Take Away 4/14

Todays class was very interesting and informative. I love using powerpoint and have used it for years but never knew about all these hyperlink options. I knew a power point presentation could be interactive but the examples that we saw today really blow me away and I was really impressed. I also learned about voicethread which was something completly new to me. There are so many possble lessons that you could use to incoporate this. This would be a great tool to use for literacy, for example when students are on spring break.Many teachers give students reading assignments and ask for a write up. Instread students could give a oral explantion about the part of the book they read and have a whole class discussion without actually being in the classroom. For powerpoint one could do a math lesson for example when doing a lesson on adding two fractions. The students would solve each part and if they got it right then they could move on to the next slide with the next step on how to solve the fraction. These were just ideas I came up with in less then 5 minutes but the ideas are endless.

Blog 6

     While reading chapter 8, the question I kept asking myself was why can’t teachers in a K-12 setting provide the same communication and networking resources that college students get from their professors? Unlike college in high school and middle school teachers don’t give out their emails to their students. I think that this is a form of communication that needs to be reinforced. When students are home and they forget an assignment or have a question, it would be nice to have a way to communicate with their teacher.  I also think creating a classroom website should be mandated for every teacher. This is a great way for students to have access to their assignments and notes as well as for parents to be able to be more involved with their children’s school work. This way students  have no excuse, not to get their work done. One idea mentioned in the reading that stood out to me was teachers who use electronic forms of communication have the ability to share information 24/7. Every teacher has said at one time or another that they wish there was more time in the day to get to everything they wanted to. Using electronic forms of communication like having a class blog or website would provide the teacher the opportunity to provide more information about a subject. This is a great way to provide resources to students who need extra help or for more advanced students who need to be challenged more.

    I really enjoyed reading chapter 9 especially because I love using power point presentations! For my student teaching experience every time I was observed for a lesson or had to teach I incorporated a power point presentation. Like the chapter mentioned, schools have tended to focus on a single-media that is non- interactive such as showing a video clip. I feel that even with a power point presentation, teachers need to make sure to make the presentation interactive.  Using power point presentations in elementary school is especially important because using colorful backgrounds, having diagrams, and sounds really keep the students engaged and excited to learn. Using power point presentations are especially convenient now due to the fact that most schools now have smart boards. This gives students the opportunity to be able to write directly on the power point making it much more interactive.

 

Focus Question

1.       Do you think that it is appropriate for every teacher to be mandated to have a class web page? Why or Why not?

2.       Do you agree that using power point presentations in elementary school is beneficial? Why or why not? Or is it better to use in a high school setting?

4/7 Take Away Message

In my junior year in college we were all mandated to create a eprofolio on digications. When I created my profolio i never throught of it as a tool i could use for my future, it was just seen as a requirment. I had to revist my profolio when creating the webquest and after this class i relize the importance of it. Keeping this profolio is like documenting someones growth as a developing teacher. I really wish I kept many unit plans and lesson plans I create for other courses so I could of uploaded it to the site. I decided to make a goal for myself and work a little everyday to improving it.

Take Away Message

When working on my webquest project and with the class discussion on the group video presentation I was refelecting on my own experiences in school and I wish my teachers would of provided me with this experience. Also with watching the videos of other students, I learned various things that I wish I edited when I made my individual project. It was very useful to see the videos and I hope my group video will be just as great!

Chapter 7

    Chapter 7 discusses a lot about how educational software supports and promotes problem solving and inquiry learning. The whole time when I was reading the chapter, I was thinking about the class discussion we had on Mine craft. Last week was the scholastic book fair at the school where I student teach, and all the boys in my class were buying this book called "Minecraft The Official Beginners Handbook" and I just though it was so ironic. The chapter mentioned that a computer  software that allows students to use high order thinking skills is a indication of it being a good software to use, which had me thinking if playing "Mine craft" had an educational value. I can see how some would argue that it promotes problem solving. I personally love the idea of using computer games in the classroom. Students, like the little girl Rosie mentioned in the beginning of the chapter are fascinated by computer games. Using computer games can be seen as a motivation in any lesson, which will capture their attention. Like the chapter mentioned there isn't a profession that doesn't use computers or some type of informational technology. Using educational software will prepare students for when they get into the real world. I think it is very important for teachers to make sure that the video games or computer games they choose to use has educational value. I think it is also important for them to let parents know as well about which educational software's are beneficial or not.




Focus Question

Teachers usually are not allowed to add their own software to the school system network. Do you agree or disagree with this practice?

Do any of you use educational software in your classroom like kidpix? Is it beneficial?

3/24 Take Away Message

One thing that I found interesting about todays class was the use of minecraft in the classroom. I personally believe that the school featured in the class had good intentions of incorporating technology but they choose the wrong type of software. Sites like lexipedia, and visual theasures are great sites that can be incorporated into the classroom. Also from playing around with google maps i have learned that when wanting to incorporate technology teachers have to get creative because sometimes the best tools to use in a classroom maynot even be educational resources.

Chapter 4 and 6

    Chapter 4 focused on how teachers can create change by integrating technology in various ways. One statement made in this chapter that stood out to me was “technology integration is more about how technology is used by teachers than about the amount of technology a teacher has to use” I think this statement should be an eye-opener for teachers because it doesn’t matter how much technology one uses if the students aren’t gaining anything valuable from it. Like the chapter mentioned technology in schools is being used in two ways.  One is inclusion, which means technology is used to transfer information and practicing skills. The other way is infusion which means that computers and other online information are ongoing-features in the classroom. I think every teacher should use technology as an infusion rather than inclusion because technology should be ongoing. Teachers should use to for professional usage as well as for academic usage to get the maximum effect out of them.

     Chapter 6 focused on the use of teaching with educational websites and other online resources like virtual field trips and web quests.  The chapter made a good point on information management when it comes to teaching. Teaching requires sharing information between the teacher and student.  A lot of times this sharing is done through an outdated textbook with complex language that students cannot even understand.  Reading this chapter made me think of the TED conference video I mentioned in my storyboard reflection paper.  This science teacher stated making YouTube videos to teach his students because the textbook method was just not working for his students. http://www.ted.com/talks/tyler_dewitt_hey_science_teachers_make_it_fun

  As I was looking through the top 50 free education apps, the one that I thought was very interesting was the Quizlet. This app allows you to insert information that you need to study for and then you can quiz yourself with your phone. I would use this for not only my personal use but this sounds like a great tool to recommend parents to use with their children. You can be studying anywhere!

     

 Focus Question

Do you think children who have iPads and laptops at home, should be allowed to bring these devices to school for note taking or for class work?

For many research projects teachers require students to have at least one of their sources to be a printed book. Do you think this is necessary when there are numerous educational websites and other online resources that can provide the same information?

Take Away Message. 3/12

Todays class was a eye-opener for the responsibilities of a digital citizen. The three broad areas of internet are very important aspects to teach young students. The internet provided students with great oppertunities but they need to understand these three areas in order for these oppetunities to be safe and used to the maximum potential. The Austrialian website we viewed in class today is such a great way for students to learn these areas. It has games and interactive actitvities that make these topics more real and fun. Also in the terms of the digital divide it is interesting to see how much has changed over the years. Now that more students have internet acess, studying these three areas are especially important.

Take Away Message 3/10

I was very skeptical about using websites like wikipedia because it was always frowned upon using by most educators. But after todays class discussion I now understand the foudation of what wikipedia is and their purpose. I never really looked into evaluating the content on websites like this. As we looked at diffrent features of the website I realized this site is not as bad as I thought, It actually has alot of postives such as being very up to date and there are people in authority who limit what goes on the site. I think as a teacher, this is a great topic to teach students which is what contents to look for that makes a website accurate and apporiate to use. This is a important skill for both teachers and students to have.

Chapter 5

In this chapter the authors compare the internet to the library of congress, which is considered the world’s largest library. But one difference is that the internet contains a lot of materials of “questionable quality.” Many students in the current system lack the knowledge to differentiate between quality information and questionable information.  There is a big difference between knowing how to access information and how to assess information, and I personally think this is where problems occur. Students know how to access information but they don’t know how to proceed after that. According to the text 94% of high school students use the internet for research for school assignments, which means having information literacy is important more than ever before.

    Information Literacy should be a part of the curriculum because the modern students rely on internet sites for everything, from using WebMD for self-diagnosis to googling answers to homework assignments.  Having this immediate access to online information is great, but students need to learn how to use this information accurately and appropriately to function in our society.  The ETS pilot study found that only a few college and high school students demonstrated strong information and media skills. This proves that our schools need to come up with better ways to educate our students in terms of informational literacy. As university of Wisconsin professor James Paul Gee stated “in the modern world, print literacy is not enough” which is the scary truth that many students and teachers are currently facing.

     In David H. Jonassen’s theory of constructivism he believes in the use of “mindtools” to help engage students in activities that support critical thinking and problem solving.  When referring to mindtools he believes that using different computer software programs as cognitive tools can support critical thinking and problem solving. I definitely agree with his idea of using these different soft wares.  If students can be better at critical thinking and problem solving this might help them have more informational literacy skills to use and understand information on the internet accurately. 

Focus Questions 

1. Do you think websites like Wikipedia should be banned and restricted from school computers?

2. Does the same form of intellectual and personal growth be developed when reading online compared to reading printed books?

Take Away Message

I was very impressed with the quality of work the students did in their America Dream/American Nightmare videos. This is such a unique way to teach a english lesson, and lessons like this are very inspirational. I think the sucesss of this lesson had everything to do with the video the teacher made. When I watched her video I was very inspired to I can only imagine what her students were feeling. The videos made this lesson become a real, tangleable thing, instead of something the students learn one year and forget. If teachers did a trailer video for every lesson they taught, every lesson would be very sucessful.

Chapter 2/3 Reflection

    The first page of chapter two, states the chapters learning goal which is "to explore how teachers and students can use computer technologies to transform education in schools" If we analyze this statement closely it clearly states that its on both the teacher and student. In the past education has always been revolved around the teacher, but from my readings from chapter 2 and 3 it is clear that the use of technology opens opportunities for education to have more focus on the student.Of the five ways technology transforms classrooms, the one that I thought to be the most interesting was on the Information literacy and Internet Literacy. The example the reading provided was about how researchers made a false website about an animal called the pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. The students in this research had such a lack of knowledge about information and internet literacy that they actually believed the false information they read.It is very important that schools start teaching students how to understand information presented online.         

       Chapter 3 focused on developing lessons with technology. Like mentioned in the chapter veteran teachers have developed the skill to come up with lessons effortlessly but for younger teachers it seems very beneficial to use the computer and internet sources to help enhance lessons. There are now so many lesson templates and other website links that are online and easy access to teachers.






Focus Question.
1. From the readings, we know that computer technology is well suited to support the student-centered teaching approach. Do you think its possible for technology to support a teacher centered classroom environment?

2. Will online lesson help, interfere with a teachers creativity?

WebQuest Project

WebQuest Idea for 5th Grade

       After reading "The Diary of Ann Frank" each student will pick a event that happened in the book and write their own diary entry from their own prospective. Each student will pick a different event, they will post their diary entry on a class blog. The end product will be recreation of Ann's diary as a blog.

Common Core Standards

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information. 
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.1a Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.1b Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3a Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.3b Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

Class Reflection-2/10

     Todays class was a eye-opener for me because I was very skeptical about the use of technology in the classroom. The reason I was so skeptical because I have never seen any teacher use technology in such a appropriate way. The video we saw  today of the teacher who uses instagram and twitter in her classroom was very interesting. I love using these apps for my personal use but I now see these tools that can be used in a classroom. Nowadays it is so hard to get students really engaged in any activity so using these applications will be very benifical for that. Also the diagrams and charts that were shown today about the number of smart phones and the correlation to ones salery really shocked me. After reading chapter one, my biggest question was if it was possible to include technology in low income schools but after seeing those charts and the other information we learned in class today, I now feel that it is very possible to achieve that.

Chapter 1 Reaction

“Becoming a e-teacher”

    I found chapter 1 to be very inspirational, for both new teachers and more experienced teachers. Being born in the generation of computers and technology I personally think the use of modern technology is very important in the classroom, but for many older teachers they may not have the same values when it comes to technology. Technology is always changing but I think it is never too late to learn about how to incorporate it into classrooms. Many schools and classrooms now have computers and internet access but like the chapter stated teachers are not using them to its full capacity. I think the reason is because many teachers do not have the right information or tools on how to appropriately incorporate technology. Making the classroom as interactive as possible will not only make the class more fun but will get the students engaged more in school and start showing more motivation. I agree with the main theme of the chapter that technology in the classroom all depends on the teachers view and understanding of technology.

  Two Questions

1.       How can teachers who work in low-income schools realistically incorporate technology if their school district does not have access to modern computers and tools for all students?

2.       Using technology in the classrooms sounds like a good idea but how much technology is too much?  It there a limit to how much the teachers should rely on using technology?

This is my first blog, created for Education course 7266.