Today I met Iron Man so you could say it was a good day

   Wow oh wow never in a million years did I think that I would be able to type a sentence like, "today I met Iron Man so you could say it was a good day". BUT I CAN!!!!

   Today I went to Digitech and what a cool experience! The exhibit housed an overwhelming number of presenters from all majors who had each found a way to innovatively use technology. Some of the projects included smart tables, 3-D printers, body suits for film production, safer sports helmets, and yes, even an Iron Man suit.

   One of my favorite projects was one from the archeological department. The researchers travel back and forth to Italy to dig up an archeological site. Unfortunately, the artifacts that they find are required to remain in Italy. So, rather than simply photographing all of the artifacts, the researchers scan them and 3-D print them. They are then able to sand down the prints and add texture and color so that the printed model is almost identical to the original. The goal: to help visually impaired students who can't see photos of artifacts. This way then can feel them.

   Another cool tech invention that I saw, which is arguably the coolest thing that I've ever seen, was the Iron Man suit. The creator is a graduate student who has spent three years creating a fully functioning suit out of recycled materials. The suit came with a speaker, smart phone capabilities, and yes, even a flame thrower!!! While it may not look sleek and pretty like Tony Stark's suit, this teacher by day is still a pretty cool tech super hero by night in my book!

   All in all, Digitech was a super cool experience that I would go back to in a heartbeat. It was amazing to see all of these researchers who were so passionate about using technology to revamp the world that we live in today.

#10 Last one, best one

GUYS!!! We made it to the end!!! HUZZAH!!


   I wish I could think of a super clever way to use data collection as a lawyer. Alas, I can only think of ways to report data in Excel. Evidence logs, witness statements and information, and fee records are a few ways that I might be able to use data reporting as an attorney. While the police do most of the actual evidence logging, it would be really great to organize my evidence and witnesses based on the argument that they support and the information that they provide.

   Also...I want to get paid...so I have to keep track of the number of hours I'm listening to and researching people's problems. (Sidenote: This is a sarcastic joke, I'm not that much of a jerk.)

   The topic that I found most interesting in viewing people's blogs wasn't really a "topic" at all. It was seeing everyone's individual ideas and interpretations, regardless of the topic. The ILP's were a great way to see everyone's creative side and get to know people's interests better. It's about the people, not the tools am I right or am I right?! #EMEfoLyfe

   If I lived in a perfect world and had outrageous amounts of time, I would LOVE to learn more about using Final Cut. I know the basics and a few advanced skills....enough that I was able to edit a 10 minute short film. But, there's soooooo much more that I could still learn.

   I love editing footage. I use to sit in my room and cut together B Roll just for fun. So it would be so exciting (and completely useless for my future career) to be able to do that again. To accomplish this, I would mostly just play around on the software. But, I'm sure I could also take a MOOC or other online course on Final Cut to learn advanced skills.

Survey: Sports Survey

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0JrWYiObCdEb0sR

#9 I'm about to complain for a hot sec

   A flipped classroom is a blended delivery system that allows students to listen to lecture material outside of class and then spend their time in class actively engaging in the learning process. In other words, traditional homework becomes class work and traditional class work becomes homework.

   This method, according to the book, allows for instruction to be delivered in a different way that may reach some learners better.

   As many of us have talked about before, one fantastic source of educational videos is Crash Course. They range in subject from American History to Chemistry and Literature. Here is a link to their YouTube channel: Crash Course.

   Side Note: In high school, I took an AP European History class where the teacher recorded her lectures and posted them to Edmodo. It was our job to listen to the lectures and take notes as homework. That way, when we came in to class, we could discuss the material as a group and ask any questions that we had. I personally LOVED that style of learning.

   Ohhhhhh Power Point, how I detest you!!! While the projects that other people create on you are amazing, that's a task I'll leave to someone else.

   In the Information Dissemination project, I learned how to create a master slide and record the presentation to create a show. Pretty cool stuff! I really like how my presentation turned out in the end.

   But, I struggled trying to present information without using bullet points....like REALLY struggled. That was the part that I disliked the most. I felt like so much of the information that I wanted to present would have been more digestible, at least from a student's perspective, if it had been listed in bullet form.

Here is what a few of my slides look like:

   As far as the Interaction project is concerned, I liked it slightly better than the Information Dissemination one. I learned how to link one slide to another which resulted in a pretty cool practice game!

   In the future, I wish I could have figured out to add different audio clips. I wanted to add in a countdown audio bite on the slide that says, "Ready? Set.....GO!". However, but I couldn't figure it out. Other than that, I'm really happy with how this turned out and I like it better than the first project.

Here is what a few of my slides look like:

No Blog So You Get a Dog

In lieu of our weekly educational posts, I decided that everyone could use a little cuteness in their lives! In other words, there was no blog, so you get to see my dog.

This is Simba and yes I did name him after The Lion King. His favorite activities include chasing birds in the back yard, looking #majestic, eating peanut butter, and snuggling with mommy (aka me). 

I hope everyone had a great weekend full of adventures and that everyone has a not-so-terrible Monday. See you tomorrow :)

Diigo Activity 5

   I like Diigo as a personal tool to help organize the things that we see on the internet every day.

   In the future, I can see myself continuing to use Diigo as a personal tool to help annotate and organize case law. If I can read through briefings online, annotate them, and tag them based on their holdings or the dicta delivered by the courts, it will making finding case law to support my own arguments in court that much easier.

   I don't think that Diigo would be effective for the legal profession as a whole. Every case has so many implications and offers so many different opinions that trying to organize one Diigo woule be impossibly overwhelming. However, within a single practice, it would be a great way for paralegals to research, annotate, and organize case law for the partners of the firm.

   But, that being said, the legal profession is missing out on the most helpful aspect of Diigo: the social learning.

#8 Cool Tools, Cool Teachers, Cool School

   Last week, we toured the FSU Student Disability Resource Center. I'm very lucky to not suffer from a disability, but, they have some really cool stuff in their lab to help put them on a level playing field.

   The coolest tool that I saw at the SDRC was the smart pen. Not only did you take notes in the traditional sense by writing notes on paper, but this resource also allowed you to record the lecture. Should you miss something, you simply need to press on a word and the pen will play back the recording from that particular time in the lecture.

   In schools, I can see every student using this tool to help them take better notes and to study for exams.

   Bloom's taxonomy refers to six levels that are used to classify learning objectives. Powerpoint is a great tool that can be used to hit all six levels.

1. Create - Obviously, students are creating a way to present information simply by creating a Powerpoint.

2. Evaluate - By watching other students present Powerpoints, the rest of the class is silently evaluating and critiquing their peer's work. While they may not be writing down things that their class mates did well or could improve upon, they are still thinking critically about their work.

3. Analyze - Similar to evaluating their peer's work, if students are watching various presentations, they are undoubtedly making connections from one topic to another. Even if the presentations are totally unrelated, the students are bound to make certain connections from one presentation to another.

4. Apply - With all of the information gathered from watching and creating Powerpoint presentations,  students are preparing themselves to use this information for tests or future assignments.

5. Understand - Powerpoints create an opportunity for discussion. They allow students to ask questions at the same time that they are able to reiterate and reorganize information.

6. Remember - Powerpoints are a great learning tool because they provide both a visual and auditory source of information. This gives students two different sources for recalling and remembering information.

   A link to a page to stay on top of technological trends is this one from Study.com. It is a short video that describes teaching trends and how they apply to technology in the classroom. It discusses flipped classrooms which I think is a really great idea. I had a teacher in high school that assigned Edmodo lectures that we had to listen to outside of class. Then in the classroom, we would go more in depth and discuss the material.

   By staying on top of trends, teachers are not only going to keep up with the times, but they are going to be able to be more effective in catering to students' growing dependence on new technology.