is inherently impossible. Having the internet and access to people around the world through effective web skills and networking allows our students to gain access to multitudes of perspectives. This can help them get the most out of their education, and promote the development of "citizens of the world" who find value in being informed; which in turn will hopefully bring about positive change in the world.
We are far from a perfect world where technology is used to its greatest potential and increases student learning and achievement. It does, however, provide a limitless amount of opportunities to enhance the teaching and learning experience.
The biggest thing I think I learned from this class is that technology is much more than I ever thought it was, and can be an extremely powerful tool when used correctly. This doesn't mean bringing technology into the classroom because "that's just what should happen," but because it increases our access to the world and to knowledge in a way like never before. As I read in an article for one of my blogs, "Being disconnected in the Information Age is not like being deprived of a Mercedes or some other luxury. Being disconnected means being disconnected from the economy and democratic debate." Having technology in the classroom is useless if we do not use it wisely and successfully.
Furthermore, I got an understanding of the vast amount of amazing resources that are out there that can help make technology integration into the classroom a meaningful learning endeavor.
If I could make any suggestions for the course, it would be that participation in and contribution to the different internet mediums would be more strictly defined so that there is less room for subjectivity in grading. Other than that, it definitely changed my perceptions of technology in a positive way, and I do feel a lot more prepared and confident in using technology in my classroom.

response to Jeremy

I really like how you mention the fact that access is not enough, I mentioned this too. Computers aren't going to help improve our students' learning experiences unless WE are using them to their full potential as well as teaching our students how to. There are so many amazing things on the internet, but if we aren't trained and our students aren't either, then it becomes a mere luxury that has no substantive purpose.

Bridging the Digital Divide

I think the internet and the world wide web are amazing technologies that allow people to expand their knowledge and connection with the rest of the world to an unprecedented and powerful degree; that is, if it is actually used for this purpose. I believe that having computers in the classrooms is extremely necessary, and that teaching students effective and efficient use of technology and digital literacy is vital for the progress of our society. I have learned so much just from my little blackberry; I am frequently in the position where I want to know something, locate some place, etc. and all I have to do is pull out my phone and look it up. I can say that much of the stuff I look up is trivial, but I am still learning new things, (even if it is just about the birth process of baby kangaroos). My point is, the internet has inspired me and enabled me to learn about whatever I want, and this is an extremely powerful notion. The unfortunate thing is that a lot of people don't use technology to its full potential, even if they have it. From what I have read, the access to computers in the U.S. is exponentially increasing, and I believe that it won't be an issue for too much longer, but this is very contingent on continuance of government and private contributions and funding. Even with access, however, there is still the issues of what Jakob Nielson (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/digital-divide.html) describes as the usability divide and the empowerment divide. It isn't enough for people to be able to afford computers; once people gain access, they don't know how to navigate or search or utilize the technology in a way that will allow them to reach maximum potential. Additionally, many people, even with access, are at low literacy levels that make much of what is on the web incomprehensible to them. What that means is that not only do we have to strive for universal accessibility, but technology education for people of all ages should also be a goal in order to bring credence to the argument that technology and the internet are a valuable and necessary asset to society. In the edutopia source I found, Executive Director of the Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy, Mark Lloyd, comments on this point: "Being disconnected in the Information Age is not like being deprived of a Mercedes or some other luxury. Being disconnected means being disconnected from the economy and democratic debate." Lastly, Nielson's idea of an empowerment divide touches on the notion that people many times don't see the full potential and have not mastered the web in a way that motivates them to use it in better and more powerful ways. He specifically mentions things like participation inequalities- most people don't contribute to the networks they subscribe to very often; they do not know how to effectively and efficiently utilize search engines or understand the concept of "sponsored links;" and they often stick to a default page that came with their computer instead of picking one that better suits their needs. This gets back to being educated in technology. Which leads me to my next point....
What does this mean for me as a teacher? Well, all I can say to begin is that no matter what, I will have to work with what I am given. Ideally, I would love for my students to have access to technology; furthermore, I would love for them to have access to a technology class where they learn the ins and outs. This would make my life easier for several reasons. First, I would being able to use the internet fairly easily for assignments. There is so much information out there; so much one can learn about any particular topic. I don't want to be the only source of information for my students because I recognize the inability for any one person to be completely objective; I don't want my students to have only my perspective, I want them to learn to think for themselves. I believe this is my job as a teacher, and I think the internet can be an extremely helpful tool in accomplishing this task. I think it is more realistic to believe that a school will have more access to technology than individual students, and I would have no problem allotting time in class to internet research.
Having access to technology in my classroom/school will also give me the ability to give projects and assignments that allow students to research their own topics of interest that may stray slightly from the direct subject at hand but still promotes student learning and engagement. For example, I could have students in a government or U.S. history class pick a particular supreme court case that interests them that they must write about, or in a sociology class, have them research and write about a particular social issue that they find interesting (gender, crime, socioeconomic status, etc.). Furthermore, there are a lot of great interactive resources out there that can help our students get more engaged and motivated in learning content material.
If my classroom/school does not have great or sufficient access to technology, I will do what I can to changing that. From researching about the digital divide, I found that there are a lot of organizations and programs that work to alleviate this issue. One website I found, (http://www.ed.gov/Technology/tool_kit.html), gives a "toolkit" to bridging the gap that I found very useful. It talks about what teachers can do in their schools; some of the things included are gathering information about what is needed, and what is out there that can help; building a coalition of people to support the cause; setting goals to be accomplished; planning; and grant writing. From what I understand, sometimes teachers can rally up enough support to get a grant for technology in their classroom- this is what both the teachers I worked with in my practicums did.
If my students just simply don't have access to technology and the internet, I myself will still be using it as an asset in my teaching. It allows me to connect with teachers around the world, gain useful ideas for lesson planning and infinite amounts of resources to provide a thorough and meaningful learning experience for my students. I will not hesitate to provide printed copies of internet sources I have acquired for my students (copyright laws willing of course).


Resources

http://www.edutopia.org/digital-divide-where-we-are-today


http://www.useit.com/alertbox/digital-divide.html
affordability getting better, but usability and empowerment are low.

http://news.cnet.com/2010-1071-858537.html

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/fttn99/contents.html

http://www.ed.gov/Technology/tool_kit.html

Service Learning- Meeting the Needs of your Community

Title: Meeting the Needs of your Community
Area of service: civic responsibility
Grade level: high school
Subject area: Civics/government
Unit Description: This unit is designed to get students involved in researching and understanding public needs, specifically in their own community, and to instill in them civic responsibility by having them create their own organization that meets a particular need they identified.
The students will have already been given a lesson in digital literacy, and how to effectively research on the internet.
The students will pick their own group members to work with on this assignment. They will create a portfolio of all of the information they gather throughout the project. Their first task to do research on the following items: the public needs of their community- this means using the internet, as well as going out into the community (churches, stores, events, etc.) and asking various types of people what they believe are issues of concern in their community, what they think can be done, etc. They can do this by oral interview (with notes on every person they talk to), survey, or whatever else they deem necessary. Each student will be required to talk to at least 30 people outside of school, and will be encouraged to gather information from people of varying age, ethnicity, etc. They will also have a time frame in which this must be done.
They will reconvene in class to discuss the issues they uncovered, and will decide one issue they will focus the rest of their project on- this can be homelessness, employment, education, housing, etc.
They will then do more research on their particular issue-general information, and information on it specific to their community- news articles, websites and organizations, etc. dedicated to the issue.
Once they are well rehearsed on their issue, they will do further research on creating a non-profit organization and will create one of their own that does something to alleviate the problem- ex., starting up an organization that brings prom dresses to disadvantages young girls for free or at a discounted price; also, something like creating pamphlets to make the public aware of the issue that could realistically bring about change.
They will identify structures and responsibilities needed to successfully carry out the goals of their organization.
At the same time they will need to establish networks (and hopefully collaborations) with already existing organizations in the community that coincide (at least somewhat) with the objectives of their organization- essentially, they should strive to team up with another organization(s) in efforts to serve the public more efficiently. This will also entail that they provide at least one person and their contact information that they have spoken with- example, president/coordinator of an organization. I have no doubt that these people will be completely willing to help out; after all, that is what they do! (I might also get in contact with many of different organizations prior to assigning this project to assess their willingness to contribute and collaborate). One or 2 students in the group can be responsible for taking on this task, and part of their assignment in networking with these people is to gather information on how that particular group/org is organized and how it's goals are carried out. This will create a mentor type relationship that can help the students better establish their own organization. They will have to take notes/write a summary of their interaction with this contact that will be included in their portfolio.
They must also provide ways in which they expect to raise money for their organization.
Next, or simultaneously, they will be required to make a website for their organization. It must include a mission statement, services offered, staff, volunteer opportunities, events, donation opportunities, contact information, and personal anecdotes/accounts related to the organization and/or their goals; example of the latter would be personal quotes from the people they surveyed/interviewed, or their own personal reasons as to why they picked this particular issue. They must also, with permission, provide a link to their collaborating organization's website if possible.
Because of the general logistics and issues of money, time, etc. they will not be required to actually implement their organization, but will be required to do at least 5 community service hours at their collaborating organization. Any group that is capable of doing so, however, may earn extra credit.
Lastly, they will present their organization to the rest of the class, who will come up with and turn in a constructive critique of each group's presentation- ex. strengths and possible suggestions for improvements. This will also be part of a class discussion about the project that will take place at the closing of the unit.
This unit plan will probably take several weeks, and there will be assigned days in which students will be able to work on it in class, but will also be required, for obvious reasons, to spend time outside of class. The students will be given the directions and requirements of the assignment in its entirety at the very beginning, and may break up the work load in anyway they see fit. The teacher will give guidance and support whenever needed.
This project is designed to accomplish several objectives: to hone internet research skills; bring awareness to the students about public issues, needs, and civic responsibility; to instill in students their ability to make a difference; to further develop critical thinking, decision making and interpersonal/group collaboration/cooperation skills as well as organizational and leadership skills.
The students will be evaluated on their group portfolio that contains all the resources they used in gathering information, the surveys they conducted and/or the notes they took from interviewing people, the contacts they established, and their critiques of the other groups' presentations. Their resources will be evaluated on their reliability, and each student must include an account of the 30 people they talked to. The latter as well as the critiques will be assessed based on completion. The portfolio will also include a document containing the details of their organization, which will be evaluated in its organizational structure, accuracy of information and a realistic application of the information they researched and compiled. They will also fill out a group evaluation form of the members in their individual groups.
This project requires extensive proper use of the internet and well developed literacy in technology in order to be a meaningful and useful assignment. Also, it creates the ability for students to use technology as a way to network within their community and beyond.
I think, if done well, it could be an extremely awesome service learning project.


Standards: Civics and Government 9-12
SS.912.C.2.2: Evaluate the importance of political participation and civic participation.
SS.912.C.2.3: Experience the responsibilities of citizens at the local, state, or federal levels.
SS.912.C.2.5: Conduct a service project to further the public good.
SS.912.C.2.8: Analyze the impact of citizen participation as a means of achieving political and social change.

Standards: NETS
1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship

Some resources used/considered in coming up with this lesson plan:
http://www.stfrancishousegnv.org/
http://managementhelp.org/strt_org/strt_np/strt_np.htm
http://www.texastoolbox.info/needs.htm

Teacher Leadership

From what I understand, there is a wide variety of ways in which a teacher leader can be defined; from the very formal, comprehensive and/or broad level in which they have specific titles and tasks, to the idea that each teacher should be considered a leader. Also, the way in which a teacher leader is defined by various school districts can differ greatly.

"The Way to Find a Teacher Leader-Just Ask"
What I liked about this website is that the author talks about not just "higher level" people in the education system that presume the roles and duties specific to administration, but rather promotes the idea that every teacher should be considered a leader and should constantly strive to enact the best practices and get involved in transforming the educational experience through various mechanisms.
The author lists several programs that were designed to promote teacher leadership in several different ways. For example, the Sparks program is one that recognizes qualities in a fairly new teacher that shows promise of leadership capability, and specially train these people to realize this potential.
Also, it talks about National Board certification, and how this can help teachers feel more comfortable in taking up more leadership responsibilities. They define the expectation of leadership as "judged by the quality of evidence the teacher provides of having mentored other teachers; shared new knowledge with others; participated in or led curriculum work teams, assessment committees, or site based decision making teams; engaged in professional organizations, policy making efforts, or conference presentations." Essentially, by getting involved in the process of improving education and learning in schools.


http://www.newhorizons.org/trans/raichle.htm

Evelyn Cortez-Ford archive
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/columnists/cortez-ford/index.shtml

I really liked this woman's website because not only does she do a thorough job at talking about teacher leadership, but provides several different resources that include lesson planning, professional development, technology integration, school issues, etc.
What I found most intriguing about her ideas was the fact that she mentions the hierarchical structures that are often in place in school that create a barrier to successful implementation to teacher leadership. Additionally, she talks about treating teachers professionally, having their opinions and ideas matter, as well as giving them opportunities to develop their leadership skills. Finally, I found it particularly useful when she mentions teacher leadership being a collaboration that needs to include the input of all teachers, especially so as to not reinforce a system of hierarchy.

If we were to make it mandatory for every teacher to take leadership training and to participate in some sort of leadership activity, do you think that this could create teachers who hold themselves to higher standards and thus become more effective teachers?

The Age of the Networked Student

Education, I believe, is on its way to finally changing. As we learn more and more about teaching in a way that allows students to construct their own knowledge, using the idea of the networked student I think fits perfectly into this frame; granted that it is used properly. I may not be the most technologically literate person, but I get better, and I know that my students will most likely be better off than me.
The idea that the students can use the internet to pick a topic of interest (within reason) and take it so far as to get professionals from around the world to personally contribute to their learning is so profound and makes the learning process to much more meaningful that I would sacrifice control in my class to accomplish this. I believe that when we allow our students to take an interest in something that means something to them, then they can find the value in learning so much more and on such a higher level.
The internet allows us to connect to so many people, so many different perspectives, that we are not just trying to make good American citizens, but aware citizens of the world- I cannot see an endeavor being more worth it. Whether its talking to someone in a different part of our country, or someone half way across the world, there is much to learn from connecting with these people. I can't believe how much potential there is out there!
This would not be worth it if we didn't have some sort of supervision/guidance, at least part of the time, in doing this and being taught proper digital literacy (everything we have been taught in this class). I can totally see myself participating in this kind of learning for every reason I mentioned above.
I found this website called Support Blogging! and it connects a lot of different educational blogs to each other, and I think this is really cool. Its got blogs from teachers, administrators, students, classes as a whole.. I think it is really cool that there is a website that makes networking a little easier.
http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers

Do you guys think that there are things that could happen that could hurt our students, possibly emotionally? I could see being networked with some people as potentially damaging if they dont network with people who are mature or respectful.

Service Learning Projects

(I copied from Liz J up to Allison's project)

Chance: Civil participation – movie to serve as a public service announcement over some controversial topic, create wiki and/or petition, contact government official through letter

Zahra: Voting rights – students research minorities and their progression towards voting rights, choose a topic pertaining to this (ie. Key figure in women’s suffrage) and work in small groups to create a online voting rights museum, info should include photos, primary documents, interviews with local people, Skype lessons to younger students

Michael: Oral history – interview people in retirement home, record interviews and create digital storytelling presentation, add sounds and images, upload to youtube

Adam: Voter registration – Students create resources to motivate people to vote or inform on the issues, pre-register voters, inform the school/students on issue, try to get on local news or community event with booths and information

Meg W: Human trafficking – learn about Reconstruction amendments, inform students on current human trafficking, current legislation, use any form of digital media to present research information, overall goal is to do a letter writing campaign to Congress

Jennifer: Military letter writing – Students create wiki for different military personnel, allow military to communicate in return, helps build relationship for those who don’t receive many letters

Josh: Veterans – research war, interview a veteran about war, create podcast, blog about research and experience with Veteran, share with vet, 2 or 3 more blogs, then compile all together

Jeremy: Drug war awareness – media sends mixed messages on drugs, research war on drugs and legislation and incarceration rate, create wiki, write representatives on a topic relevant to them involving the drug war

Megan G: Military contact – support a soldier, work through school and community to get donations to send to military troops, have a specific pen pal with soldiers from the community, write and film video monthly, also send care packages

Elizabeth H: Operation Christmas Child – research a variety of cultures on their ‘holiday’, help the less fortunate, volunteers at centers and interview volunteers, students then blog about research and experiences

Eric: Elderly/psyc – students visit local retirement home, have people complete questionnaire on happiness, teach residents how to use email and instant messaging in order to communicate with family, give them a questionnaire a month later, write paper discussing problems of home and the difference in their data

Mallory: Habitat for Humanity – Pair up with Habitat and determine costs in building homes, research cost effective methods of building, create wiki on information, interview families that have received homes

Louisa: Elderly – Oral history, nursing homes; interview residents about life at that age, create video podcast, compare and contrast worries, experiences, etc with their own, then have a ‘viewing party’

Mark: Active political participation – Choose local, state, or federal government official and create a short bibliographical sketch, try to contact the individual, create a wiki for each individual, interview person in the community, use knowledge gained from step 1 to lobby for the needs they discovered through their interviews, expose students to political progress

Jeff: Environment – students do thorough clean up local park, learn of human impact on environment, learn ways to help keep places clean and lessen human impact, blog each day with pictures, create video on environmental cleanliness

Katy: Civic responsibility – students look how historical events affect people’s lives personally, reflect on one historical event that has occurred during their life, interview residents at a nursing home on an even that occurred during their life, create a video that compares the events and each person’s personal experience

Megan P: Media and voting – research voter trends and elections, visit retirement home, interview residents about past experiences with elections and voting and media, create podcasts, show residents final product, write thank you letter to the residents about the things they’ve learned

Brittany: increasing voter turnout – lecture of voter trends (young people), generate survey with self-created questions, each student sends a certain number of questionnaires out, present data to class and how they reacted to the information, will raise awareness of election issues

Nicole: Voting – students learn about voting and campaigning, during election students create own campaign, use google motion to look at past trends, use wiki blog or podcast to present information and reach a certain demographic

Angie: Individual Rights – analyzing (Declaration of Independence, Supreme Court cases, Bill of Rights, etc.) primary documents and current events, students select a topic pertaining to individual rights, research topic past and present, put info into class wiki, organize a “get it right” fair, during school day and outside for community, students create a presentation

Trisha: Pen pal – at-risk students have pen pals with students in Japan, compare related topics being taught (War war II), contact through letters, emails, video podcasts, create a showcase for the school, also create a wiki for all the content

Allison:

Perceptions of muslim-americans after 9/11

NYtimes- A Day of Terror and other articles

tradebook- ask me no questions- experience of a 14 yr old girl

US Patriot Act

project- create a class questionnaire and interview people in their community- their relationships/perceptions with muslim americans, their knowledge and opinions of the Patriot Act, and reactions to 9/11.

Students create wikis about the Patriot Act incorporating primary resources that are their interviews.

Carrie W:

"Your community through the ages"

unit on the Cold War- students pick someone who lived through this time, or a mural or landmark that was erected during this time and do research on it

They create an article based on the info they gathered

A wiki is created with all of their work.

Invite other classes and community to add to the wiki

Working with local newspaper so that articles can be published to bring awareness to the community.

Griselda:

Students study history/geography of Haiti and network with a school from Haiti

They will discuss issues on tuition, transportation, etc. to diminish stereotypes they may have.

there will be a class website that tells what they have learned

podcast that tells community and school what they have learned.

They will collect funds, etc. to help students in Haiti.

Glogster

Blogs and Cell Phones in Nazi Germany

What people seem to forget when they think about Nazi Germany is how desperately hopeless the Germans felt during this time period. From the treaty of Versailles with its enormous reparations demanded of Germany as well as the depression that was hitting the entire world, the German people began looking for someone whose promises led them to a better place.

1932. Blog Post. The Nazi Party.

"It good to know someone is finally trying to do something for us. Enough of this capitalism; the crash of last year clearly shows its failures. Us Germans need someone to stick up for us and our country [rise of nationalist sentiment]. Enough with communism, it isn't doing nothing for us pure-blood hard working Germans. The Nazi party promises an elimination of unemployment- this is what we need. But we can't do it with all these Jews and others invading our homeland. Something must be done. "

Hitler's power grew stronger and stronger from this point. He wiped out all who went against him, took control of the armies, and created a centralized government. In the following years, millions of Germans were killed or imprisoned due to political reasons.

1937. Blog Post.
"My neighbors just up and disappeared. We hear it was because they didn't support the Fuhrer. Almost all the Jews that had businesses around here are gone. The Gestapo is everywhere. I am all about the new regime, but I am a little scared as to how far they are taking things. I see people being taken all of the time, and they never return. They were good people, too. The other day, I heard my cousin say that someone was shot in the street. Good thing this is anonymous, because just what I have said so far might land me in the same place they are. Hail Hitler!"

As the concentration camps get fuller and fuller, the soldiers with phones, and not necessarily supportive of what they are doing, are able to take pictures of the atrocities they witness (before they are killed, I suppose.) Nonetheless, they are able to capture the trains and trucks filled to the brim with "non-aryans" and those who committed treason; those who burn bodies and throw babies in the air for some "fun" skeet shooting. I am sure, however, that once sent, these soldiers send their pictures that they would undoubtedly be killed if discovered.

1940.Blog Post. Soldier.
"I can't take this anymore. I believed all of his promises, I pledged my allegiance, but this? We are ruthlessly killing men, women, and children. Babies! Babies being burned in ditches. Bodies piled up behind the camp by the hundreds. Just rotting there- too many to go into the crematorium yet. If I resist, I will be right there with them. My family, too. The amount of people I have seen ruthlessly shot in the head, among other things. People who were once my friends have gone mad by this behavior and have become sick killing machines. The people I once knew are no longer in these bodies. I have had to do horrible things too, but I have never liked it like some of these soldiers seem to. I hope that I can stay strong until this is over. But I feel that I am slipping... I can't take the violence, the brutality any longer. I must go now, people are coming.. "

If I were to think about this event happening with the use of phones and blogs, etc., I would like to believe that the rest of the world would have known what was going on sooner, and therefore capable of stepping in earlier, or at least the countries who were invaded would have been able to better arm themselves. However, if the common man had these technologies, that would mean that the Nazi Party would probably have them too, only better.

How would you think the Nazi Party would have combated the public's use of technology?

Learning About Ourselves in a Whole New Way

I found this video to be absolutely amazing.

We, as in grad students, are still young. Most of us are still probably trying to find ourselves in one way or another. Who we are, who we want to be, how we want to present ourselves to the world, how we want to be towards others. These are important questions to ask ourselves in order to mature into better human beings; of course, as long as we try to take an honest and fairly selfless approach.
I think the main reason youtube was the main medium discussed in this video was because of the idea of identity and recognition. Young people, and all people for that matter I suppose, are feeling like the spotlight is where they will be special. At the same time though, youtube provides this atmosphere where a person can "unload" or speak their minds in a way they might not ever in a face to face situation. This is, as he said, a way to become more self aware and more self consciousness on the questions I brought up earlier. In addition, they are able to go back and evaluate themselves in a way they never had before, and this has profound implications.

I find the search for the self in context of the whole an extremely important endeavor that every person should attempt to do. On top of that, I cannot separate the search for self and identity, the quest for meaning in life to promote better understanding and thus a facilitation in the search for self and identity, to be at all incongruent with my job as a social studies teacher.
I used social studies at first as a way to understand how and why people act the way they do in order to understand myself better. As I studied more, I developed a feeling of obligation to do something, to play a part in the betterment of society; to be a good person and a good citizen.
I want to instill these very same things in my students. At the beginning of the semester, I began to feel that having a blog would be a great way to promote honest answers and discussion to alleviate the pressure and anxiety many students feel with class discussion. I hope that through time, my students will be better versed in stating their opinions well and respectfully, and through writing may gain a sense of flow and confidence that can transfer into the classroom. I saw technology as a useful means before, but I am definitely more adamant about wanting to implement it in creative ways I hadn't thought of before.

Going back to my first discussion on the issues of self and our relations with others in the context of social networking, I wanted to give a few examples of myself to illustrate the point, and to show why this video really had such a huge impact on me.
First and most basic, it has allowed me to stay in touch and regain touch with people that are far away; this is really important to me because family is really important to me, and things like webcam and facebook and camera phones allow me to really stay close to them. In addition to that, it has made the processes of reconciling with someone easier. My little sister and I haven't really talked for months because of a particular life choice she made, and this has been really hard on the both of us in light of the fact that our mother passed away last February. We should have been supporting each other, but we didn't until very recently. She signed up for facebook, and it has allowed us to slowly begin to have conversation again without having to rush into uncomfortable and superficial chats on the phone. It has essentially allowed me to show her I love and care for her, but that I am still not condoning her actions.
In relation to finding our identities, I must say that I have often been uncomfortable in my own skin, contemplating simultaneously how I was presenting myself, whether it was an accurate representation, and whether I wanted to continue being and presenting myself as such. This is borderline obsessive, I know, but my point comes down to this: facebook has allowed me to embrace myself as a unique individual more than I ever have. My biggest example is that I post very personal poems that I write that often show a darker side of me that many people don't really see in person. This in consequence, has allowed me to be more accepting of myself, more comfortable with myself around others, and has allowed me to be even more genuine and show more sides of myself than I have before. Lastly, it has allowed me to be more forgiving when I mess up, because I have come to embrace the fact that none of us are perfect and we all make mistakes; we just have to learn from them and move on.

If I can show my students even just a glimpse of the positive potentials of social networking, I will be a very happy person.

Would anyone like to share a way that social networking has influenced their sense of self and identity?
If we think about this personally and perhaps share it with our students, I believe it can have a positive impact on our students perceptions of social networking and the ways in which it influences who we are, who we want to be, and how we get there.

iTunes U- Identity

As someone interested in both psychology and sociology, I wanted to put something together that evoked ideas of identity from an integration of both perspectives. Not only do I think these podcasts are great for student reflection on life and who they are as an individual and the beliefs that they hold, but it will give them a sense of social and psychological discourse that could possibly help them in future readings on these subjects.

One of the podcasts I chose was an introduction to a class on social psychology where they talk about the idea of individual-society dualism. This means that often times these two things are separated as being isolated variables without effect on each other. However, as the women in this podcast argue, social-psychology tries to do the opposite and show that the two are intrinsically linked. I think this is great for getting students to think about the fact that they are not just one person, effected by isolated events but are participants in a much larger context, where we have a give and take relationship that cannot avoid influencing who we are and who we become. Students need to realize there is a big world out there, and should begin to think about how they fit in it.
file:///C:/Users/Lexi/AppData/Local/Temp/Individual-Society%20Dualism.url


I also wanted to include ideas on gender. This particular podcast is an interview with a genetically female woman who was raised as a boy due to the fact that she had a rare condition that demonstrated physically ambiguous genitalia that doctors mistakenly identified as male. While this particular condition happens in 1 in about 4,000 births (which is not that small of a number when you think about it) similar issues of ambiguous genitalia occur in about 1 in every 2,000 births. Many of these people are faced with gender identity crises that are only exacerbated by family and society ignorance and nonacceptance. Students must realize that things are not just black and white, so we should never judge someone who may be different from what we consider normal. I think this podcast will also be helpful in getting kids to think about how their gender identity is constructed.
file:///C:/Users/Lexi/AppData/Local/Temp/Nature%20or%20nurture_.url

This next podcast expands on the woman talked about in the previous one, and how this relates to nature vs. nurture. It is a great argument that all of us at some point contemplate.
file:///C:/Users/Lexi/AppData/Local/Temp/Nature%20or%20nurture_%201.url

I also included a podcast that talks about the dynamics of families today, and how they have changed over the years. They explain that this change may not necessarily be bad, but in fact is a change that is responding appropriately to the change of times. It is good to get students to think about the structure of their family and other families, and how this affects who they are.
file:///C:/Users/Lexi/AppData/Local/Temp/The%20Role%20of%20Family%20and%20Social%20Change.url

I included a podcast that address what consciousness is and gives a brief introduction to the concept. I think this is good for students to understand the idea of "thinking about thinking" and the role that consciousness plays in our lives and how it manifests itself through our actions. I belief that having a better understanding of this may get students to think more deeply about their own actions and thoughts.
file:///C:/Users/Lexi/AppData/Local/Temp/What%20is%20consciousness_.url

The last podcast I added comes from a more biological viewpoint, and it makes a differentiation between the way males and females react towards stress in the context of terrorism and war. It ties this into the general idea of risk taking, which is a common and popular topic among youths. The fact that it uses the concept of terrorism to explain this is a more innovative and "world issue" incorporating way of talking about this topic.

file:///C:/Users/Lexi/AppData/Local/Temp/Emotion%20&%20Decision%20Making%201.url


Because the podcasts are on very different topics, it would be interesting to see how the students synthesize the information from their own interpretation of what they listened to. When reading, I would expect them to jot down main ideas and initial reactions. After that, I would like to see them in small groups discussing what they thought about what they heard and give them some questions to think about. On their own, I would then have them do a reflection paper, I just haven't decided what the focus will be (or if I would even have a specific focus or just give them free reign).

Service Learning- Landlord/Tenant Rights

Brief Description:
When studying the rights and obligations of living in a democracy, students will examine the rights and obligations of property ownership. They will research the state and local ordinances involving landlord and tenant rights and prepare a pamphlet for students to take home to their parents. Students will prepare a brief presentation to give to other classes and hand out the pamphlets at the end of the presentation. Pamphlets will be translated into more than one language depending on the home language of the students at the school. Pamphlets will include the names and phone numbers of pubic officials and governmental agencies one can turn to when faced with a landlord/tenant dispute.

**As college students, this is oftentimes an issue we know all too well. However, it is important for all of us to know this issue because I am pretty sure that most people are renters, at least in some point of their life. Not only that, but this is a great project to get students prepared for the college life that is just around the corner. This is an issue that affects a whole lot of people, so it is good that they understand that not only do they have rights, but the idea of rights is applied directly and relevantly to their lives.

Having to create a pamphlet is a great way to get students to critically think about what should be included, how it should be set up, and how the pamphlet should be presented to the class. I would assume that after working out in "the field" that they would have a better understanding of the answers to these issues.

They also have a chance to understand the way that certain governmental agencies are set up by having to research their local city ordinances and such.

The students are required to research the most common issues that exist between tenants and landlords, and look up the laws that support them. Once they have created their pamphlet, they have to write an essay about how they and/or their family have benefited from the information given. I think this is a great next step in solidifying the meaningful project that they just created.

This project hones skills in research, rights and responsibilities, as well as oral and written language from having to present and write a reflection.

It is a powerful thing to be in control of your circumstances by not allowing yourself to be manipulated because of a lack of knowledge.

http://www.servicelearning.org/slice/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=271

Constructive Learning, WebQuests, and Technology: A deeper understanding of content

Article Review

"Web-based inquiry learning: Facilitating thoughtful literacy with WebQuests."
- Chinwe H. Ikpeze and Fenice B. Boyd


I originally picked this article so that I could learn more about webquests since it is what Brittany and I have to present to the class. After reading it, I came to see that it had a lot of different points of interest that I found extremely useful to learn about. WebQuests take an interdisciplinary approach to learning, as well as making students in charge of their learning processes by tapping into their own interests and having them construct their own knowledge.
The researchers included several components into the WebQuest learning, including such things as scaffolding, teaching web literacy, fostering critical thinking, collaborative group work/role-playing, incorporating different genres to make learning the subject a deeper endeavor, and partaking in interactive games.
I think a lot of different subjects could be great in the context of WebQuests. Because I love the subject of psychology, I will use that as an example. The web can be used to teach students about different parts of the brain and their functions, for example, as well as how that effects the way we think, feel and act. Students can have access to interactive models of the brain to give them a visual component. Because the researchers talked a lot about role-playing and collaborative effort, I could see having the students assign themselves as certain parts of the brain, and work together to act out how they are all connected, and how they affect one another. This would take extensive research on the different functions of the brain, but might be a very challenging task worth trying. Critical thinking can be employed by relating this to real life application, asking the students to give examples of how certain processes play out in our lives. Also, the researchers incorporated poetry into the learning of environmental protection, and I think that this could be a good way to get kids to think about how our brain processes affect how we feel on an everyday basis (ex. serotonin makes us happy, among other things) while they may not have to include particular psychological jargon, our everyday lives are nonetheless embedded in psychological principles, and writing poetry about how they feel, think and/or act can be a valuable tool in helping them to understand the importance of understanding psychology.
This is a very basic topic in psychology, and there are many other topics to be explored (memory, psychological disorders, sleep, etc.) and I believe that WebQuests can be an extremely powerful tool; however, as the authors of the article suggest, there must be carefully planned out WebQuests in order to make them powerful and meaningful in the context of student learning.


While employing so many techniques for one topic, and over a period of 10 weeks is not logical or even possible in normal school environment, I believe that all of the techniques can be employed over a school year, using some of the techniques for certain things, and others for other things, and using them at our own discretion to make the learning process deeper and more relevant to life.

What are the possible drawbacks to this type of learning (besides what the authors brought up about distraction, information overload, and navigational disorientation); more specifically, do you think there are certain subjects/topics where this technique would be less effective or even counter-productive?
How would you suggest we deal with the issues of distraction, info overload and navigational disorientation?

Involving students in constructive learning processes

After some time searching social studies blogs and wikis by students, I came across one I particularly liked (http://woodward8.wikispaces.com/).

It is a page created by a teacher and his 8th grade class on U.S. history. He assigned everyone particular topics and they were responsible for coming up with the information about each particular topic, and were assigned to post the information they researched onto the blog that he created. While I was not able to peruse the whole blog without joining (it was protected) I found the idea very fascinating. It seems that making students responsible for essentially what they learn about every topic, they have the potential to take a more active and interested approach to their learning because they are (to an extent) in charge of what they learn.
I think this is very similar to when teachers make students teach the class a lesson. While this may not always be effective if not done properly, I think it can stand to have some credibility. Students are going to be invested in the opinions of their peers, and if they don't seem knowledgeable or competent in the assignment they are to present in front of the class, this could have adverse effects. Consequently, they may be more invested in doing a higher quality job.
Getting back to the blog- as we read in the book, techniques like this can often create a meaningful learning environment for students for the fact that they are the producers of knowledge, given to the world at large. This may make many feel more valuable and feel more of an obligation to produce quality work as well.

A blog that I came by, http://aupushistory.blogspot.com/, is a blog for an AP history class, and is mostly managed by the teacher. However, I liked it because he makes the website engaging, and the students have to answer questions. He used videos, pictures, and thoughtful questions to enage his students in the blog, and I think he did a pretty good job. He also had assignment updates on the side as well as important links he thought uselful to the students.

I found a website called The Education Podcast Network (epnweb.org) that has podcasts from teachers and students from all around the world contributing to it. The students are of all different ages and the teachers come from every subject. The authors of the website state, "

We are a multicast society of speakers and listeners, listeners and speakers, teaching and learning in a life and time of change. " I think this is so great because not only is a class connected, but a whole bunch of classes and teachers which gives us the chance to experience and receive insight from a much more diverse group of people.

WhyTechnology Should be Integrated into the Classroom

Blog Assignment: Why should technology be integrated into social studies classrooms? How has the learning from our first session influenced your answer? Please support your views with content from the readings.


Even growing up somewhat in the digital age, I know I am still not as computer saavy as those in the generations below me. We didn't get cell phones or lap tops or all of these hand held games as early as kids do now, and it makes a difference.
At the end of the first class, I felt extremely overwhelmed with all of the different mediums we were introduced to at once, not to mention working with a mac for the first time in my life. Regardless of my comfort level with technology, however, (which isn't too bad), it is undeniable and inevitable the exponentially increasing impact technology has in our society. We are taught as future teachers to try to reach students through the idea of prior knowledge, and making education relevant to their lives. With this in mind, it would almost be silly not to add the one thing they probably spend most of their time with-technology. This fact is only going to become more true as time passes. And as I get older, if I don't stay in touch with technology, I will be somewhat alienated from my future students.
The book talked about critical thinking and technology in the first chapter. I do believe that technology can be a powerful tool in helping students to learn social studies, whether its through primary document analysis or feeling more comfortable with expressing themselves, and the latter is a particular point of interest for me. While I have never had many problems with speaking in front of others, I know a lot of people with great ideas flowing through their heads do. This is just one way the internet can be useful. As a social studies teacher, we want our students to think for themselves, form their own opinions, etc. Setting up an online community has the possibilities of learning more about our students and what they think, because it takes pressure off of them that they may feel in face-to-face discussion, or whatever their issue may be, and helps them to escape their own little bubble once in a while and privileges us with their ideas and thoughts, and may in turn motivate them to do better.
The chapters were relatively easy to read (except the concept of RSS is still a little iffy for me), and I know that learning as much as I can about how the internet and technology in general works is an important tool for my job as a teacher. I look forward to learning more about it, because I feel like it is one more thing that will better equip me for my future career, and to help me better connect with my students.