December 1

Blog 2:

·         What is the role of the teacher in helping students to make meaning of primary source?

One of the most imperative jobs of a teacher is to make sure he/she is teaching the students the correct tools to be successful in and out of the classroom.  I found Chapter 4 to be very interesting because as a young student, I was never taught the “right way” to navigate through the web.  Today’s world is like a “digital classroom” and if humans are not exposed to the right and wrong ways to analyze and interpret information, it could be challenging.  A teacher must model and explicitly teach the proper fundamentals on how you make meaning of these primary sources.  Lee Ann Potter makes a statement, “Primary source material was not generated with a grade level or textbook chapter in mind” (November, 2010).  Teachers have to teach their students strategies to think critically in today’s society.  Chapter 4 gives many examples about primary sources.  Alan November mentions that many students have not been taught to develop the strategies for thinking and evaluating primary sources (November, 2010).  This is why it is so critical for the teacher to be able to provide structure and direction to their students to help them make meaning of information they find on the web. 

• Explain the differences between blogs, wikis, and web based word processors.  Briefly identify one classroom activity for each type of tool.

Blog – Is an undefined space online for writing with no “rules”.  A blog is a website that can be ongoing and can be on any given topic. Many people use blogs to connect with others or just to organize their inner thoughts.  People can join a blog and chime in with their thoughts or it can be set to private.  A blog has multiple uses.  Example of Classroom Activity: 5^th grade teacher reads a chapter book as a read aloud.  Student’s blog their thoughts and responses to the story or teacher posts questions from the story and students have to blog their answers for an assignment.

Wiki – Is an on line collaboration tool that educators and students can use to interact with one another.  It basically is a tool to promote online conversations about topics.  A wiki can be ongoing to help generate ideas.  It is a space for multiple people to generate their thoughts and ideas.  Example of Classroom Activity: An elementary class that is studying graphs creates a wiki graph.  The Topic is “What is your favorite food?  Pizza, Chicken, or Fish.  The class posts this on the wiki and opens it up to anyone who would like to share their response.  The public can click “edit this page” and add answer, then save.  The classroom that is doing the graph can go back into the wiki periodically and check the results.

Google Docs - Is an easy-to-use online word processor, spreadsheet and presentation editor that enables professionals and students to create, store and share instantly and securely, and collaborate online at any time. You can create new documents from scratch or upload existing documents.  There's no software to download, and all your work is stored safely online and can be accessed from any computer.  Google docs is free and you just need to sign up for a google account.  You can also share files and links.  Example of Classroom Activity: High school teacher could upload his/her assignments and rubrics so the students can access them at any time.