EDM 310 C4T Post #1

My first teacher that I left comments for was Kathleen Morris on her blog Primary Tech. This blog is outdated by the way as the last post was on January 25th, 2014. The first post I commented on was her post about the creative commons license, Creative Commons Infographic. This post had an infographic about the creative commons license that she found on Twitter. The post started with her talking about the problems with people not knowing enough about, or at all, the rules with posting stuff off the internet and the creative commons license. She then told her readers where she got the infographic from and posted it. At the end she posted a link to a website for more information. My comment on her post was mostly about how this post was helpful as an aspiring teacher, and it further covered what we had talked about in class. I also talked about how I really liked the infographic because it was not just a bunch of typed up information, but a visual display that was much cleaner and easier to interpret than the alternative would have been.

The second post, There's Blogging and There's Blogging..., I commented on was about the importance of making a blog for students constructive and giving them direction and purpose with it, rather than setting them loose. The post went into detail on what a constructive blog was, for a student. She talked about how she really liked the idea of having student blog. Her post talks about her own experiences with implementing blogs in her classes and some of the mistakes she fixed. My comment then went on to talk about how I liked how well structured the post was. Also, I really enjoyed the post because ,even though this class is teaching us how to blog, we have not really learned how to orient the blog for students yet.

This picture was pulled from Pinterest.com

EDM 310 Project #15 Search Engines

What is a search engine? Well a search engine is a basically a database. A search engine can be really specific, as in a search engine for only medical things. The search engine can also give you information and they have cited their resources which will lead you to other websites, that are not search engines, or the search engine can bring up a list of websites that pertain to what you are searching for. Prior to popular belief there are more search engines than just Google, a lot of them. In this post I will provide a link to a search engine and give a short description on its use and my experience using it.

1. Wolfram Alpha- This search engine upon first inspection was basically Wikipedia. Whatever you searched for you got a description of it and sources were cited with links. However, if you click on examples right under the search bar on the right side you will see that Wolfram Alpha can be used for a lot of educational purposes. One main use I want to point out is that it will show you step-by-step how to solve math problems if you enter your math problem into the search bar. This website is great for school.

2. Bing- This search engine is essentially the same as Google, however its homepage is a lot more interactive than Google's homepage. The front page of Bing has a picture with a link, news stories on the bottom, and when you first click on the search bar it gives you a list of currently popular searches on Bing. This search engine is great for general use and I find it more interactive than Google.

3. Lycos- A little more basic of a search engine than Bing or Google it does not have as many features. One cool feature it did have was that it knows what city you are in and tells you the weather on the home page of the search engine. I would recommend using other search engines, unless you just really like knowing what the weather is before surfing the web.

4. indeed- This search engine is different from the others in a big way. The other search engines were general purpose. This search engine is used for a very specific reason though. It is a job search engine. You type in what city you live in and then what kind of job you want. When searching for a job the links will take you directly to that business's website to apply. If the job is already taken when you click on the link it will tell you. So this website is not updated at all times. One nice feature is that you can upload your resume so that employers can find you. Over all this is a great place to start if you are looking for a job.

5. WebMD- This is a search engine that is used for medical purposes. This website is great for everyone. It is not for doctors. This website is for your average person. You can either search by what exactly your problem is or by an interactive search feature that asks a bunch of questions about your symptoms and then gives you a list of possible medical issues. Once you click on one you have a description of what it is, what to expect, self-care, and even when you should probably go see a doctor. I really enjoyed this website.

6.  PriceGrabber- Another specialized search engine. This one specifically searches for consumer products. it then lists all the stores and websites that are selling the product and for how much. You  can find just about anything on this website to buy. However, when looking at the places they have listed for selling the product it varies greatly from product to product even if they are the same type of product. This leads me to believe that the website is listing only what the retailers give them not what they go out and find. It is still a great website to use.

7. Yahoo- This is another general purpose search engine. It has the most interactive home page of them all, though. It has a ton of news stories on the home page and a bunch of features like the weather in your area to the scores of recent sports games. I really enjoy this search engine. A lot of general purpose search engines will bring up the same websites when searching for stuff, but this has the best homepage by far.

8. Go.com- This is about as specific as you can get for a search engine. It is a Disney search engine. this search engine is family oriented and is made specifically to search for anything Disney. It only searches for things that are Disney. I can find no purpose for this website, but it is great if you are looking up Disney stuff because all of this information comes from Disney itself.

Pulled from a post called "People Literally Surfing the Web" by Ronnie Scott from thehairpin.com

EDM 310 Blog Post #4

One of the most important things a teacher strives for is that their students will be able to answer any question they ask. Answers are great and all, but they are not as important as the question itself. Being able to ask a good question is important because it gets your brain thinking about other possibilities. Questions lead to constructive arguments and discussions in class. Also, an answer often leads to more questions. So what is considered a good question? Lets take a look.

Asking better questions in the classroom Pt. 1.wmv by Joanne Chesley on YouTube

Open Ended Questions by Andi Stix on YouTube 

These two videos workout really well together. The first video will explain to you what the difference between a close-ended and an open-ended question is. The second video helps go into detail what exactly an open-ended question is. To recap on what these videos explained is that first as a teacher you should ask open-ended questions whenever possible. They force the student to answer with more than a "yes" or "no." The student has to draw on all of his knowledge in the subject to answer the question and then explain and defend their answer. When asking an open-ended question you can make it so that the answer is specific or more generalized. An example being, "what is the direct cause of....," would lead to a specific answer that is not yes or no. A more generalized question would be, "what do you think caused.....," as that question would procure more than one answer from your student and multiple answers could be right. Another thing to think about is that a close-ended question could very easily lead into an open-ended question. When you ask a close-ended question and your student answers then just ask them why. Your parents hated that phrase when you were a kid and your students will not like it either, because they thought they were going to get away with a yes or no question and now they are not. The last thing to keep in mind is that close-ended questions are still vital. They give teachers a good, quick reference to what their students have actually learned. After all, if you want to have a discussion question on a topic that they know half the answers to you can not really do that and have to back track to teach them what they do need to know. Open-ended questions should be the bulk of your questions to get the gears really turning, but you still need to use close-ended questions to keep a quick gauge on how much your students are really learning. 

Picture was taken from a post called "Are You Asking the Right Questions?" by Karen Brinkley on The University of Tennessee Knoxville website

EDM 310 Blog Post #3

Peer Editing Posted on YouTube by nrpatric

Writing Peer Review (Peer Critique) TOP 10 Mistakes posted on YouTube by Tim Bedley

Peer Review Slide Show

The two videos and slide show above are some great sources that can quickly explain what a peer review is. In my own words, though, a peer review/editing is simply the process by which an individual reviews and edits a peer's work. A peer being someone equal in status, like age, years in college, years in the company, etc. The best way to approach peer editing is with the attitude that the editing is to help you not pick apart your flaws. It is also better to use online programs so that you can edit anonymously and avoid having someone to directly confront if you have a problem with one of their edits. When editing my peers I find the method the above sources mention. You point out the positives so that your peer knows what they are doing wrong. You then make corrections to point out what they are doing wrong. Finally, you make suggestions on how to improve what they did wrong, or even what they did right. What the resources above do not mention is what exactly the importance of a peer review is. Everyone is biased. You can not help it. What a peer review does is it lets someone else who does not share your views edit your paper. Often they find a problem you did not think was one. Another reason is that you may know you have a weak conclusion but do not know what to do. With a peer review you get another opinion that can help you get past a writer's block you may have. The main goal of a peer review is for that second opinion to help you fix issues that you do not see or can not think of how to fix.