Final Post: Reflection

Photo credit to ghs 1963 photos on Flickr

Throughout my experience in Introduction to Technology for Educator, I learned a lot more than I thought I would in the beginning. Before beginning this course, I had no idea of the many different tools and resources that I would learn in such a short amount of time. Every assignment that I completed has taught me something new and enhanced some of my previous knowledge. Despite this class being a mini-semester and only six weeks, I am proud of how well I worked through all of the assignments and stayed on track.

The main resource in any class is the textbook. Our textbook, Transforming Learning with New Technologies, was probably the most effective textbooks that I have used since beginning my college career. Every concept and idea within our textbook was explained in full detail and really helped me understand all of them. There were also many different technologies and techniques explained within the textbook that gave me inspiration for my future classrooms.

As I mentioned previously, all of the assignments in this class taught me something new and built upon previous knowledge. The assignments that I really enjoyed were the group collaboration assignments (Instructional Strategies Wiki). Because this was an online class, we never got the chance to get to know each other. Through the group project assignments, our groups got to somewhat know each other in a short period of time and create awesome projects!

Another assignment that I really enjoyed working on was the Teacher ePortfolio. I decided to use Weebly for my portfolio and I was surprised at how simple it was to use. This assignment gave me the opportunity to think in the mind of a teacher and present myself how I want my students and their parents to see me. It also gave me an opportunity to see all of the work that I completed throughout these past six weeks.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this course and I will take a lot away from this course. I can not wait to implement many of the techniques and tools into my future classroom I just passed my General Knowledge Test and am waiting to hear from the Bachelor’s program. I am now more excited than ever to begin my career as an educator!

References

Calabrese, Adele. (2016, June 20). Teacher ePortfolio. Created with Weebly. Retrieved on June 21, 2016, from http://adelecalabreseeme.weebly.com/ 

ghs 1963 photos. (2013, June 11). Teacher's apple. Retrieved on June 21, 2016, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ghs1963/9029843134/in/album-72157634096357524/ 

Instructional Strategies Wiki. (2016). Retrieved on June 21, 2016, from https://eme2040sua16online03.wikispaces.com/ 

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 4, 7 and/or 9: Blog Post #E

The first topic that stood out to me in these three chapters was the idea of learning or education assessments. These assessments are described as documenting in measurable terms how much students have learned a topic or skill. However, in schools today, the administrations and teachers are more focused on students just knowing the material than truly understanding it. This is not necessarily their fault though. States have ridiculous mandates and learning outcomes for each grade level that students do not have the time to fully understand a concept. There is so much work that students are thrown the information and are tested on it before they have the chance to comprehend the concepts. One act that was signed into law that really began this whole assessment process was the No Child Left Behind Act. An article entitled, NCLB: Is it Working?, compares test scores from the 1970's and 1980's, before NCLB, to test scores from 1998 to 2007, right before and after NCLB. What it has seen is that the strategy used in the NCLB Act does not work. Daniel Kortez, a professor at Harvard University states that students now are just being taught a new test rather than make real academic achievements.

The second topic that stood out to me was the idea of understanding by design or backwards design. The educational curriculum works in the reverse of how most educators set up lesson plans. First starting with the goals or outcomes for the students then going backwards to choosing the method of instruction and how students will achieve this. I believe this is a very ingenious model to use when making lesson plans. This concept, I believe focusing on a better understanding and processing of the information for students. This can be tied into the learning assessment that I discussed before. I believe that this is the type of method that should be used when preparing for learning assessments. When administrators and teachers have the assessment as the end goal then figuring out how students will get to the end goal will achieve greater success.

The last topic that stood out to me was the idea of multimodal learning. This is essentially an individual's best learning styles. After I did some research, I found a website called VARK. This website, gives people a questionnaire to figure out what their best learning style is.  After what which learning style or learning styles are best suited for you, the website has an individual web page to describe each learning style (through the link provided, you will be brought to a page where there are hyperlinks to each page). I took this questionnaire and was given the following scores:

Visual 5

Aural 4

Read/Write 7

Kinesthetic 4

Based on the questionnaire, I was told that my preferred style of learning is to read and write information. This was spot on for how I like to learn and study.. For students to know what their preferred learning style is can make the biggest difference between an A or a B. 

Photo credit to GotCredit from Flickr

References:

Calabrese, A. (2016, June 10). Backwards Design. Created with Gliffy, from http://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/10754611

GotCredit. (2015, March 16). Learning. Retrieved on June 10, 2016, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/jakerust/16846023595/in/photolist-rECgUF 

Jehlen, A. (2009). NCLB: Is it Working? Retrieved on June 10, 2016, from http://www.nea.org/home/20755.htm 

Chapter 3 and/or 8: Digital Blog Post #C

The first topic that stood out of me was the concept of digital games for learning. In the high tech world we live in, what would be the best way to get students to want to learn? Catering to them and their interests. While there is much debate over video games and the affect it has on children, there are many studies that show videogames can have a positive influence on them as well. The American Psychological Association did a recent study where they studied the positive effects of playing video games (Shapiro, p. 6). They include cognitive benefits, motivational benefits, emotional benefits, and social benefits (Shapiro, p. 6). So if video games can provide all of these positive benefits, why not implement them within the classroom for the purpose of learning? Within the past five to ten years, the market for digital games for learning has increased greatly. Jordan Shapiro, an educator at Temple University, created a guide for teachers who want to begin using educational games within the classroom. He discussed short-form games and long-form games. Short form games are best when they are focused on a specific topic or skill. While long-form games are best used when students have to build skills over time. Some websites he gives to find these games is: GlassLab, Filament Games, and Muzzy Lane. 

The video below shows a 4th grade teacher and how she uses learning games in her classes.

The second topic that stood out to me was the idea of student-centered learning vs. teacher-centered learning. In teacher-centered learning, the focus of the classroom is based on what the teacher wants. The teacher talks, while the students exclusively listen. During activities, students work alone, and collaboration is discouraged. While in student-centered learning students and instructors share the focus. In this type of learning environment students and teachers interact equally and group work is highly encouraged so students learn to collaborate and communicate with one another. Personally, I have been in both settings during my education. Any classroom that I was in when it was a teacher-centered environment was torturous. Sitting in lectures for an hour or so, with no activities can really drain a student. Especially when that student has two or three classes in one day. However, student-centered learning, I believe, has a much bigger impact on students. It fosters the student-teacher relationship and the student-student relationship because the teacher is asking for input from the students and there are mass amounts of group work. 

Group work is always dreaded in classes. However, with the use of technology, it makes group work practically hassle free and a lot easier. Technology opens up possibilities in group work that were once practically impossible. By using technology, your group can communicate and collaborate much easier than ever before. There are plenty of websites that are free to use that all group members can work on easily. In the past, I have used many of these and all of the group projects turned out to be very successful. Some of the tools that I have used were Prezi, Emaze, and Google Slides. The awesome thing about there websites is that they are all cloud based servers. Which means that they are stored through the website so you can access them from anywhere. All of these sites have a 'share' option so you can share them with your group and each member can work on them at their own pace, without having to rely on other group members. 

Picture courtesy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Resources: 

Calabrese, A. (2016, 29 May). Student vs. Teacher. Created with ToonDoo, from http://www.toondoo.com/privateView.toon?param=pyTz%2FDxcapQOa8x3MzW0q1xqh5CXUB5E4iZIfWApw6V%2BFLb1J8dP0Q%3D%3D

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Shapiro, J, et al. (2014). Retrieved on May 29, 2016, from http://www.kqed.org/assets/pdf/news/MindShift GuidetoDigitalGamesandLearning.pdf

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. (2012, May 2). Retrieved on May 29, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54Vq3W8kNM&list=PLA3C69D48D4FFE87E&index=3 

University of Wisconsin-Madison. (n.d.). Retrieved on May 29, 2016, from http://engage.wisc.edu/collaboration/

Chapter 1: Digital Blog Post #A

The first concept in the first chapter that I found astounding was that number of statics about how young children actually start using technology. I am part of the iGeneration, as mentioned in our textbook, so I grew up with technology from the age of about 5 or 6. The amount of technology we had in the early 2000's isn't anything compared to the amount technology available to children today. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't see a child, no older than 5, on an smartphone or tablet. There have been days when I'll be out at a store or a restaurant and a child will be bothering their mom or dad. When the parent wants to "entertain the child", instead of playing with them, they'll hand over their phone to entertain the child. When children are exposed to technology since such a young age, this can have both positive and negative effects. Technology negatively affects children's social skills, physical development, and vision development. However, there are also positive effects of technology on young children. Such as boosting motor skills and the educational value that technology offers.

Second, our role as teachers and educators are to prepare students for their future as advancing students and adults by teaching them 21st century skills. If you think about it, from kindergarten, first, second, and third grades our teachers taught us basic skills that we would need throughout our lives. In kindergarten we learned our letters, counting, and the basic lesson of sharing is caring. As we moved on to first, second, and third grade we built upon these basic skills by learning how to write, read, add, and subtract. And as we moved on through our education to 12th grade we were continually taught by our teachers that, once again, built upon the skills we have previously learned. The video below explains in simple terms a major key component of 21st century skills, the four C's.

Lastly, the work of a teacher can expand multiple environments; both in the classroom and online. In Table 1.1 (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 7), "Educational Uses of Technology by Teachers and Students", lists the different way that educators can use technology both in and outside of the classroom. It is no surprise that teachers use technology in the class from educational purposes. Maybe showing the class a video of a science experiment or using a website to pay a review game before a tests. I had an idea of how much work teachers did outside of the classroom, I didn't realize that almost all of that work is done using technology. 

In conclusion, the amount of technology available to both teachers and students seems to be endless. And maybe in 5 to 10 years, the amount could grow exponentially. As a student just beginning to learn about all of the resources that will be available to me as a future educator, I know that this course and our textbook will teach me countless things that will be valuable to me in the future.   

Resources:

"Children and Computers - Advantages and Disadvantages". (2012, 18 March). Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.toddlerhub.com/children-and-computers-advantages-and-disadvantages/

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc. 

Thoughtful Learning. (2014, October 6). Preparing Students for College and Career. Retrieved May 14, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMN6kl_BavY