Project #15 - Search Engines

Food.com

I picked this search engine because I really like food and it has a ton of information and great recipes. Food.com is a great sourse for cooking. They have tutorial videos, diet recipes and holiday ideas. With over 475,000 recipes the options are limitless (almost). Food.com now has an app out for your smart phone so you can take it anywhere. They also have the ability to click on a recipe and save the shopping list to your phone.

Picsearch.com

Picsearch is a search engine that helps you find pictures of pretty much anything. Much like google images it pulls pictures from other website post. "An image search service with more than 3,000,000,000 pictures." I liked this search engine because I always found what I needed.

Spotify

I picked spotify as my music search engine because I use it myself and I love it! It's not one of those things that make you pay for it. They have a free option and one for $10 a month so you can choose any music to listen to. Too add to that they even help you find more songs that you may like according to what songs you add to your playlist.

Pinterest

I love pinterest because it has become very helpful to me. Anyone can go on and make an account and search or post anything. A lot of it is arts and crafts or do it yourself things. They have a ton of recipes and fashion tips. Honestly almost anything your'e looking for you can find on pinterest.

Yahoo!

Much like Google, Yahoo has the abilty to type in any keyword and pop up tons of links to different websites to help you find what your'e looking for. They also show you pictures, videos, news and many more.

Ask.com

I just started using ask.com not too long ago and so far I have found it very helpful and full of information. My favorite part of ask.com is the Q&A part because it is very easy to use and even if you cant get someone to answer your question you can search for the same question and see if anyone else already posted it.

Sportoos.net

I have always used this website to find out all about the games and what's going on with the players. I really enjoy it because it always has the correct information and it only shows me info about sports. Another thing I love about this search engine is the fact that you can click on "LiveScore" and see all the live scores you need.

Wolfram Alpha

I really enjoy this search engine! I am so glad that you introduced us to this because it really is amazing. I can search up a food and the amount and it gives me the nutrition facts. I am still learning it because it does so much, I can enter a math problem in and it will answer it.

Blog post #3

How can you provide meaningful feed back for my peers?
Reading and watching the materials you provided I think one of the main points is to have an open mind. I have gotten feed back from a lot of people on different things in my life and some people come into the conversation with a closed mind. When people have a closed mind they don't listen to the others concerns or problems.
Listening is a big key to giving good feed back, listening and understanding someones problem is really the only way to fix it. Giving good feed back should never be something that is harsh and an assumption that you know better than that person.

"Three steps to peer editing" The first one is making a complement. I agree with that because you start out saying what you enjoyed about their blog and then get to the part where they try to help them with their blog.

The second step is suggestions, when making suggestions you should always make sure what you are saying makes sense and is the right information. The third and last one is corrections, corrections should always be the correct spelling or grammar change. Anything you tell them should be right.

I really enjoyed the video "Writing peer review top 10 mistakes". Mainly because it was so true and people do that all the time. Even as adults I see that we are so judgmental and we don't really put peoples feel ins aside. I agree with some of the points that were made, such as "don't take things personally" I myself struggle with this one sometimes because I feel like people are insulting me when they are just trying to help.

Blog post #2

1. Mr.Dancealot
Should be Mr.dancealittle, there were very many things wrong with his teaching techniques.
He startes out in a class room setting which throws the students off very much and then he goes on to try and teach them how to dance without any movement or interaction.
The days go by and you can see the students either trying to learn by sitting up higher trying to see or even standing up and he tells them "Excuse me, sit down please, i'm teaching a dance class here." which makes no sense at all!

Dance class is a very hands on and learning experience that takes a lot of hard work. Then it comes time to take a test which is held in the ball room and when they arrive they all have their books out ready to "dance" when in fact no one has a clue what to do. Mr.Dancealot looks shocked when they all look at him like he is crazy as he tells them to dance.
This video showed me that to teach someone something you have to understand it and understand how people learn.







2. Teaching in the 21st Century
I really enjoyed this video because I agree with a lot of it.
I. He thinks that teachers are no longer the source of learning.
Which I almost agree with because of the access that every one has to pretty much every thing. If we need to know something we just Google it.
II. Teachers are now just the "filter"

He thinks that now teachers are just kinda like a deliver of the message that students need to hear.
III. Technology is the new teacher.
All the devices used in schools now blows me away. It is scary to think how much it has changed since I was in middle school.

I love the thought of teaching but I also love the thought of students learning. If new technology and things always changing is helping students learn than thats great but if not than why don't we just go back to the books?
A student just has to be willing to try to learn.

3. The Networked Student.
I didn't enjoy this video at all! I couldn't read any of the papers he put down and the quality was bad. I also think that a student needs a teacher not just someone that is there for no reason. They ask "Why does he even need a teacher?" and I say it's to help him learn and grow in his desire to learn. If all that a teacher does is sit there and say click here and type that then who would want to teach anyways? I want to teach because I enjoy getting to know the students, helping them solve problems and doing hands on work with them.

4. Harness your students' digital smarts.
This video really bothered me because my opinion is so different than hers. I think that her main point that she was trying to get across was that she thinks that she shouldn't have to have all the knowledge and information about the subject to teach it.
I feel like you should be able to answer any question that a student gives you even if it takes you a minute. I feel like students should be able to lean on their teachers when they need help not on the internet.

5. Who's Ahead in the learning race?
In my opinion I don't like the fact that kids are even using computers. I think that there is no use for that information until middle school. The fact that a 6 year old can use a MAC book scares me. Our generation relies on technology way to much and doesn't know how to go on without it.
I think that no one is "ahead in the learning race" I don't think it is a race at all. Children should be learning from people not from a computer or an iPad.
I think that I am somewhere in the middle of the race. I know how to use a computer pretty well and if I need help I just use google. A child should not be on the same knowledge level as an adult.
It also bothers me to say that someone else is ahead because as a person born in the 90's I had to learn how to use an old windows computer with dial up internet when I was young so I am having to reteach myself to use something instead of a 6 year old with a clean slate learning to use a mac book now that would be a breeze. But instead we have to put everything we know about an old windows computer aside and relearn how to use a mac.

6. Flipping the classroom.
Flipping a classroom is new to me I have never heard of it until I watched that video. I do like the idea of it I think that it will help save some time in the class room for helping solve the problem. Instead of just talking all the time but I do think there are also some problems with it too. I believe it will be a problem trying to make sure that all the students are watching the videos because it's not just missing a homework assignment because they will be terribly lost in the next class. The parents to your students are the ones to look at when the "assignment" isn't done. Another problem is even if they so called watched the video did they pay attention to it? Yes it will save you time in class but will they still be learning affectively?
I don't know if I would use this technique, I guess it depends on the level of technology we are at when I do start teaching and what grade I am teaching.

Blog assignment #1

1. What are the things (if any) you have heard about EDM310?

I haven't heard to much on this subject I honestly haven't heard of it at all.

2. What fears (if any) do you have about EDM310?

I am slightly afraid of not being able to keep up with the work because the summer just ended and I highly enjoyed my summer. I will put all 9 hours and maybe more into this class. So that I know for a fact that I will pass this class.

3. Compare and contrast EDM310 with other courses you have taken in college or high school.

I really enjoy the fact that it is computer based. I love working with computers my dad taught me all I know about computers. He is a very good with computers and knows how to do almost anything with a MAC. It reminds me of high school because I was homeschooled and my mom liked teaching us how to use the computers.

4. What do you think will be the most difficult thing for you in EDM310?

My life just went into a total different direction than I thought it would. I am working 40 plus hours at a day care and taking 13 hours at South Alabama. I am not sure if I was really ready for that but I went for it. So far it hasn't been to bad, I have enjoyed it but I am going to have to do some serious time management to keep this going.

5. What is the best way for you to address this “most difficult” aspect of EDM310?

Taking the time out of my day to make sure everything I need to do is done. Finishing everything on time and being sure to put school before work.

6. What questions do you still have about EDM310? What ideas do you have about how to address those questions?

What does EDM mean? Other than that I am very excited about this class I believe that I will enjoy it.

ROLL TIDE!!!

Getting to know me a little.

My name is Kaitlyn McLarty.
My family is a very important part of my life. I have three little sisters and my parents have a great relationship. I am very close to my sisters they are my best friends and I don't know what I would do without them. I was homeschool growing up and loved seeing my mom teach us a young kids and that is one of the main reasons I have always wanted to be a teacher.

I really enjoy working with kids, I am a two year old teacher right now and I like it a lot. Taking the time out of my day to get to know a student and understand how they learn and what they like is something that an educator gets to do every day in and out of work.
My major is Elem Education with a minor in Art, I am trying to figure out if I want to be a college Art teacher or stay with Elem I'm not really sure yet. My reasoning for being at USA has a lot to do with staying home. I was born and raised in Mobile and it is my home, I have a lot of family and friends here. Of course thats not my only reason, I have heard great things about the education program here at USA. So far I like it here and I hope I can choose the right path for me.