Information is not Knowledge

In our Informational Society, we are presented with information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have access to the information but do we use the information to increase our knowledge? Albert Einstein is quoted as saying "Information is not knowledge". This is a true statement of our current society. We listen to the news, we read articles online, our smart phones give us instant access to the world, yet the information we have is extremely shallow. Society has lost the art of delving deeper into a topic and discovering the truth. As a teacher, my goal has not been to impart information to passive students but to lead students to find the answers to their questions. Society must recapture the art of finding true knowledge, to look underneath, not believe it because someone said it, but to actively search and find the truth for themselves.

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PowerPoint & Storyboards

As stated in the previous blog it is important to know why you are creating a PowerPoint presentation. Once you have decided the point of the presentation, who your audience will be, and if it is a live presentation or not, you are ready to begin creating the storyboard. Storyboards are graphic organizers that allow you the opportunity to layout your presentation visually. For example, for each slide you would decide what information you need and ideas for chunking the material. The planning stage allows you an opportunity to think through the process. There are many different ways to create a storyboard. You could hand draw and write a storyboard, you could use Word and create an outline, or you could use a template (there are many online). I have created my storyboard using PowerPoint which works well for my creative process. In PowerPoint you have the option of using the Notes Pane at the bottom of the screen. This pane is useful for storing ideas and information you would like to s...

LiveBinders - Pretty Cool

I have been utilizing my new favorite resource in class - http://www.livebinders.com/. This is an excellent free resource for teachers and trainers. LiveBinders is a website where users gather information into a virtual notebook. The notebook has tabs where internet resources (websites, videos, and blogs) can be added by the user. There is a plethora of notebooks already created that can be used in the classroom. Users can also create their own notebook pages with information they would like to share. Students have been using my LiveBinder to learn how to create Claymation projects. My favorite aspect of LiveBinders is that I can add all the websites and YouTube videos for my students to my pages. Students have everything they need access to without going to the internet and searching, typing URL’s incorrectly, or getting sidetracked by other things on the internet. LiveBinders also plays the YouTube videos inside the LiveBinder window. By playing the video inside LiveBinders, s...

Blogging in the Classroom

A blog is defined as "A web site containing the writer's or group of writers' own experiences, Observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other web sites" . (reference - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Blog ) Blogs are an excellent resource for any learning environment. Blogs are an outstanding way for instructors to assess learning and have students share their opinions and ideas. Students can access blogs in the classroom, from home, from their phones, and anywhere else there is an internet connection. They can be used in any classroom for any assignment. By blogging students are free to express their complete ideas in a safe non-judgmental setting. One way to use a blog in the classroom is as a discussion board. Teachers can provide questions to student that create critical thinking. Instead of asking yes/no questions, ask students open ended questions, answers that they must defend using vocabulary related to the lesson. For exa...

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