exit slip sept 30th week 5 lab

Exit slip Lab week 5

Rethinking education chapter 3:

I loved that they tried doing texting answering for the questions they had during their presentations. It took a  long time to respond, but it was a cool idea and definitely something to try. The discussion regarding online testing vesus paper testing was interesting to the nearly split decisions. I loved online testing so much, I was surprised other students did not enjoy as much as I did. The scenario they had at the end was also a good thinking question. Would you still assign an assignment if one of your students didn’t have an at home computer? I do believe there are ways around dealing with this dilemma, such as having the assignment be an in class assignment

The any discussion lesson presentation “whatever”  ending is best by saying the following:

                1)Tell us what your going to tell us          

                2) Tell us

                3) Tell us what you told us

I like this for a presentation, because often times people just end their presentations with “We’re Done!”. That does not wrap up what we heard very well. It is also difficutl to let people truly know when you are done, so the wrap up will hopefully help ease the presentaion end awkwardness.

Professor Boyer also brought up how he wants us to start doing student to student discussions amongst the whole classroom. This means that they discuss with eachother instead of the teacher responding to each answer and then have another student repsond instead. Like a mass discussion that could almost stand on its own without the assistance of the teacher.

Technology inquiry question was then talked about in class. I think I may cahnge mine to “what alterations can be made to technology based assignments that caters to both general education students and students with cognitive disabilities”. My former question was too broad.

The interactive whiteboard lesson rough draft is exactly what he says: rough. By using the resources at the bottom of week 5 lab agenda I can get ideas of ways to make the lesson. I will upload the program onto my computer and start brainstorming for ways to put the project together. This WILL take time to play with the software, so I need to start early so I can turn it in early, and ask for Professor Boyer’s help before Wednesday. Once the lesson is finished I should submit it under the discussions tab (right next to the grades tab). I should post it under the IWB forum and then answer the questions. Add the notebook file to the post! We are submitting it to the discussions forum so that our peers can give us constructive feedback.

Chapter 3 The technology skeptics' argument: rethinking education

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

The typical questions are being asked but this chapter gives me a vastly different response than my previous posts. Overall, I am a technology supporter but this chapter brought up some valid points. For example, the budgets of schools keep getting cut and technology is expensive. To truly implement technology the way people are theorizing should happen, the ratio of computer to student should be 1:1. Many students can not afford computers at home, and to have each student have one would coast the school a lot of money.Another point that I strongly agree with is classroom management. I know if I have a computer in front of me, there a about a billion websites I would rather be on than school sites. That means immense amounts of distractions for students too. I can only keep my eyes on a few students at a time, and then the rest of the class can get distracted. I will have to develop techniques to keep the students interested in what we are learning and working on. This chapter was not as much about how technology is bad, but rather how it will not take over the classroom. Teaching will still be the central form of education and learning via computers will be a side note. I liked how the chapter also mentioned that learning by assimilation with alter with the introduction of technology to more hands-on learning. This kind of learning for children of today's society appears to better get their attention. Teaching will be changed by technology, but it won't become completely technology based. 

One thing I am worried about it students getting faulty information from the internet. Many students don't understand how to correctly distinguish between valid and invalid websites.They may believe the information I am teaching them is false if they find alternate information on the internet. I think I will probably keep a blog where students can get resources that I find valid for their research. I like the idea of using training programs on the computer to help with the mass skills tests such as the WKCE.Although, I am not saying i approve of tests like the WKCE, but tests online can give them an idea of what something like this is. Students will experience lots of tests like this through their schooling career. I also want to make sure not to make too much of my classroom activities with the computer too uniform. I want to make sure each program is good for each student. It is too easy to mass produce an activity, but in today's classrooms there is so much diversity, students need more individual help. 

Exit Slip sept 23

Exit report

The Technology Enthusiasts’ Argument: It was interesting hearing other people’s opinions regarding using old technology in the 21^st century. I do believe that you should build on old technology using new technology. Someone brought up an interesting point about children not being able to live without their technology. I am very much an environmental lover. I want children to get outside, and I am always fearful that children will rely too much on technology. Although I still believe that we NEED to implement it into the classroom, because it is the new frontier of business. The new goal of a teacher should not be “How” will I teach these students, but rather with “What” will I teach these students. We don’t want our classroom to become irrelevant in the children’s lives... And with all the new technology, our classroom has the potential to implement things they enjoy to truly capture their attention.

chapter 2 :Rethinking Education in the Age Of technology

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

Throughout the semester my idea of technology will continue to change. Rather I am gaining knowledge from my books or from class, my opinion about technologies place in the classroom will continue to become stronger. This chapter, being the technology enthusiast chapter, really helped my understanding of technologies importance to grow. I am already a technology believer, but this chapter had a good point:

         "To prepare students to communicate in this emerging                        world requires not simply the traditional reading and writing, but learning how to communicate using different media with people who do not share the same assumptions" (pg 13).

One thing I thought is a good thing about technology is that it can "cater to individual preferences" (15). In the classroom, when having students do a presentation, they can make the presentation their own by using different programs and backgrounds, as well as a variety of music and video clips. This allows for many different ways to learn in one classroom. Also, I can have students learn things when I want them to learn them. We can now get information immediately, instead of having to do an extensive search for them. Completely opposite of customization was the fact that you can use technology to make everything the same for all the students.This is good if you want the way a test or an activity is done to be the same and thus showing how the child is able to use this form of testing. 

considering I will be in an elementary classroom, I really liked the idea of having computer games in the classroom. I Loved using Oregon Trail when I was young to learn about the migration across the United States. The Geographic Information System, would work well when learning about towns and have the children design heir own villages with it.

capters 1-3 of blogs, wikis, and podcasts

• How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning?
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

 These chapters helped me to know more of the logistics of the different aspects of web activities in the classroom. One point that really stood out to me was the fact of the students safety using blogs. Like to which point is it ok to use their name and when should you use numbers. I also like how the author told us to be selfish with using the internet. I know it seems ridiculous that a teacher would try to teach something without fully knowing it, but with computers I am sure people just jump into it. Before I start teaching I want to fully understand how to use all the things I am teaching my students.



I like the idea of tracking how students writing is advancing by having them write in classroom weblogs. Also, My having a classroom website that the students could help me up keep could not only help the parents keep track of things we are doing in the classroom but also help teach the students how to properly use the internet. I could also put students work up for parents to read and visually see what we are doing in class.
 

Frontline video: Growing up online

• How does this video impact your thinking about technology's role in the lives of young learners?
• What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking

This film really helped me to see the parents perspective and the dangers of the internet. Being in the age of the group this film was talking about I related a lot to the students being interviewed. I understood their frustrations with their parents actions and why they were doing what they were doing. Although, I now have a better insight as to why the internet is so frustrating for parents. Even though most teens are smart enough to not make poor decisions on the internet, it is hard to know when you are a parent because of how secretive kids are. For example, kids don't want their parents reading their private conversations over their shoulders, but perhaps these conversations could be potentially harmful for the child. "Growing up Online" also showed how it becomes difficult for teachers too because the internet is such an easy place to get information from. That means if you are teaching a reading assignment, the child no longer actually has to read because they can just go to spark notes to get the basic understanding of the book. I like the idea they had of having them write their papers in class, so that they don't have outside sources to take information from. Although, technology is not all bad, so allowing them opportunities when they ca use computers in the classroom is necessary. The situation is trying to find the proper occasion to do that.


I have a few ideas of what I will do once I am a teacher in this technology age. Although, not having the opportunity to be in the classroom I am not sure how well it will work. Like I mentioned earlier, I like the idea of having in class writing assignments so they can't use the aid of the computer, but rather only their books. Also, I want to encourage use of the computer too, especially since it will be used in any future career. Doing games, like math games for younger students, will help them how to use the computer without giving them too much freedom. I also liked the idea of a safety class in computer networking. Considering how young students are when they start using a computer, they will be getting into potentially sticky situations earlier with computer predators. By teaching them how to block, or what is inappropriate conversation to have, you can help the student make safe decisions. These classes could help lead students in the right direction when it comes to computers.

Exit Slip for sept 16th

Exit slip

Today during class, we had a major discussion on being schooled completely via the internet. This discussion really helped me to enforce my belief of technology. I do believe that in the future technology  could probably teach children without the teachers aid, but they would not get all the benefits of being in a classroom.

Then after the discussion about the qoute of the day. Once we got together again to talk about how to check our sources, I never heard of the word Triangulation. I have never even used triangulation. But Triangulation, which is to check multiple sources to make sure they agree, makes total sense. In fact, I don’t know why I never thought of doing this. I have always used the “Check the author and make sure they are credible”, but now I KNOW the best way to validate a website is Triangulation.

Thank goodness for smart board technologies. This is always an interesting part of class. I love how easy and fun they are to use. All sorts of different activites you can do like drawing a square to zoom into an image. I am so excited to use these in my classroom, especially after the presentaion I did today in Ed Psych. This class has been helping me unimaginable amounts. Ideas are finally starting to flow for my classroom.

Credible Internet sources

The websites that were given to decide were credible, all looked very valid at first. But upon closer evaluation, they all were complete frauds. For example, the website about Martin Luther king was written by white supremacists who are completely biased on all the good deeds of MLK. The octapus website was about octopus's that live in trees? That information is completely ridiculous. Then there was the website complaining about water, also know as Dihydrogen monoxide. These websites all showed how easy it is to fraud the public with false information.

To make sure my students are using credible websites for research I would give them a checklist that they would have to go through for each one similar to the ones that were available for use on "Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators" site. Although, considering I am teaching elementary school, for the younger grades I will give them websites that they may use that I have deemed credible. But it is always good to start early in teaching good resources, so as a class we can play a game called "is this a credible site?". Everyday I could put a site up and we will have to look for things that make this a good website. I will encourage the 5 W's: Who made the site, What is the purpose of the site, When was it last updates, where was the site created, and Why is this information useful.

Chapter 1 and Preface of thinking education in the age of technology

Questions:
1) How does this reading impact your thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning? 
2) What will you do differently as a future teacher as a direct result of this new thinking?

My responses:
1) I have always thought that Technology was important in today's classroom. I mean technology has been constantly advancing. For example, students started writing with feather from ink well. Then it moved to ball point pen. Then we got erasable pens. Now we have computers. If we do not embrace technology, then we are not truly helping our children in their futures. The stories in the beginning of the chapter were really interesting. Each story explained how different people used technology to help them learn and do something they love. Technology can be used for all the different facets of an education.
2) I will try to really implement the use of computers and the different technologies into my classroom. For example, I like the idea of doing a daily wiki for the parents and students so that everyone knows what the students did in class and what homework is due the next day. I also want the students to perhaps do a journal on word, to help work on their typing skills. I remember as a student we had word processing classes to show us where all the keys were. But I believe with direct application of things they would nejoy writing about they could learn faster. Since I am teaching elementary school, I probably won't implement blogging or the use of cell phones in the classroom, but using websites like migration websites for science classes, or showing them how to use an online dictionary will be things I encourage. Since I am still unsure of all the technologies out there, I am hoping this class will give me other ideas as well. Because this book has a very valid point that technology doesn't mean that students will be able learn everything they should know from the internet but without it we are not adequately preparing them for their future.

sept 9th exit slip

This class today really helped me to experience all that the internet has to offer. For example, I have never heard of social bookmarking before, and this has all the potential to distinguish a good teacher from a great teacher. I am excited to experience this website and all it has to offer. I am also really excited to potentially learn how to make a wiki. As soon as Professor Boyer mentioned our class wiki's and how easy they are to alter them, ideas started coming to my mind about how to make my classroom parent friendly via the internet. A GREAT way to help their child succeed. This class has a lot involved, but none of it has been pointless thus far, and I see my teaching potential quickly increasing.

VUVOX Autobiography

Digital Autobiography!!!

My autobiography is about the people I have met in school

The Questions that must be answered for class:
1) How much effort did you exert on this task?
2) What is the value in completing this course task?
3) How does completing this course task impact your future teaching?

1) At first this task seemed easy enough. All you do is go to a website that describes how to do everything and then do it. Well my thinking was incorrect. For seven pictures it took me over 2 hours to add all the widgets, click tabs, and edited photos. When I was all done with my project, I clicked save and the screen kept saying "unable to save project", or something along those lines. This was really frustrating because I feared I had lost my work. Because of this I had to close out of the program and reopen it under a different tab. Even though some of my work was lost, luckily I was saving the project the entire time, so I was quickly able to bring it back to its previous level of doneness. That is one part of computers that always scares me, that something you work so hard on can be lost so quickly. This task has really opened my mind to the world of computer technology, and I have gained a lot more respect for the so called "computer brainiacs" and their ability to create beautiful masterpieces on the computer. I hope that through this class, I will be able to properly implement the use of technology into my teaching repertoire.

2) This task was a good way to start our electronic adventures. It helped us learn about several different types of electronic media all in one course task. It is also a good way for the class to get to know each other. For most of the students in this class, we have probably just entered the education program and we will have the rest of our school career with each other. This is a good way of getting to know who we will be going through the program with. This task is also a good way of learning our abilities to use computer and internet programs. We can see areas we need to improve as well as areas we may excel in. This project really helped me to evaluate myself and my abilities.

3) This task impacts our future teaching by showing us different ways to make presentations for our classroom. Also, like I mentioned before, it is introducing us to all the different types of technologies that are out there. Whether it be a blog or a way to present information to our class, our society is moving towards a technology run society. If we, as teachers, are not able to help our students keep up with the constantly changing technology, than we will not be able to help them to be properly prepared for their future. This is our responsibility to inform  and prepare them, therefore we must be informed and prepared to teach them. This project is a perfect starting point.

FUNdamentals of Technology

(1) What does technology mean to me? Technology is an outside source that makes a job easier. I am not overly fond of technology because I am scared of where it is going. It appears to be advancing faster than it has ever before. In the same sense, I try to embrace it because it makes tasks simpler, and why struggle with something if you do not need to if the outcome is all the same.


(2) Technology integration is helping students use technology in the classroom. In a classroom, technology integration could either be a student’s use of a computer, or perhaps the teacher’s use of a smart board. It is anything that aids in the students overall success in both gaining knowledge of technology and information.