Coming into this Intro to Technology class this semester over achieved my expectations. I thought I knew all the basics and had all the tools and knowledge of the possible technology that could be used in classrooms today but little did I know that I was wrong. This class was just the "tip of the iceberg" in regards to the technology tools we, as future teachers have.
One of my favorite assignments was my Teacher E-Portfolio which was a personal start to our "Teacher portfolio" that I will be using in the future. This was my favorite assignment because all the research and effort put in it felt like what lesson planning would be - time consuming and detail oriented. Basically, what you put in is what you will get out.
A big concept that I will continue to challenge myself in is the new
technology that can be used to help students succeed. Concepts like
"copyright" as seen in this video are more understandable and I am more aware of what I can and cannot use. Throughout middle school I remember hearing teachers say "no plagiarizing" which to me meant no copying and pasting but to me anything that came up on google was "OK" to use - I now know the correct process for using materials.
In conclusion, I can honestly say this Intro to Teaching class has surpassed my expectations of me knowing "all the technology basics" and has gotten me excited for the ones I have left to take. This class has challenged me in being open minded to new technological tools and starting to invest in things like your personal teacher motto.
As I have continued in school I have
definitely seen the amount of technology in classes increasing. From what’s in
the classroom itself, like computers to smart boards to what we, as students
are able to use; from computers to our own cell phones – it is definitely
taking over. Mostly every classroom today is using technology; although some
are more advanced than others. To me it is a challenge when new technology is presented
to us as students and as users of the
technology. It can be overwhelming sometimes and a little frustrating because
it takes time and effort to learn and grow comfortable to use new technology
when you’re already use to the old way. But this class has really opened my
view to how much technology can change and enhance teaching.
Although it is
always a positive thing to learn new and faster ways to do something, new
technology also brings up issues. I have been in classrooms where it is a new
class, a new teacher and new technology where the teacher is semi familiar but
not comfortable to use the technology smoothly on the first day of class. As
said in the class textbook, administrative support is a key piece of the puzzle
to bring success for the teacher and student – which should be mandatory and
planned well ahead of time.
We live in a
fast-paced and changing world where as teachers, part of the package is
constantly learning about and applying new technologies in and out of the
classroom; part of that is involving students in the changes. Becoming a
technology-leading teacher means being the example and being familiar with
what’s new and upcoming. Involving students doesn’t mean having them master it,
simply introducing new technologies to them like how this class has done makes
a huge difference in opening up their curiosity.
In conclusion,
integrating technology, as a teacher, means being at the forefront and being
the leader in what’s technology-based for your classroom. Change is inevitable
and part of mastering change is embracing learning, and as a teacher that is
exactly our job.
RESOURCES:
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.
When you think
about teaching in Elementary School versus High School, it might seem easier
and almost pointless to sit down and plan a lesson for the younger kids but
that’s not completely true. Without lesson planning you are basically setting
yourself up for a pointless lesson for your kids, therefore not setting up your
students for success.
I think my
favorite part of the process is setting up goals for the students. Goals are the reason why the lesson is being taught. As a personal experience more
fascinating to learn then just goals on paper are goals involving technology.
For example, in this class I have, not just learned about, but done and
completed my own widgets to use in the future like, vokis and websites like www.freerice.com.
The most
creative aspect of the three-part process of lesson design is the methods part
or the how to teach part. This for me
can be the most difficult because of how wide your options can be. The great
thing about technology is that there is pretty much already a how on every content possible on
educational websites.
The three parts of
lesson planning, according to our class textbook include, academic content,
teaching goals & methods and assessment & evaluation. None is more
important than another but all parts are equally as important. This goes along with methods and procedure of
how to teach. As said in the class text,
a good way to sum the three parts with technology is : Technology helps
teachers plan engaging learning experiences and instructional activities
through online lesson planning templates and lesson plan websites.
Wooden, J. (n.d.). A quote by John Wooden. Retrieved November 17, 2015,
from
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/62225-failing-to-prepare-is-preparing-to-fail
"Failure to give students a voice in educational decision-making is an opportunity lost"
One of the biggest and crucial parts in teaching is feedback, aka
assessments and evaluations on both the teacher and student. Without
this, there would be no personal goals for the students or opportunities
for growth. Like in the quote above, without hearing what the student
is going through, teaching is pointless.
There are many types of avenues for teachers and students to evaluate
and assess each other and the material in regards to effectiveness. My
personal favorite are anonymous surveys that let you express how you
really feel without being afraid someone will push it to the side or
treat you differently because of it. Another assessment that is all too
familiar is the FCAT
which is Florida's infamous standardized test. Another type of feedback
are group projects which are another one of my favorites because you're
working with your peers which evaluate you to help you improve.
The most common and everyday assessment given is homework. This is the
most common performance evaluation today. There are pros and cons to
giving HW. If the point is just to regurgitate something without
actually learning anything just for the teacher to fell like they did
something then the student is not learning or growing. This is
personally how most of my teachers ran their class.
The best assessments and most helpful are hands on learning
projects. Instead of just reading from a book, watching a video on
how-to, or listening to a lecture (not that there;s anything wrong with
these of course), actually doing involves all your five senses and
challenges you to want to know more about a particular subject and lets
you have a say in what you're learning.
In conclusion, there are many tools to engage students to have a voice
in the classroom and without feedback there is really no point in
assigning homework, projects, etc.
RESOURCES:
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.
Education, F. (2015). K-12 Student Assessment. Retrieved November 4,
2015, from
http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment
Education goes beyond the classroom and with that comes online learning on the internet and apps and educational websites. without websites and apps today most of our teaching would be
extremely difficult to accomplish because of how far technology has
taken us.Websites are now not just used for reading or viewing but also
for creating like the WebQuests.
One of the ways of extending learning beyond the web are virtual trips
or tours. A good example for this is how FSU offers online virtual
campus tours like seen here.
These virtual tours are the real deal and can be done sitting from
wherever you are. This tool along with others like GoogleEarth can be
used for projects or just experimenting with schools and world
locations. WebQuests are also tools to use as an educational website. I
wasn't familiar at all with Webquests until this class and it gives
students space to be creative while being constructive. It gives
students a guide but not an exact outcome to be "spit out". I believe in
the philosophy that school and education are not about students
regurgitating exactly what they taught but about understanding and a
deeper level of learning instead of just surface learning.
I use to think that there was only one type of educational website and that meant all teaching websites were teaching
resources. in reality there are six broken down into categories. The
most familiar one are Lesson Plans which are just that, website with
lesson plan ideas. A great teaching tip on using educational websites
and how to evaluate their credibility is with its domain. A legit
education site will have .org or .edu as oppose to .com.
Another great strategy to gather learning online information while
teaching is bookmarking. The site delicious makes it easy and fast to
save all those websites you probably will forget about six months from
now. This is called Information management and another example could be
articles shared on Facebook that you can save to your profile for a
later read or to use for a particular reason.
In conclusion, websites and apps now a days are a vital tool for children's learning in that it is a tool used on a daily basis for anything and everything.
RESOURCES:
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.
FSU Virtual Tour. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2015, from http://www.visit.fsu.edu/virtualtour/
The way teachers are teaching today has definitely changed throughout time. I can specifically see this when I look back since I was in Elementary School. We would spend only an hour at most on computers and I remember one of my favorite parts of the day in fifth grade was when the teacher read is a book to the class. Nowadays that's almost unheard of; books are read on computers or laptops or given as take home assignments.
A big tool that has made teaching more creative is Microsoft Words PowerPoint software. I remember using the overhead projector where the teacher would use markers to write on, erase and repeat for the next class.I think that PowerPoint is more creative in that you can customize almost anything you want to in the presentation and with the overhead projector all you can do is change the maker color for customization. Although I do prefer PowerPoint it can get a little too complicated with all the endless options and is more travel friendly. An advantage of the overhead projector would be that it doesn't change so much and so drastic as the pages are always the same. Both have their pros and cons like explained here but today the most common presenter tool is the PowerPoint.
Another creative outlet are videos, instead of just reading from a textbook and listening to a teacher - not that there's anything wrong with that of course. Most students are visual learners and videos from YouTube and films help put the words into a more sensable and understandable topic. I can say that from experience seeing multiple videos on history make more sense than reading a fifteen page chapter. This is also a reason why so many students don't succeed in subjects that aren't their strengths. In my biology class where the textbook with no detailed pictures was used in every class made it that much harder to comprehend even the most "simple" process like photosynthesis.
Photo-taking and movie-making are also great tools for students to expand their creativity with. We get to use that a little on our Facebook, Instagram and Snap chat Social Media outlets but going more in depth in the technology, the angles, lighting and lenses, for example could be an open door for a hungry student.
In conclusion, there is no right or wrong rubric for creativity and technology. Even the silliest thing like a substitute teacher getting the students attention with a hula hoop can
RESOURCES:
Talks, T. (2012, June 5). TEDxLansing-Jeana-Dee Allen Rogers: Increasing
Engagement through Creativity and Technology. Retrieved October 22,
2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY0gMbxABrA
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.
Boundless. (2015). Boundless Communications. The Advantages and Disadvantages of PowerPoint.
Retrieved from
https://www.boundless.com/communications/textbooks/boundless-communications-textbook/preparing-and-using-visual-aids-16/using-powerpoint-and-alternatives-successfully-85/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-powerpoint-323-5654/
In today's world almost everyone has at least one type of social media and media technologies and it has become one of the main, if not the main ways of communication between students. I will be explaining below the different communication types between teachers and students and different types of communications.
The most common communication between students and teachers is via e-mail, texts, blogs and wikis. E-mails are the most common type from my experience until recently in this class where I learned about wikis.
Going along those lines of electronic communications there are two categories. Synchronous communication which happens in real time, there is no delay; for example a phone call or face time call. Asynchronous communication involves a time delay where you can type and go back and edit and re-edit as much as possible, like an e-mail.
As a parent myself I would like to not only see the papers my child comes home with but actually see what he did during the school day and teachers having a website or blog help tremendously in that aspect. A big part of being a great teacher is knowing the student and talking with their parents to let them know how their student is doing. I think a good idea would be for a teacher to have a blog where parents could go in and see what their children's week was like, what projects they did and what they're learning in school.
Brainstorm made using bibbl.us
RESOURCES:
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.
