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.