Technology as a tool to support instruction

 “Technology as a tool to support instruction”, is an article that immediately stood out to me because of the importance of integrating technology into the curriculum. This article is about personal perspective on the ways in which technology can enhance learning. I can remember a couple of years ago many were intimidated by the use of technology in the classroom. “Now, we've entered an era in which technology is no longer an intimidating novelty”. Technology has now become more accepted because as it continues to grow from year to year educators are expected to introduce this new type of technology to the students. Because technology is everywhere I feel that with the major use of it in this day in age it is important that we as educators teach the students how to use this new technology properly.

This article also talks about technology as a tool. “Technology is a tool that can change the nature of learning”. The main focus amongst educators is to provide proper instruction for students to learn.  Many look at technology in the classroom as a way to increase learning in the classroom.  “However, in a technology-rich classroom, students don’t “learn” technology. Technology merely provides the tools to be used for authentic learning. It is a means, not an end”.

The article also talks about how teachers must determine how technology tools are used in the classroom.  The article talks about how teachers must take responsibility and help design a technology based curriculum for each teacher to use in that grade level. I feel that by teachers working together to integrate the technology into the classroom, it gives them the opportunity to get creative and find ways to engage the students. All and all this was a very informative article. It also made me think a lot about the way technology is integrated into the classroom.

Retrieved from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech004.shtm

Benefits seen for students teaching virtual pupils

Virtual teaching has become something that has become more and more common throughout the years. "Benefits seen for students teaching virtual pupils", is an interesting article about researchers at Stanford University who is developing a half dozen computer programs that gives students the opportunity to customize a virtual agent and teach it mathematics or science concepts." The agent questions, misunderstands, and otherwise learns realistically. For example, in the Betty’s Brain program, a concept map represents the character’s thought process, and students teach her by making logic chains. Showing how garbage contributes to global warming, for example, requires connecting eight separate causal inferences." Researchers believe that this is a way to motivate students and help them to learn more effectively through the teaching of others.

"Educators have long held that peer tutoring can help students learn, and emerging research on students working with computer characters points to one possible reason why: Teaching begets learning for the teacher, too". I feel that this is so true. I have found that by giving students the opportunity to teach each other it gives the students confidence and enhance their understanding of the topic. It is also a positive effect on learning for the students because when you are teaching yourself something many times we trick ourselves in to thinking we understand the concept. When we teach the concept to someone else it helps to guarantee that the students understands what they are teaching.

The article also talks about the results of the researchers and the effects the programs played in students academic success. Studies showed that student teachers scored higher on test and quiz those who were not teaching others concepts. I feel that these results are accurate because when you teach someone else a concept not only does it help the students, it helps the students teacher as well because it gives them practice and reinforcement of the subject area. This is something that I am interested in learning and I plan on research more.

Retrieved from: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/10/28/10avatar.h30.html?tkn=PLTFEfpTAgxFuAkN1aJrti5XCcRo+ESlYV89&cmp=clp-edweek

Class Project

This week in my Fundamentals of Technology for Educators masters class we were asked to use digital storytelling to reflect about a project that we would assign to our students using this tool.  I have worked with digital storytelling during my senior internship and I really enjoyed it. This tool gives students the opportunity to create presentations where they are able to incorporate music and video.  The students seemed really engaged and seemed as though they were enjoying themselves.

I have not begun teaching but when I have a classroom of my own I plan to use this tool with my students.  In my future classroom consisting of 4^th grade students I will have them complete a social studies project on Native Americans. This project fits perfectly into the curriculum because I will address all of the Sunshine State Standards. I would have my student use the PowerPoint presentation tool to complete this project. I like this tool because it gives the students the opportunity to creatively display their research information through pictures, video, and music.

I would begin the introduction of the storytelling project by discussing with my students what exactly digital storytelling is. I would also show them some examples of this tool and go over specifics features that they could incorporate into their project. Because I am working with younger students I would also provide them with directions on how to complete the project.  To complete this assignment each student will be placed in groups of 3-4.  Each group will have the opportunity to pick which Indian tribe they want to complete their presentation on.

 The students will be presented with a detailed rubric of what needs to be included in the assignment. By doing this it gives the students a chance to see what is expected of them. This helps with the effectiveness of the project. They will be required to have at least 8-10 slides, 4 pictures, and music incorporated in this project. They will also be asked to use Internet search engines (Google,Yahoo, etc) to research the topic.

 I feel that this is a fun and engaging way to integrate technology into the classroom. Students are always asked to complete research projects, by using digital storytelling it gives them a way to creatively report their finding. This is something that will motivate students  and make learning exciting.

Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students

"Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students", is an interesting article about the various effects that arise from the integratation of technology in the classroom. There are a variety of effects that the article discuss. The change in student and teacher roles is the first effect talked about. "When students are using technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by a teacher,textbook, or broadcast." This gives students the opportunity to making choices, define goals, and evaluate their own progress. This is something that will be very beneficial to the students and help with their growth in the future.

Another effect that was talked about in the article is the increasein motivation and self esteem. Studies show that many teachers and students are surprised by the performance  level of technology-based accomplishment displayed by students who have shown much less initiative towards academic task. There are many different ways that motivation comes into play when it comes to students and the integration of technology. I had a student during my senior internship who absolutely loved working on computers and completing activities that involved technology. Whenever he was given the opportunity to work with technology he was instantly motivated and engaged. The article also talks about how in many classrooms students choose to work on their technology-based projects during recess or lunch periods. This is why I know that the integration of technology in the classroom is beneficial and motivational.

All and all I enjoyed reading the article. It gave me great insight on the effect of technology on students. I have always thought of technology as a beneficial tool for students and after reading this article I am more convinced that this is true.

Retreived from: http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/effectsstudents.html

Digital Storytelling

This week in my fundamentals of technology class we were given the opportunity to create a presentation on Digital Storytelling. We were given two websites that would be useful in helping to create this presentation Slideshare and Prezi.  Because the slideshare program is very similar to PowerPoint I decided to use the Prezi program.  I have never used this tool before and I knew that this would be very useful in the future. I began by watching the very information tutorial on how to use this tool.

After watching this video I was pretty confident in my ability to create this presentation. Surprisingly it was a little harder than I thought it would be. I started by brainstorming and organizing my thoughts. Once I knew the information that I wanted to use I began the presentation. Because this was my first time working with Prezi, I’m sure my presentation wasn’t perfect but this is something that I know will be beneficial to my students.

As I completed this project I began to think of ways I could use this with my students. One way that I am going to integrate digital storytelling in the classroom is to have my students create a presentation on the life of a butterfly. I may even take it a step further and allow them to create a digital storytelling presentation on the insect of their choice. This is a way for my students to teach their classmates. This is something that I am sure my students will enjoy.

All and all this was a very beneficial and informative tool that I feel will be very useful in the classroom. I really enjoyed and had a lot of fun creating this digital story. This is something I know my students will enjoy. This will also motivate them and take the jitters out of presenting a presentation. I look forward to using this tool in the classroom. I have embedded the Prezi presentation that I completed. http://prezi.com/iarlgjcrkd_w/digital-storytelling/

Social Networking amongst Educators

Social Networking amongst Educators

While browsing the internet yesterday I came across an interesting website about educators and social networking. “How to avoid committing social media gaffes”, is an interesting article that provides do’s and don’ts when it comes to social networking. Social media use is growing exponentially across all demographic groups, including senior citizens. “With social media use becoming more mainstream, principals, teachers, parent volunteers, and other adults affiliated with public schools are frequently using social media for networking and communication purposes.” Some examples of these social networking sites are Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook just to name a few.

With the use of these social networking sites amongst educators becoming more and more common, it is imperative that we monitor what we post to these sites. Parents, students, and principles often access these sites and search to see what information they can find on a particular individual. If they find negative or improper pictures/information it will look bad on us as educators. I personally make sure that I don’t post anything that I wouldn’t feel comfortable with my students reading.Not only are parents and students searching these sites to find information on an individual but so are principals. Many times before you receive a job the principal will search these types of sites to see what type of person they are hiring.

Some tips listed in the article about social networking are:

Avoid participating in the cutesy, sometimes raunchy online surveys and other gimmicks that social media sites use to generate traffic.

Keep your personal business private.

Don’t connect personally with students, ever. There’s never an appropriate or legitimate reason to develop online relationships with students

Recognize that the parents of your students are your partners in the educational process, not your “friends

These are just some of the useful tips listed in the article about educators and social networking. I feel that these are very important tips because as educators we have to monitor everything that we do. Some things we may not feel are inappropriate that our parents or administration will. This is why these tips are so useful.

Carr, N. (2010). Retrieved from: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/10/05/how-to-avoid-committing-social-media-gaffes/2/?

New Software in the Classroom

This week in my Technology class we were given the scenario, “You are a classroom teacher with one Internet-connected, classroom computer. Your principal has just come to you with the offer to purchase one academic software program for your classroom, and price is not a concern.” (Apparently, the categorical funds are such that only one program per classroom may be purchased, but there is an allocation of up to $1,000 per classroom!)

Before I could determine what software I wanted to purchase, I had to figure out the hardware components of the computer. The computer that I am using is a Macbook. I have been using this computer for about 4 years now. The specs of my current computer are:

2.0 GHz Intel “Core Duo” processor

Mac OS X version 10.6 “snow leopard

512 MB of RAM

60.0 GB Hard drive

4X slot-loading double layer read DVD/CD-RW

Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics processor

1280x800 native resolution

Once I established what my hardware components were for the computer I began looking at software.  This was the exciting part. When I initially began looking for software I had to decide what exactly it was that I was looking for in this software. Which software would be most beneficial for my students? The software that I chose was Clicker 5.  Click 5 is a software program for students from K-6. This software is beneficial to students reading and writing abilities. The software components needed to run this software are:

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) or above
Power PC or Intel processor
128 MB RAM
400 MB free disk space

All of the system requirements for this software are met in order for it to run on my computer.  It is very easy to install. My only worry is the fact that I do not have a mouse I only have a mouse pad. This may make it difficult for my students to use this program because they may have a hard time using the mouse pad on the Macbook. Something that was talked about in our text book “Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom,”is the wireless mouse. This is something that I am thinking about purchasing for my students to make their use of this software easier.

 I am very excited to begin using this program. I believe that this will help with my students reading and writing skills as well as provide a review of materials before they are tested.

Shelly, G. & Gunter, G & Gunter, R. (2010). Teacher Discovering Computers Integrating technology and Digital Media in the Classroom. (6th Ed.) Cengage Learning

Retrieved from:  http://www.academicsuperstore.com/products/Crick+Software/Clicker/742978