End of Year Reflection

This semester I have learned a lot about integrating technology into education. Before having this class I did not know all of the technological tools that can be used to enhance learning experiences. I also didn't realize that students of today are so technologically based and that their favorite and most understanding way to learn is through technology. Tools are going to keep getting better and better and each generation is going to out tech the other. Therefore we must prepare our students for the future. This does not mean that everything a student should do on the computer or with technology, but in almost every article I have read and from personal experience when technology is used correctly, it really does enhance lessons. I had a lot of fun making this final project. Students will learn a lot and have fun with the tools that they can use. I am going to definitely incorporate a lot more technology and use so many more tools now that I have taken this class. Not only did I get to learn about new tools and ways to integrate technology into my classroom, but we got to discuss as a a class, our opinions about how much technology should be used and hear what other professionals had to say themselves. I have come so far in understanding how to correctly use technology in the classroom just from taking this class. I had never even used a blogging site before and every single assignment I turned in is on here. Technology is also a great way to connect to the NETS for students and teachers and standards. With this last big project I just did I found my project being able to relate to every single NET for both students and teachers. This class was VERY helpful to me!!

Assignment #5 Part 2

NETS for students 1. Creativity and Innovation *Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues 2. Communication and Collaboration * Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats 3. Research and Information Fluency * Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Process data and report results These are just three of the NETS. But the project really falls under all of the standards. The students demonstrate creativity when they created their crime scenes. I decided to give them a broad spectrum when it comes to picking their crime scene so they can do honestly whatever they want that is appropriate. I had so much fun being creative in coming up with the project. They also use creativity in creating their power points as well. Communication and collaboration was shown with their use of digital media and working as a group. They showed their skills in video taping and power point. Each student contributed to the project. They used Research and Information fluency because they used technology to collaborate all of the information. They evaluated the fingerprints on the slideshow. They used new information they learned about fingerprints and applied it to find the culprit. They are reporting the results to the class after processing the fingerprint data. NETS for teachers 3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning *Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning 2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments *Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity Once again, all of the teachers NETS for this project can relate to all for this project. I modeled digital age work and learning by showing them an example of how to make a video and using editing skills on Mac Video. This whole project incorporates using digital tools and resources.I also showed designing and developing digital age learning experiences and assessments. I found this project authentic and a way in which kids could really express themselves. They are analyzing the information on the screen by showing the way to read and interpret fingerprints. Kids have lots of fun making videos and it puts a fun spin on it rather than just writing a paper about a crime scene but they also have to show and share what they have learned about fingerprints and crime scenes (forensics). Standards Grade Level: 9-12 EALR 3: Application Big Idea: Application (APP) Core Content: Science, Technology, and Society Description: In prior grades students learn to work with other members of a team to apply the full process of technological design and relevant science concepts to solve problems. In grades 9-12 students apply what they have learned to address societal issues and cultural differences. Students learn that science and technology are interdependent, that science and technology influence society, and that society influences science and technology. Students continue to increase their abilities to work with other students and to use mathematics and information technologies (when available) to solve problems. They transfer insights from those increased abilities when considering local, regional, and global issues. These insights and capabilities will help prepare students to solve societal and personal problems in future years. Content Standard: 9-12 APPD The ability to solve problems is greatly enhanced by use of mathematics and information technologies. The application standard directly applies to these students working together in groups. They had to work together to come up with their video and power point project. They have to problem solve and come to agreements. All of these kids have watched shows like CSI and this gets them exciting and able to do something that seems intangible to them. They also had to work together to come up with results and comparing the fingerprints. This will help them with future problem solving skills. Grade Level: 9-12 EALR 2: Inquiry Big Idea: Inquiry (INQ) Core Content: Conducting Analyses and Thinking Logically Description: In prior grades students learned to revise questions so they can be answered scientifically. In grades 9-12 students extend and refine their understanding of the nature of inquiry and their ability to formulate questions, propose hypotheses, and design, conduct, and report on investigations. Refinement includes an increased understanding of the kinds of questions that scientists ask and how the results reflect the research methods and the criteria that scientific arguments are judged by. Increased abilities include competence in using mathematics, a closer connection between student-planned investigations and existing knowledge, improvements in communication and collaboration, and participation in a community of learners. Content Standard: 9-12 INQC Explain Conclusions must be logical, based on evidence, and consistent with prior established knowledge. This project encourages students to conduct analyses and think logically. Students had to think of the steps of scientific experiments to solve this case. They showed their understanding of reading fingerprints. This caused them to formulate questions about which fingerprint matched the one found at the scene like real scientists do. Even though it was a fun assignment and videos were silly it really helped put kids into the scientists shoes who is actually solving crime. They showed a closer connection with student planned investigations and what they had learned in class before. They now have to communicate and bring together all their work when they present to the rest of the class. https://www.dropbox.com/home/Tech%20in%20Ed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rglcjeDy0fg&feature=plcp

Reflection #12

Will writing and reading be all digital soon? So many textbooks are being bought online these days. I know one of mine is. It is cheaper and an easier way to get any textbook the quickest. I am unsure about knowing if textbooks are better when read as a real book or online, but so many tools are coming out that is making online tools as good as the real physical objects. Also, writing with a pen and paper is significantly decreasing, teachers rarely use the whiteboard, there is no such thing as written out rough drafts. Reading and writing, the basic educational skills are disappearing more and more each day. Is this good or bad? I do not know, but I will miss the old ways if they do go away soon.

Reflection #11

Two days ago an unthinkable crime happened in my home town. Two people (a mom and daughter) were found shot in a burning house with the door blocked. The daughter was a year younger than me and went to my school. I found this out from Facebook. There have also been a tons of pictures of the suspect on the newsfeed. He is armed and nowhere to be found, but so many people are notified just simply if they are on Facebook. This is a great use of social networking spreading news that some may not know without simply having an account. This is just one example of how social networks and the web can be used to get news out. This is a good thing in many cases but it can also be a bad thing with gossip being spread and cyber bullying. I just noticed how many things we are notified about just by being on Facebook weather is finding a suspect in a crime case or finding out who is in a relationship. Crazy...

Comments

http://joshuastechinedblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/reflection-10.html?showComment=1335305523070#c7347342910673826636 http://laurynernster.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-assignment-week-eleven.html?showComment=1335306082707#c3641945327435954913 http://beththegingergeek.blogspot.com/2012/04/week-11-marzano.html?showComment=1335306503353#c2386560185784832473 http://adamcannu.blogspot.com/2012/04/week-14.html?showComment=1335307251086#c1580267659008902251 http://kristinestipp.blogspot.com/2012/04/reflection-10.html?showComment=1335307970429#c6894173670373944127

Reflection #10

Even though it seems like there is so much more advancements to be done in technology take a second to reflect on how much technology you use in one day. Technology is used in all of my classes almost every day. I use this computer every day. Television is always an option. All normal phones now have internet. Everything is becoming touch screen. Realizing how much we use technology today I see it being used more and more every day. We now spend almost half our waking hours either online, on the phone, or watching television according to a survey. The average adult is awake for 15 hours and 45 minutes every day and 45 per cent of that time is spent using a proliferation of technology. WOW!

Reflection #9

I was thinking.... do you think that education should/ could become completely technology based? We need to prepare our students for the future, and with how quickly technologies have developed I can only imagine what would be next. Although it seems good to keep old school teaching methods, is it REALLY helping our students when new technologies are developed each and every day. What will education look like in the future? Technology is taking over in schools. We need to use it and prepare for future tools. I like to writing on paper with a pen or pencil will not go away, but will it?

Week 14 future ed and tech

If you think about how much education has already advanced, I can only imagine what technology in schools will be like in the future. In 1965 Gordon Moore, who was the founder of Intel predicted a growth of technology. His law said that the processing power and speed of any electronic calculating devices will DOUBLE every 18 months. He also said that the price for technology will go down about 35% a year. So, there will be tons of new technology and tools for schools. They will do amazing things and cost less according to Moore, making technology more affordable overall. Schools will have to make challenges to make accommodations to this technology revolution. As teachers we must prepare students for this change. It is hard for me to think that education in the future will not be almost fully technology based. No more pens and pencils... Although it is easy for educators to focus on the now and learning, we also must look towards the future and start preparing the minds of the students. We must utilize the technology we have today to prepare for the future of education.

Week 13: Word, Excel, and Power Point

Features- Word- formatting effects, picture, spell check, color, font, clip art, keyboard shortcuts, copy and paste, write an essay, add header and footer Excel- graphing, tables, organizing lists, formulas, data storage PowerPoint- make a power point, transitions, adding media, adding pictures, clip art, text box, slide designs, animations, spell check Projects- 1. Word- Make a project with information and pictures that you can print out and glue onto your project board. 2. Excel- Record data from your survey project counting the common traits (hair color, eye color...) 3. PP- Make a slideshow and present it in class on Your favorite animal and their habitats.

Flipsnack

Reflection #8

There are many examples of children having a great grasp on technology and how it works. I have five nephews and nieces, and even just between our generations children have learned so much and have advanced in the technological world. Many times when I am with them I ask them (up to 15 years younger than me) to help me with hooking up a game, DVD player, or for some kind of help with my phone. They are always able to help me and figure out these hard situations. Also, my parents are always asking me and my brother for help with technology. The help they ask for seems so obvious to us, but the advancement within our generations are so huge. A third example of generational technology advancement includes my dad, an elementary school principal. He always talks to me about how amazed he is with how much the kids know about technology and how to work so many of the systems that he did not understand until he was an adult. These advancements are examples of what is to come in the future. Technology is going to keep evolving and kids are going to keep growing in their knowledge of technology. It is very important to let students teach about great tools they use as well as integrating technology into their assignments. Technology seems to be a "subject" that younger generations really understand. I can barely wait to see the types of things this world is going to develop in the technology scene in the future. With so many kids having such a handle on technological tools, they will soon be able to develop bigger and better forms of technology that their kids can teach them to  use.

Reflection #7

For my special needs class we had an option to help work a special olympic event. I went as a volunteer to help with the cross country skiing event. Technology was used in many instances for this event. I was a timer, so my main technology that I used was a stopwatch. This was a very important job since you were the ones reporting the time. I found it interesting also that the Olympian's main interest during the whole event was the music playing through the speakers. They loved to dance and cheer on the participants. The music was an essential part for the participants to have fun. I could not imagine what the event would have been like without the music. It brought the athletes to life. Crazy that such a small technology could bring so much joy. Technology is used in so many events today. Technology enhances so many situations and brings joy to many people.

Week #12 Dr. Marzano

 Write a blog post about the article and one new thing you learned about tech in ed.  Also include one piece of helpful information about applying tech to your future teaching
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov09/vol67/num03/Teaching-with-Interactive-Whiteboards.aspx
I read an article called Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards. There was a study done on teachers who taught the same lessons in classrooms both with and without interactive white boards. The results came back with a 16 percentile point gain in student achievement in the classrooms taught with interactive whiteboards based on just having the whiteboard alone. The learner response devices were also used. There was a 26 percentile point gain in student achievement within the voters alone. The use of graphics and visuals to present information included with it a 26 percentile point gain as well. And the interactive whiteboard "reinforcer" showed a 31 percentile point gain. Although there were many gains in the technology based calsses, One of the more interesting findings from the study was that in 23 percent of the cases, teachers had better results without the interactive whiteboards. This was because of the teachers response. Instead of explaining the correct answer teachers talked about who was wrong and right. Or with the graphics the students liked seeing the pictures, but were not given enough time to take in the understanding of the graphic. This proves that students improve their scores simply based on the way of teaching. Students are drawn to technology and it tends to not bore them as fast as simple lecture would. I would say as teachers we should use technology whenever we can, but they have to make sure and use it in the right context. And they must still explain processes in a detailed way. Using technology is not a way for teachers to teach less, it is a way for teachers to enhance the student's learning experiences.

Week #11 Educational Blog

http://adifference.blogspot.com/2012/01/difference-between-curriculum-and.html (my comment is waiting for review to be published)
 What did you learn from the blog and how did your comment contribute to the community of learners?
I learned the difference between Curriculum and Pedagogy. Curriculum is what we teach while pedagogy is how we teach it. In my comment I highlighted what he said about how it is important to understand what they are doing, not just preform it. I think that many teachers check for understanding by watching the student do it correctly and understand the process. But, many times the student can fake the understanding part and just preform a task without actually understanding the purpose and learning from it. Most comments were made by older teaching and technology people. So my comment, although simple, added a look from a current college student who has just experienced many teacher's. I know there were many times that I just faked the understanding but still did what I was supposed to do correctly. So, I got my points, but I had no idea what doing that just helped me understand.

Week 10 Bloom's Taxonomy

 Write a post addressing the links you see between levels of Bloom’s and technology integration.
http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/Resources2/bloomstax.htm
Bloom's Taxonomy relates to technology because in order to use the more complex tools within technology, you have to know the basic functions of technology and how to use it. This is described in the biggest part of the pyramid, the knowledge part. The next level of the pyramid is comprehension. In this section it speaks about translating material so one can understand it fully. Technology can come in to use in many ways in this step. An example can be the different translation programs on computers. The next level is application. In these times we research application and uses for certain things from simply "googling" the word in order to get more information on how something can be used. Analysis can use the same type of technology as used in application. I cant imagine not using the internet to analyze something and really help me grasp a concept. Synthesis occurs within technology. Many different sources can say a variety of things from all different sources, but that is why someone must research to find out which is the most accurate information. Think of how unorganized we would be without technology... The top pier of the pyramid is evaluation. Technology is essential to all of these levels except evaluation. Evaluation should be like the commentary of an essay. It should be reviewing what you have stored in your brain and learned. This level can use certain technologies to help assess what they have learned, but most of this level should be done with reflection. Technology is used for many reasons and blooms taxonomy relates to use of technology.

Vocaroo Voice Message

Vocaroo Voice Message

Week #9 Caught on Tape

This is a very intresting article by Bob Sprankle. He is talking about the revolutions of video and handheld technologies that can capture videos. He believes there are many great reasons to utilize video in educaion, and i agree. I like when he talks about how Kohn asks What are you doing instead of How well they are doing. He said focusing on how well weather than what impedes learning. I agree with this statement. People always tend to ask how well you are doing in school weather than asking questions like what are you doing keys them in to come up with an educational answer about what they are learning. With pocket videos students can videotape themselves answering questions which they can look back on and other studens can also learn from. This seems like an example of student voice in a classroom situation. Video is a great tool that can be used to better engage students in learning and get them excited to learn. Of coarse these hand  held videos can be distractions during certain times, so as the teacher you have to be careful with how much and what times the students can use the tools. A possibiliy would be to have a few as a classroom set. These videos show actual problem solving skils and evidence of learning, refecting the students better undestanding and learnig of what he or she is presenting in the video.

Reflection #6

Technology is a new way of communication that is very powerful. It is changing the world. Like this powerful Kony 2012 youtube video, this kind of technology can change the world. Although people may highlight the negative implications of technology on children, i think the positives can outway them. Our generation has an opportunity that no other generations have had. The open acess to communication throughout the world is now just one click away. Like this Kony 2012 movement on April 20th, people of the world can come together to help change the world. It disgusts me when people use technology in negative ways and take advantage of the opportunities we are blessed with in this time. Technology is going to keep evolving and I am so privledged to be able to use all of these tools. I want for technology to change the world in the positive way and as Teachers we can help enhance learning experience and equipt students with the tools to utilize technology to better the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Reflection #5

As a soccer player I was thinking about what kind of technology we use. Because another one of my aspirations is to be a coach. Stop watches are used for training. Other technologies are video footage of the games. It really helps us as players to watch how we play and pick out what we do well and what we could improve on. Although this seems like a non related type of technology, we use the music system for warm ups. The music is actually a ver important part of warm ups to get us focused. We also use different types of technology with the weights and weight training. These few tools have really enhanced the all around sports experiences. If you think about the pro teams all of the media work that they have to do is such a huge part of the whole sports world and i can imagine it is only going to get more advanced in years to come.

Reflection #4

I wanted to talk about videos. There are good and bad times for videos to be shown in class. There are many times where videos are shown in classes that really help me understand certain processes. My Science professor shows videos of processes that really helps me understand better. There are also long videos that help me relate to books i have read or scenerios ans situations that can be written about or discussed in class. I really think the long videos need to be limited because it seems like an easy way for a teacher to just take a break from teaching. Short videos I would encourage more because to visualize really helps the learning process. Overall I like the use of videos in moderation. What do you think about videos in general?