Learning Style

For my own personal learning style I have discovered that the way I learn the best is through project based activities.  I believe that my learning is most effective through these means because according to the multiple intelligence quiz the way I learn best is socially by developing ideas with other people.  Thinking back to my experiences I would agree with this statement.


Another benefit and strength that I have through project based learning is the ability to explore and experience new things.  Through inquiry based learning I find myself not only the most engaged, but able to retain the most information.  This is also reflected in my teaching strategies as I try to incorporate many projects and opportunities for inquiry based learning as possible.  Of course project based learning is not appropriate for all topics.


The type of teaching strategy that is least effective for my learning style is lecture.  I find it the most effective when learning is interactive and through lecture learning is usually the least interactive.  It is difficult to learn unless you are actually performing the tasks.


It is impossible for a teacher to cater to all learning styles every single lesson.  Our focus as educators should instead be to give students an opportunity to experience many different ways to learn.  Our goal should be to create a community of learners in the classroom were students can receive support from their fellow learners.  In this way if a certain lesson isn't focused on a students particular strength they can still receive the support that they need to learn and to succeed.

Creative Commons

Below is an image of a lunar eclipse.  This image could be used to give students a visual to assist in learning  about and understand a lunar eclipse.  This creative commons image is sited below.

Photo Attribution

Original Image: "Lunar Eclipse 12-2010"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobaubuchon/5279492639/
By:  Bob AuBuchon

Release under an Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

The photo that I uploaded to flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/70987730@N08/6416006935/?edited=1

PC security and maintenance

Intrusion detection and prevention

I learned about the benefits and uses of intrusion detection and prevention software.  The tutorial described the differences between your basic virus scan and how it looks for unwanted programs by what they try to do.  They compared it to trying to find a thief by looking at his characteristics rather than his fingerprints.  What this software does is detects changes as they happen making you more secure.  The difficulty with intrusion software is it does take some user knowledge and activity.  Unlike a normal virus scan where you just start the scan and it takes care of the rest, with intrusion software you have to know what you are looking at.  What surprised me about this information was the difference it illustrated between virus scans and intrusion software.  I feel I am now more secure with this new software.

You can download it for free at www.winpatrol.com

Helpful Web Site Resources

This was a short tutorial but very informative.  It gave some great websites that give you resources to help your computer.  PC pit stop is a one stop shop for PC security and maintance.  It has everything from virus scanning to speed optimizing.  And it’s free!  http://www.pcpitstop.com/

The other resource the tutorial gizmos richard’s tech support alert.  It includes windows guides so you can perform common tech support tasks yourself.  If you need to know anything about internet security you can almost always find it there.  www.techsupportalert.com

Firewalls

There are actually two different kinds of firewalls:  hardware firewalls and software firewalls.  Hardware firewalls can be found in things like wireless routers that help protect your computer from the outside world.  Software firewalls are installed on your computer. 

It is important to know what firewalls do.  Software firewalls act as a second line of defense behind your hardware firewall.  They tell you when a program is trying to access the internet, they tell you when something is trying to get out to the internet, they tell you when something is trying to get into your computer and warn you of dangerous internet activity.

It is also important to know what they can't do.  For example hardware firewalls do not:  Block viruses from being installed, block spam email, or block you from spreading viruses to the outside world.

Something that I learned about firewalls were about the two different types and why it is important to have both kinds.  They work together helping to block and protect you from things that the other one may have missed.  They are your best line of defense against unwanted access to your computer

Wiki Lab

In wikipedia I created a page for the elementary school that I completed my internship at.  There was no page yet created so I added some basic information about the school, the students, the spanish immersion program they have and their involvement with Michigan State.  Below is a screen shot of the new wikipedia page.

As another part of wikis, I also created my own wiki using wikispace.  In this wiki I simulated a class assignment that could be completed using a wiki.  It is a photo hunt where they look for different states of matter.  Students would be able to upload pictures of different states of matter they see in the world around them every day.  I also included detailed instructions to explain how to upload their images to the wiki.

http://ericsclassroomwiki.wikispaces.com/

Getting Things Done (GTD)

I honestly wish I had, had something like this at the very beginning of college.  I started this by using a paper and pencil and will eventually move to using my iPad so it is more mobile and easier to keep track of.  When first starting out this process actually took a little getting used to.  It was nice figure out how to be more organized.  I've actually tried to be come organized similar to this but it was more of a brain dump on a piece of paper.  I would create one of those massive lists of everything I have to do.  As I wrote more and more I would get more and more overwhelmed with it all and have no idea where to start or what to attack first.  This is where I think the GTD process will really help me.  It isn't just the brain dump that I was doing but it gives you a way to organize it.  I will continue to use this process.  I think it will be very effective in helping me keep organized which is very important especially with these online classes.

Social networks: Professional, personal and in the classroom

Social networks are a great way to stay connected and find connections.  There is a very common phrase, it isn't what you know it's who you know (of course knowing a thing or two does always help).  Social networks have made it much easier to know the right people get the information you need, expert you are looking for or job you've always wanted.  It allows for communication among colleagues to be much quicker and easier.  Instead of hunting for and trying to find the right person that you think knows the answer to your question you can use social networking to put that question out there and let everyone have a chance at answering it.  The answer may come to you quicker and from a source that you didn't expect.

Social networking in a personal aspect is also very beneficial.  I know that I personally use social networks like Facebook to keep in touch with my cousin who lives in Italy.   Even though I am thousands of miles away we are still able to communicate and see what the other one is doing.  We actually met this summer for the first time thanks in large part to social networks.

Using social networks in the classroom can help students in their studies.  One way is what I mentioned before.  Being able to ask a question that anyone can answer and give input and feedback on.  Another way that students could use social networking is to give each other feedback.  I know there have been times I can think back to sitting in a class and having a really good idea for someone when they mention a project idea.  However it either wasn't an opportunity then to share it or I didn't get a chance to share what my thoughts.  Through social networking students could share their feedback and ideas to help each other.  This could potentially inspire other students to use ideas in their projects as well.  It makes a much closer and well connected learning environment for everyone.