Reflective Post

Every drop of knowledge is worth reflecting upon.

Photo Credit to mommamia on Flickr

This semester in the EME 2040 course I have learned a great deal about incorporating technology into the classroom and into a lesson plan and curriculum.  It is important for teachers to be able to connect with their students in a way that engages them and holds their attention, what better way than by using technology.   This course has challenged me and pushed me beyond my comfort zone but it has been a good experience and has taught me many new and interesting things.  This class has taught me to use technology to enrich lessons and teaching techniques in the classroom.  It has also given me first-hand experience with software, programs and even gadgets that gave the class a better understanding of available technologies that are available for use by student and teachers.  Another great lesson I learned from this course is giving credit to those whose images I use, the course introduces me to Flickr, Creative Commons and BibMe that help to give credit to authors and owners of images and resources used.  I also learned about the influence that learning theorist have on teachers and teaching techniques and how to incorporate these techniques into preparing a lesson.  This course emphasized the importance of the teaching standards and where and how to access these standards.  This was an informative class which most certainly kept me busy and challenged, but the one thing I would suggest to improve this course would be for the professor to assign more group projects earlier on in the semester to encourage a more collaborative environment among the fellow students, I felt as if I didn’t really know my classmates until the very end of the course.  Besides that this was an all-around great learning experience which has taught me not to be afraid to make mistakes but rather learn from those mistakes and embrace the technologies that are out there for me to discover.

References:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge # L – Chapter 6

Teaching in today’s technological society can be very overwhelming if the teacher is not well organized and able to wisely choose appropriate educational resources.  An educational website can be a great resource for teachers who are looking for new ideas and topics.  In the section Educational Websites as Teacher Resources defines an educational website as internet-based digital content which are created and maintained by colleges, universities, organizations, museums, agencies, companies, and individuals.  According to this section, there are six types of educational websites.  The first being the lesson plan website, which are used mainly by teachers looking for ideas for their lesson plan.  The second is the student-to-expert communication website, which offers students the opportunity to exchange ideas with experts in various fields of study.  The next type is real-time and recorded data websites, which is an inquiry-based website which can offer the students a simulated adventure.  Archival and primary source websites offer students a historical investigation scenario.  Skill practice websites can be used by teachers for a collaborative group activity or for individual students to practice skill and knowledge.  And finally exploration and discovery websites offers the student an online interactive experience.  These are all great resources for teachers and students alike.  It is necessary for teachers to use a variety of techniques, resources, and practices in order to accommodate every students learning style and to have their lessons be a successful experience for all parties.

Technology and sharing are a big part of today's society.  The following links are great resources for teachers and students who need to use technology and enjoy sharing.

DoodleToo is an interactive drawing tool that can be shared.

QuestGarden is a quest creating site where students can solve quests and learn                                                   new information at the same time.  This particular quest was                                                           created by Crystal Wood on The American Symbols.

Using Educational Websites and Apps Interactively offers various positive experiences to students and teachers.  Interactivity, Exploration, and Engagement are all positive outcomes of using educational websites and apps that are interactive. Interactivity incorporates simulations, analyzing data, questions and answers, and searching for answers, which are all skill building activities.  Exploration allows the student to explore the website in random sequence and spend more time on areas of interest while skimming through areas not so interesting, but allows the student the opportunity to come away from the activity knowing more information than they had previously known.  Engagement is so important, it is when the student is drawn to an activity and is compelled to learn the information and embrace the activity, without the students engagement all other aspects of a lesson can be lost and unsuccessful.  It is always a teacher’s goal to have students completely immersed in the lesson contents and to have the student successfully comprehend and retain the lessons objectives.

Online Learning and Virtual Schools refers to the delivery of educational experiences through computers technology.  There are three types of online learning, Distance learning, Virtual Schools, and Blended Learning.  Distance learning is the completing of educational courses using an internet connection and computer.  Virtual learning is the use of educational organizations that teach students through online learning. And Blended learning also known as Hybrid learning is the combination of face-to-face interactions and online coursework and online assessment.  In today’s fast paces and technological society online learning is essential and necessary for some people who are not able to or do not have the means to attend a traditional educational environment but still wish to complete their learning goals.  According to this section there is much debate about virtual schools and distance learning, it is thought that isolation and lack of social interaction and lack of collaborative learning can be a negative aspect of this type of learning.  I believe that since we all have different learning styles, indeed online learning is not for every individual, but it should be an option for those who need and desire this type of learning experience.

References:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge # K – Chapter 11

Teachers are well aware that for every lesson plan developed there must be assessment in order to gauge learning.  Assessment is essential, teachers need to know what works and what parts of a lesson plan need to be tweaked and fine-tuned.   According to the section The Role of Assessment in Teaching and Learning, assessment involves three elements.  The first being new teacher assessment, which is how your work and performance is evaluated.  The second is student assessment, which is the evaluation of your students and the evaluation of your effectiveness as a teacher.  And the third being student self-assessment, which is the student’s involvement in the assessment process.  Teachers are evaluated constantly, whether it is self-evaluation or evaluation by supervisors, assessment is necessary in order to make crucial improvements and changes in lesson plans, decisions, delivery and strategies. Assessment is a necessary and valuable tool whenever teaching takes place.

A digital teaching portfolio is a great tool for teachers to have readily available for reference and for demonstrating an organized collection of educational material that the teacher has either developed or collected over time.  The section Digital Teaching Portfolios list common elements found in most teachers portfolios are resume, philosophy of teaching, lesson plans, academic courses, research experience, teaching experience, and resources.  Teachers are evaluated on an on-going basis and what better way to have an organized collection of works available to present to supervisors.  Continuing to add to your portfolio shows your growth, experience, ideas, and reflection over a course of time.  According to this section, a good way to organize your portfolio is to refer to the standards.  As you develop a portfolio and grow, it is necessary to reflect upon past activities in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and improve upon them.  As teachers we constantly must grow and adapt to our environment and develop new and improved ways to deliver knowledge to our students.

Students enjoy being creative and would like technologies such as ZooBurst to show their creativity.

A great way to have students show what technologies they have learned to use is to allow them to create a story book as part of their assessment.

Involving students in Learning and Assessment is a key element to successful learning and outcomes.  This section talks about the importance of teachers and students taking an active role in their learning and teaching.  It is important for students to feel as though they have an influence in their learning environment, this gives them motivation and they take pride in their learning.  Allowing students to have options and make decisions can make lessons that much more successful and have higher and better outcomes.  Teachers and students can actively make decisions and customize lesson plans to suet learning styles, academic learning, and outcomes and still meet the governing standards.

References:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge # J - Chapter

Digital Badge # J – Chapter 4

In the section Enhancing Lesson Development with Technology, the section talks about the fundamentals of teaching.  What to teach?  How to teach?  How to know what the student has learned?  Seems simple, but the fact is that some teachers and new teachers struggle with inventing new and engaging ways of presenting a well-organized and standard- based lesson plan.  The internet can be a starting point for some teachers, there are many resources that can be explored and technology based tools that teachers can utilize.           Other important aspects of creating a lesson plan is what instructional strategy will be used to teach the lesson, how much time will be spent on the section, and also what assessment tools will be used to insure that academic gains were made. Many things must be considered while developing a lesson plan, in addition the teacher must also consider the individual students needs and learning styles.  While some veteran teachers may have developing a lesson plan down to a science other teacher may find it to be an ongoing task that takes time and effort to develop a lesson plan that meets all
criteria.        

Teachers can use technology to help them brainstorm while developing their lesson plans.



Mind Map created by Crystal Wood using Bubblus


                                                                                                                                  

In the section Approaches to Lesson Planning, lesson planning is defined as the organization of whole-group, small group, and one-on-one instruction.  Lesson planning also includes the use of one of these methods, student learning objectives or understanding by design.  Student learning objective stresses the outcome of the students, while Understanding by design consists of a three part system.  Stage one is to identify the desired results, stage two is to determine assessment, and stage three is to plan how will the lesson be conducted.  Teachers can refer to the internet for ideas or even already assembled lesson plans and there are even apps for lesson planning.  The section mentions TrackStar as a resource for teachers needing help with lesson planning.

Gliffy created by Crystal Wood

One other thing teachers must think about while developing their lesson plan is whether or not it meets educational standards.  Teachers always have the dilemma of not having enough time to teach the vast amount of curriculum requires in order to meet standards.  Teachers often have to decide which content is the most crucial and spend more time on those areas while just skimming over other area of curriculum.  The section Meeting Educational Standard talks about the standards and the consideration and thought that teachers must deal with while trying to create an age appropriate lesson that teaches, is engaging, meets standards, and can be assessed.

Teachers can explore the many resources available online.

Photo credit given to The Daring Librarian on Flickr

References:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge # I – Chapter 12

In the section Digital Inequalities and the Participation Gap talks about the access to technology by students of various economic background or the digital divide.  The income of the family can certainly have an impact on a student’s ready access to devices and technologies.  But besides income being a factor, perhaps knowledge of the parent could also have an impact on the parent’s willingness to purchase electronic devices.  If the parent does not know how to use these devices and are concerned about the misuse of these devices by the student or even others directing malice towards the student then perhaps they may not be as willing to make the purchase or have internet access in the home. After all not all guardians are from the technology generation and can be influenced by the negative situations that they hear about briefly on the media.   The section goes on to say that African Americans and Latinos are more likely to have access to technology through the use of cell phone devices as opposed to actual computers, which can also be a disadvantage to these students.  It is possible to use a cell phone to complete some assignments but certainly a cell phone will not take the place of a word processing device when it comes to writing essays or reports.  There is a graph that shows access to technology in terms of income, in this graph it shows that income of under $30,000.00 greatly reduces access to technology.  In my previous employment in Virginia my job was to calculate family income in order to qualify migrant families for head start services, and I’m here to tell you that some of those families live on less than $14,000.00 a year and some are families of 5 or 6.  Perhaps you would think that they are lying about their income, well it was also my job to do home visits, and I saw how these families live, and I would find it hard to expect those families to make purchases of devices for their older children in order to complete school work, and unfortunately these student will be part of the digital divide because their parents can neither afford the devices nor do they understand these devices.


A good tool to use with students is emaze, its easy to use and students can also create their own presentation.


emaze created by Crystal Wood

In the section Bring Your Own Technology Programs, the section discusses the advantages and the disadvantages of the BYOD programs.  Although every student bringing in a device will increase there access to technology and enable them to further learn more ways to use the device.  There is the problem with the wide array of devices that students will bring in, perhaps the teacher does not have the knowledge necessary to work the device, also who is responsible for lost or stolen devices, and what about the content accesses on these devices? Is it appropriate?  While there are advantages to this program, I can also see disadvantages.  A disadvantage would also be to those students who do not own devices, will they feel left out? Or will they feel embarrassed about their older out of date device?  I do believe that devices are a great addition to curriculum and access to technology should be available to all students, but I also believe that the devices should be equally available and equivalent, which would allow all students the opportunity to learn on an even playing field and take advantage of technologies that some may not have access to at home.

Technology can be fun and interactive, FlipQuiz is an interactive activity that teachers can create easily for students to review lessons.  They can be simple or more advanced and the teacher creates the questions.

FlipQuiz created by Crystal Wood

In the section Using The Technology You Have Successfully, the section talks about teachers continually having to adapt to limited technologies available to them.  Some school have more advanced technologies available to them, while other school do not, which can be a disadvantage to many school today.  The section goes on to offer strategies for using technology in classrooms with limited computer access.  Although the classroom with few computers is limited, they can still be creative and the teacher can use small group activities to incorporate these computers into the lesson.  In small groups the students can access information, have online interactions, prepare presentations.  If the teacher develops a rotation pattern within their lesson plan then limited computer access can be overcome and students can still take advantage of lessons which include technology.

Sometimes teachers need to use the tools available to them in new and interesting ways, here is a tool that could be use to introduce an activity call: Making Fruit Salad.

What you need for fruit salad. on PhotoPeach

References:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge H – Chapter 9

Chapter 9, Expressing Creativity with Multimedia Technologies presents a variety of tools that can be used to enhance learning and present lessons.  In the section PowerPoint and Next Generation Presentation Tool talks about the various tools used to keep students interested and engaged while the teacher presents the lesson.  The section mentions tools like PowerPoint, Prezi, SlideRocket, Acrobat, Dryfork 3D, Open Office Impress, Keynote, and Google Docs are all tools that can be used to produce presentation.  From the numerous tools available it is apparent that multimedia presentations have become an important part of learning in today’s society.  Although these tools are essential and can aid in the delivering of information to the student, there can be disadvantages to using these tool, the section mention that some student may not be interested, these tools lack in-depth analysis, it takes teachers planning time to create these presentation, the main idea of the presentation may be lost or overlooked due to the amount of information presented.  The point that resonated with me from this section is the teacher spending time creating these presentation on their planning periods, at the school where I work we do not get planning periods and the teachers are expected to do lesson plans while the children nap, so even if I wanted to incorporate technology into my lesson plan, I would surely need to spend my personal time creating the presentation at home.  Also I have a particular student that rarely takes a nap and I struggle to get all the tasks I’m required to complete done.  I believe that these tools would be a great addition to the lesson plan of teachers who are given time to develop these lesson, but in my case I feel that I already spend a large part of my personal time working on lesson plans at home.


http://prezi.com/znqnhwo1wqp5/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share
Prezi credit to Dustin Bauer on Prezi.com



In the section called Video in the Classroom mentions that video can be important tool to present information in an interesting format, but stresses that students usually retain more if the teacher shows 5 to 10 minute of video at a time and must be relevant to the lesson being presented.  The section goes on to talk about student being brought up in a culture where computer screens and televisions are a constant presence in the lives of students.  It also talks about the unique learning experience that can be obtained from video, video can bring to life a book that was read but not quite comprehended by the student or it can enhance a book by adding a visual element, which in return creates a more meaningful learning experience for the student.  The section goes on to mention various formats of video available such as You Tube, handcrafted videos, and streaming videos just to mention a few.  I believe that video can be a positive element to any lesson as long as the teacher uses it responsibly to enhance the students learning and not just as a babysitter or a counting down the clock activity.  As with all technologies there will be teachers and students that will use it responsibly and there will be those who abuse these technologies, it is up to the teacher who decides to incorporate video into their lesson to insure that the video is relevant and not just eye candy. 

Video credit to Vbaviatorproductions on YouTube

In the section Photo-Taking and Movie-Making with Students talks about the opportunities available to students and teachers to experience what it’s like to be the editor and publisher of media.  Students and teachers can experiment with the creative side of producing a product that can be share with family, peers, and even the world if they so decide.  Photos and videos can be of great interest to some student and perhaps these students would be interested in the process of producing these material giving the teacher the opportunity to engage the student and build upon information needed to be presented to the student.  It is the responsibility of the 21^st century teacher to use every resource available to them in order to present the required information to the student in a meaningful way as to allow the students of various learning styles the opportunity to comprehend the material presented, hence enabling the student to fully understand the subject and take away a meaningful experience.

Photo credit to JensGyldenkaerneClausen on Flickr

         

Photo credit to MightyBoyBrian on Flickr

Children all over the world have a desire to use technology.

References:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge # G – Chapter 10

Photo credit to DryHundredFear on Flickr

Diversity
We are all the same but different

Technology can be just the tool necessary for teaching student from diverse backgrounds and cultures.  Technology can help students connect were otherwise these students would have never really bothered to get to know each other.  In the section Technology for Teaching Diverse Students, gives various ways that technology can be used to cross diversity boarders. The section talk about how technology can help teachers incorporate cultural histories, small group assignments, and language translators.  Anytime a teacher can help the student feel more comfortable in a classroom setting the more prone the student will be to let down his guard and get to know their fellow students.  Sometimes certain cultures can have preconceived notions about other cultures which caused there to be a separation among the class.  Teachers will often use ice breaker activities to help students become comfortable around other students of diverse backgrounds and cultures.  It’s difficult to thing that in today’s society, diversity would still be of concern, but it is, the thing about culture is that whether or not a parent is aware, they always pass down certain belief or qualities of their culture to their children. 

Wordle credit to Kathy Cassidy on Flickr

Child appropriate Wordles can get the interest of the class and help children with visual disabilities see the word due to the larger print and colorfulness without the child feeling singled out.

In the section Adaptations for Classroom Learning with Technology, the section addresses types of accommodation that teacher will need to use when incorporating technology into their lesson.  Low-Tech accommodations can be easily made with little to no expense, Mid-Tech accommodations require shifts in a teacher organization and delivery style, while High-Tech accommodations are more involved and require specialized technologies into the classroom.  Some examples that this section mentions word cloud, Wordle, Tegxedo, are program that are directed toward visual learners and can help students to stay more engaged in the lesson being presented.  Other technologies are electronic spellers, dictionaries, and calculators, which are all essential to students in today’s society due to the overwhelming need to have access to an abundance of information and answers in a timely manner in order to keep up with the demand place on students.  Students must find ways to aid them so that they can keep up in the fast paced world we live in, and these tool can help and are necessary.



Diverse Learners - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Assistive Technologies to Reach Diverse Learners talks about the various technologies that are available to help accommodate for students with disabilities. Assistive technologies allow students with disabilities to learn and be successful at activities that otherwise the student would not have the opportunity to participate in.  Some technologies that can be used are speech recognition software, text reading software, screen reading software, word prediction software, and interactive electronic storybooks.  While these tools can aid student with disabilities, they can also have a downside.  These tools while helpful can also allow for the delay in a student’s strategizing and problem solving abilities to fully develop.  Imagination is a key element in the cognitive development of children, sometimes technology takes away the opportunity for a child to develop their imagination, reading a book without picture allows children to imagine the colors, sounds, characters facial expressions, clothing, and elements to the story, while technology sometimes has already supplies all those elements for the student which can hinder the child’s creativity.

References:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.