Blog #10

 

Working on assignment five, I brushed up on some old skills while also gaining some new ones. I have not used Power Point in a long time so it was a but unfamiliar going back to it, however I picked back up on the making of slides and animations pretty quickly. However, I had no idea how to do a recording of the slides or a voice over with the video. I don't really enjoy recording myself but it was interesting to learn with powerpoint. Next time, I'll play around more with scripts and organizational methods for the resources on the slides.

Data collection tools can be very helpful to all types of careers. I hope to have a writing career in the future so with this in mind, data collection tools can be used for more audience-catered content. With the answers given to me by the target audience, themselves, companies can produce better content that it more suited to their viewers and their preferences. These data results could also be used to improve more empirical based content, so that credibility and research are improved.

A technology related skill I would like to learn would be to fully understand and utilize google spread sheets. A goal for this skill could be to be able to create my own spreadsheet from my collected data within a week or two. I will accomplish this goal by playing around on google sheets for a couple days to explore its functions and tools. After this, I will get to inserting my own data and see what roadblocks or challenges come my way, working those out. 

Blog #9

 

My experience with distance learning in k-12 education was mostly attributed to COVID as most people's are. During middle school, I had to switch to fully online and utilize services such as zoom and pre-recorded lessons posted on canvas. For me, both of these methods were not the best methods for learning but also not the worst. Some classes, such as English, did not require deeper learning for me. However, math classes became difficult as I was not able to focus as much as I needed to. I have never had to use Google Classroom but I am curious how it works in teaching a full class.

Open educational resources are resources that are free to access as well as adapt and share. They can be used in many ways such as teaching, learning, and through research. Examples of these resources include full online courses, textbooks, assessment tools, etc. What's great about them is that they are released under licenses that grant permissions for reuse, adaption and redistribution.

https://www.oerproject.com/blog: This resource is an example of an OER, where teachers post online lessons. 

I did not really know how to use the recording feature in Power Point before so it was a bit of a learning curve to become accustomed to in for the project. I didn't enjoy having to record myself speak, simply because I am a bit uncomfortable with having to record myself for projects and other things but it was nice to see how it could be done in a teaching atmosphere on Power Point. For next time, I can write notes on the recording so I can provide a more coherent lesson that includes more than what is written on the slides. In my project recording, I sound a bit awkward and unprepared so a better roadmap will benefit me greatly.

Blog #8

 

I really enjoyed designing the website as I had never done so before and have always wanted to be able to personalize something like this. As I made the website I used design principles such as making sure the coloring of the text did not blend in with the background and that everything was evenly spaced so it did not look odd in comparison with the rest of the webpage. In the future, I can use these skills to create a real website for when I decide to enter the professional world via a portfolio.

Personally I have encountered QR codes in classrooms I attended and have found them to be pretty useful. Teachers have used them to create more interactive adventures or to bring us directly to pages that might have taken some navigating to arrive at. In my own classroom, I might use these codes for similar purposes. This can be through certain interactive educational adventures that I created, similar to the website design.

Scenario:
Mr. Thompson teaches 11th-grade English and has recently integrated digital writing tools into his classroom to help students draft and revise essays. One of these tools includes an AI-powered writing assistant that can generate paragraphs, rewrite text, and suggest stylistic improvements.

For a major assignment, students must write an analytical essay on The Great Gatsby. Mr. Thompson reminds the class that the essay should reflect their own ideas and that the AI tool may be used only for grammar checks.

When grading, Mr. Thompson notices that one student, Maya, submitted a highly polished essay with complex vocabulary and near-perfect grammar — a major leap from her previous writing samples. After running her essay through an AI detection program, he suspects she used the AI tool to generate parts of her essay.

When confronted, Maya explains that she only used the AI to “get started” because she had writer’s block, and then edited the AI’s output into her own voice. She argues that she learned from the process and that using AI is no different from using online sources or a thesaurus.

Mr. Thompson is torn — he values academic integrity, but he also wants to encourage students to explore technology responsibly. School policy doesn’t clearly define what counts as acceptable AI use.

Solution:

To address this scenario, I would make it clear to Maya that AI should not be a substitute for real critical thinking and growth. AI can certainly be used as a tool, but not as a replacement. I would make sure she clearly understood this difference by offering examples such as using AI to brainstorm and provide an outline for ideas but also making clear that words should not be copied. Since school policy does not define what counts as acceptable AI use, I would not punish Maya, but warn her that this is what counts for academic integrity.