Skype!

so when we were givent the task of working with skype I immediately thought about Oprah. That lady has the gift of making everything she touches turn into gold. Not only does she frequently uses skype in her show, but she has made it so popular that other people in talk shows are using it.

I was really excited to use it, I had never used it before but I have a friend from Texas who communicates with her family throgh skype. She had told me it was free and easy to use.

So before downloading the software I did a bit of research. Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice calls through the internet to people all over the world. All you need is a computer, internet connection, a microphone and a webcam. The voice calls are free and making phone calls to cell phones and land lines have a fee that varies by country and  that you can pay as you go or pay monthly. You can also use skype to text chat if a camera is not available, you can share files and even have a conference (you can have up to 25 people per call). I found out that skype is used all over the world, there are about 480 million accounts.

I feel that skype has many strenghts such as being able to communicate people at any time all over the world, being able to hold conference calls and even being able to  make presentations. I can see this application being used very widely in the business world as well as in the educatinal settings. This application is free to down load and easy to use.

The weaknesses that skype has I’m pretty sure will be improved in a short time. I found that Alyssa and I kept on loosing connection and it was somewhat delayed, i found kind of upsetting that the phone calls are not free, and that there are different versions of skype. (Mac vs. Windows) Alyssa and I tried to play around with different tools that skype has such as the extras which were games that we could both play but since I had a pC and she has a Mac we couldn’t play it.  (quite dissapointed not to be able to paly hangman hehe).

I can see students using this to communicate with other kids from all over the world (have a social studies unit in which you can collaborate with another school from anywhere in the world and have the students teach each other about their culture).

In order to collaborate effectively Alyssa and I text each other and came up with a time for both of us to download and start the application. While we were doing this we txt each other to make sure we got each others information. While we started the application and played around with it, we both shared the different  information or extras that it has. We would encourage each other to try things out and then reflected on it. we worked well and had asynchronous type of communication.

When should students collaborate and when should they work alone?-Students should collaborate at all times.  With this particular application students are requuired to collaborate in order to communicate through skype.

What content do students need to know?-in order to use this students need to know basic use of a computer, they need to know how to use the webcam (install one if it’s not incorporated in the computer). Students need to be supervised to make sure that they are staying in track and not making phone calls that will need to be paid for later on.

How do students develop expertise?-It is commonly known that students learn the best by hands on activities and by teaching other students.

What capacities do students need to have to learn in online environments? Students need to be able to multitask, they need to liek to learn in different learning styles, be able to communicate effectively via writting or verbally.

Introduction

My names is Roxana Ferreyro, I’m currently an undergrad in Early Childhood Education.

I’m creating this blog to further expand my opinion about technology, to better discuss instructional design and its applications to k-12 classrooms, and to collaborate with other educators. By collaborating I hope to find resources to become an efficient educator and to meet every student’s needs.

Technology is used every day and it has become a really important part of everybody’s life. As new technology emerges  and it expands, so should our knowledge and skills to use it. As an educator it is really hard to keep up and to be able to pick out the best options for our students. As new technologies emerge so do the challenges of  the learning of their use. I feel that educators have to know how to manage time effectively, one can not spend too much time learning how to use only one certain form of technology because by the time you learn how to do it and implement it in class a new version emerges. I believe that the earlier in life we learn and adapt to use technology, it will be very beneficial later on in life.

It is my plan that students throughly enjoy learning in the classroom through the blending  of different pedagogues. My philosophy of education includes that all students need to be motivated in order to learn.  As a teacher I think that one should give lessons that inspires the student’s creativity and curiosity. In order to keep students engaged and wanting to learn you have tor provide them with an environment that promotes learning, an environment in which they will be successful but also learn from making mistakes. In my personal opinion students learn best by trial an error. By nature all humans are social beings and by providing hands on activities we are providing active learning in which students can work in groups and learn from each other’s mistakes. In order for education to be successful, a teacher must let loose  sometimes and have freedom in their classroom, at the same time it is also important to be able to manage the classroom to make sure students are really working. As an educator I have to be flexible and be able to accommodate  the differences among students without pointing them out,  and help all students achieve the highest level.

 As an educator I firmly believe that if given the opportunity and the right tools students can achieve great things in life, they just need to be motivated and have someone believe in them. Educators and parents are equally responsible for believing in students and letting them know that they have someone who strongly belive in them, this way they can believe in themselves first then rise up to the level of expectation that we have for them regardless of the students’ race or ethnicity, life experiences, religion, and socio-economic status.

I feel that there are many issues facing k-12 education such as having enough school funds, keeping up with technology, curriculum standards, etc. To me the most important issue in the next five years training future educators to be successful. With the NCLB Act more students are falling into the gap of not being “successful students” because they do not meet the standards of other students in the same grade. I’m a strong believer that standardized testing is not effective because not all students learn the same way, not all students take exams the same way, and the standardized testing being provided does not reflect every learning style. I also believe that NCLB has had a great negative affect on urban schools. The low scores does not only reflect the students’  level of education he/she has achieved,  but also the effectiveness of the teacher, which is not always true.