End of Semester Reflection

I have learned an astounding amount about technology and its nearly limitless possibilities in education this semester. From SMARTboards (which I was admittedly a little bit scared to use at first) to Prezi to Wordle and Quadblogging, technology can indeed be used for good.
I also learned about the limits of technology or its healthy use. Students want more technology, and will always want to use it for fun, but it is the teacher's job to become familiar with various aspects of technology better than the students can. This allows the teacher to use technology to help students to grow and which can be used in their best interests and further education.
Lastly, I heard about the ethics behind technology. There is a lot of sticky gray area involved in technology (cyberbullying, etc) but teaching kids responsible use of technology can help to lessen the mistakes of unethical technology use.

• NET 1: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
• I feel that with technologies like Wordle and Prezi, I can better equip students to creatively express themselves. I should become more familiar with GarageBand and Mac technology to further benefit my students in this area. 
• NET 2: Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
• I feel that I am more capable in this regard, but I need some experience with technologies such as Quadblogging and SMART assessment to be the most effective I can. At least now I'm aware of these technologies. :)
• NET 3: Model Digital Age Work and Learning
• Showcasing a class blog I feel is a good example of this NET. Using the technology that I am now familiar with will equip me in this regard.
• NET 4: Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
• Clearly delineating what plagiarism is in front of students and demonstrating that in my own presentations and lessons is (I feel) one of the best ways to show students what this is. Being serious about grading this sort of thing in presentations and having a category for it is another way to ensure that plagiarism is avoided at all costs.
• NET 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
• Maintaining a blog to showcase my class' work is an excellent way to work this NET. 

Thank you, Monica! I've really learned a lot this semester! :)

Comments! :)

Josh's Blog
Jordyn's Blog
Lauryn's Blog
Kristine's Blog
Adam's Blog

Reflection 12

In my World Lit class, our professor always uses an iPad to do presentations, and integrates video and stimulating images into his presentations. Consequently, our class loves going to class. Oddly, however, we do a startling amount of traditional teaching in that class.
Much of it is lecture/discussion based, and we read like no other class I've ever been in. He has poem after poem memorized, even though he could quickly Google the same information, and loves the pages of actual books. In short, I believe this class is the perfect "sweet spot" of technology and traditional learning. Technology is put to use very effectively to enhance the learning experience, but does not become "god" in the classroom, trumping content. I want to emulate this sort of technology integration in my classroom, since it is obviously very effective.

Reflection 11

Yesterday, I was contemplating if there was a possibly positive use of cell phones in the classroom. We are familiar with the difficulty of banning cell phones from a classroom, and children are getting them at younger and younger ages. If they must be in the classroom, why not put the potential distraction to use?
What if we could use cell phones like "clickers" in the SMARTboard testing program? It wouldn't be 100% effective, since not every student has a classroom, but if we had a class Twitter that students could tweet answers to from their phones, or a class iPhone that could keep track of all the answers, that would be a good use for the potential distraction!
Another potential issue is the ethics of the situation: would students cheat? Probably. Again, it's not a perfect system or a thing we should implement right away, just a thought. :) Thankfully I have a year to get it ready before I teach. Haha.

Reflection 10

I just taught my Instructional Design final (50 minute lesson) and used Prezi as my method of presentation. I was surprised at how much it energized my presentation and interested the people who were listening! Powerpoint, I believe, can still be used effectively, but sites like Prezi make lessons much more engaging for everyone.
It was actually easier for me to focus on what I was saying because of the engaging nature of the method. If the message is impacted by the way that the listeners perceive it (which we know it is) then why not use the most engaging methods that are technologically available to us? The only feature of Prezi I don't like is that when you use it with a SMARTboard, you can't click anywhere on the screen to change the screen to the next "slide," you have to use the arrow at the bottom. It's at a weird place for my arm to reach, but ah well. :) Overall, Prezi rocked my lesson! :)

Reflection 9

I was quite intrigued by quadblogging which we learned about in class. The thought that my future classroom could be connected with another classroom on a different continent (let alone three other classrooms) opens the door for startling developments in cultural development.

For example, if I end up teaching in an area of low cultural diversity, the opportunity for interaction with different cultures may be something children only experience through television otherwise. Quadblogging would allow them to interact with other cultures without leaving their classroom, and they could further learn how to interact with others from different cultures.

As the program expands, it could link us to further, more distant cultures (most of them now are from the US, UK, New Zealand, and Australia) and students will grow further.

Week 14 -- The Future of Tech in Ed

http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education/

This article discusses some of the positive ways that technology can influence education. Essentially, it states that technology has nearly endless potential to revolutionize even the trickiest areas of education, but a lot of work needs to be done before it's totally ready for student use.
The blog showcased a student-made video about how much technology they use. Technology can be helpful for more accurate assessments, having students learn through multimedia projects, and giving students a creative outlet for their potential. However, the most interesting component of this blog's suggestions for me was the simulations portion.
Technology is now being created to allow students to play roles to simulate everything from solving a math word problem to reorganizing the city plan of a major urban center. The technology is still very limited for school use (though it's widely used corporately), but when it is good enough to be implemented, it will allow kids to step into adult roles to solve problems and learn teamwork and responsibility.

Reflection 8

It continues to amaze me how much of a blessing technology can be. One of my cousins is in the Peace Corps right now in Malawi. She rarely has internet, but when she does, I get to chat with her. She's literally halfway around the world (about 12000 miles away) and I still can talk to her. People in history would have flipped their lids if they had known that such a thing was possible.

One day, I want to teach in Africa, but while I'm teaching here, how cool would it be to set up a classroom Skype account to talk to classrooms around the world? Middle school students could practice their Spanish with students in Mexico or talk about life with students in a Zambian school. The intercultural possibilities are truly staggering to contemplate. :)

Week 13 -- Features of Microsoft Office

• Word
• Creating documents
• Bulleted lists
• Formatting
• Downloading documents 
• Editing papers 
• For myself and friends
• Excel
• Creating organized lists
• PowerPoint
• Creating presentations
• Highlighting
• Linking videos
• Making FlipSnack (saving as a PDF
• Possible projects:
• Listing/alphabetizing data in Excel (Poll answers for a speech unit)
• Presenting their projects on civilizations for history class (PowerPoint presentation made into a FlipSnack)
• Editing one another's papers and checking for accuracy using the editing features of Word.

My Wordle!

Week 11 - Marzano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCrd8Sqf4ig

"Within 5 years, 50% of American classrooms will have interactive white boards. In the UK, 80% have them now."
I chose to watch a YouTube video rather than read an article because it better suits the subject matter. :) Marzano's main point is that we should use what we know about teaching without technology to better use the technology we have. ActiveBoards make a huge difference about whether or not kids learn to the best of their ability.
I will use my whiteboard (since I'll likely have one when I am a teacher) to further integrate students into the learning they are doing. It must be used well, though, so I will train myself accordingly.

Reflection 7

Today, I was struck by the amount of potential that technology has in the classroom. Whilst I was in my least favorite class (British Literature II), the professor kept insisting on correct MLA format. He refused to take the papers from the class out of nowhere for little things. Rather than allowing us to make changes, then email it to him, he insisted that we correct (even if it was a very small thing) our mistakes before he would even accept. While I am all for accuracy and correctness, I believe that there is a better way to handle it than waste all that paper. i think that students should be able to use technology to email the papers to him so that he could check that corrections were made and then grade the paper. That would be environmentally friendly and less obnoxious. Just a thought. :)

Our FlipSnack

Week 10 -- Bloom's Taxonomy and Tech

http://www.openeducation.net/2008/04/11/blooms-taxonomy-and-the-digital-world/

The article that I read discussed Bloom's Taxonomy as influenced by newly increasing technology in school. It chronicled the observations of Mr. Churches, a New Zealand middle school and technology teacher, who integrated the modified hierarchy, with technology standards. The basic point of Bloom's is the levels of knowing information. For example, one can't know something they don't remember, etc. When one is master of certain information, they can create with it.

The levels with their tech (from lowest to highest levels of thinking/processing)

1. Remembering
1. Basic focus on retrieval of information
2. Phrases such as recognizing, naming, listing describe this stage
3. Tech: students bookmark information so as to be able to return later
2. Understanding
1. Basic processing of information
2. Phrases such as interpreting, inferring, comparing describe this stage
3. Tech: blog journaling to discuss new learning, refining search topics to make more accurate
3. Applying
1. Using what you know 
2. Phrases such as implementation or completing describe this stage
3. Tech: initiating a program or operating hardware, gaming tech, sharing information, hacking
4. Analyzing
1. Thinking about what has been learned
2. Phrases such as comparing, integrating, or organizing describe this stage
3. Tech: tagging content (sorting it, categorizing it)
5. Evaluating
1. Placing "informed judgments to start toward new ideas"
2. Phrases such as critiquing, experimenting, making judgments, or testing describe this stage
3. Tech: Leaving comments on others' blogs, testing programs or different tools
6. Creating
1. Using mastered knowledge to create new things
2. Phrases such as designing, inventing, or producing describe this stage
3. Tech: creating animations, videos, or programs

My FlipSnack!