Monday, April 17, 2017
ILP “Design” - Prezi
I decided to do my second ILP on the design tool Prezi. I designed a Prezi about the 1990's and the key event that took place during this time period. My experience with this tool was very pleasant and entertaining. It was a fun new way to present information and I hope you enjoy it. http://prezi.com/ryz1jrmv_yw3/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Blog Post #10
I think for the field I intend to teach in, High School History, I think that data collection and reporting will be a valuable tool for lessons and classroom. I would utilize surveys for planning lessons and finding out a class stance on certain lessons. For example, I would construct surveys to see which style of lesson the students would like to learn that week. By doing this, I'd not only be giving the students a say but giving them an opportunity to choose the way they learn the material for the week. I'd also construct surveys that would let me know what information the students have the most and least knowledge on and which material they feel the most comfortable talking about. By doing this, I'd make the classroom a more comfortable place to learn and express one's opinion. I would utilize reporting by incorporating it into lessons. For example, I could have a paper with the stats of certain economical events like the great depression or the industrial revolution. I would have the students put the stats through excel, have them find the median, mean, and average, and have them pull the graph so that they can themselves see the dramatic changes happening during these time periods.
Looking through other's blogs, one topic that I saw expressed was a disagreement of the Flipped Classroom. I found that I was not the only one who felt the Flipped Classroom was a flawed method. Other's also felt that the use of the method was more harmful to students then helpful. When looking at the other blogs, it was clear that we all shared a common reasoning for our displeasure for this method. We all feel that this method actually discourages student participation, especially with the use of videos that the students would have to watch at home. We all seemed to think that a student would be lazy and unlikely to watch the video especially if it's for school. Another topic I've found interesting is the other's praise of Diigo. Most of us, including me, have found Diigo to be a blessing in disguise. There was obviously a type of skepticism when first using it at first but when we got used to it, it became a part of our college life. I think the best part about it is that whenever I see other's blog posts or tweets, there's always one or two people shouting out the app. I think that this is one app that is gonna be used by all of us throughout the rest of college and into our careers.
The next technology-related skill I would like to learn next is probably the use of another Microsoft office tool like Publisher or OneNote. I would like to know this for future reference. I feel that having a full understanding of the Microsoft Office tools could help me not only job opportunity wise but also teaching wise. For example, I could get hired for a specific education job because of my understanding of the educational technology being utilized by that class material. I could also be a key influence in a students use of education tech if I showed a full understanding of the tech and help them use it appropriately and beneficially. I will achieve this goal most likely by trying to find instructions or videos on the internet explaining the use of these material, but if those do not work I would most likely go to the campus library and maybe look for opportunities, instructors, or material that would help gain a greater understanding of the material.
This concludes my final blog post. Thank you Taehyeong for the helping gain a greater understanding of technology and making class enjoyable. And thank you to the rest of guys for being great classmates and great people. Hopefully I see you all outside of class and become friends with you all. I hope you guys enjoyed my blogs and I hope we all finish the class with A's.
Looking through other's blogs, one topic that I saw expressed was a disagreement of the Flipped Classroom. I found that I was not the only one who felt the Flipped Classroom was a flawed method. Other's also felt that the use of the method was more harmful to students then helpful. When looking at the other blogs, it was clear that we all shared a common reasoning for our displeasure for this method. We all feel that this method actually discourages student participation, especially with the use of videos that the students would have to watch at home. We all seemed to think that a student would be lazy and unlikely to watch the video especially if it's for school. Another topic I've found interesting is the other's praise of Diigo. Most of us, including me, have found Diigo to be a blessing in disguise. There was obviously a type of skepticism when first using it at first but when we got used to it, it became a part of our college life. I think the best part about it is that whenever I see other's blog posts or tweets, there's always one or two people shouting out the app. I think that this is one app that is gonna be used by all of us throughout the rest of college and into our careers.
The next technology-related skill I would like to learn next is probably the use of another Microsoft office tool like Publisher or OneNote. I would like to know this for future reference. I feel that having a full understanding of the Microsoft Office tools could help me not only job opportunity wise but also teaching wise. For example, I could get hired for a specific education job because of my understanding of the educational technology being utilized by that class material. I could also be a key influence in a students use of education tech if I showed a full understanding of the tech and help them use it appropriately and beneficially. I will achieve this goal most likely by trying to find instructions or videos on the internet explaining the use of these material, but if those do not work I would most likely go to the campus library and maybe look for opportunities, instructors, or material that would help gain a greater understanding of the material.
This concludes my final blog post. Thank you Taehyeong for the helping gain a greater understanding of technology and making class enjoyable. And thank you to the rest of guys for being great classmates and great people. Hopefully I see you all outside of class and become friends with you all. I hope you guys enjoyed my blogs and I hope we all finish the class with A's.
Monday, April 3, 2017
Blog Post 9
The flipped classroom is blended delivery model that is currently gaining a following in K-12 & postsecondary education. This model is an outgrowth of educational vodcasting, aka education video cast, of content. It was first promoted by teachers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergman of Woodlands Park High School in Woodland Park, Colorado. This method began by making lectures available online to students. From there it expanded to "flipping" the way students and teachers spend their time in the classroom. In this model, students listened to prerecorded video lectures for homework before coming into class the next day, changing it up from the usual lecture style lessons. This method caused students to work on group or individual activities in effort to gain a better understanding of the material. This method lead to the creation of various different methods that utilize educational technology in today's modern classroom. I think the best example of the kind of videos utilized for these classrooms are crash course. When ever I had a class that utilized this kind of method, these are the type of videos we used. https://www.youtube.com/crashcourse
Open Source is a term that basically refers to software, more specifically the programming or coding of the software is being referring by the word open. Open Source Software is software whose source code is made available for anyone to access, allowing software developers to modify programs for particular use or to add new features. The community of developers and users has grown around a lot of open source programs. People may turn to open source software when they are working with a limited budget because most Open Source Software is free. Open Source Software really gain grown with the rise of the internet, which lead to a massive retooling of computing source codes. The Open Source Software movement arose to clarify the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues created. When looking up this term, I found a lot of useful websites that might come into use in future teaching situation such as Azure and OpenOffice. Both website provided details of the open source material and the uses it has. http://download.openoffice.fm/get/openoffice.php?aid=controlinline&source=bing
I feel that the second power point assignment was a lot more helpful in developing my PowerPoint skills then the first one was. When I was doing the second assignment I was learning a lot more interesting skills to creating a PowerPoint like skipping out of order on slides, disabling the clicking/pressing the space bar, and the one I found to be the most interesting which was the mouse over feature. This feature basically makes it able to go to the next slide by moving the mouse over an object on the current slide. On the first assignment, I didn't really find anything to be new except for the recording the lecture feature. In fact, that's probably what I liked most about the first assignment, recording the PowerPoint. It really help me realize where I am public speaking wise. What I liked most about the second assignment was being able to make a create-your-own-adventure story through PowerPoint. I really liked this because it let me utilize the action feature that would allow me to skip to any slide I wanted. What I didn't like about both assignments was trying to involve 4 or more slide layouts. I found this to be very difficult since I had a strong idea of what I wanted to do for both assignment. What I would improve upon in the first assignment is vocal presentation. I felt like I stuttered and messed up a lot with my pronunciation. What I would improve up in the second assignment is the presentation. I wish I could used better imagery when creating my slides.
Open Source is a term that basically refers to software, more specifically the programming or coding of the software is being referring by the word open. Open Source Software is software whose source code is made available for anyone to access, allowing software developers to modify programs for particular use or to add new features. The community of developers and users has grown around a lot of open source programs. People may turn to open source software when they are working with a limited budget because most Open Source Software is free. Open Source Software really gain grown with the rise of the internet, which lead to a massive retooling of computing source codes. The Open Source Software movement arose to clarify the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues created. When looking up this term, I found a lot of useful websites that might come into use in future teaching situation such as Azure and OpenOffice. Both website provided details of the open source material and the uses it has. http://download.openoffice.fm/get/openoffice.php?aid=controlinline&source=bing
I feel that the second power point assignment was a lot more helpful in developing my PowerPoint skills then the first one was. When I was doing the second assignment I was learning a lot more interesting skills to creating a PowerPoint like skipping out of order on slides, disabling the clicking/pressing the space bar, and the one I found to be the most interesting which was the mouse over feature. This feature basically makes it able to go to the next slide by moving the mouse over an object on the current slide. On the first assignment, I didn't really find anything to be new except for the recording the lecture feature. In fact, that's probably what I liked most about the first assignment, recording the PowerPoint. It really help me realize where I am public speaking wise. What I liked most about the second assignment was being able to make a create-your-own-adventure story through PowerPoint. I really liked this because it let me utilize the action feature that would allow me to skip to any slide I wanted. What I didn't like about both assignments was trying to involve 4 or more slide layouts. I found this to be very difficult since I had a strong idea of what I wanted to do for both assignment. What I would improve upon in the first assignment is vocal presentation. I felt like I stuttered and messed up a lot with my pronunciation. What I would improve up in the second assignment is the presentation. I wish I could used better imagery when creating my slides.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Blog Post 8
When we visited the A.T. lab before the break, I discovered that the amount assistive technology that could be used for education is much broader than I initially thought. One piece of tech that I think can be utilized in the classroom is the zoom-in tool. I think this tool can be useful for the students with poor eyesight because it can enlarge their desktop and help them better navigate their desktop. Another tool I saw as very useful was the type and speak tool. I feel this tool can be very useful because I feel it gives a equal learning opportunity to both visual and auditory learners. The last tool I feel will could be useful is the smart pen and book. I think the smart pen and book is most useful because of it's many uses. It can record the teacher lecture which can help students who want remember specific detail about the lecture, It has a camera that can help with students who forget lose track in class. The most useful part of the tool, in my eyes, is the fact the all the info saved to it can be stored to the cloud which can be really effective for students when it comes to assignment storage and note taking.
PowerPoint as a tool can be very beneficial and can strongly support student learning at each level of Bloom;s Taxonomy. Through PowerPoint, students can create by customizing the own slides with different patterns, fonts, and images. Like if a student was doing a PowerPoint about birds, they could insert images of birds to indicate a theme. From there they can evaluate by using tools to help understand there argument. Students can evaluate by using bulletin points on a slide to figure what supports their idea. Next, students can analyze by using tools that help them list and compare stats. For example, they can uses the tables feature to categorize their info that help support their argument. Students can also apply by using tools in PowerPoint to help find out if there argument is valid. An example of this is if a student had an idea for a solution to a math question. If they wanted to check, there is a equation tool that list the equation, so they can apply their thinking to the equation. Student can then understand by reviewing their material, and looking at both sides of their argument through their slides. PowerPoint gives students a easy, fast, and entertaining way to discuss these ideas by providing them with tools like tables, charts, and shapes, all in an effort to make sure they can make their material understandable. Students will find PowerPoint to be most helpful when they need to remember. PowerPoint is most useful for this because of the many methods that can be used for remembering, such as making a game of jeopardy out of notes.
In effort to keep up with technological advances, I feel the most helpful website for this would be the tech page on mashable.com. Mashable is a website that focus mostly on technology while also focus world news that can correlate with tech. I feel this site is great for keeping up with technological advances because it's always on top for the latest updates in tech and provides all the most important info. The tech page is helpful because with the news on the latest update in tech, it will help not only in educational tech but tech in general. This means that through this website, a teacher will be able to understand and interact with students through the tech they use most and a teacher will be able to utilize this in educational ways. http://mashable.com/tech/?utm_cid=mash-prod-nav-ch
PowerPoint as a tool can be very beneficial and can strongly support student learning at each level of Bloom;s Taxonomy. Through PowerPoint, students can create by customizing the own slides with different patterns, fonts, and images. Like if a student was doing a PowerPoint about birds, they could insert images of birds to indicate a theme. From there they can evaluate by using tools to help understand there argument. Students can evaluate by using bulletin points on a slide to figure what supports their idea. Next, students can analyze by using tools that help them list and compare stats. For example, they can uses the tables feature to categorize their info that help support their argument. Students can also apply by using tools in PowerPoint to help find out if there argument is valid. An example of this is if a student had an idea for a solution to a math question. If they wanted to check, there is a equation tool that list the equation, so they can apply their thinking to the equation. Student can then understand by reviewing their material, and looking at both sides of their argument through their slides. PowerPoint gives students a easy, fast, and entertaining way to discuss these ideas by providing them with tools like tables, charts, and shapes, all in an effort to make sure they can make their material understandable. Students will find PowerPoint to be most helpful when they need to remember. PowerPoint is most useful for this because of the many methods that can be used for remembering, such as making a game of jeopardy out of notes.
In effort to keep up with technological advances, I feel the most helpful website for this would be the tech page on mashable.com. Mashable is a website that focus mostly on technology while also focus world news that can correlate with tech. I feel this site is great for keeping up with technological advances because it's always on top for the latest updates in tech and provides all the most important info. The tech page is helpful because with the news on the latest update in tech, it will help not only in educational tech but tech in general. This means that through this website, a teacher will be able to understand and interact with students through the tech they use most and a teacher will be able to utilize this in educational ways. http://mashable.com/tech/?utm_cid=mash-prod-nav-ch
Sunday, March 5, 2017
Blog Post 7
Adaptive Technologies are pieces of technology made in effort to help learners with disabilities that could not use certain pieces of computing equipment when it came to class room activities and assignments done on computers. This was all made possible by the American's with Disabilities Act, which was passed in 1990, which made it illegal to discriminate against anyone with any disabilities and made it so any disabilities would be accommodated for. These adaptive technologies support learners by accommodating to the learners disability, making it easier for them to learner. For example, if a learns disability hinders their eye sight, the learner is provided with output technology that help them gain the information through magnified screens, text-to-talk devices, or braille printers. Same can be done for in disabilities that hinder mouse control or typing, they can use input technologies such as track balls or joy sticks instead of mouses or voice recognition technology. The only time I've ever really seen any use of this technology in or out of the classroom is my father using it when texting because of his poor eyesight. The Biggest challenge I see coming from this tech is I fear that any students might have an disadvantage. I fear that a student using input tech like voice recognition might not get the all the right material as a teacher could mumble or trip over there words. The same goes for a student using output technology like text-to-talk.
Making a website for this class was one of the most interesting things I've ever done for a class. It was very easy and very difficult when it came to making, posting and editing my website. The most helpful skill I received from the entire assignment was probably creating a link on my website. That's gonna be most help for me in the future when it comes to updating my teacher website and adding links for certain assignment. This skill will let me make it easier for students to find helpful links without having to memorize or copy and paste them. What I liked most about this assignment has to be coming up with grade level and subject part of it. I'm an aspiring history teacher, so being able to set up a rough image of my actual future website was really enjoyable. What I dislike the most was searching for links to put on my pages. While I find teaching history to be fun, I also found out that it was extremely difficult finding useful link that could pertain to such a broad subject like World History. What I would improve on next time is adding more color and interaction to my website. I feel like my website is more simple but stuff on the website is easy to find. Next time I want to make my website stand out. This activity will be very helpful in the future because it will give me more experience and a better idea when it comes to the construction of my future class website. http://riicharddiick.weebly.com/
The new skills I learned from Diigo have became a major game changer in means of sharing. The fact that it's another education sharing application is helpful enough, but the fact that you can bookmark a page and highlight key pieces of info for a SPECIFIC GROUP is what makes it a real clutch tech tool. This tool will be most help full in computer lab days and take-home online reading assignments in a high school history class. Before Diigo, teachers would give link for student which would lead to giant article reading and the students would have to figure out and read the parts that contributed to the class. With Diigo, not only can the teacher highlight the most important parts but now the students can also highlight parts and other articles that they feel will also be useful. Diigo will also be useful when using it with team member, as it can be used to share articles, tech tools, and websites that could contribute to future lessons. Diigo personal use will really help me because with the use of the tool I can keep track of what websites, tools, and online games I intend to use when planing out my lessons each week.
Making a website for this class was one of the most interesting things I've ever done for a class. It was very easy and very difficult when it came to making, posting and editing my website. The most helpful skill I received from the entire assignment was probably creating a link on my website. That's gonna be most help for me in the future when it comes to updating my teacher website and adding links for certain assignment. This skill will let me make it easier for students to find helpful links without having to memorize or copy and paste them. What I liked most about this assignment has to be coming up with grade level and subject part of it. I'm an aspiring history teacher, so being able to set up a rough image of my actual future website was really enjoyable. What I dislike the most was searching for links to put on my pages. While I find teaching history to be fun, I also found out that it was extremely difficult finding useful link that could pertain to such a broad subject like World History. What I would improve on next time is adding more color and interaction to my website. I feel like my website is more simple but stuff on the website is easy to find. Next time I want to make my website stand out. This activity will be very helpful in the future because it will give me more experience and a better idea when it comes to the construction of my future class website. http://riicharddiick.weebly.com/
The new skills I learned from Diigo have became a major game changer in means of sharing. The fact that it's another education sharing application is helpful enough, but the fact that you can bookmark a page and highlight key pieces of info for a SPECIFIC GROUP is what makes it a real clutch tech tool. This tool will be most help full in computer lab days and take-home online reading assignments in a high school history class. Before Diigo, teachers would give link for student which would lead to giant article reading and the students would have to figure out and read the parts that contributed to the class. With Diigo, not only can the teacher highlight the most important parts but now the students can also highlight parts and other articles that they feel will also be useful. Diigo will also be useful when using it with team member, as it can be used to share articles, tech tools, and websites that could contribute to future lessons. Diigo personal use will really help me because with the use of the tool I can keep track of what websites, tools, and online games I intend to use when planing out my lessons each week.
Monday, February 27, 2017
ILP “Participation” – Google Glass
Blog Post #6
The class provided basically had the same display formula with little pieces of customization in each. I observed the pages for Social Studies teachers at Raa Middle School. The 2 pages I focused on most were Mrs. Inglett, who teaches Culture and Geography, and Mr. King, who teaches U.S. History. Both public page include a creative page layouts displaying different color schemes. Both either had links on the side leading to classroom materials, papers, and assignments or simply listed the assignments and questions right on the page. Each page also had pictures and descriptions pertaining to there own life and other extra-curricular school activities they might be involved. What stood out to me was the each pages approach to when it comes to they way they were organized. Mrs. Inglett's page was a more direct page as it has the latest assignments and notes posted at the top. Mr. King's page has a creative spin to it as the home page describes some of the schools extra-curricular's, the latest video pertaining to the subject, and a student of the week section.
I envision using word processing, presentation software, and online tools in order to successfully accomplish my job as a high school history teacher. My use of word processing would be most beneficial to me when writing up classroom worksheet as it would benefit in my efforts of creating worksheets that appeal to my students but also inform them and their parents on any information. I would utilize presentation software in efforts to make my lessons in the classroom entertaining while also teaching the main curriculum. I believe that online tools would be the most effective for completing my responsibilities in effective and efficient time. I would utilize online tools in and out the classroom, providing online activities and assignments that stimulate the you students minds while also using the tools to interact with other teachers through Diigo and posting assignments, note, and worksheets on a class page accessible to both students and parents.
I think that the tech sandbox was an awesome experience. It showed me alot of useful classroom tools that I feel all classes will utilize at one point. The ones I feel would be the most useful in the classroom environment I intend to teach are smart boards, virtual reality headset and sphero. I feel that all can be effective in teaching high school history in different way. VR headset could put students in the middle of historical sights around the world and maybe even recreate some of the events that happened at those site. Smart boards can let students have a whole new experience when it come to class room participation and can maybe cause more kids to be excited about learning with its touch screen abilities. Sphero's use in a history classroom is underestimated in my eyes. I feel that with the use of giant floor maps, sphero can help display the movements of whole of colonies and actions taken by countries in history.
I envision using word processing, presentation software, and online tools in order to successfully accomplish my job as a high school history teacher. My use of word processing would be most beneficial to me when writing up classroom worksheet as it would benefit in my efforts of creating worksheets that appeal to my students but also inform them and their parents on any information. I would utilize presentation software in efforts to make my lessons in the classroom entertaining while also teaching the main curriculum. I believe that online tools would be the most effective for completing my responsibilities in effective and efficient time. I would utilize online tools in and out the classroom, providing online activities and assignments that stimulate the you students minds while also using the tools to interact with other teachers through Diigo and posting assignments, note, and worksheets on a class page accessible to both students and parents.
I think that the tech sandbox was an awesome experience. It showed me alot of useful classroom tools that I feel all classes will utilize at one point. The ones I feel would be the most useful in the classroom environment I intend to teach are smart boards, virtual reality headset and sphero. I feel that all can be effective in teaching high school history in different way. VR headset could put students in the middle of historical sights around the world and maybe even recreate some of the events that happened at those site. Smart boards can let students have a whole new experience when it come to class room participation and can maybe cause more kids to be excited about learning with its touch screen abilities. Sphero's use in a history classroom is underestimated in my eyes. I feel that with the use of giant floor maps, sphero can help display the movements of whole of colonies and actions taken by countries in history.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Blog Post #5
Among the Web 2.0 tools discussed upon in the podcast, the one's I feel to be the most helpful in the classroom would be Twitter and YouTube. I feel these tools are most useful due to their popularity and simplicity for student use. Twitter and YouTube are websites that are part of the most used apps by young learners and I feel that for the level I intended to teach, high school history, they would be most helpful for my students and my development. By the time students reach high school, most of them would have a strong grip on the use of these websites. YouTube contains an abundance of educational videos that I could use for certain lesson to explain or emphasize the classroom topic and the fact that finding a video pertaining to the classroom topic is as simple as typing in the video title or topic theme helps tremendously. Twitter is a helpful tool because it's not only an easy to master tool for students to use to ask assignment question and interact, but it also a fun and enjoyable platform for students to talk, joke around, and enjoy their youth. The tool I think is not as useful is Diigo. I think that it's actually a really useful tool and can come in clutch for certain situations, but I don't think it's right for my teaching level. I feel like highschoolers would be less reluctant to use it, because I feel they would not want go through the signing up and learning new web browser tools that they wouldn't use. I also feel like some students would to take advantage of it and try to use it as a tool to cheat.
A Web 2.0 tool I would utilize as a teacher would have to be Prezi. I chose Prezi based on experiences with the tool. I used this Web 2.0 tool throughout high school and I personally feel that it's a step up from using Microsoft PowerPoint. Prezi let's presenters be a lot more creative when it comes to presenting their topic. It is more entertain and catches the eye of more students because it is a good change of pace then the same old classroom presentation. What I believe is the biggest contributing factor for using is it's video presentation settings. In PowerPoint it's almost impossible to put an actually video in the presentation, usually resulting in the placement of a video clip link which lead to exiting the slide show all together. In Prezi, you can place the actual video in the slide and play it from the slide, which means no leaving the presentation all together. Best part is that sign up is simple and free. Here's the link to the website: https://prezi.com/
The technological advancement that I feel will have the biggest impact is Gesture-Based Multitouch Displays. I feel like this is gonna have the biggest impact because it's already having a major effect on the learning right now...sorta. The placement of "Smartboards" in classrooms has already began in classrooms, which connects the bored and the computer giving teachers and students the ability to learn at the touch of the hands. I feel like this will grow over time, leading to actually touch screen boards where teachers could place pictures, figures, and words pertaining to the listen and students coming up to the board, touching the word or picture of there choice leading them to a video, games, or piece that pertains to the lesson at hand. That's how I feel it will be utilized, making learning so interactive, that it's at the tip of our fingers.
A Web 2.0 tool I would utilize as a teacher would have to be Prezi. I chose Prezi based on experiences with the tool. I used this Web 2.0 tool throughout high school and I personally feel that it's a step up from using Microsoft PowerPoint. Prezi let's presenters be a lot more creative when it comes to presenting their topic. It is more entertain and catches the eye of more students because it is a good change of pace then the same old classroom presentation. What I believe is the biggest contributing factor for using is it's video presentation settings. In PowerPoint it's almost impossible to put an actually video in the presentation, usually resulting in the placement of a video clip link which lead to exiting the slide show all together. In Prezi, you can place the actual video in the slide and play it from the slide, which means no leaving the presentation all together. Best part is that sign up is simple and free. Here's the link to the website: https://prezi.com/
The technological advancement that I feel will have the biggest impact is Gesture-Based Multitouch Displays. I feel like this is gonna have the biggest impact because it's already having a major effect on the learning right now...sorta. The placement of "Smartboards" in classrooms has already began in classrooms, which connects the bored and the computer giving teachers and students the ability to learn at the touch of the hands. I feel like this will grow over time, leading to actually touch screen boards where teachers could place pictures, figures, and words pertaining to the listen and students coming up to the board, touching the word or picture of there choice leading them to a video, games, or piece that pertains to the lesson at hand. That's how I feel it will be utilized, making learning so interactive, that it's at the tip of our fingers.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Blog Post #4
The use of twitter in this course has been a really fun experience. It really makes the class interact with each other while also letting us have an enjoyable platform to socialize on. Twitter has let me get to know my fellow classmates which is a change since in other classes I would stay to myself and not interact as much. The classmates I have interacted most with on twitter are Robert "Chip" Nettina and Will Anderson. Through twitter we expressed are feeling about the class, topics discussed in the class, and the tools taught in the class. We also discovered we share the same taste in music and humor. Twitter has been most beneficial when it comes to keeping up with class lesson and checking in on others when it comes to in-class assignments. I think is a great tool for education and I intend on having it as a major part of my future class environment. When it would come to using twitter in the classroom, I think I would utilize by using the app to answer any questions about classwork assignment and use it to update the students on any last minute changes to assignments.
The digital divide in education is really underestimated. It can actually have a major affect on a students educational success. Students that find themselves on the less educated side of the digital divide are likely to have more trouble in academics in today's school because of the overwhelming use of technology in education. It's not all the students fault that they have a disadvantage when it come to technology. Most of these students come from urban and rural homes where there parents are working class citizens that don't have the same financial advantages as others. Experience digital divide would most likely happen if I was in a urban or rural education setting like a small town or big city. If I experienced a situation involving digital divide, I would approach in a way that benefits both sides. What I would do to benefit both sides is offer those who are digital disadvantaged a series of exercise to advance there skills in technology while give those who are digital advanced exercises that help them practice and challenge there skills. I would make sure that this is all done before the class advanced to anymore digital assignments.
With the education field I intend to teach, High School History, the educational tech tools I would use most would be simulations, educational games, and typing/presentation tools. It may seem strange that I use some of these tools but there's a good reason for it. Though it might seem out of place to use simulations and education games in high school, I feel like high school is one of the best places to use it because in the modern world today, most students grow up in environments where tools like this aren't only fun, they are like relief to their day. I feel like sometimes students over-stress themselves in high school, so I would these tools not only to educate and relate to students, but I would also use it to let the students have fun and relax. The software I would use the least would probably Drill-And-Practice Software. I think practice is extremely important when it comes to learning a educational tech skill, but I hope that my students would be well educated enough when it comes technology. I also personally believe repetition has a limit and I think that overtime, my students would be exhausted and would no longer be stimulated by the same practices.
The digital divide in education is really underestimated. It can actually have a major affect on a students educational success. Students that find themselves on the less educated side of the digital divide are likely to have more trouble in academics in today's school because of the overwhelming use of technology in education. It's not all the students fault that they have a disadvantage when it come to technology. Most of these students come from urban and rural homes where there parents are working class citizens that don't have the same financial advantages as others. Experience digital divide would most likely happen if I was in a urban or rural education setting like a small town or big city. If I experienced a situation involving digital divide, I would approach in a way that benefits both sides. What I would do to benefit both sides is offer those who are digital disadvantaged a series of exercise to advance there skills in technology while give those who are digital advanced exercises that help them practice and challenge there skills. I would make sure that this is all done before the class advanced to anymore digital assignments.
With the education field I intend to teach, High School History, the educational tech tools I would use most would be simulations, educational games, and typing/presentation tools. It may seem strange that I use some of these tools but there's a good reason for it. Though it might seem out of place to use simulations and education games in high school, I feel like high school is one of the best places to use it because in the modern world today, most students grow up in environments where tools like this aren't only fun, they are like relief to their day. I feel like sometimes students over-stress themselves in high school, so I would these tools not only to educate and relate to students, but I would also use it to let the students have fun and relax. The software I would use the least would probably Drill-And-Practice Software. I think practice is extremely important when it comes to learning a educational tech skill, but I hope that my students would be well educated enough when it comes technology. I also personally believe repetition has a limit and I think that overtime, my students would be exhausted and would no longer be stimulated by the same practices.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Blog Post 3
I think teaching the ELA Technology standards will be a somewhat difficult process due to most students today only knowing the basics when it comes to using a computer for educational purposes. For my intended major and my backround history with technology, I feel that the easiest to teach would be RHST.7. This would be easiest for me to teach because it involves probably the simplest factors when it comes to teaching history. If I had to instruct students to find historical data, the easiest way for them to find it would be to look it up on google, specifically google scholar. The most difficult one for me to teach would perhaps SL.2. This one would be more difficult for me teach mainly because of the increasing difficulty and diversity of ways to teach this standard.
Teaching high school history classes will emphasize an overwhelming need to use technology. For me, as a teacher, I would like to use email as an easy and effective way for communication. I feel like email was a really helpful and effective means of communication for me in high school. I would also utilize the school provided website for grades and assignments. I would use this as an alternative means for communication if my students had trouble with email. In the classroom, I would utilize educational learning websites that involve blogs, and mash-ups to help students grasp an understanding of the subject matter. I would also use tools such as media, videos, and fun learning websites like kahoot to hopefully raise the chances of student interaction in the lesson. Through the students use of these technological academic learning tools, I will be able to see if the students are demonstrating proper digital citizenship concept. I'll make sure that the students have a general understanding of the required technological skills when it comes to surfing the web while protecting their personal information and obeying copying laws. I will also make sure that my students follow proper netiquette while participating in the classroom and the web community.
The Newsletter Design assignment really improved my skills when it comes to technology. It challenged me in a way I've never been challenge before when it comes to technology. I think the skills I was happiest to acquire from this assignment would have to be place a text in a 2 column format. I always wondered how teachers were able to do that when they made news letters. Now I know this skill which I will utilize to manage space on future Classroom Newsletters. Another skills I was happy to acquire from this assignment was the ability to place graphics in specific places. I was a novice when it came to doing this. Before I learned how to place a graphic over or under text, I would place where in the text and just write around it. Now that I know how to place graphics in certain places, I will be able to utilize this skill for when I actually become a teacher. The next time I make a newsletter, the one area I would like to improve in is graphic choice and color choice. I feel like my Newletter could've been more eye-popping and appealing and it just didn't live up to the potential.
Teaching high school history classes will emphasize an overwhelming need to use technology. For me, as a teacher, I would like to use email as an easy and effective way for communication. I feel like email was a really helpful and effective means of communication for me in high school. I would also utilize the school provided website for grades and assignments. I would use this as an alternative means for communication if my students had trouble with email. In the classroom, I would utilize educational learning websites that involve blogs, and mash-ups to help students grasp an understanding of the subject matter. I would also use tools such as media, videos, and fun learning websites like kahoot to hopefully raise the chances of student interaction in the lesson. Through the students use of these technological academic learning tools, I will be able to see if the students are demonstrating proper digital citizenship concept. I'll make sure that the students have a general understanding of the required technological skills when it comes to surfing the web while protecting their personal information and obeying copying laws. I will also make sure that my students follow proper netiquette while participating in the classroom and the web community.
The Newsletter Design assignment really improved my skills when it comes to technology. It challenged me in a way I've never been challenge before when it comes to technology. I think the skills I was happiest to acquire from this assignment would have to be place a text in a 2 column format. I always wondered how teachers were able to do that when they made news letters. Now I know this skill which I will utilize to manage space on future Classroom Newsletters. Another skills I was happy to acquire from this assignment was the ability to place graphics in specific places. I was a novice when it came to doing this. Before I learned how to place a graphic over or under text, I would place where in the text and just write around it. Now that I know how to place graphics in certain places, I will be able to utilize this skill for when I actually become a teacher. The next time I make a newsletter, the one area I would like to improve in is graphic choice and color choice. I feel like my Newletter could've been more eye-popping and appealing and it just didn't live up to the potential.
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Blog Post #2
MS Word has literally been in my entire educational life since I've been in school. It has always been the most effective and reliable office software for school. It not only gave me so many options when customizing my classwork, it actually help me improve my typing, spelling and writing skills. Knowing that it becomes a core part of my career actually helps me a lot. I've seen all my teachers utilize MS Word, whether they went all out with the worksheet or if they just made a simple & straight forward paper, they utilized MS Word to it's full potential. Their use of MS Word had a major affect on my education. When teachers used it, it made learning, in my eyes, easier and simpler to follow.
In my life, copyright has become more and more prominent in my educational efforts. It was made obvious at a young age that copyright was WRONG! Teachers at my schools taught us to focus solely on our creativity. As I got older though, teachers let us cite more pieces of others work in an effort to help us learn. Another thing I notice was that as time passed, the price for not following copyright became larger. It was a large jump from a few points to being kicked out of the University. As a teacher, I would try to make sure that my references are legally cited and that they help my students learn what needs to be learned. I would use a lot of worksheets and in-class assignments previously made for the book, but would always make sure that each one is clearly cited, giving credit to the actual writer. In order to make sure that my students follow copyright rules I would emphasize, before I give any assignment, the rules of copyright and the consequences of not following them. After the assignments are finished, I would double check my students work and make sure there is no trace of copyright.
The three main implementation issues that are faced in the world of educational technology are Legal, Social, and Ethical issues. Legal issues are issues meet in Educational Technology that involve violations of the law, such as Copyright, Software Piracy, and Torrent. Social issues are confronted when students experience social problems through technology. Examples of Social Issues are Digital Divide and Cyber Bullying. Ethical issues involve problems that are met in both real and cyber life that are seen as distracting and negative such as Freedom of Speech, and Academic Dishonesty like cheating or plagiarism. These issues can be solved when well thought out, for example, if I was faced with software piracy as a teacher, I would figure out if there was any confusion about educational technology that can be used and then provide my students with proper, legal software providers that can be used. If I was faced with cyber bullying, I would make sure that the student being bullied is provide with any emotional support needed to get them through what they are going through and I would also instruct them to take the issue to the front office if they feel the issue has increased, as the front office would handle the situation more effectively. If I was face with Academic Dishonesty, I would grade the students paper properly and make sure I discuss the importance of following the rules before and after the assignment is done.
In my life, copyright has become more and more prominent in my educational efforts. It was made obvious at a young age that copyright was WRONG! Teachers at my schools taught us to focus solely on our creativity. As I got older though, teachers let us cite more pieces of others work in an effort to help us learn. Another thing I notice was that as time passed, the price for not following copyright became larger. It was a large jump from a few points to being kicked out of the University. As a teacher, I would try to make sure that my references are legally cited and that they help my students learn what needs to be learned. I would use a lot of worksheets and in-class assignments previously made for the book, but would always make sure that each one is clearly cited, giving credit to the actual writer. In order to make sure that my students follow copyright rules I would emphasize, before I give any assignment, the rules of copyright and the consequences of not following them. After the assignments are finished, I would double check my students work and make sure there is no trace of copyright.
The three main implementation issues that are faced in the world of educational technology are Legal, Social, and Ethical issues. Legal issues are issues meet in Educational Technology that involve violations of the law, such as Copyright, Software Piracy, and Torrent. Social issues are confronted when students experience social problems through technology. Examples of Social Issues are Digital Divide and Cyber Bullying. Ethical issues involve problems that are met in both real and cyber life that are seen as distracting and negative such as Freedom of Speech, and Academic Dishonesty like cheating or plagiarism. These issues can be solved when well thought out, for example, if I was faced with software piracy as a teacher, I would figure out if there was any confusion about educational technology that can be used and then provide my students with proper, legal software providers that can be used. If I was faced with cyber bullying, I would make sure that the student being bullied is provide with any emotional support needed to get them through what they are going through and I would also instruct them to take the issue to the front office if they feel the issue has increased, as the front office would handle the situation more effectively. If I was face with Academic Dishonesty, I would grade the students paper properly and make sure I discuss the importance of following the rules before and after the assignment is done.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Blog Post #0
My prior experience with technology is pretty basic to say the least. I know how to work the most prominent pieces of technology that are involved in everyday life. I'm almost a master at working with anything with a touchscreen, there's no cellphone that I can't figure out how to work, and i'm basically a wiz when it comes to using the popular tools on a computer like web browsers and Microsoft word (If you wanna see some real skill, watch me play pinball on the computer). But if you wanted me to detox a computer or complete utilize every single tool on an iPhone, you got the wrong guy. I think I speak for most of us when I say that when my computer breaks, the first person I tell is my dad so i fix it. So basically, I'm a just tech norm when it comes technology. That's why I'm taking this class.
My biggest hope from this course is to learn everything that I need to know to teach. I thought I knew everything from what my teachers initially taught. I started to realize that this was wrong in high school when I realized that teachers were using Excel with half of the presentation. Not only that, I still to this day do not know how they made half of those printed out assignments with the lines and special marks. It's safe to say that I need this course more then I initially thought I did when i originally signed up for it, especially after taking the questionnaire.
The questionnaire opened my eyes and really surprised, like Kanye West snatching the mic away surprised. I thought I was much more determined that I was a pure in my learning style, but it turns out that's not the case. I much more close to being even in many aspects of my learning. The only style that I am strongly uneven in, in my eyes, is my strong preference of being a visual learner. Even with that learning style though, I still feel very conflicted about it.
My biggest hope from this course is to learn everything that I need to know to teach. I thought I knew everything from what my teachers initially taught. I started to realize that this was wrong in high school when I realized that teachers were using Excel with half of the presentation. Not only that, I still to this day do not know how they made half of those printed out assignments with the lines and special marks. It's safe to say that I need this course more then I initially thought I did when i originally signed up for it, especially after taking the questionnaire.
The questionnaire opened my eyes and really surprised, like Kanye West snatching the mic away surprised. I thought I was much more determined that I was a pure in my learning style, but it turns out that's not the case. I much more close to being even in many aspects of my learning. The only style that I am strongly uneven in, in my eyes, is my strong preference of being a visual learner. Even with that learning style though, I still feel very conflicted about it.
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