What have I learned from this online class? I have learned so much from this class! This class gave me the opportunity to create projects that I had never done before. I learned how to use tools that will help me become a better teacher. I learned that technology is not as scary to use as I thought it was. It’s actually very beneficial and easy to figure out once you play around with it. Some of my favorite projects in this class were the Google Group projects, the movie making project, and the podcast. I really enjoyed learning how to collaborate with my group members to create the google group projects. We had a few bumps along the road but we eventually figured it out and created some excellent works together. I really enjoyed working with my group member. We actually still keep in touch and if it weren’t for this class we would have never met. The movie project was really fascinating to me. It was the first time I had ever created a movie with pictures, music, and voice overs. It took me a few times to get the timing right but I was very satisfied with the end result. Finally, I enjoyed learning how to make a podcast. It was very surprising for me to find out how easy it was to make. I know that I will use the podcast tool again in my future classroom to upload lesson to my teacher website. It is a great tool that students could use to listen to my lectures from home. My weak and strong points were: I feel like my weak points were not knowing what I was doing when I started the projects. I felt defeated before I even began. I was filled with dread just thinking about the assignments. It wasn’t until I finally made myself attempt the projects that I realized they were not as bad as I thought they were. So my main weak points were procrastination and uncertainty about my ability to complete the assignments. I feel like my strong points were that I was able to follow the directions that were given to us very well. I always finished my assignments on time and I put a lot of effort into making them. I really put a lot of thought into my projects because I wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of creating outstanding work. I really enjoyed learning how to create my projects. How did I like the interaction between my peers and my instructor? This class allowed me to get to know the members of my group. If it were not for the google group project I would not have made any connections with my classmates. My group members and I have formed friendships that have lasted throughout this semester. We still chat with each other daily. We plan to remain close throughout our junior and seniors years. I would like to thank Dr. Wang for giving us the opportunity to connect through the google group project because it allowed me to make friendships with classmates that I otherwise would have never met. I feel like Dr. Wang did a good job of keeping us on track by posting her announcements each week. Her directions were easy to follow and listed exactly what I needed to do to create the assignments. If I had questions about assignments or needed to improve my projects, she was quick to respond by email. Reflection of communication tools used in this class: The communication tools that I used most were email, canvas, and big blue button conferences. I feel like these tools were a great way to communicate about assignments and get feedback from my instructor and classmates. I found the class conferences to be helpful because I was able to view live examples of the work we were to do. Also, Dr. Wang recorded the conference so that we could go back and retrieve information and view examples if we needed to. All of these tools worked great for me. My experiences with Blogfolio: I would say that my experience with the Blogfolio was frustrating and rewarding at the same time. When I first set up my blog, I was lost and confused. It took me a long time to figure out how to set it up. But, I am now able to add new posts, insert images, hyperlink projects, and upload files with ease. It still takes time for me to do these things and I still get frustrated but when I am done I really like the way that it turns out. The aspects I like most about blogfolio are the click and drag options. I like that I can drag tings such as spacers and text boxes to a specific location in my blog. It is easy to use and it allows me to make my blog look more interesting.
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Key strategies for integrating technology into social studies. I chose to discuss the reflection question on key strategies for integrating technology into social studies because I plan to be a social studies teacher. Chapter twelve in our textbook go into great detail on this subject. This chapter gave me some great ideas about how to integrate technology into a social studies classroom. I liked reading about the project that Mr. Kinsella used in his classroom. He had students video people from the community who had "survival stories". This was a great idea to get students to improve their attitudes toward the relevance of history while teaching them how to create a video and use a digital camera. Some other ideas that I found interesting were virtual field trips, adventure learning, electronic research strategies, and digital storytelling. This chapter also gave a few examples of free software that teachers can use for projects such as Poll Everywhere, Glogster, Dipity, Prezi, and Bubbl. These would be great tools for students and teachers to use in a social studies classroom. Chapter 15 in our text is about teaching and learning with technology in education. Technology can be used to help students with special disabilities. " The value and significance of assistive technology can be best understood when a person with a disability encounters a task he/she is unable to complete and an appropriate assistive technology device allows the person to successfully complete the same task"(Roblyer, 2016). This chapter give several strategies for integrating technology to meet special needs. I especially likes the open source options it listed for tools to assist reading. I think that all teachers should be aware of these tools so that they can better assist their students. Chapter 8 reflection Teachers can use use web-based resources and tools to design and develop web-based curriculum. Chapter eight in our book Intergrating Educational Technology into Teaching talks about Online models, courses and programs. I found a lot of this chapter to be very familiar because I am an online student. I learned that Canvas in a CMS, content management system. I have used canvas as an online student for 3 years. I feel it is very easy to navigate and it helps me to stay organized. Online schools are on the rise and there are many tools available that can help teachers make their own website and plenty of resources to help students learn the curriculum. Course support tools can help teachers and students meet at the same time so that they can communicate. We use tools such as big blue button to have conferences in my online classes. I enjoy the conveniences of online classes and I think that my future students will enjoys being able to access course material through the web. My course site reflection I enjoyed working on the course site in weebly.com this week. It allowed me to envision my future teacher web-site. I plan to have an interactive teacher web-site that will be updated every week with new resources and materials for my students. I think teacher websites are a great tool for both parents and students. It gives the students extra practice and it allows the parents to see what their children are learning. The link to my course website from this week's assignment is below. My Course Site This week, our assignment was to create a rubric using Rubistar.com and a quiz using Easytestmaker.com. I have linked the websites for future reference. Every week, I am intimidated by the thought of doing these technological assignments. I always assume they will be hard to figure out but, every week I am surprised to realize that they are not hard at all and actually very easy to figure out. I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way. I think that the thought of using technology may have that effect on most people. My goal is to stop being intimidated by these projects and any use of technology in the future. I actually really like figuring out how to use these tools and I hope that I remember how to use them in my future classroom. That is another reason why I provided the links to the websites above. These will be very useful to me in my future classroom. I enjoy the satisfaction I feel after completing the projects in this class and every week I feel more confident in my ability to integrate technology into my future classroom. I have created a rubric on solving math word problems and a quiz on solving math problems. I have uploaded the files for each of them below.
My reflection of my audio project.
I have to admit, when I first read about the podcast assignment, I immediately felt overwhelmed. I thought that the podcast project was going to be difficult. I was very surprised to find that the podcast project was fairly easy. I think the hardest part was deciding which topic I would teach in my podcast. I hope to be a math teacher in the future so I decided to teach how to find the reciprocal of a fraction. Recording the podcast was very easy. The vocaroo link was simple and easy to follow. All I had to do was press record. Figuring out how to save the links was a little difficult at first but I managed to figure it out pretty quickly.I really enjoyed learning how to make a podcast. Now that I know how easy it is, I will more than likely use this tool on my future teacher website page. I think the students in my class would benefit from hearing the lesson repeated to them through a podcast. I could upload the audio file to my teacher website so that students could access it from home or other places outside the classroom. It would even benefit students who are ill and hurt that cannot make it to school. They would be able to listen to the lesson from home while they heal. Chapter 7 reflection Chapter 7 in our textbook talks about distance education, a podcast is a tool that could be used for distance education. I learned that podcasts and vodcasts are being used for distance education around the globe. Our text Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching states "Young people were among the first to make audio and video sharing popular, but it has involved into a new form of multimedia publishing used around the world by people of all ages"(Roblyer, pg215). I think we are just beginning to see all of the possibilities that can be achieved through educational technology. It is exciting to think about the future of education with all of the technological tools that are available to us today. Another example of distance education that I found interesting in chapter 7 is that students are now taking virtual field trips to places they would normally not be able to go. Through technology, students can explore unique locations around the world without ever leaving the classroom. I enjoyed reading chapter 7 and learning all about the possibilities, of distance education. Below I have attached one sharable google drive URL link, one embedded audio link, and one saved audio file of my podcast on finding the reciprocal of a fraction. Enjoy!) Finding the Reciprocal of a Fraction Podcast
Week 6 cont.- Resources and skills required for multimedia design, devlopment and intergration.9/22/2017 Chapter six in our textbook Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching discusses the online environment, navigation, searching, storing, communication, social networking, educational apps, and authoring skills/resources for websites. What is Hypermedia? "Hypermedia simply extends the notion of the text in hypertext by including visual information, sound, animation, and other forms of data" (Landow). "The combination of media such as video and audio with text makes them multimedia; the ability to get from one media element to another makes them hypermedia" (Roblyer, p.2) Types of Hypermedia are: Audio such as: music, verbal instructions, sound effects, podcasts, and reading applications (e.g. Starfall.com), Video such as: demonstrations, simulations, lesson examples, video slide presentations, and recorded lectures (e.g. KhanAcademy.org), Images such as: documents, maps, diagrams, illustrative tools, and scanned images (e.g. Wikimedia). Chapter six gives detail on how to use Multimedia authoring Tools in the classroom such as: instructional software, reference materials (e.g. encyclopedias, almanacs, newspapers), ebooks, and interactive storybooks (e.g. StoryPlace.org) It also includes presentation software, video production and editing systems, virtual reality environments, and Web 2.0 tools. All of the multimedia and hypermedia tools listed above can be used in the classroom by adapting lesson plans to include them . Students can use classroom computers, Ipads or laptops to enhance their learning experiences with these tools. One of the most interesting things that I read in chapter six was the importance of instructing students on online safety. It is very important as an educator to stress the importance of online safety to our students. students need to know about the dangers on using the internet that were mentioned in our text. They also need to be informed on the rules and guidelines of online behavior. In this digital world it is very easy for a careless person to ruin their future. Its very important that teachers tell students about internet safety and inform them of how a negative digital footprint has the potential to alter their potential employers decisions about them. There are so many benefits for using online tools from social networking, collaborating, Apps, websites, web-pages, and educational search engines. Students literally have the world at their fingertips and chapter 6 goes into great detail about all of those tools. I just think its very important to inform students of the potential dangers so that they can protect themselves, their computers, and their futures. This was my first experience using a movie making app. I chose to use the online program called wevideo. It took me a while to come up with an idea for my video. I began brainstorming by looking through pictures I had saved to my laptop. When I saw the moon pictures that i took last year for my Astronomy class, I knew they were the perfect images for my story. I decided to create a story using the moon phases. I figured this would be a great story to help children remember the order of the phases. I have heard a similar story about moon phases in the past but I made this one my own by changing it up a little. Making the movie was difficult at first but I slowly figured out what I needed to do. I wish that I could have figured out how to add text to my photos. I watched the tutorial but it did not show me how to add text to photos either. I would have really like to add the name of the phase to each picture. I think the hardest part was getting my voice over timed perfectly with the speed of the transitions. It took me a few times to do it but when I finally got it, I was relieved. I enjoyed learning how to make a movie. this is something I never thought I would ever do. I can see how this lesson can help me to teach my future students. I think it will be fun to play around with video making for future lessons I plan to teach. Children love to watch you tube videos. I think that making educational videos for my students would be a great way to give my students another option for learning educational material. My Digital Story Reflection on my learning experiences and links to our group projects. When I first read the assignment for the Google Group project I was immediately overwhelmed. I thought, "how in the world are we supposed to do this as a group"? I am so used to doing things on my own, in my own time and I was worried about working with a group that I couldn't actually meet and sit down to work with. Another concern was that I had no idea how to use Google Drive. I didn't even have a g-mail before this project. Somehow I thought to google, "google group" and I was surprised that it even existed. I think the hardest part of the project was getting started and figuring out how to work in the apps. One of the members in our group set us all up in an app called group-me and we were able to chat easily through our phones about the project. It really did make it easier for us to complete the assignment because we could ask each other questions easily and figure things out together. My favorite part of the project was the group story. It was fun to see how our story changed with each post. I think that I could use the group story project in my future classroom. It would be a great tool to use for ELA objectives. The educational tools that we used used for this project help me to apply the concepts we learned about in chapters 3,4, and 5. I was able to see exactly how these tools can help teachers and students in the classroom. Below are the links to our group projects: Our Group Listserv Our Group URL Our Story Our Gradebook Our Presentation Our Survey Chapter 3- Instructional software and its usage in the classroom. Instructional software is computer programs that are used specifically to deliver instruction or assist with the delivery of instruction. Instructional software is used solely to support instruction and/or learning.(Roblyer, pg.,75) o=Our book lists five categories of instructional software they are: drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, instructional game, problem solving, and personalized learning systems. Teachers need to know how each of these software functions work. That way they will be able to choose the best instructional software package for their classroom. I have actually had experience with two types of instructional software programs, Drill and practice and personalized learning systems. I am in charge of one of the computer labs in our middle school. Students who need instructional assistant come to my lab once or twice a week to work on computerized math or reading skills. We have used Academy of Reading and Math in the past. It was a Drill and practice program. The students would get really bored with it though so we switched to a program called Mobymax. The math section is really good but the reading is terrible. It gives them long passages to read and then answer questions to. It asks them to type an essay but it does not grade it. I have to grade it. We are looking at purchasing a different program for reading. Drill and practice software functions are exercises where students work example items and receive feedback on their responses( Roblyer, pg.,79). I think that drill and practice software programs would be great for students who need to learn basic math facts. I think students find that working out problems on the computer is much more enjoyable than working them out on paper. I have seen great results with some students and no improvements with others. I really think it depends on the individual learner whether or not these types of programs work. The other type of instructional software that I am familiar with is Personalized Learning Systems. PLS's are computer based management programs that assess individual student learning needs and provide a customized instructional experience matched to each students (Roblyer, 101). We are implementing PLS software next week at my school for TST students. It is called Edgenuity. The students take a placement test and then they are given lessons based on their score. They watch videos of actual teachers teaching topics on reading and math and then they do a few sample problems to make sure they learned the material. It also gives lots of data on each students performance. I am excited to see how it works for them. The only issue that I have noticed so far is that the videos take a lot of time to watch and they will be spending more time listening than working. I hope that they do not get bored. We will see, I will keep you posted! Chapter 4-How to use word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software tools in the classroom and suggestions on how to use them. Word processing is a highly used software tool. Teachers of all subjects have students use word processing to type things such as notes or reports. It is a great tool for learning grammar as well. Word processing tools have been around since the time of microcomputers. Word processing has had the greatest impact on education. Word processing helps teacher save time by letting them modify materials instead of recreating them (Roblyer, 114). It enhances document appearance. It allows sharing of documents and collaboration on documents. Word processing also supports student writing and language learning. Some of the issues with word processing are questions about what age students should learn keyboarding, effects of word processing on handwriting, and impact of word processing on assessment. I have actually wondered about these issues myself. Especially what age students should learn keyboarding. Most school districts now give their state assessments on a computer but some of the students have never been taught to use a computer before. How might that effect their test results? They also are timed but some of them don't know how to type and they take much longer to type essays than others. I think that basic keyboarding should be taught early with a more advanced class when they get older. Spreadsheets have a lot of the same benefits as word processing but they can do something that word processing a can't, Math. They are great for organizing information like grade books, budgets, and performance checklists. I use a spreadsheet to keep up with which students con=me to my lab on what days and class periods. It is great because I also use it to keep a seating chart and attendance. Presentation programs like power-point are my favorite. I might be weird but I love to make power-points, Its the crafty girl in me. I like to find the perfect pictures and designs for my power-point presentations. I feel like I am creating art when I make them. They are great for presenting information or data, or even telling a story. My son's elementary teachers always used power-points on parent night to tell about themselves and their classroom procedures. I loved looking at the personal pictures they added. They were very easy to follow and to the point. Chapter 5-Tools that can be used to support teaching and Learning tasks for both teachers and students. A few examples of tools that I think can be used to support teaching and learning tasks are worksheet and puzzle generators, reading tools, and student information systems like power school. All of these tools help teachers and students. I don't know what we would do without power school. It is amazing. It keeps up with all the student records from attendance, to grades, demographics, and discipline. What did teachers ever do without it? As a parent, I love my power school app. It allows me to keep a close eye on my sons' grades and it notifies me whenever there is a change or grade added. Our book lists many other tools such as testing and grading tools, graphic tools, planning and organizing tools, research and reference tools, content-area tools that are great supports to teachers and students. I am glad that we live in a world with so much technology at our fingertips. 1. The definitions of educational technology and issues in education and technology (Ch.1). According to our textbook, "Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching by M.D. Roblyer, the definition of educational technology is "educational technology is a combination of the processes and tools involved in addressing educational needs and problems, with an emphasis on applying the most current digital and information tools"( pg.,5). When I think of the term educational technology, I automatically think of our schools smart-boards, computers, and iPads. Each of those items help provide additional instruction and supplements to our students. This chapter has broadened my perspective on educational technology from the pre-microcomputer era of the past to the mobile technologies, social media, and open access era of today. Technology is constantly changing and it has great educational benefits but it also has some undesirable issues that come along with it. One of the things I have always said is technology is great when it works but when its not it can be a huge headache. I think one of the most common issues I have seen in our school is when technological tools stop working. Websites crash, copy machines jam, servers get overloaded, etc. These types of issues cause a great deal of frustration for teachers and students. A few of the concerns with educational technology that are given in our textbook that I think are very relevant today in schools are are social issues and such as privacy, misuses, bullying, inappropriate online behaviors and Legal/ethical issues such a s hacking, safety issues, and academic dishonesty. 2. Learning theories for technology integration and the technology integration planning model for teachers.(Chapter 2) The two learning theories described in this chapter are Directed Instruction and Inquiry Based Learning. Both of these perspectives have different beliefs about the nature of human knowledge and how to develop it. Directed instruction is information that is planned and given directly to the students from the teacher or through teacher organized activities. Inquiry based learning is unplanned where students learn through their own experiences while teachers only monitor the learning experience. I think that both of these approaches can help teachers meet their students learning needs depending on how they are used. I have witnessed both of these theories in action. When I was in elementary-high school, my teachers used directed instruction by drilling facts into our heads with repetitive instruction. My sons on the other hand have been mostly taught by the inquiry based learning theory. They work in groups with other students and figure out how to solve problems on their own through their own experiences. Our book talks about technology integration strategies for both of the learning theories. It states that technology can help motivate students to learn using both theories through creative problem solving, self paced learning and group cooperation skills. Teachers can plan for effective classroom uses of technology by following the TIP model. The TIP model is a guide for teachers to use when integrating technology into their teaching. There are three phases and seven steps to help the teacher ensure that the technology used will be successful in meeting the students needs. After reading over the TIP model I have concluded that phase one would be the things I think I would do naturally because I have a lot of experience with technology but I can see how it could help teachers who do not. Phase two and three on the other hand, seem more difficult but I can see how I could use the steps in my future career as a teacher. I hope to teach in a school where there are plenty of opportunities to integrate technology into my teaching practices. Hello, my name is Jaime Bowden. I am married to my husband Mike and we have four sons ages 20, 14, 13, and 11. My boys are my life and they are the reason I am who I am today. I was a stay at home mom for ten years and when my youngest went to kindergarten I began substitute teaching. I took that job because it was the best fit for my kids schedules. Little did I know, it would lead me to the path I am on today. I fell in love with the kids and the school atmosphere. I knew right away I wanted to be a teacher. The next year I accepted a position as a teacher assistant in our middle school. I still work there today, going on five years. I teach an intervention program in a computer lab for students who are being evaluated for special services. I am very excited to finally be on the path to achieving my dream of being a teacher. It is challenging juggling school, work, and family but I am sure that many of you can relate to that. I have have created this blog to reflect on the chapters and projects I have worked on in my Integrating Technology class. The projects that I attach in this blog and the reflections that I write are the artifacts that demonstrate that have met the SITE.T standards.One last but important thing about me, is that I am a Marine mom. My oldest son joined the Marines last year and I am so proud of him. He is the only person in our family to ever join the military so it has been a complete roller-coaster but our hearts are filled with pride. I hope you enjoy viewing my projects and reflections. Thank you! |
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