Blog ⑧

Congratulations on our football team's big win last weekend 🥳🥳🥳! Hope y'all have a great day!

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Web Design
        I have had a great time designing my teacher blog and acquiring new helpful skills. Personally, I really like how Weebly operates —from its tools layout to fonts and background photos— and it is also easy to use, too! I did not like the slideshow feature because it seemed like I could not upload more than two (2) pictures (I'm not so sure about this, but it just didn't function well for me). Also, I had some trouble displaying the Google Calendar on my web page; however, everything worked well with Professor Choi's help. I think that I will implement this task in my plans since the school webpage is a good way for teachers to communicate with students and parents outside of class. 
        Here is the link to my website: Ms. Linh's English I

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Diigo

        Some skills that I learned recently (in recent weeks, actually) are highlighting and commenting on a website via Diigo. I was able to do the job perfectly and smoothly this time :)) Whatever I marked on a webpage would also appear on the Diigo group, allowing other viewers to have a quick review of the main ideas and important notes from the source that I shared. If this application is implemented in my future class, it will be easier for me to see my students' comments and highlights all in one place without going back and forth between different tabs. I can also quickly find the links and their brief descriptions instead of reading the whole webpage again. 

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Technology and Teacher Professional Development
        Nowadays, teachers and students are using more technological devices and applications for activities than white/blackboards with chalks or markers. With the surge of online classes, teachers continue improving their computer skills, such as Microsoft Office, emails, graphic and webpage design, etc. Educators usually attend webinars, conferences, or workshops hosted by colleagues to learn more about changes in education and technological advancement. Many educational developers also produce new learning software to ease the teaching process, creating an engaging and friendly learning atmosphere for students. EdTech Magazine is a great site for teachers and students (both K-12 and Higher Education) to learn more about updated applications. It provides a variety of technology-related topics: security, software, digital workplace, management, etc. where readers can find useful sources and tips. 

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Blog ⑦

It's already Week 8 🥳🥳🥳 Hope that everyone is doing great in their classes (especially Mid-term exams) and personal activities! 

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School Web Pages

        I have visited some class webpages designed by teachers at Jackson Elementary (A Seymour Community School). Most of these sites include the teacher's name, a profile picture (or a header picture), contact information (primarily email address), external links to numerous learning resources, and a class calendar. Teachers also put in their pages expectations or agendas for their classes. Students and parents may also find instructions for daily assignments and projects on these online sites publicly. Below here is a screenshot of a Jackson Elementary teacher.

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Teacher Productivity Tools

        As a teacher, I will need to develop daily plans and assignments, manage students' information, lecture lessons, and communicate with supervisors, parents, and students. I would use Google Drive, Grammarly, and Zalo to help me keep track of my responsibilities. With Google Drive, I can store my documents, videos, PowerPoints, etc. all in one online place. I can also categorize them into smaller folders so that I can find what I need quicker. With Grammarly, I can check for spelling and grammar mistakes more easily. It also provides suggestions to revise certain sentences to make a whole paragraph or essay more organized and easier to understand. Finally, with Zalo, a popular communication app used in Vietnam (and is also similar to Messenger), I can send messages, photos, and files to my colleagues or students in real-time. 

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Wiki Platform/PBWorks

        Personally, PBWorks is quite easy to use after I got familiar with its tools and features. When I work on my personal wiki space, I can freely change things and pages; however, when I work on a group wiki, the page's owner needs to change regular users' status to administrators to fully access different functions. Besides, I don't really like how the editing tab works. The fonts and sizes keep changing whenever I go to another paragraph or copy and paste information from one page to another. Still, my team did a great job on our group assignment, and I am happy about that!

Blog ⑥

This week is such a busy one for me ㅜㅡㅜ 4 projects due and a Mid-term exam... Hopefully I will do well on all of these :)) Hope that you all are doing good these days, too! Stay safe and don't catch a cold!

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Experience using Diigo
        Diigo is a tool that I only knew after being introduced to in this class. Personally, I usually feel confused whenever I use this platform. First of all, obviously, I am new to it and not so familiar with how the tool functions so I need some time to figure it out. Second, things don't go so well as I expected. In particular, when I tried following the instructions to complete Portfolio Item #12 (Diigo Web 2.0), I could not highlight or comment the source the way the tutorial video showed me. Thus, I have to find it out myself, trying and deleting posts on Diigo several times. Fortunately, I was able to complete the task —I really hope that I did it correctly...

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Blogging
        In my opinion, this blogging activity is a good way for me to share with classmates and teachers what I have learned through the resources (including my thoughts) and to know others' perspectives on the same matter by reading their blogs. Blogger, in my opinion, is easy to use after posting several blogs. I learned how to re-arrange the gadgets on the homepage, change font styles, include pictures and links in posts, and manage my blog page as a whole. However, due to limited options such as fonts or sizes, I cannot fully decorate my blog post to make it less boring :(  Anyway, I have read people's blogs a lot and always found them interesting so I was really excited when I could start my own blog for this class. If I have have in the future, I will definitely further expand my blog and write about hobbies and experiences through blogs as a way to store my memories.

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Web 2.0 Tools
        Since I am not a style of person who explores new things on my own (although I will need to change this to become a good teacher), I will talk about a familiar Web 2.0 tools that everyone use —Youtube. This platform is where you can upload or watch videos of a variety of topics, and it is also a great tool for students to gain knowledge from. I will definitely use Youtube in my future classrooms as visual aids and/or substitutes of things that I may not (or I think I cannot) explain to students thoroughly. Just type a topic of my subject, let's say "How to write a research paper," and Youtube will provide links to numerous videos that guide students through steps of outlining and organizing an essay from start to end. Teachers can also learn how the video author presents their lessons or obtain some teaching tips through Youtube videos. One thing that I have to be aware of, however, is to restrict students from watching videos unrelated to lesson materials or inappropriate to students' ages.
        Link to Youtube: https://www.youtube.com 

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Blog ⑤

Deadlines for my projects and essays are coming soon ㅠ.ㅠ But I'm still feeling great because I just had some traditional dishes with my international students/friends from Vietnam and attended the Mid-Autumn Festival last night ㅎㅎ :)

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Experiences using Twitter
        Honestly, I have been using Twitter for almost 2 years, but I have never made a tweet or posted any feed on my homepage until the last few weeks when I set up my new FSU twitter account and introduced myself :)) Before that, I was only used to hitting the heart button or searching for hot trends (mostly about K-pop related topics since I am a big fan)! Yet, I still don't really interact directly with anyone through direct messages or tweet frequently, but I do follow a variety of accounts (news, charts, singers, FSU, ...). I find it very beneficial to use Twitter as a platform where I can get updated news and information within my interests —everything is quick and newly refreshed in just a few seconds. Future educators like me can learn a lot of tips and engage in conversations during chat times (the one using specific hashtags during a designated time). 

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Digital Divide
        Lots of students use some kind of technology to study or complete online assignments nowadays. The fact that whenever we go into a classroom and see people taking out their laptops, tablets, or phones sometimes makes us forget that digital devices have just gone popular within a few recent decades (since we are used to it) and that there are still many people who do not have access to such modern implements. Causes leading to not using technology can be lack of Internet accessibility, unable to afford technological utensils, computer illiteracy, and more. Additionally, it is true that digital divide greatly affects how student performs in class, especially during online or technology-related courses. Those who are familiar with how digital devices and applications function will have a huge advantage over those who first get in touch with technology. The latter group will have a hard time understanding different digital concepts, and it will take significantly more time for them to complete an online task on their own. Thus, as a pre-service teacher, I would better learn about my students' backgrounds (where do they come from and if they have had any experience with technology before) and, perhaps, test their computer literacy to know their standings. I will try to teach students how to use some basic skills and tools (like Word, Power Point, etc.) so that they can, at least, do and submit their homework online. After a while, I will start showing them more complicated computer tips and help them be prepared for harder classes. 

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Academic Software
        Traditional methods of teaching or lecturing can be boring to some students, especially young ones. Thus, educators and instructors have developed and implemented several academic softwares and online tools that help students be engaged in class. Two softwares that I will probably use in my class are Canvas (or Google Classroom, Blackboard) and Quizlet. Canvas is a place where teachers can create and design class pages, add and receive assignments, and post announcements to a group of students. Learners can collaborate and communicate with one another through discussion boards or inbox messages through this software. Personally, I like the convenience of this kind of software since I can check my to-do lists for different classes and manage my works at the same place, and teachers can also grade and give students feedback directly. I am sure that most people know about Quizlet. It's a tool which students or teachers can create online flashcards and share them with others. Quizlet helps students study terms and definitions quicker (since it has many learning options and practices). If students want to play games in groups, they can also use Quizlet live to compete against each other!

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Badges
        In my opinion, badges are like online versions of stickers that teachers usually give small students after they finish their homework. Earning badges let students know if they successfully complete a coursework and encourage them to keep on going. I have gained some badges before while studying for the SAT on KhanAcademy or keeping my learning streak for more than 50 consecutive days on Duolingo. I don't really share my badges and achievements with others but just let myself know my learning status and what else should I complete before obtaining another badge. 

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Blog ④

Hi there, it's me again :) This week is the Mid-Autumn Festival week or Tết Trung Thu in Vietnam, and I am craving for mooncakes right now 😣😣😣!

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ELA technology standard — LAFS.1112.L.3.4
     This standard established by Florida's Department of Education requires teachers and students to use online sources (mostly online dictionaries and thesaurus software such as Wordsmyth, Snappy Words, and Word Hippo) to clarify new vocabulary or words with multiple meanings. Terms can be from in-class reading materials and other outside content. To determine the meaning of each word, students can identify it using the context within a sentence, patterns of word choice, and print/online glossaries. It is good to know the secondary meaning of words with commonly known definitions. If I implement this standard into my teaching, I think my current skill of searching for definitions from dictionaries and thesaurus, whether offline or online, will help me satisfy this criterion. However, I will need to check out the software mentioned above since I have not ever used them before. I believe that I can easily master this word-defining skill, though. 

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Educator Toolkit
     A resource that I found is called "It's Not Magic: Distinguishing Between Passive and Active Voice." This is a great introduction to the concept of Passive and Active voice in sentences. The source provides clear definitions for each voice, formatted in bullet points. It also gives easy examples to illustrate each grammatical idea. Students can easily study a lesson about Passive and Active through this resource since it functions as an interactive PowerPoint, allowing students to directly practice and listening again to the audio. Besides, students cannot skip or fasten the speed of the PowerPoint (and the slideshow itself will stop if students switch to another tab) but to focus all time to complete the lesson. 

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Internet Searching
     Online users browse through Google, Safari, or other platforms almost every day, and teachers are no exception. We search for things on the internet to get the information we want. Teachers should be proficient at searching the internet to keep them updated on daily news and educational research that may help them build lessons. Of the 10 Google search tips and tricks, I will probably use reverse image search to find photos and pictures that I may accidentally see somewhere else. I will also practice adding prefixes (such as site, cached, related, etc.) in front of keywords or phrases to minimize the results. I have not done these before so I was amazed to learn some cool web-searching tricks. 

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Blog ③

Hope everyone is doing great during the 4th week! I have had three projects to be done so far ㅠ_ㅠ

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Regarding Copyright and Fair Use...

      Copyright is the protection of a person's intellectual, creative work and/or property. The owner has the right to use his or her work freely on all platforms, while others must be given permission or provide credits to the author. As stated in the Copyright Act of 1976, the Fair Use guidelines grant users reasonable purposes of copying materials, such as for non-profit educational intentions. How and how much of the original work can be used determine the level of fair use. As a future teacher, when creating lessons and class materials, I may place a copyright symbol or a watermark on my intellectual and creative works to prevent them from being taken without consent. I will also educate my students on Copyright and Fair Use and show them ways to have their own compositions copyrighted. 

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Discussing technology implementation issues...

     Cyberbullying is, in my opinion, one of the most concerning problems among internet citizens nowadays. Since we practice the right of speech in America and stay anonymous while being active on social media, anyone can express their feelings and thoughts openly. Some internet users take advantage of these facts to post negative comments and threats towards others or to upload someone's embarrassing pictures online. If my students get involved in cyberbullying as victims, I will teach them how to block the bullies and report abusive messages to social media providers and developers and have them solve the problem. Discussing the issue with adults and teachers to let them know about the problem is also a way to avoid cyberbullying. Or, students can just simply ignore and stay away from online platforms for a while. Academic dishonesty is another technology-related matter. Students sharing or collaborating works with friends online or taking works on the internet without citation are some of the most common violations of plagiarism. To prevent these acts, I will guide students, as soon as possible, on how to cite sources and check for unintentional infringement of copyright. I may ask my students to share their work with me and have them do their assignments in class to monitor their progress. 

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New skills acquired from Newsletter assignment...

     After creating a newsletter, I have learned how to add hyperlinks and insert pictures on a Word document. I previously stated that I was not really familiar with Word because I had been using Google Docs and Mac's Page over my high school career and just got back to Word. Hence, I am getting used to Word again and exploring all of Word's tools while doing the assignment. Controlling spaces and columns is the hardest part for me —every time I move a picture or a WordArt around, I would have to adjust my articles and other objects to make the newsletter seem balanced. I will probably practice doing newsletters and watch tutorials on Youtube to learn some more cool tips for designing e-newsletters. This task is a to-do job for future teachers as they need to contact students' parents and families to discuss class progress and plans. 

      I finished my assignment earlier today, and here is a screenshot of my newsletter. Leave a comment below to let me know how you think about my work!

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Blog ②

Hello again and welcome to my second blog :) Hope everyone is having a wonderful time at FSU!

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I have been writing essays and projects on computers and laptops since I was 11. Back in my junior high years in Vietnam, I used to use MS Word primarily to learn typing, write essays, and decorate simple posters as parts of the Intro to Technology/Computer Science curriculum. I remember trying out all tools in MS Word 2010 version and exploring some new features offered in the 2013 version, which was a bit more complex than the former one. However, when I started high school in Texas and got my very first personal laptop, I began switching from MS Word to Google Docs —mainly used for in-class assignments and teacher-student collaborations— and Pages for personal notes, major essays, and large projects. Right now, I prefer using Pages because I am most familiar with its features and stylings after more than three (3) years of solely relying on this software. I can also type my documents on Pages whenever and wherever, offline or online, on Mac or on phone. Nonetheless, I am doing my best to learn how to use MS Word again for college since it is connected to my FSU account, making it easier for me to find, locate, and manage all my files in one place. 

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After reading the ISTE Standards, I believe "Learner" is the most meaningful quality for me as a future educator. As technology is improving with hundreds of new applications and upgraded features every day, and demand for online learning is on the rise, educators of all levels should keep them updated on little changes and learn how to use those recently developed programs. By doing so, teachers can explore a wide range of learning software and decide which one they should incorporate into their daily teaching techniques and plans. Instructors should also engage in a global-learning network to discover some different pedagogical strategies proposed by other educators around the world to learn and better themselves, as we are living in a globalized and multicultural setting. Moreover, people learn every day, anywhere and anytime, and so do educators. Before one can master and further develop something, one must first learn how to use it. Before educators pass on their knowledge and tips to others, they should thoroughly study educational technology. Don't you think there is a reason why "Learner" is placed above all other standards in the ISTE list?

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Personally, I do not agree with Prensky's assumptions regarding the "digital native" generation. Although the youth today widely use technology for daily communications, schooling, work, or collaborations, not every one of them can quickly get used to a variety of up-to-date technology and applications. Young people may also have to spend the same amount of time, as some older adults, going through tutorials and memorizing steps of how to use a particular software. Some young people do not like using smartphones or laptops for daily routines but instead, prefer the old-fashioned style; some don't even have access to modern technology at all! By the way, I admit that some teachers —especially those who teach subjects other than computer science and technology— have been facing difficulties learning and setting up new ways of learning online during the pandemic, and they often try to figure out how to solve problems when teaching via computers. Still, after some time of practicing, educators started getting used to those applications and becoming experts who show students how to use them. In the future, I anticipate that the way I and my students use technology will not differ much since I will try learning and updating technological trends and software to make me feel comfortable when teaching and communicating with students in an educational environment, whether in-person or online. 

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