Reflection Post

Retrieved from: rosegnadeportfolio.wordpress.com

Before taking EME2040, I did not know what This class was really going to be about. I know it was obviously about technology and school but I didn't really know just how much information I was going to learn to prepare me as a future teacher.This was actually one of my favorite classes thus far, all of the things we have done in this class were very informative and some things were actually pretty fun. 

This is one of the first college courses that I have taken where I have been excited to show people what I get to do. Learning how to create websites, and blogs is really fun stuff and it is also stuff that will be beneficial to know later on down the road when I am a teacher.My favorite assignment in this class had to be teacher webpage eportfolio. I found it to be fun to put together, and it is something that I should know how to do for future reference.

The text book we have used throughout this course has been a very useful tool. I find that the information it held was very insightful and informative. Every chapter held some sort of new information, that I learned through out this course.

I think I really enjoyed writing this blog. Although it was tedious at times, I found it to be fun.  Being able to create different things to put on my blog was fun and let me be creative. 

All in all this course was a very interesting and informative course. I enjoyed every aspect of it. All of the projects that we have done in this class are great learning tools and some of the things I will take with me for when I am a teacher in the future.

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

School desk picture retrieved may 2nd from https://rosegnadeportfolio.wordpress.com/classroom-management/sample-1st-day-introduction-and-parent-open-house-powerpoint/

Barnes,Ashlynn. "webpage eportfolio". 2015. JPEG file.

DIGITAL BLOG POST #L

 Chapter 12 of this book titled “integrating Technology and Creating Change as Teacher Leaders” Wasa very Interesting and informative chapter.

The first topic I would like to talk about is the two terms inclusion and infusion. Inclusion means that computers and information technologies are used mainly for transferring information and practicing skills. They are included, but not central to students’ day-to-day educational experiences. Infusion means that computers and other information technologies are ongoing features of teaching and learning in all academic subjects at all grade levels. They are a continuing part of the day-to-day educational experience of students. I choose to talk about these terms because I myself didn’t really know the meaning of them. But now that I do, I feel more informed. I think the term Infusion is more of what classrooms are starting to look like today. Technology is really becoming a vital source for classrooms.

The second thing I would like to talk about is features of a technology-integrated classroom. Technology integration refers to the way that teachers connect technology into all aspects of their instructional and professional work. So the features of a technology-integrated classroom would be a class equipped with technologies such as computers, tablets, dvd player, interactive whiteboard, digital pens, a video conferencing system and more. I feel as though a classroom integrated with technology would be really efficient. I think it is a good thing to have students being able to access so much technology and use them in their everyday school work. I think that with technology already playing such a big part in education, this is just the next step really.

The third thing I would like to touch on is one-to-one laptop computing. This means that every student in a grade, school, or district would have his or her own computing device to use in school. Which basically means every student would have their own laptop. I feel that this in a sense is a good Idea. This way all students for sure have access to a computer to do their work. These days it’s hard to do a lot of your schoolwork without the use of a computer so for every student to have one would be beneficial, but the one thing I think about this being a bad idea, is because of the cost. Computers are expensive and what happens if a student breaks their laptop? For elementary students to have these computers is a good thing just they tend to be a bit on the hyper side and they probably aren’t going to properly take care of these devices.

Created by Ashlynn Barnes on flipquiz.com

Work Cited

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. lead to bad things.

DIGITAL BLOG POST #K

Chapter 6 was a very interesting and informative chapter

The first thing I would like to talk about is WebQuests. WebQuests are online inquires by students that are designed and guided by teachers. In a WebQuest, students follow an electronic map or take an online tour, moving from one web resource to the next to gather information. I chose to talk about webquests because I have had to do one for this class. I find WebQuests to be very interesting and a little fun to make.

The second topic I would like to discuss is online learning and virtual schools. Online learning refers to the delivery of educational experiences through computers and other technologies. Virtual schools are educational organizations that teach students mainly through online learning. In many virtual school programs the students never actually enters a real school and does all work and tests on the computer. This online schooling is a debate amongst people, due to things such as it being a very isolated experience. I personally taken a few online courses. I feel as though for elementary through high school, online schooling is not the best. Students should be leaning face to face and they should also be around other students. The first online class I took was in high school and it was a Spanish class, It was very hard to learn a language online. I ended up failing the class and having to retake it in an actual class where I got an A as my final grade. But for the college levels I believe that online learning is great.  I have take both online and in-class courses in college and I have excelled in both. The online learning is not always just doing everything on a computer. In my other classes geared toward teaching I have been required to go and observe at schools and for other classes I have had to go and take tests at a school. It’s a little different than when I took a online class in high school.

Made by: Ashlynn Barnes on Bitstrips.com

The last thing I would like to touch on is taking virtual field trips. The book says that virtual field trips take students to places all over the world without even having to leave the classroom. Virtual field trips are a flexible teaching approach. I think that virtual field trips are cool. This really just shows how far technology has come. Years ago you could only go on a field trip in person. This is a cheaper and easier way to be able to see things.

Work Cited

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. lead to bad things.

" What is a Virtual Field Trip?." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 11 april. 2015.

DIGITAL BLOG POST #J

Chapter 11 which was titled “Engaging students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning” Was a very informative and interesting chapter.

The first thing I want to talk to you about in this chapter would be, Democratic schools and classrooms. Democratic schools and classrooms are places where students and teachers together make substantive decisions about important aspects of educational operations, from the academic curriculum to school climate and rules. Some say that if given the chance to suggest ideas for the classroom, students will suggest immature things such as less homework or more student socializing. I feel that letting the students to have a voice about things in the classroom may in a sense not be the best idea but also I see it as a good thing. If students got to be actively involved then maybe they would enjoy school more in a sense.

The second thing I would like to touch on is Digital portfolios and their advantages and disadvantages. A digital portfolio may contain all of the material usually found in a paper bound portfolio, but multimedia technologies are used to present the information. For students, a digital portfolio becomes both a personal and public piece of writing. Advantages of using digital portfolios are that they are accessible and portable, and easily maintained. Also digital publications encourages new, creative expressions of ones ideas and accomplishments, and digital portfolios offer connections to wider educational communities through electronic communications. Disadvantages would be that going digital would require students to know or learn to use computers, scanners, cameras, and other tools. Also students would a need teacher support in building a portfolio, and not everyone will view each student’s portfolio which will lead to little to no feedback and a disappointed student. Personally I think that a portfolio should be digital because they pros outweigh the cons. A digital portfolio is easier to manage and are easier to access.

The third thing I would like to discuss is test assessments and performance evaluations. The assessment of students occurs across a spectrum of approaches. All test assessments are designed to measure successful learning and effective teaching. Some types of performance evaluations for students would be: student writing assignments, homework, individual presentations and performances, open note quizzes and more.  I feel that these assessments are important, you need them to see how a student is doing and how well they listened to the information taught in a lesson. But also its evaluating a student without giving them a test that they will freak out about.

Created by Ashlynn Bares on wordle.com

Work Cited

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. lead to bad things.

" Make Your Voice Heard: Discover Democratic Education." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 5 april. 2015.

DIGITAL BLOG POST #I

Chapter 4, which was titled “Designing and Developing Curriculum with Technology” was an informative and interesting chapter.

The first thing I want to talk about is test assessments. Two types of test assessments are Norm-referenced tests and Criterion-referenced tests. Norm-referenced tests compare a student’s performance to other students of the same grade or age. Criterion-referenced tests compare a student’s performance to specific objectives or standards, not to other students. Many of the tests given in school are mostly norm-referenced tests. There are also standards based assessments or standard referenced testing which is a recent variation of standardized testing. These tests start with national, state, or district curriculum frameworks that specify what students are expected to know and be able to do at each grade level. With these tests there is a lot of controversy, a lot of people see problems with this kind of testing. For me and my experience with tests like fcat I can understand. I feel like there is a lot of pressure for students to do well on these tests because if you do badly then you get put in a class that goes at a certain pace, even if you’re actually smart enough to not take the class. Which to me is not a good idea because some students are just bad test takers, they get nervous and mess up. I feel like something like that should not solely  just be based on a test.

The second thing I want to touch on is web resources and apps for lesson planning. The book says that the internet provides vast electronic resources for supporting lesson developments. The book even gives websites and apps for lesson planning some of those being: websites- Annenberg learner (www.learner.org) or PBS Teachers (www.pbs.org/teachers)  Apps- My Lesson Plan, Today in History, and Math Ref Free. Like I have said before, I think the resources that teachers have today are geat and so helpful. To become a teacher in a time where there is so much technology and websites that teachers can utilize is great. For new teachers it can be challenging to put together lessons and its helpful for them to have so many resources that they can use.

The third thing I would like to discuss is using electronic grading software. Many teachers today use electronic grading software as a virtual recordkeeping system. Electronic grading software is a computer program enabling teachers to quickly calculate and record student grades on a computer. There are both pros and cons to using this, pros are that it can efficiently calculate and store multiple forms of student performance data and give students immediate access to their grades. Cons can be not all school activities, particularly at the elementary level, translate into a numerical score equaling a grade of A, B, C, D. Personally I feel the pros outweigh the con. I think that electronic grading software is yet another thing that can make things a lot easier for teachers. Things like this are great for teachers.

Created By Ashlynn Barnes on flipquiz.me

Work Cited

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. lead to bad things.

DIGITAL BLOG POST #H

Chapter nine in our book titled, “Expressing Creativity  with Multimedia Technologies” was an interesting and informative chapter.

The first topic I would like to discuss from chapter nine would be PowerPoint and next-generation presentation tools. PowerPoint is a multimedia presentation software, which is a standard feature on many of today’s computers. PowerPoint is used a lot in schools. Both teachers and students use PowerPoint regularly for presentation matters.  I myself have used PowerPoint countless number of times in a school setting. Students in school now should be masters at using it by the time they are in high school just for the fact that with mostly any presentation they will be using it. Another well-known presentation tool is Prezi, I have seen a few people use it but mostly I only see PowerPoint. I think that power point is a really useful tool for students, it makes presenting material easier and there is so much you can add to you presentation like pictures, video clips and music.

The second thing I would like to talk about is streaming video resources for teachers. The books says that streaming video is an important instructional resource at every grade level. With that being said it gives you different places you can find useful videos. Different video resources for teachers would be: PBS Learning Media, YouTube for schools, TeacherTube, and snag learning. All of these places allow teachers to find videos that are grade/age appropriate for their students. I think it is nice to have options so teachers do not have to sit and search for an hour through YouTube. But it is also cool that if they want to use YouTube there is a section for school related videos.

The third thing I would like to touch on podcasts as a learning technology. For those of you who do not know, a Podcast is a term that comes from the words iPod and broadcast. A Podcast is an audio recording distributed online and accessed on computers or portable media players using free software such as iTunes. The book says that by using Podcasts teachers and students can access a wealth of audio and video educational resources and listen to them whenever they chose. I personally think that it would be a beneficial thing to use Podcasts as a learning technology, they are easy to access and they can help students gain some knowledge from anywhere. Teachers can even record their own podcasts that students can listen to so they can review and remember what they learned in class.

Created by Ashlynn Barnes on Piktochart.com

All in all I found chapter 9 to be very informative and even a little eye opening on a few topics.

Work Cited

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. lead to bad things.

DIGITAL BLOG POST #G

Chapter 10 titled “promoting success for all students through technology” contains a lot of relevant and interesting information.

This first thing I want to talk about in this chapter is Interactive white boards. The text book has a whole section on interactive white boards and rightly so, because these things have transformed what you can do in the classroom. I myself refer to them as smart boards. I started seeing these in about middle school and they are just the coolest things. Interactive smart boards are touchscreen boards that are mounted on the wall and connected to the internet. These white boards create engaging instructional opportunities for the entire class. I just find these whiteboards to be really helpful for teachers. You can use them to show students certain things on the web and you can show them a PowerPoint and even write little side notes on them. Teachers can use these things in so many different ways. They also just make things easier for the teacher.

The second thing I would like to discuss is online translation services. These are things like google translate. Google Translate offers a two way translation between more than 50 languages. Google Translate is good for when a student speaks more than one language and English isn't their native one. Students can write out their notes and assignments in class and then go home and translate their work so they can understand it better. I think Google Translate is a really good resource for both students and teachers. Teachers never know where their students are coming from and what languages they are going to speak so this translation service could be helpful in those types of situations.

                                                                        Photo courtesy of  jess3.com

The third thing I would like to touch on is hand held calculators.  As a lot of people know, a calculator is a handheld device that performs mathematical operations and computations. In school settings you can find mostly three different types of calculators: The basic calculator, the scientific calculator, and the graphing calculator. The basic is more geared towards elementary, the scientific for middle and the graphing for high school. Calculators enable students to visualize mathematical operations.  Calculators are useful devices inside and outside of the school setting.  For school students use them to help them to complete both schoolwork and homework. I find calculators to be useful and sometimes necessary to be implemented in the classroom.

Photo retrieved from www.schoolmart.com   

 Photo retrieved from www.calculatoredge.com                                                                                  photo retrieved from debate.org

  

Work Cited

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

" Kindergarten Interactive White Board Use." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.