ILP 2 "Participation" - Lynda Course in Interpersonal Communication

For my participation ILP, I completed a course on Lynda.com titled Interpersonal Communication. Hear all about it in my voice thread!

Interpersonal Communication Course Voice Thread

Qualtrics Survey

Hey, guys! Be kind to me and take my quick 5 second survey on procrastination!
https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d4ptJ2Hw5Mvsy3P

Blog 9: Should America Switch to a "Flipped Classroom" Paradigm?

Welcome back, everybody! Enjoy the last few weeks of class because after this semester, we're all going to have to endure the burden of what will feel like an everlasting summer. I hope you all survive it. Onto the actual topic, I heard an interesting term thrown last week: "the Flipped Classroom". The Flipped Classroom concept pertains to the idea that students should do most of their learning at home and come into class ready to work on exercises allocated for the lesson of the week. I have mixed opinions about this learning technique. On one hand, I think the structure we have now works fine. Students receive the material together in a comfortable space, and teachers are able to help one-on-one whenever possible. Then, their skills are tested at home, on their own. The Flipped Classroom aspect in a K-12 setting would not work as well, since I feel most students would fail to actually try to learn the material, which means they'd show up to class unprepared, and would probably result in the teacher reteaching the entire lesson anyway. On the other hand, this is pretty much how I do most of my own learning as a young adult. I have an internship where all I do is edit videos, so when I have free time, I look up some tutorial videos or take some short classes (free classes, of course) to expand my skills. I, then, show up and try what I learned and adjust according to the feedback received. It works for me, but because I want to do the learning myself for my own professional development. Kids in the K-12 don't care about professional growth, yet, therefore I feel it is necessary to have an educator with them throughout their learning, and provide them with a requirement of one online class for graduation in order to get them accustomed to future learning experiences.

The Flipped Classroom concept may be a little wishy-washy, but something I can definitely get behind is OERs. Open Educational Resources (OER) are typically online resources that are available to most people free of charge! No, this is not an ad for OERs, but it may feel like it in a minute! The reason why I believe OERs are fantastic, aside from the fact that they are free of charge, is because they are provided through a network that is available to a massive amount of people ready to improve their personal and professional development. Of course, there's the whole issue pertaining to the Digital Divide, and as educators we should all advance to a society where that divide is diminished exponentially as the years go by, but I believe this to be a great first step in general. To give a well deserved shout out to one of these OERs, and probably my favorite (still not an ad), I bring you Quizlet! I am assuming that most of my peers have dabbled with this before, and if you haven't... why? Quizlet is a website where students are able to create previously used studying techniques (like flashcards and matching) and keep them centralized in one area for others to use as well. Most of the pages are created by students, in which they enter the information Cornell notes style, and then the website is bale to use those notes and create quizzes, flashcards, matching, etc. An example of this would be a student enrolled in an American history class creating a quizlet for their terms and definitions pertaining to their lesson at hand, which they would then use to study for a quiz or an exam. Once created, other students looking for a quizlet with these terms can search it and study from it as well. I will provide some links to the website, an example, and 5 tips on how to use Quizlet below.

On a different subject, I have slowly but surely realized that PowerPoint is my least favorite of the Microsoft Office softwares. It's not a bad software at all, but when it comes down to it, PowerPoint has always been a program that I needed to use rather than wanting to use it. For example, I use Word all the time in school and in my professional life, but I also use it in my free time to write stories and such. Excel is fantastic for managing my financials and alerting me when I have gone complete overboard at Chik Fil A. PowerPoint... is there for school. I did complete two new projects on the program recently, and I did learn some new useful skills for the future, which is never something to complain about. Both assignments had their fun to them. The first one was a PowerPoint presentation and slideshow that allowed me to create a lesson on basic editing for media students. Looking back at it, I wish I had made the line strokes during the recording of the slideshow rather than on the actual project, which would've made it easier for the students to understand. I think the other project had more fun to it, since it included adapting a children's story. The second assignment was meant to be more interactive, completely taking away the linear aspect of the project. I never knew that this was a feature on PowerPoint, not that I was looking either, but I am very glad I know I can use this in the future! Looking back at my second assignment, the only thing I wish I had was more time. I liked the end result, but if I had had a little more time planning (which was my fault for not making the time), I think the creativity as well as the design would've been off the charts. I'll provide some screenshots of both projects and you guys can let me know what you think!

That's all I have for you this week, till next time!

-The Tank

Quizlet

Quizlet Example - American History terms

5 Tips Using Quizlet

First and second PowerPoints assignments, respectively.

Blog 8: Did I Become an Ambassador for Diigo?

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a fantastic Spring Break, I know was eventful. Surprisingly enough, during the break, I thought a lot about Diigo. Unbelievable, right? Well, Diigo happens to be, if not the top, one of the top resources for students to use for their classes. After interacting with Diigo in class, I have noticed many ways that students can benefit from this website. Diigo has allowed me to search for online articles and/or websites with interesting facts that I think my classmates would like to read, save them, share them, and even annotate them! In a classroom, Diigo can be utilized similarly by giving the students an assignment involving looking for online resources to write short essays about the new lesson being taught that week. Students would provide their resources on Diigo, so that other students may utilize them as well.  This can be done by bookmarking the resources and sharing them with the class group. Annotating and leaving comments for the class to see would also be an essential part of the learning through Diigo, since students will be able to see their peers' opinions.

Another tool I am very excited in using is PowerPoint, as well. Recently, the idea that a PowerPoint presentation needs to be linear is pretty much non-existent in my world. I have been more interested in interactive PowerPoints, since they engage the student more than when they are just pressing the "next" arrow, in my opinion. Looking at Bloom's Taxonomy, I think that PowerPoint can be used to enhance all levels of the taxonomy. Interactive PowerPoints may test student knowledge by providing quizzes and/or knowledge-based games. The same idea will help the student's comprehension why they got an answer wrong or why they didn't receive points for one question in the game by providing an explanation as to why that was the result. Other ways of using interactive PowerPoints is, for example, in math classes, the student using the PowerPoint may receive homework questions where they need to use their classroom knowledge to provide the right application to the question, and the presentation does not move on until the question is right. These PowerPoints can also help students with analysis of the lesson at hand, for example, in a Biology class, a student on the PowerPoint may have a task where they need to match different animals to their nomenclature classification. In teamwork, students may use synthesis through an interactive PowerPoint by having specific areas to be in charge of, and then coming together at the end and combining the information into a master presentation for the class (maybe a quiz on the Revolutionary War). Sticking around the same idea of students creating their own interactive PowerPoints, students may team up at their own accord, or for a grade, to study for an exam by using their PowerPoint to test each other and learn from each other's evaluations. Very exciting, I know!

By now, all of you can probably tell I have a slight fascination with the implementation of technology in the classroom. Well, that is because I live by a simple notion: that we have to move along with the world around us. The more we grow as a society, we will see more and more improvements to technology, which means we will need people to know how to use it properly. The next generation of students will need to learn to be technologically savvy, for the most part. But, for this to happen, we need to create an elite force of educators with adequate technological skills fit enough to educate the next generation.  When I say, "elite force", I don't mean like the "Avengers" elite, rather just moving towards a society full of teachers who value and desire to teach in technological environment. For this to happen, educators need to go through professional development. The idea of improving yourself is an ingoing thing, and every teacher, in my opinion, should look forward to self improvement in their career, especially if it involves the use of technology in some type of way. A resource I like to use to keep myself up to date with latest technology trends is TED.com. The videos lectures consist of new technologies, innovative ways to use or improve technology, and methods to help think out side the box. Sometimes, a video consists of all three. Most videos are an amazing watch and can teach many of us, including teachers, a thing or two about how to move along with the world.

Well, till next time, everyone!

-       The Tank

Blog 7: Is Weebly the Truth?

Welcome back, everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. About a month ago, I talked about a couple technology topics pertaining to education, among one of them being Twitter. Now if, you didn't read it and you are wondering: "How can Twitter ever be educational?", well then you must've had the same "devil-may-care" experience I had when I began using Twitter frequently. Until now, I have used it as a way to network with other businesses, however, lately Twitter has aided  me expressing my love for education. Everyday I use Twitter, I learn an extra function a day. Twitter has helped me see that there are many people out there willing to provide information for the sake of people being informed, and your account followings narrows or widens your information subjects. For example, I have two Twitter accounts, one for business, one for education. I follow very different people and organizations on both accounts, which allows me to keep one mindset as I am scrolling my feeds. Twitter can serve teachers, as well, if they would like to implement an long term assignment where the educator and the students interact through the social media app, teaching the students about: 1) online safety, 2) interactions online, and 3) it helps them become more technology savvy. That's a great idea, I don't know where I got it from but someone write it down implement it. It also helps teachers, or people alike who'd like two professional lives separate or even just their work and personal lives. I will keep observing, gather information, and display my data to all of you. Or maybe I'll tweet it, I don't know, yet.

What I do know is my website is finally up and running! I've been keeping it on the low just in case we had to scratch the project, but it's finally here (link and picture below). At first, I was very excited to build a website, since I've been building a separate one for my Web Design class. However, my excitement went out the window once I started using Weebly. So, the website I am building for my class I built from scratch (code wise), but for this website I used Weebly to help me knock it out faster... and I hated it. I felt like I had sixty percent of the control pertaining to the final product. I attempted moving paragraphs, lists, sentences, pictures, sections, and all of them just stayed locked in place where they originally placed. I attempted making new sections to try and enhance my page layout... big mistake. I attempted adding some personal pictures to make the website look more personalized, and all the pictures came with weird scales, so I only kept the ones on the home page. It just felt like a very intuitive application, yet, it's supposed to dumb down the process of creating a website. Well, I could say I am never using Weebly again unless it becomes an absolute necessity. I can't see myself building a website in general, but that's what my Web Design class is for, so I am not worried either. But, this experience did make me realize that teachers could benefit from having their own website for students to visit where they could receive more information and/or resources. So, I will definitely keep this experience in mind.

But, let's talk about something that can actually work, and that is adaptive and assistive technologies in a classroom setting. In a technologic setting, chances are most students won't need accommodations provided for when utilizing the tech. Some students, however, may have a disability that hinders them from accomplishing their tasks. For example, a students with a auditory disability may not be able to listen to the video playing in the class, or even the teacher. And I hope this goes without saying but, as a teacher, you must provide accommodations for your students with disabilities. So, how do we accommodate? Enter adaptive and assistive technologies, which are those types of techs designed to aid students with disabilities in the classroom. To go back to the example with the student with the hearing impairment, an adaptive/assistive technology they could utilize is a hearing aid, and when watching a video, the teacher could turn on the Closed Captioning. That could become a challenge, though, because if my class had a unanimous-minus-one vote to not turn on Closed Captioning, then do you ignore all their preferences? I mean, is not a huge deal, I would turn them on any way, but another challenge may arise from the fact that there are no Closed Captioning, and I want to make sure my disabled student receives the same information that everyone else is acquiring. In that case, assuming the student has a hearing aid on, I can seat them up close to the projector screen and ask them if that is a comfortable method for them to successfully retain the information. For the most part, I don't think it'll be an issue, I remember in high school, one of our peers had a physical disability where he couldn't write readable words. Everyday, the kid would bring a customized typewriter (a keyboard with a tiny screen at the top; basically a large label maker), where he would type his notes, complete in-class assignments, and even take tests. And, don't quote me on this because I might be remembering this wrong, but I think that paper printed out of that thing, too. I, mean I want one of those... But, it worked for him, and I am pretty sure he graduated, so that's a win for adaptive/assistive technologies in my book.

Stay safe everyone, it's tornado season apparently, and till next time!

- The Tank


Storytelling Through Editing

Blog 6: Have I Found a New Pet?

What is up, everyone! Welcome back! I have been going through some school websites in my free time, you know, for nostalgia, and I decided to view my old high school's website and see any updates recently made. The school is a Grades 9-12 secondary school called Olympic Heights Community High School. Honestly, I don't remember what the website used to look like, but it looks good now! Browsing through, I found some interesting web page links, for example, a link to a web page providing the school calendar and detailing the block schedule for the entire year. Pretty helpful resource, if I may say so myself. Another web page link redirected me to a page encouraging students and parents to download the school district app. The app has many different helpful features, from providing parents and students with important times (class changes, lunch, start and end of day), to allowing parents and students to utilize the app as a way to ensure safety in the community. Which, fascinated me that they added this feature, because another web page link directed me to a page informing students that they must wear their ID Badges on campus. I assume this action by the school is a direct reaction to the horrible event that occurred at Stoneman Douglas High School a little over a year ago, being the fact that the schools are relatively close to each other. I will leave the link to the website below, as well as a screenshot.

Speaking of screenshotting, I used VoiceThread recently to complete an assignment and I think that is the magic tool to use in my future class. The website allowed to use screenshots I took while editing three random clips together on Premiere by Adobe. In retrospect, I wish I had been a bit less monotone on it, but I will keep that in mind for when I implement them. I think that I will use this tool for incoming students to the class each year so they can become more familiar with the software before I formally teach them. I will also have some VoiceThreads for some tips or skills I couldn't potentially cover in class. I just have to make sure I am more charismatic, and my screenshots and descriptions need to be more informational. Check out my last blog to hear about my experience!

Another experience I had that allowed me to see some of the cool technological items teachers could use in their classrooms to enhance the student's learning, growth, and development, was my tour to the FSU Tech Sandbox. Oh my gosh, talk about Disney for this generation's intelligentsia! The 3D Printer is always a pleasure to see, and the VR though the Oculus is an awesome experience (the scary game made me rethink some things, not going to lie). I also thought the "3D" pens were pretty cool, but I know they have more potential. I think the pens are still at a very early stage, however their function still boggles me. Now, let's get to the bread an butter of the Sandbox: the robots. Oh wow, the robots they had were cutest, most awesome things I have ever seen! They are little robots named Dot, Dash, and Cue, and their function is to teach kids at a young age basic coding skills, and the robots learn along with the student! Now, I know what you are thinking... well actually I think you have two thoughts: 1)"These things should become the new class pets!", or 2)"Umm... this is the plot to iRobot...", yes, you are right! But, they are so cute, and they will actually help the student understand computational thinking as well as create a relationship with an item they get to raise themselves. Now, don't worry, I have some pictures of the robots for you, I'll insert them, but do yourself a favor: try to contain yourself...

But, that's it for this week! Till next time!

-The Tank

Olympic Heights Community High School Home Page

ILP "Design" - Premiere Pro by Adobe

For my tool for my class, I decided to use Premiere Pro by Adobe as an editing software for videos that the students could create themselves. The explanation is basic and to the point, and the content is random royalty free for the sake of figuring out how to tell your own story with other people's free work. Below are the links to the voice thread and the final video:

Voice Thread to Premiere Pro Basic tutorial

Practice Video for Students

Blog 5: Is This My Last Blog?

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Blog by the Tank! I believe we're at the midpoint of the semester, which can be a positive or a negative statement depending on who you ask. In this midpoint week, some interesting topics have surfaced, one of them being this amazing, and newly discovered (by me, at least) online resource, Diigo. When used as an extension on Google Chrome, Diigo works magically when you desire to bookmark a web site you find worth returning to. Diigo will allow you to save an abundance of bookmarks, provide tags for them (so that other people can discover them while searching for them), and even let's you store them in a place where a specific group of people you want to share the bookmark with can utilize it without having to search it themselves! I there a better way to maximize social bookmarking? I don't know, but for now, this is best thing out there and I am not complaining. The only problem I have with Diigo, if any, is not really with Diigo, but with myself. Although a great resource, I don't know if I will be able to combat laziness one day when I am looking at a random source I'd like to return to on a different circumstance. But, I will try my hardest!

I can tell you what I will bookmark in Diigo next, though, and that's Blogger. Going back to that midpoint of the semester, that means I have been blogging for half of a semester... and it has been awesome. I have to say, blogging is fun in many ways, one being that these are my words and my opinions that I get to share with all of you. I can be myself, while also being respectful, and what I am providing for myself is an outlet to speak on things I probably wouldn't think about it in my personal time. From the first blog, I realized that the way to make the blogging experience in the class as enjoyable as possible is to make it as if I actually had a huge audience. That way, it feels like I am doing it for a reason, not a grade. And, honestly, it has made the experience much easier. Now... If I had to choose between doing blog assignments and not... that's a different story entirely, which maybe suited for a different blogpost. But, I will continue to post blogs, that's for sure.

I guess from that statement, one can guess that blogging may not be my favorite Web 2.0 tool, which is true. And, someone who has been reading my blogs could probably determine that, if I had to pick a favorite Web 2.0 tool, it would be somehow associated with media. Well, that's also correct. After looking at some Web 2.0 tools, I have decided that my favorite is definitely Vimeo. Over my years in college, I've fondly used Vimeo to submit video assignments and view online class lectures. I believe Vimeo to be a great tool to use in my future class because it may be used as a platform for students to submit their video projects once or twice a week (free subscription allows only one video submission a week). I don't see why I would do online lectures since the class should be very hands-on and I probably should supervise high schoolers with a camera. However, I could utilize Vimeo to make short "How To" videos on certain skills they may learn that week. I haven't thought much about that, yet, however, I believe that my students will learn three key things when using Vimeo: 1) Uploads are public to everyone, therefore be careful what you post, 2) deadline managing, and 3) how to create a brand/channel representing yourself/the group.

That's all for this week, guys! Here's a link to Vimeo I inserted  for better reference.

'Till next time, everyone!

-The Tank

Blog 4: Am I Too Old For Twitter?

Welcome, welcome, welcome. I hope everyone's midterms either went fantastic or will go be fantastic. So far, I can't complain. This week, there some interesting topics in the air, one them being the use of Twitter. When I first joined Twitter, I didn't understand how it worked. I preferred Instagram, I didn't have to read much. And then Snapchat came and you only could read a sentence, it was great! Well, after three years of not using Twitter, I gave it another chance and loved it as a "comic relief" part of my day. In the last year, it has changed much from a way to get a laugh in the day to a bit more political and related to local businesses. This change came after I started working at my current job when I began meeting different, more professional people than I'm used to interacting with. And, this experience has made me realize that Twitter can be used to further your career through networking and self-marketing. Upon this realization, I am very grateful to have the tools necessary to be able to use Twitter for career growth.

The problem is that some people may not necessarily have the same resources that others have. Therefore, it may be more difficult to accomplish things like networking successfully. And, it makes me think about if I was a teacher with a classroom of kids... How do I fight the digital divide? Digital divide causes a disadvantage to less fortunate students who do not have grand access to digital aspects of a class. I believe the wealth to be probably the most common reason as to why a student would be on the disadvantaged side of the digital divide, ultimately depriving them of some technologies that may be considered common to have today. This divide may affect the students with lesser access to certain technologies to be less adept to use them, which could be harmful later as new technologies are created and upgraded exponentially. So, how would I fight digital divide in my classroom? Well, I believe I've mentioned before that I would like to be a TV Production teacher if given the chance. However, this class needs a huge amount of technology involved. Well, the digital divide would be broken through the fact that the school would need to provide the equipment necessary for students to do the minimal work required to be successful in the class. That means a few computers, a few cameras, and editing software. I believe that if the school cannot provide this, it shouldn't have a TV Production class. The class would serve as the hub for all projects. Students may complete certain aspects of the projects at home or outside school, and with their own equipment, however they have the time and resources to get all of it done during class.

To be fair, equipment for my classroom could be expensive depending on the quality of the equipment and the budget of the school. And I know this, but I still believe that a school should be ready to provide those things for the educator if a TV Production class is desired in the curriculum. That being said, I am willing to provide the software for editing the videos. The main software that will be used will be Premier Pro from Adobe, specifically for video editing. Students will be able to learn basic and some advanced aspects of the software, allowing them to construct videos for a mass audience (students and staff). Students will also learn to use and apply Spotify. Spotify is the music app that they... no I'm kidding. After Effects is the software, however Spotify will be on as much as possible because I need music for most of my day. Anyway, After Effects is also an Adobe software that used for applying effects to Premiere projects, or even to make random effect that could serve as stock footage, slideshows, etc. The cool thing is that students will mainly learn skills pertaining to the editing aspect of telling a story, and then they will add their awesome Hollywood-ish effects to their stories! All of it is hands-on, which I believe is the best way to learn.

Until the very next time, everybody!

-Tank

Blog 3: Did I Mess Up My Newsletter?

Welcome back, everyone! Interesting things to talk about this week. ELA technology standards seems to be the topic of discussion among other things. I decided to use similar criteria as the presentation done in class and browsed through the 11th-12th Grade standards. In my search, I stumbled upon LAFS.1112.SL.2.5, which involves the use of digital media and related media to complete presentations. I believe I can excel at teaching this due to the fact that I have been editing and creating projects ever since I can remember. My strength in this standard comes from my frustrated experience with softwares that can complete these assignments, as well as the ability to find ways to make the project look relatable to its aspects. I, definitely, would not want to start of by teaching LAFS.1112.SL.1.2, because it pertains to finding different diverse forms of media in order to solve questions. The standard also includes the reviewing of the accuracy and credibility of the media, which I don't even know if I am great at on my own.

Now that I have established my comfort standard to be LAFS.1112.SL.2.5, I decided to research a good resource to help me implement it. Well, CPALMS was insanely helpful throughout that search and provided me with a Unit Lesson Plan called Seeking Social Justice through Satire: Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal".  This lesson plan is fantastic! It provides students the experience of analyzing satirical media, and then taking their research and implementing it into their own project (a mock newscast). My idea may not take the satirical route, however, I believe that related assignments to the project would be given out mainly to analyze the work of media that will be used as the prime example of what they are mocking. Once they understand how to create something similar, they will be provided tools in class to create it themselves. 

Speaking of creating things for class, does anybody else feel like their newsletter didn't get a "pass"? I am nervous. Not super nervous, but a little bit. I do think I learned some new skills, though. For example, when adding the banner to the top of the newsletter, I had absolutely no idea how to add the warthog head without the background. To be honest, I am still a little hazy on how to do it, but it's possible without Photoshop, I promise! And, I'll insert it so you guys can see what I am talking about. I have to say, I like my organization on my newsletter and I think I chose a decent color palette. I, definitely, did not like how the borders of my articles came out. The bottom of my "Math" article border is non-existent for some reason, so for my next newsletter, I will have to properly learn how to avoid that type of formatting. And, the good thing is, now I can send newsletters to my employees on what is going on with trucks! I am probably not going to do it, but its nice to know you can!

Till next time!

-The Tank

Blog 2: Are Our Educational Materials Copyrighted?

Welcome back, everyone! As you all know, we all learned some new specs, and reinforced others, on the famous Office software, MS Word. I have been using MS Word in almost every type of setting ever since I can remember. When it comes to an educational setting, I have used MS Word mostly to write papers for class. Although I prefer to handwrite notes, MS Word has been helpful in note taking, especially when there is an established list of items that will partake in the note taking (like a final study guide). I've seen my educators use word to create documents like quizzes/tests, study guides, worksheets, etc. I assume that utilizing MS Word might be better at times, since some of the materials out there are copyrighted.

Speaking of copyright, I never actually put into account before that some educative materials handed by our educators in the past may not be fair use. My only experience with copyrighted material in an educational setting, that I know of, is when I was in TV Production in high school. For the videos we were producing in class, we could technically use any type of song or footage that we had to our disposal, since it wasn't being used for profit. However, our teacher, very intelligently I may add, encouraged us to only utilize material that was labeled "royalty free". This suggestion made sense because it is important to teach the students that 1) copyrighted material costs money and 2) their videos can still be amazing even with the royalty free footage. If I was a TV Production teacher, I would provide the same knowledge about royalty free material. As a matter of fact, I have a further solution to the copyright dilemma, as well as other technology implementation issues.

Along with providing the knowledge of useful royalty free material, I will also provide the students with subscriptions (whether paid by me or provided by the school) to websites holding copyrighted material that, once subscribed, is fair to be implemented in student videos. Now, some of these subscriptions come in layers and layers of premiums, therefore it is important that students do not abuse of the advantage they would be provided with. In order to keep their academic honesty intact, they would need to sign a syllabus in the beginning of the class semester detailing their knowledge of academic honesty in the classroom. And that goes for any type of honesty that belongs in a classroom. While academic honesty always has a place in a classroom setting, my copyright idea only works if I can break the digital divide among students and provide everyone with a computer to produce videos with. Granted, twenty Macs aren't cheap, however, one computer for a group of four to five students never became a huge issue when I was in TV Production. If anything, it taught me how to collaborate with my fellow peers and to trust their ideas and creativeness. Therefore, I believe this to be a good solution, one that will shape the students with important values for their future.

Until next time!

-The Tank

Blog 1: Am I Digital Native?

Welcome back, guys! Hope everyone has been doing well out there. 

Talking about the topic of students and teachers in the classroom, I believe it to be influenced by the rapid of growth of technology itself. It is hard to find a place in America that has zero technology presence (not including the Amish), and I am assuming its because no one can pinpoint them! Technology is the driving force of our society, and the more it grows, the more we'll see it in different settings. To give you an example, I used to go to church and sing along with the booklet, but now I just watch the lyrics on the TV! The extension reaches classrooms since, as the main hub of knowledge for the future leaders of America, education needs to stay with the times and develop alongside it.

Switching gears to the standards of the International Standards For Students, there were two that stood out to me pretty quick. The Creative Communicator standard popped out to me mainly for the communication aspect. As educators, our job is to communicate information well enough to make the students think for themselves, develop new ideas, and innovate their future for the better of themselves and the world. If it were up to me, I'd prioritized this standard with tools necessary for the student to grow their knowledge on the subject matter. Now, a standard I don't particularly feel too strong about is the Global Collaboration standard. I love to collaborate and I think that group assignments teach something more than just the assignment demanded; how to trust people and show people that you can be trusted. My issue with collaboration has always been when its online-only. I've only had tough group projects when it came to online-only assignments, since communication tends to lack more in those types assignments. But, I'm just a digital native. I can learn quicker than older generations to utilize this standard to my advantage, I just choose not to do it, allegedly (Prensky).

Speaking of digital nativism, I think the word really does apply to my generation of technology users. A digital native is someone who was born into the current generation of technology advancements. A native in the language of technology, if you will. Digital immigrants, on the other hand, are the generation that needed to learn how to speak the language. In class, I've noticed much of my teachers using technology with a sort of "accent", if so to speak. I wouldn't say is a technological struggle as much as the skills may not come as fast to some teachers than others. Nevertheless, I have yet to encounter a teacher, of any age, who refused to use technology in an educational setting. Have any of you? I am curious because it boggles me a bit to know that they are out there, but at the end of the day, everyone is comfortable with the way they do things. I mean, I would love to keep up with technology changes by the time the new generation of students is walking through the proud hallways of American schools, but I am not sure just how fast technology will move from here. All we can do is hope that we grab on tight enough for the ride!

ISTE Creative Communicator Resource

I decided that if I were to teach a class, I would love to teach media editing. I truly believe that editing is learned in two ways, hands-on and visually. Therefore, my resources will reflect that. I found two resources that I believe to help aid the learning of media editing students. See below for links:

How to Use Premiere Pro for Beginners 

This is a link to YouTube videos, many of them very educational on he basic  (and some advanced) aspects of using Premiere Pro as an editing software.

Adobe Site

Here is the site where a student can download all the software, specifically Premiere Pro, that Adobe offers in order to create content.

The Tank Blogs

Hello and welcome to the Tank's blog. My real name is Francisco Javier "Frank the Tank" Nunez. You may call me Francisco, Javier, Frank, Frank the Tank or just Tank... I swear I will answer to any of those. I am a South Floridian born originally in Venezuela. I am currently in my third year at FSU working on a Bachelor's in Arts and Science and Business Management. It's been tough. Not to say any Bio or Law majors out there don't have it tougher, I admire their hard work. Aside from school, I also work for the Tally Mac Shack, which is a mac and cheese... let me say again, its a MAC AND CHEESE food truck that runs around Tallahassee every week. It is a great job minus the calories.

When I think of technology being used for education in my past experiences, I can think of two of the top of my head. One instance where technology was used in a educational setting that I was in is through the use of projectors. When I lived in Venezuela, not even the nice schools had projectors. Coming to America and being able to learn not only through a dry erase board, but a projector screen as well was a miracle of knowledge. Another time I can think of where we used technology was when the teacher went on a website called Kahoot.com, where the students would join through their phones and answer questions to review for exams.

I have to be honest, this class was on a list of courses I could take in order to fulfill course requirements for my major, therefore my only knowledge of what this class involved came from the title. I hope to learn what this class is specifically. After attending the first day, I definitely had a bigger grasp of what the class encompasses. Another thing I would like to learn is how this class will help me in the future, therefore I am very excited to see what this class has in store!

Signing off... for now,

The Tank