Web 2.0 Educator

I chose a judge from the Edublog Awards site. My choice, FLICKSCHOOL, was a nominee for Best Educational Use of Video / Visual 2008. It is produced by a number of persons, specifically targeted to help the San Fernando Education Technology Team. Their blogs are not only informative, but also created in a way to make them user friendly and displayed through the use of multiple media such as video. Their blog on how to get the UV filter off of an SLR will come in really handy the next time mine gets stuck. I also learned how to add a movie track in GarageBand (sweet). I think their blog could help a lot of students, or just people in general, learn to use this up-and-coming technology.

My MEL Experiences

Student/Teacher Relationship

• I remember a teacher from high school who was really strict about what he wanted out of class. We needed to make a well organized binder with everything hole-punched, labeled, and in order; everything had to look perfect; he was a pain in the butt. The work was hard, grueling even considering it was history, but he make everything fun because he was a fun guy. He gave us all nicknames, I'm sure mine had something to do with fish, and one of my friends whose last name was Queen, he would randomly start singing "Killer Queen" when he was taking attendance. He had an ongoing feud with the teacher next door, even though they were buddies, and they would sporadically run into each other's rooms and do one of those manly belly bumps, or whatever you call it. He was a cool guy.

Hands-On

• In 6th grade, our whole school did a unit on whales; I don't know why, maybe it was even a state wide pandemic. Either way, it was fun. Instead of writing a report of what we had learned about the whales, we were allowed to write a song. I can still remember mine. It goes to the tune of The Chicken Dance, but I'm not going to sing it for you.

Autonomy: Choices, Decision-Making, Planning, Designing, Creating

• In 6th grade reading class, we were split into groups of four to read and do projects on a specific book. The awesome part was that the teacher let us pick which book our group wanted to read out seven books. The even more awesome part was that the book our group chose was one that we needed to order, so our teacher actually ordered the books special for us to read them. We read The Cure, by Sonia Levitin. It's an amazing book. I will never forget it.

Avoid Rewards

• For our senior year, my class needed to complete a senior scrapbook. It needed to be at least 20 pages long and could include anything from our senior year with a maximum of 2 family pages. It was quite a bit of work, and it wasn't worth very much as far as points towards our grade, but at the end of the year we all had this amazing book filled with memories of our last year in high school.

Learning Styles: Multiple

• Our Junior English class went outside four or five times that semester. We would sit/lay under the huge tree in front of the gym and read whatever text book we were reading in class. The teacher would read out loud for anyone who wanted to listen, or we could go off by ourselves and read. I'm sure all those naturalists loved it. As for me, I'm allergic to the sun, but it was certainly a nice thought.

Type I and Type II Technology

Type I technology can be defined as technology in the classroom used in such a way that it only makes past tasks more effective or efficient. The teaching/learning doesn't differ in any way other than being transferred onto a computer screen.
Type II technology adds a new dimension to the education experience; it allows users to think for themselves and make decisions based on prior intelligence or just curiosity. This technology teaches students in a brand new way, making connections that would not be possible without the use of a computer.


TYPE I

• I consider the use of a computer for writing papers as Type I technology. You are doing the same thing, writing a paper, just not on paper anymore.
• Email is for lazy people who can't print out papers and hand them to their teachers.
• While some research can be Type II, in my pre-college experience, we used the internet to research instead of going to the library.

TYPE II

• In 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade we played a game in computer lab called Number Munchers. I guess at the time I didn't realize it, but it allowed me to see numbers in a new way because they were on the screen and made into little cartoons and not just on a piece of white paper. It was a fun game because there were bonus levels and all that good stuff, so it really motivated us to get the right answers and learn the right answers for next time we played.
• In middle school, we played Oregon Trail while learning about immigration. We had to make a story about the characters from the game. If one died in the game, they had to die in our story. Not many families survived. Haha.
  
• Since the internet became popular, but mainly in high school, I've used it as a resource to become more involved in subjects I enjoy. Especially for literature, the internet gives access to other people who have read what I'm reading, a list of books that are related, movies based on the books, etc. It allows me to get a hold of information that wouldn't normally be available because of local resources or even location.
  

Learning Style Inventory Results

My learning results showed my style scores as follows:

Visual - 11

Social - 10

Physical - 8

Aural - 14

Verbal - 10

Solitary - 16

Logical - 13

learning-styles-online.com

I partially agree with my learning style results. I know that I enjoy working by myself, so my score on solitary does not come as a surprise. When I first saw that my aural score was 14, I was confused because I don't think of myself as that kind of learner, but when I think back to previous college semesters and even high school, I can vividly remember learning and remembering lessons better in classes where we listened to the material in some form or another. I also read much better and fast when I have headphones on and am listening to music.