LiveText

Hi Dr. Rivera,
I finally managed to get in after alot of e-mailing back and forth with the LiveText technical team. They were very supportive. NOW I need your help in getting it going. Your patience is most appreciated. Later.
Mary

Technology is the way of the future........

Hello Class of ED641,

I apologize for not being able to find the class. Thank you very much for your kind understanding and really appreciate your support in every way.

Technology is the way of the future. From our homes, to our workplace, and in the field of teaching and learning, integrating technology in the classroom seems to be the edge of today. I am really amazed about what we can do in this class. The moodle site, the livetext, blogging, and forum discussions are just a few that is in store for us. I can sense the excitement in this class. I find Dr. Rivera very supportive and knowledgeable in her field. She really knows how to work the computer in the classroom. She makes so simple to understand. This class will give me an opportunity to work in a highly integrated curriculum with technology in the classroom. This class will enable me to work with computers as tools of education. Our experience in this class will hopefully open our creative minds to work with computers with our students in the classroom. We can also share our experiences with other educators and show them what we will be learning in this classroom.

Our classrooms of today have not taken advantage of technology in the classroom. I believe only a handful of teachers know how to integrate technology in the classroom. The University of Guam (today) is on the right track with NCATE standards to incorporate technology as part of the curriculum for teaching and learning. This class (ED641) showcase's this new age standard and I think it will shorten the gap to educate new and existing teachers. I am glad that Dr. Matilda is one of the leaders here at our University to make this happen for us. Definitely, I am looking forward to learning as much from this class and most important, to learn from each other. So, I will see you all on our next meetings and online discussions.

Esta la bista, Si Albert (abcaasi14)

I am very glad to find my way to class. Thank you everyone for understanding my lost predicament for being unable locate the class for today (1/29/07).

Upon arrival, I immersed myself into our highly integrated curriculum and was really amazed of how much we can do together as a class. I can imagine all the work that Dr. Rivera has put into making this highly integrated curriculum a reality. I am looking forward to blogging and discussing many things about literacy and our content areas. I find this a very exciting and wonderful. This probably will be my highlight of my college education here at the University of Guam.

I believe I will be learning a lot from this class. Just this first encounter today has been a rewarding experience for me and I bet it is for everyone. See you all on the next virtual meeting.

Esta la bista, Albert (abcaasi14)

When the lights come on, learning occurs!

As mentioned in the 484G textbook, when students get excited about a lesson, learning will occur. How true! Today's class session was a eye opener dealing with the computer. How to get on the LiveText, moodle, blog--everything was new to me. Technology is becoming a must know espect in our lives now.

Dr. Rivera, thank you for being so patient. We have many activities and you answered many of my puzzling questions. I especially enjoyed the unitedstreaming.com presentation. My students will certainly be glued to their chairs.

I also learned today that I need to buckle down and read, read,read. I enjoyed reading Under the Blood-Red Sun. What a scary time in a teenager's life.! I look forward to finding two other multicultual literature. Good luck to all!

I'm Seeing Double!

Technology integration is great! The disadvantage is when your mind doesn't move as fast as your uploading tasks and creating accounts. I just got lost between ED646's blog and this course. Can someone invent tabs for the brain?

Activities are FLYING in, let's buckle up and be ready. If you all encounter new knowledge that may be helpful, keep in mind sharing is caring! Before you know it, we'll be done, wiser, smarter, and we'll learn that we don't really need glasses to differentiate between ED641 and ED646.


Enjoy your week!


Regards,


Sheila Indalecio

LiveText is the Wave of the Future for Educators

After Dr. Rivera's introduction to LiveText and how to use the online portfolio program, I must say that I am impressed with its useful features, at least with what I have found out at the moment. Yes, I would like to do away with hardcopy versions of portfolios. Problems like with them being lost, having to create separate ones for particular purposes and what not, having to buy sheets and sheets of tabs, sheet protectors, and so on can virtually be eliminated with the use of LiveText.

In the school I work at, BMS, we have our classrooms wired for internet access. So, after seeing Dr. Rivera show us the Livestream feature of LiveText, I now have found an avenue that which I can resort to in order to broadcast educational videos to my students. Now, the only impediment is that I need to obtain a projector and a drape so that I can show the videos to my students : )

Though this is all I can say for now about LiveText because I haven't yet bought myself the access or registration code or whatever to create my own account. I'm sure that I'll go wild, though, with whatever they are that the program will allow me to exploit or take advantage of.

LiveText

While I was browsing through Live Text during class, I found that it would be useful after all. I was worried that this would be another software that I would have to purchase and then forget later on. I was also worried that the software would not be user friendly. I am not that great with computers. In many cases that software that I buy just ends up in the trash.
The wonderful thing that I just realized is that I could use Live Text for many purposes. I found that not only is it useful as a graphic organizer but a research engine as well. It would be useful as a research engine for my students projects or classwork's. I could also use it as a graphic organizer for my students projects or works. Live Text could be used as a resource engine for my thematic unit activity in 641 and my other classes. It provides resources such as online books, magazines, video clips, and educational movies.
Live Text is considered a virtual binder that holds and organizes your work. It is user friendly and I bet it would be student friendly as well! The surprise is that you will be able to use it even after you have completed the class. You could use it for many purposes if you just take your time to browse though Live Text. What a relief! One hundred and nine dollars is just too much to spend for a one time use software.

January 29/Lots of technology in Dr. Rivera's classes!

Two years ago if you would have me I would be creating power points, blogging, moodleing and doing online portfolios, I would have just looked at you and and said "whatever". But look at me now. I know some of you already knew about these things a long time ago, but I'm old school and computers scared me. But little by little, with the help of my professors and my kids, I'm becoming proficient and confident. I especially enjoy the Live Text. Portfolios used to be such a chore. They were heavy, time consuming and could get expensive. But with Live Text, you do the assignment, download it and your done.

With our Moodle Room, I enjoy reading everyone's views and ideas about our activities. Sometimes I get inspired by someone else's ideas and then my work veers down a new road and I learn something totally unexpected.

So good luck to all of us this semester as we take on the activities and Blog away!

Thanks for setting me straight!

I kept trying to post for Activity 12 and I knew the screen didn't look the same as last semester. I told myself I would figure it out tonight and there was your email to the rescue. So I will try and get this discussion going.

Schema, is one of the most important words I believe I've learned throughout all of my classes. It has taught me that the best way to get a student interested in a book, is to make sure they can relate to it in some way. Teachers should use their knowledge of the community and their students and provide books and reading materials that connect closely to the student's life experiences, not theirs or the schools (Short, Harste & Burke, p. 170).

Sometimes we think our students are having a hard time answering questions because they are not comprehending the material. Maybe we are just asking the wrong question for the student to understand and connect. All students come to school with many literacy experiences; fast food signs, toothpaste boxes, road signs, cereal boxes (Harste, Woodward & Burke, 1984). Their literacy experiences at school need to build from their knowledge of environmental print.

So, fill your room with books, read to your students, observe which books they select and listen to their responses and always remember "schema". It's where you start.

finally

I am finally in. I hope I did this right!

Dr. Rivera, I need help. I clicked something but have no idea what!!

There's a difference

Hello everyone. I learned something new. Well, that is if I did this correctly. So, there is a difference between 'post' and 'comment'. Comments follow under posts. Hope you all find the difference as well. Have a great week!

Regards,
Sheila Indalecio

WELCOME!

Hafa Adai and welcome to our class blog! You will be posting your entries here after each class session throughout the semester. Take care and happy blogging!

-Dr. Rivera :)