Reflection from class 9/30

Today in class a group presented the chapter on technology skeptics.   I wish there was more time to do discussion.  I joined the technology enthusiasts group to discuss the quote about becoming so involved with technology that we lose our basic skills that we learn in kindergarten (sharing, washing hands, etc.)  I didn’t have enough time to share my opinion in our group because other people were still talking when they ended the discussion.  We said that in our classrooms, even enthusiasts would not eliminate all social aspects of our classroom.  We are not going to eliminate physical interaction between student and teacher or among peers.  Our authority will not be replaced by a computer.  But, I also wanted to add that those social skills are not the only skills children should learn in school.  In the quote the author claims that those are the only skills he needed.  But, education should prepare students for future jobs, not just social interactions.  Jobs are increasingly demanding technology knowledge and skills in order to be hired for a variety of positions.  Technology is being integrated into so many homes and professional businesses, why would we not want to prepare our students for outside the classroom? 

Also Professor Boyer highlighted the idea of student to student interaction. Teachers don’t always have to be the ultimate power and expert of their classroom.  It’s important to encourage students to be equal and build on each others’ comments, not have every opinion go through the teacher first. 

**Remember the steps for my future presentation: Tell us what you’re going to tell us, Tell us, Tell us what you told us.

Chpt 3 Rethinking Education

   Overall, I don’t think this chapter was a good representation of the technology argument from the skeptics’ perspective.  Many of the arguments were immediately addressed by the technology enthusiasts.  Also, the arguments picked made the skeptics seem stubborn and ignorant about learning and education.  For example, the list on pg 30-31 with the constant advancements in technology like paper and pens that were discouraged then, but now widely accepted learning tools.  This list compares a tool like paper to a tool like a computer or an interactive white board in the aspect that people don’t automatically accept them, but soon they will become accepted practices in learning.  The comparison between the two is definitely not equal because in order to accept today’s technology we must reinvent our definition of school and learning.  This was not the case back when paper was the revolutionary advancement to replace chalk and slates.  The paper can do all the same things a slate could—practice writing words and sentences, working out math problems, etc.  Teachers could basically go through their lesson plans and replace the word “slate” with the word “paper” and not change the structure of teaching.  Now, a computer is not replacing any familiar tool.  It can do so many advanced processes that the children can have precedent access to.  The teacher must change the lesson plans, style of instruction, and even basic ideas about the goals of the education system in order to incorporate new technology.  With such a drastic change, I understand why teachers are so hesitant, especially since they have no model for how to instruct and are sometimes not even as familiar with the tools as the students are.  It undermines the ultimate authority the teachers used to have, as the book points out.  But the idea that teachers would not use a tool that greatly advances learning possibilities and allows their students freedom to discover specialized information makes the technology skeptics seem unreasonably stubborn.  They would not do what’s in the best interest of their students because they will have to compete with computers for the power of authority.  The book makes skeptics out to be the “bad guy” and worse teachers for not thinking of the student’s needs first. 
   However, the chapter does outline some of the barriers for not upgrading technology such as cost and access without a rebuttal.  I think these items are my main concern in implementing technology into my classroom because of the district I want to work in.  Of course I can’t hand select my school and grade level, but ideally I plan to move back to my hometown.  The problem with teaching in Northern Wisconsin is that it is a very low-income area.  Many families there are below the poverty level.  Having access to computes and interactive whiteboards will be a challenge.  But hopefully, with grant money, my classroom can secure some of the advanced technologies other higher-income schools have the opportunities to utilize.

Technolgy Inquiry Question

How can Elementary school teachers effectively use interactive white board technolgy with their younger age students (grades 1-3) to help them learn?

Relfections from class 9/23

Today we had our first group presentation in Chapter 2. They used Prezi and had a class discussion where I had to support the two quotes from a technology enthusiasts point of view.  I want to start looking into technologies I can have the class access online to do individually.  I think that class discussions are used too often in many of our classes.  The idea is good, however, it does not guarentee that every student will get involoved.  Technology can be a huge help in getting students engaged and interactive with the material.  But, another thing I learned when dealing with technology, is make sure to log off the editing mode of a blog or presentation when I post the link to my Delicious for the class to use.

Also, when I revisit this blog post before I organize my presentation, I need to remember to give a short conclusion.  Professor Boyer said in any presentation you need to "1.) Tell us what your going to tell us 2.) Tell us 3.) Tell us what you told us." I think that's a catchy way to remember that I always need to introduce and conclude what I present.  People don't remember every bit they hear, so it's important to reiterate the main points I want them to take away.

Lastly, be sure to rehearse the presentation and if necessary pause before I say "um" or "like" to fill space.  If I need to think, just silently compose my thoughts.  This also means I need to give my classmates silent time to gather their thoughts (7-10 seconds) after I ask questions or ask for feedback from an activity.  

Chp 2 Rethinking Education

First of all, even though this won't be the focus of my post, I want to say that by the send of this class I think I will be a "Technology Enthusiast" by the end of this course.  When I pictured myself teaching, I imagined all the techniques and methods of my elementary teachers because overall, I had a great educational experience.  However, while taking this course I realize I have the capability to make my students learning experience even more powerful than my own because of the advancements in technology.  Back when I was in elementary school admiring my teachers, I could have never imagined the future possibilities of my classroom because the powerful, technological tools I well utilize had not even been invented yet!
With that, the idea that really sparked my thinking the most in this chapter was on page 11 talking about communities.  The text goes into detail about "the movement of communities of place to communities of interest." In summary, it explains how communities used to be based on physical locations and neighborhoods and now the definition is changing to encompass a revolutionary kind of community we choose for ours focused on our personal interests.  Now that there is communication to link people together, like web cams, Internet, etc, location is no longer a barrier.  For my classroom, I want to adopt this idea to allow my students more freedom in their education.  I want keep the structured, organized whole-class instruction by subjects for topics like reading,writing, math, science, social studies.  However, for more specific topics like space, fire, marine life, water color painting, etc, I want to give the students the opportunity to explore the topics of their interest more in depth.  I was talking to Lalani about her educational experience, since she grew up in a Montessori school system.  She really enjoyed the responsibility of pacing herself to get her necessary work done and getting to explore and make her own conclusions.  Some projects she would learn and get done quickly if they did not interest her.  However, when she discovered in interesting subject she had the time and freedom to seek more information on it.  The teacher in her classroom was less of an authority figure and more of a friendly resource if a students had questions they could consult him as a possible resource.  In my class, during free learning time (I'll come up with a more intriguing title) I will structure learning like the Montessori system.  I would not be able to answer every question about stars, but I can teach my students to effectively utilize the Internet to fin answers to any of their questions.

Chapters 1-3 Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts

From chapters 1-3 in out text “Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts” I learned not only the importance of introducing my students to new technology, but also educating them in ways that compliment their new metal structure as a result of technology.  I have heard many times in this class already that it is important to help my students understand safety precautions, evaluate websites, and learn to efficiently use technology for learning.  I know that I must learn and keep up to date on the major advances in technology because my students surely will.  But, in reading the text, I realized that I must also change my style of teaching, even when not educating about technology-specific topics.  Students are constantly using texting, IM, Facebook and many other technologies to stay socially connected.  A student could be talking to someone online in a chat, on a separate tab have Facebook open writing on a friends wall, all while involved in a texting conversation with his phone sitting on his desk next to the computer.  In that situation, the boy is switching conversations so quickly, and must sort all the information separately in his mind to not confuse the conversation topics.  Also, consider the websites that children explore, all the links to and from, and changes pages within the site helps the children “develop hyper-text minds. They leap around.  It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential.” (Prensky, quoted pg 8)  I need to make sure as teacher I keep up with their rapid moving minds and challenge their different minds.  I need to stay up to date on technology to know how it feels to develop a web-like mind.  I need to be able to relate to my students and consider how they learn/retain information best, which, considering the differences, is not how I would prefer to learn it.  For these students, a book for every subject is too slow and boring, all in linear, chronological order.  I need to find new ways to reach their unique needs and technology is the best avenue to accomplish that.  My students will find learning the fundamentals of using technology to be applicable, valuable life skills because it is something they use outside of class daily.  They will also benefit in learning the traditional information of math, English, science, etc, in this new way because it will compliment their cognitive structures.  Therefore, as a teacher I want to utilize interactive websites (examples saved to my Delicious account), experiment with the whiteboard, supplement material with podcasts or my classroom blog. 

Growing Up Online Video Reflection

The video “Growing Up Online” was very reveling as to how dependent adolescences are on technology.  The video showed many occasions where technology was interfering with how the children live.  Since the majority of technology is a way a socially staying close to their peers, it can intensify peer pressure that used to only be an issue in school.  For example, one girl was shown in the video who got support and encouragement to be anorexic from online friends and blogs.  She knew her diet was dangerous, but because she got support and had friends she continued her behavior.  Another example the video presented was a boy who ended up committing suicide because of cyber bullying.  Before technology, kids would have an escape from peer pressure and bullying threats in their homes.  But now, since children are connected to each other all the time through IM, Facebook, email, chat rooms, and texting, there is no end to the relentless abuse of bullies.  The effects of bullying intensified now that there is no end to the cruelty.  Teacher used to be able to monitor the halls and be on guard for bullying, but now so many of students social interactions are not spoken out loud or even at school at all.  Our children need to learn to protect themselves from the dangers of these social technologies.  In my classroom I want to make sure my students are educated on safe Internet use.  It is a wonderful resource and should not be mistreated.  Just like teachers stop harmful social interaction at school by supervising recess and passing time, we also need to protect the children when teachers cannot be present.  As the video showed, adolescence are increasing reliant on technology. If I want to educate my students to prepare them to succeed outside my classroom I must educate them on this vital component of their lives.  Internet safety is a priority in my classroom. 

Reflections from class 9/16

In class today I really enjoyed Professor Boyer's Prezi presentation of chapter one.  I thought the two quotes that he selected out of the text to agree or disagree on were very thought provking. The first was "Technology makes life more difficult for teachers."  I didn't get to share my opinion in class so I wanted to make sure I noted it on my reflection for today.  I agreed that new technology makes life more difficult, but not in a bad aspect.  I think its good that teacher's are challenged to come up with creative ways to integrate either instuctional (used by the teacher) or interactive (by the students) technology into all subjects of their cirriculums.  Not many textbooks or suggested lesson plans include technology for the students to use.   Now that students are using technology outside of the classroom constantly, we know they are capable (maybe even more so than us) to be utilizing these advantages.  I just want to make sure as a teacher that all my students have the same access to the technology we use in class.  I was even thinking of sending out a survey for parents and children to fill out letting me know what technologies the children have access to at home.  Also by teachers being forced to create new lesson plans, they will continually update their lessons year after year and not get stuck in a rut of teaching the same old fashion way when there are some many more effective and efficient ways evolving daily. This will also make it complicated because teachers will have to keep up with later advances in technology.  We know the students will inately be up to date.  In order for teachers to prove to students that classroom knowlege and skills are applicable and valuable, they will have to incorporate this pivitol aspect of kids' lives.

Criteria for Evaluating Websites' Credibility

      When I first started researching about how to evaluate a website’s credibility, I was getting very frustrated.  I would find an equation on how to identify website’s based on web address, or pointing to an aspect of the website (author, publisher, date created, etc.) but, every time I thought I found the perfect key aspect, I would find a counter example.  I finally realized that there is no one simple factor to point in judging authenticity.  If there was, I’m sure it would be well-known information among all smart internet users.  If there was just an “authentic” stamp that websites earned, this process of evaluating websites for false information would not be so challenging.
       As a teacher, I’m going to stress to my students that critical thinking is the most important aspect of determining a web pages value.  We must assume websites are false until they earn our trust.  We can’t just take everything we read as truth just because it’s posted online.  We need to ask ourselves some questions like, “Who is the author and do they have the authority to be knowledgeable in the subject?” “Do they list the bibliography or credit their resources?” “Is the information biased or opinionated and if so, does that take away from its authenticity?”  “If I needed to site this information, are all the components there—date created, publisher, author?”
Just in general we need to be alert for any information we know is false.  For example the “All About Explorers” website posted on D2L claimed at the top that it contained “everything you wanted to know about every explorer who ever lived…”  We need to ask ourselves, “Is this possible?”  If the bold heading is not true we definitely cannot trust the rest of the information.
      While researching website credibility, my two favorite tricks are to look at the extentions, like k12, edu, and gov are generally better resources than com or org.  Anyone can post on a page ending in com or org, but educational websites and government websites would be my first choice.  Also, after the first / in an address, look out for names, “user” or %.  Those indicate personal websites and should not be resources unless they have the authority to be credible. 
      Before we do anything involving online resources, I want to have my class go through a similar activity.  I like the checklists on Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators Critical Evaluation Information and would like to use it to evaluate the fake websites given on D2L or others listed on the November Learning websites (all of which I saved to my Delicious account.) I hope they learn how important thinking critically is, not just for classroom research, but whenever using the internet to obtain information.

Chpt 1 Rethinking Education

 It’s often a challenge for teachers to integrate new methods of learning into their classrooms.  For example, techniques for teaching math moved from repeating and regurgitating formulas to puzzling and interacting with math ideas.  They had to read the new curriculum books and test out this new method of instruction.  However, incorporating new technology becomes even more of a challenge for teachers because they are not familiar with the new technological advances.  Not only do they have to be creative in applying new technology in their classroom activities, they must have to learn how to expertly operate advanced machines.  Also, few, if any, regular classroom curriculums require students to interact with technology on the level they are used to outside of school (individually for social reasons.)  Therefore, teachers must master new ideas about the capabilities of technology like cell phone, interactive websites, laptops, social networking sites, etc. to the extent that the teacher can create a whole new lesson plan from scratch in order to fit it in.  For students to be engaged in classroom learning, they need to find it applicable and useful in their lives outside of the classroom.  Students value technology for all it allows them to access and do as individuals.  We also need to format their education to give them more decisions and freedom to study topics of interest.  As a future teacher I will give my students more options and freedom to tailor their lesson plans than I was given in elementary school.  I will still provide a well-rounded education, teaching all subjects.  But I want to allow some freedom for children to start exploring education at a young age.  If I can help spark their interest in seeking knowledge, they will become life-long learners, instead of just repeating the information they are given in class.  The best way to do this is to give them some freedom and a variety of resources to seek out and discover their individual passions.

Reflection from class 9/9

My favorite activity in class today was signing up for my Delicious account.  I’m also going to teach my mother, whose currently a fifth grade math teacher, how to set up an account.  I’m excited to start adding websites and preparing myself for future lessons plans.  It makes my dream of becoming a teacher so much more real and tangible for me.  I also love the idea of being able to share resources with other, more experienced teachers so easily.  I know I’ll benefit from exploring their collections of findings from over the years.  There are many interactive websites my teachers let me explore in school, especially games practicing math and reading skills that I know my teachers would love to share with me.  I can now start organizing all that information in one, easily accessible place.  This is going to make it so much easier to help individualize lesson plans for the students who are significantly above or below the average class level.  For example, if a child is far ahead of his grade level in math, I can let him explore more complex puzzles and math concepts using interactive gaming websites while I personally address the rest of the class with the lesson for the day.  If I had many of these helpful websites on file, using Delicious I could search “interactive math” the great websites I’ve complied with that tag will come up.  This will save me a lot of time because I will not have to go home and search Google and test out every math website.  I will already have found, or other teachers have found and tested the ones I add to my Delicious account.  I will definitely utilize this tool when planning my lesson plans in my classroom.

Using Vuvox

I put  in an ample amount of effort in completing my digital autobiography. I made an attempt to utilize different tools that Vuvox offered--including cropping, resizing, adding customized text, adding hot spots, and uploading background music.  In order the make the most of this assignment, first I watched three different instructional videos to make sure I was taking advantage of all the unique options in designing my slide show.  I found this assignment very valuable because I realized how easy designing digital collages can be.  With little instruction from my professor, I assumed this assignment would be nearly impossible to complete considering my lack of technological skills. I was surprised that Vuvox offered instructional videos and step-by-step directions along the process of publishing my collage.  As a future teacher, this assignment helped me build my confidence in my technology-related skills.  The next assignment I will not be as hesitant or pessimistic to begin.  In my classroom, I will not be as reluctant to test out new technology because it might be easier than I imagine.  I could even share a similar autobiography with my students at the beginning of the year so they get to know my identity as not only their teacher but also an ordinary, relatable friend.

My Collage of Friends

http://www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/02cc6ff345

9/2/10 What is Technology?

1.) A new, more advanced tool to make a task easier.



2.) Technology integration is incorporating the new advanced tool into the environment it is created for. In the classroom some examples of integrating technology could be using computers to type and print English papers instead of handwritten essays or using a Smartboard to organize my thoughts as a teacher to make it easily presentable and more interactive for my students.