Reflective post

Photo credit to securedgenetworks on Google

 

This class, EME2040, was very unique and insightful to up and coming teachers and the new ways of public schools and new technologies being implemented in the curriculums of all school ages. Before coming into this class I thought that I was very technologically advanced when it came to figuring things out and using technology but to my surprise I was nowhere near being advanced when it came to understanding technology and all the things it could potentially provide in all areas to make life easier. To me the learning experience in this class was extremely helpful, mainly through the projects that we accomplished. I am a more hands on learner so being in class going over assignment structure was very hard to get along with; I was often day dreaming I like to stay busy working on things in class. The projects helped us get our feet in the door with all the different ways that technology can create ease with learning, teaching, and communicating for teachers, students, and parents. They helped open my eyes to different software’s and websites for teachers. As a teacher your job is to teach and understand each individual student, which can be challenger and very time consuming but these websites we have visited for example the wiki; were extremely helpful. I loved our class wiki and the assignment where we were to create our own with a group was great I feel that there is so much information at such easy access on the wikis that it is a great resource to all teachers. The text book for this class was of some help too. I think that reading over and completing assignments was what taught me the most effectively, but also going back and doing our journals each week with the chapters of the book was a good review of what we learned and new sites we could visit in the future for different areas of help. I have taken away a lot of information from this class and about uprising technologies in and outside of the classrooms. It is crazy the ages children are learning things I am just now figuring out. Technology is an important asset to learning and will only become a greater success and resource to teachers, students, and parents.

I would say one of the greatest learning outcomes that I have accomplished through this class is my new found understanding of how to use copyright images for my own work.

I have also learned how to hyperlink different things to certain pages for easy access due to our lesson plans and powerpoints. I can now also embed pictures as well as videos in my work on various websites, blogs, and powerpoints in compliance with completing our teacher wed page, and e-portfolio.

Each project in class brought forth its own great elements and unique learning objectives whether it be correctly giving credit to those who have given rights to use their work (copyright) or embedding different materials in our work to implement different information from outside resources on the web. All in all this class was extremely successful in teaching me new things about what technology holds for us teachers. As this class comes to an end I am taking a lot with me. I still to this day have symbaloo as my home page and if I do not have my computer with me I log on to symbaloo wherever I am to easily access all of my favorite sites!

Journal 11

Focus question: How can teachers use student participation systems as effective assessment methods?

A popular technology device used in classrooms today is the clicker. The clickers get students actively engaged in the subject area. Clickers are easily accessible and make students more involved in the lesson of the day. Teachers can use clickers throughout a lesson to engage students and have them respond collectively with their individual clickers. This device helps teachers evaluate and assess their students individually with the answers they have clocked corresponding to the questions asked. In college I used clickers for attendance and occasionally to answer questions or polls in class. I think that they are extremely helpful when it comes to communicating between students and teachers, especially in a bigger setting where it is harder to assess and acknowledge everyone.

Photo credit to Travis Goodspeed on Flickr

Tech tool: Digital Portfolio Building Resources

Teachers at school are now lined to their own website with their profile or an online portfolio. Technology is helping teachers get more to their students outside the classroom, or even before meeting the teacher. You can check up on teacher pages or portfolios to get their curriculum or any information pertaining to your upcoming class. For teachers to build their sites, they have different options. There are multiple sites that have templates and structures to build upon one being TaskStream. “TaskStream is an archiving tool used for web design and portfolio building.” On this website teachers are able to create lesson plans, customize measurement tools, and a time manager. These all help letting students know what is expected of them. EduTools is a cool website that students may use before entering into colleges. It gives great advice when students are ready to choose schools and teachers. It provides different reviews for students as guidelines on teachers, advance placement, and high school courses.

Summary

My favorite part about this chapter is the talk about clickers and the tech tools. Clickers were such a neat a fun thing to use as a college student in big stadium classes. Even if it was to just take attendance it makes kids feel important and involved in the room. Clickers can be used in many different ways which is a great tool when it comes to teachers assessing what each individual students has learned. The tech tools information about different builder sites for teachers and building portfolios is very helpful and a good thing to know for the future. I am not very tech-say or up to date on the different things teachers use to communicate. I think that ePortfolios are an awesome way to introduce parents and students to a teacher’s class and the standards they have set for the students. It is accessible from home, outside of school. It also provides a way to contact the teacher, as well as hidden answers to more popular questions.  This is a great upcoming technology for all ages in the educational field, people like knowing they can retrieve background information on teachers to get to know them better.

Journal 10

Focus question: How does assistive technology support efforts by teachers to reach all learners?

Assistive technologies are tools that are used to navigate around learning barriers for those students with disabilities. Assistive technologies have become extremely useful in everyday life as well as in a classroom setting.  Some examples of assistive technologies would be: wheel chairs, voice recognition software, and iReaders. These tools all help reduce learning barriers in the classroom. Wheelchairs help physically handicapped children to mobilize around the classroom just as any other student may. Voice recognition devices help visually impaired student use computers, students can simple speak to the computer, giving answers to questions or simple not taking by speaking and the computer automates a speak to text.

Photo credit to Speakcomputers on Google

Tech tool:  Extra-large and online calculators

The CC16 extra large calculator is a great resource for those that are visually impaired or disabled. There are large buttons with large numbers and signs written clearly across the calculator making it easy for those whom may be sight-impaired. It is an intriguing calculator pulling students in to use it more so than a normal calculator with smaller numbers. The size, shape, and numbers of the large calculator interest students more so than your average calculator. Although I am not sight-impaired, I do wear contacts and larger calculators do help me a lot more. They help to make sure you are hitting the correct buttons to corresponding instructions.

Summary:

This chapter helps illustrate how awesome and assistive new technologies are becoming in creating an easy pathway to learning for disabled students. Whether it be a hearing deficit, sight-impaired, or physically disabled technology is finding ways around the learning barriers with different tools. This chapter shares many of the most popular helpful devices in classrooms. Voice-recognition software is a great device for those visually impaired. It enables them to still use computers, and creates and easy understandings with speak to text. Electronic storybooks are used so that those students can read along at the same pace as their peers. It is an automated voice in which reads a story out loud as the student listens and follows along. There are so many things that are of great use for all disabilities. Technology is helping to give equal opportunities to those whom are disabled.

Journal 8

Focus Question:

How can teachers use email or instant messaging services to foster information exchanges with and among students?

Technology has become such a necessity in students’ lives. Whether they are using them to talk with their friends, email, game, or social media students always have their devices on them, adolescents are the biggest users of these technologies. Many teachers, especially in older grade settings, use emails to get in contact with their students to relay messages about class or any assignments that have been given. Emails are one of the easiest and most time efficient ways to get information across to students, parents, or other teachers. As for instant messaging teachers typically stay away from that sort of technological resource due to informal language used along side the messages. Almost everyone has email on their smart phones and can access them at any point during the day, this being so close at hand makes teachers lives a lot easier in relaying messages to students, teachers, and parents outside of the classroom!

Tech tool:

8.1 Teacher website and blog-building resources

This tech tool explains in depth about all the different ways teachers can go about using the Internet and blogs to create informational pieces for students, parents, and other teachers. There are so many options that teachers have when creating a website or blog ranging from cost, build your own sites or there more cost efficient sites that have pre-made templates you can download and use.  Dreamweaver is a good example of a site that is helps you create your own site or blog. TaskStream, go Daddy, and eblogger are all sites that have pre-made templates available to the public to use and plug in information.  There is also an open source software program you can use also to create sites and blogs such as Moodle. Moodle provides discussion boards, email options, instant messaging, and discussion forums for school districts and individual classrooms.

Photo credit to TechmansWorld on google images

Summary:

Chapter 8 is all about the use of Internet in transmitting information different ways to students through the Internet and technological resources.  To me this chapter is very informative on how to access the internet, emails, instant messaging, wikis, websites, and blogs to provide information to students outside the classroom or for them to use as a reference to a current project or assignment that they are working on. I was not currently up to date on all the different sites mentioned in this website like the wiki or any type of build-your-own website or blog. This class has now gotten me comfortable in using each of those different sites and I have grown accustomed to using them. The Internet can really provide anything and everything a teacher needs to put information in a place so that all of their students, parents, and other teachers can easily access it.

Journal 7

Focus question:

How can teachers use computer games and simulations as learning resources?

This topic is still thought of little value by some Psychologists and educators but to others technological resources that incorporate gaming a thought of very highly. In everyday life students, more so boys are playing video games, computer games, or web-based games, it is a big entertainment setting in their lives. Computer games advocate active learning styles in all subjects. Online games help grab students attention and get them interested in learning. It is not just a boring lecture anymore it is hands on involving all students. To successfully implement computer, web-based games in the classroom teachers should focus more on games that accumulate and subtract points to assess students knowledge on the subject matter rather than games solely based on isolated skills.

Tech tool:

7.2 A Math Learning Game- Zoombinis Logical Journey

Zoombinis is a series of games for all different subjects in school. This series in particular is to help teach critical thinking, problem solving, and mathematical learning for elementary school aged students. Zoombinis consists of tiny creatures with different hair, eyes, nose, and feet you get to choose to create your own character. The characters on a journey home to claim their ancestral territory and there are puzzles and games that pose as obstacles they must conquer in order to reclaim their ancestry. The game consists of trial and error lessons to help the students navigate through correct problem solving. This game series to me is very helpful to students because they are actively involved in the lesson and they must pay attention and assess the knowledge so that they can make steps closer to their ancestral island.

Photo Credit to Zoombinis Logical Journey on Amazon

Summary:

This chapter is all about how to implement technology-based software into the curriculum for skill-based learning in the classroom. Educational games and skill-based software is a very helpful source in the classroom because of the ways it can assess students and what they comprehend in class. The series zoombinis is a great example there is a series for each subject field and the example they share with us is the critical thinking and problem solving game. You have your own character and are going through obstacles based on a trial and error process.  Web-based, video, and computer games help to get the students actively involved in the lesson plan to learn new content and be excited. A game helps hide the work aspect of learning a new area.