Digital Badge #I

Because this class is based on technology, I am always intrigued to read about the neat technology tools that are provided as extras in the text. These make me excited about becoming a teacher and incorporating technology into my lesson plans. In chapter 4 of the text Transforming Learning with New Technologies there is an interesting “Tech Tool” article found on page 80 titled “Web Resources and Apps for Lesson Planning” (Maloy…). I am so interested in these types of things because the web, for one, is an awesome place to go to find resources to use during teaching. There are millions on top of millions of different ways to teach lessons, different ideas and projects to incorporate, etc. The web tools and apps listed in this article provide things like pre-planned lessons, games, activities, videos, and professional development opportunities. I am excited to use apps such as “My Lesson Plan” and “Math Ref Free” that can benefit myself and my students.
Something else I found interesting in this week’s reading was the section titled “Assessing and Evaluating Students” (Maloy… 83). The reason I find this interesting is because there is such a broad definition of assessing students and almost every individual teacher looks at this subject differently. The text states “No single definition precisely explains the concepts of evaluation and assessment.” (Maloy… 83). This is interesting to me because it makes me wonder if certain students would perform better or worse depending on the way the teacher is assessing and evaluating their work. Everyone has their own way of looking at things, the same goes for teachers when deciding how to choose what performance level each student achieves.
To follow up with assessment and evaluation, there is a “Tech Tool” article titled “Web Resources  and Apps for Student Assessment” listed on page 87 (Maloy…). This article explains web resources like Rubistar and Quizstar that can provide different ways, other than the teacher’s own, of assessing students and grading them on their work. There are also some neat apps that can be used such as Grade Pad that assesses students as they work, Essay Grader that helps provide students with preset feedback but also gives the option for the teacher to add his/her own, and eClicker that allows students’ progress and understanding to be monitored individually. I believe these are some great resources that can help when evaluating student achievement and I am excited to learn more about them.










 Sources:
Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning  with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

www.voki.com

Digital Badge #H

While reading the required material in the text for this week, I found a few things that were interesting and helpful for my future as a teacher. On page 227 in the text Transforming Learning With New Technologies, there is a “Tech Tool 9.2” titled “Streaming Video Resources for Teachers”. I found this interesting because during my observations at the elementary school, I learned about a few of these but were not aware of just how many there were. TeacherTube and YouTube for Schools were basically the two video resources the classroom used. Common Craft and SnagLearning seemed to be two excellent forms of video resources to use in the classroom. I found it helpful that there are many more resources because streaming videos in the classroom can be very helpful in teaching many lessons.

Another article I found to be interesting in the text was on page 232 titled “NGA Kids: Digital Art in Classrooms”. This was about teaching students art through technology. The article states “Art education, long regarded as essential learning for K-12 students, has suffered extensive cutbacks in many schools due to budget shortfalls and an emphasis on high-states achievement tests” (Maloy, 232). Using a form of digital art where students can use technology to create art, is a great way to keep this subject alive in schools.

One more thing I found to be interesting in Chapter 9 was the section titled “Digital Storytelling”. This “refers to ways that written text, audio, and video imagery can be combined to make unique story presentations” (Maloy, 233). The reason I was interested in this section of the chapter was because I find this to be a great way for students to get involved in what they are doing and learning in the classroom and also because “digital storytelling connects directly to the history/social studies and language arts curricula” (Maloy, 233).

Sources:
Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning  with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge #G

While reading chapter 10 in the text, I found the section titled “Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning” to be interesting. At my previous job, I was a substitute teacher in a kindergarten classroom for about six weeks. During my time there I noticed that even in such a low grade level, the lessons provided to me and the process in which I was supposed to teach them were not accommodating all of my students. I find it very important for a teacher to be aware of this issue and to be well equipped with lessons to provide to accommodate every student and their individual learning styles. It is a teacher’s job to present the lesson and make sure each student has a basic understanding before beginning. Then he/she must allow the students to explore the subject more on their own or in small groups by providing them different routes to take to do so. The text states that “Differentiating activities is also a way to increase minds-on learning, because it engages students’ curiosity and creative thinking and transitions them from sitting and taking notes to more fully participating in class activities” (Maloy, 250).

Another section of the reading I found to be important was the “Tech Tool 10.1” article titled “Interactive Whiteboards” (Maloy, 251). In the job that I mentioned above, I got my first experience with using an interactive whiteboard. Although there was no way I could’ve learned all I needed to know about it in the short time I was there, I used my interactive whiteboard every day and it helped in so many lessons. Especially in kindergarten, students love to be engaged through interaction in the lesson at hand. The interactive whiteboard allowed me to display lessons at the front of the class and include each student in participation. For example, as a class we would play interactive games, listen to interactive stories, and I could call students up one by one to practice tracing letters or numbers on their own. The students loved the fact that they were able to use something that was the teacher’s. I know in higher grade levels, the interactive whiteboards are also very useful. I am hoping to eventually learn more about them so that I can implement them into my lessons in the future.

One more thing I would like to explore more from the text is the section on “Assistive Technology to Reach Diverse Learners” (Maloy, 259). It is very clear from the beginning of school that all of your students are different. Each one comes from a different home and family where they are taught and treated differently. You may also have students with disabilities that are unable to grasp lessons in the same way students without disabilities would. “Assistive technologies apply the concept of technological convergence to the ways that information technologies enable teachers to differentiate instruction and pursue universal design” (Maloy, 259). With technology constantly changing, more and more helpful things are being produced to assist students so that no child “falls through the cracks”. With all the available resources, no student, even with disabilities, should be left behind.

  (The examples and information used in this mind map are not my own. Retrieved from http://sussex.de.schoolwebpages.com/education/projects/projects.php?sectionid=396)


Sources:

Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning  with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge #F

While reading chapter 8 in the text this week, I found the section “Sharing Information with Families” to be interesting. This was because I believe that sharing information online with students and their families is an effective way to keep students and their parents updated without spending an enormous amount of time. For about six weeks, I worked as a long-term substitute in a Kindergarten classroom. Keeping each individual family informed about what was going on in the classroom was difficult. Not only did each child have their behavior reports I had to fill out daily, but I also had to include any upcoming events or information that needed to be provided, as well as news and help for homework. If I was able to provide that type of information on a website that all families could access, it would have saved a great amount of time, allowing me to spend it in a more useful manner. I believe this type of communication also helps with the higher grades such as middle school and high school because students can access their assignments and pertinent information without any problem. I do, however, dislike that in many areas not all families have access to internet or the proper resources to view these types of webpages. Unfortunately for some schools, this type of communication with families may not be useful.

Another section of the text that interested me was “Using Email and Text Messaging as a Teacher”. I found this to be a valuable section because texting and e-mailing is so widely used in everyday life for almost any age. The text states “for school-age adolescents, text messaging is the predominate form of online communication- more and more teens would rather text than talk on phones (Lenhart, 2012a)” (Maloy, 193). Clearly, texting (when used appropriately) is a great way for teachers to communicate with students about information such as upcoming assignments or reminders. The majority of teens today own a cell phone; many younger students are now possessing cell phones as well. One of my previous professors also works as a 5^th grade teacher and a large amount of his students own their own cell phones. He uses a program that allows him to send out a mass text to his students without displaying his personal cell phone number or allowing them to text back. There is a downfall to this type of communication as well, though. While observing in my middle school classrooms, I have noticed that many students are having a very hard time with writing. Generating complete sentences with the correct punctuation and spelling seems to be a difficult task and I believe a big part of that has to do with students texting with “textspeak” or “digitalk” at such a high rate that they are forgetting what it is to actually write academically (194).

One more section from chapter 8 that I found to be interesting was the “Connections & Possibilities” article included on page 199 titled “Twitter for Teachers” (Maloy). I, myself, do not have an account on Twitter, but I have seen first-hand the powerful affect it has in many different areas. The text states that this specific social media page processed “250 million tweets a day in October 2011, with the number growing monthly” (Maloy, 199). While many people use Twitter strictly for social pleasures, it can be a valuable tool for teachers when it comes to delivering information to students. With the use of hashtags, information is organized and can be easily searched. Students can also “look for conversations in specific subject areas, such as #scichat and #scitalk for science, #engchat and #engtalk for English/language arts, #mathchat for math, and so on” (Maloy, 199). Many students may also enjoy being able to communicate with their teacher in a world where they are already so comfortable in. As a future teacher, I would like to create my own Twitter account so that I will be able to share information with my students.

Below is an article I found to be interesting and helpful when it comes to texting in the classroom. It helps explain when it is appropriate and the effective ways it can be used:

Teaching With Text Messages 

http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8

Sources:

Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning  with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Venable, Melissa. (2012). OnlineCollege.Org. Online Colleges (2014). 3 Oct. 2014. Retrieved from http://www.onlinecollege.org/teaching-with-text-messages/

Digital Badge #E

This week’s reading was about solving problems using technology; such as software, apps, and games. I was interested to learn about problem solving and inquiry learning with technology. Before reading the chapter, I wasn’t very familiar with what these terms mean. The text states that “problem solving and inquiry learning use real-world situations and issues to actively engage students” (159). Not only are the students being taught lessons that will help them in school, but they are being presented with real-world problems that will help them in the future as an adult. The text also states that through this type of activity, students learn “thinking skills, risk-taking, creativity, and mental self-discipline” (159). All of these are qualities a modern day adult needs to possess to get through day to day life successfully. The problem with technology sometimes is that a student learns to depend on the technology for everything; through this type of learning, they are dependant on the technology to provide the problems but they are learning to figure it out on their own.
Something in chapter 7 that I found very interesting was the article listed on page 167 titled “Discovery Learning Using Squeak and Scratch”. These are two tools that I had never heard of before and I was able to spend a little time using Scratch. I was interested to see how much detail the program actually required from the user. To be honest, it was a little difficult for me to figure out even with the instructions simply because I was required to think on my own instead of the technology just doing the work for me. I believe these types of programs for students are revolutionary. Being a child who grew up with technology, I am used to the computer basically doing all the work and I feel that more and more students are developing this habit because so much technology is used in their everyday life.
Chapter 7 also talks about “gamification”. The word gamification is described in the text by EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 2011b, as the “application of game elements to non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior” (169). My question is, what behavior is this influencing? The text also states that when games are mentioned “many educators, parents, and students think of video games which are pervasive elements of youth culture today (Bissell, 2011)” (169). What we do not want to portray through the use of gamification in the classroom is the behavior that sits around and plays video games all day. The problem is, how do you allow students to be taught lessons through gaming but still discourage the overuse of video games? I believe this will always be a tricky subject because while using games to teach a lesson can be very useful in stimulating a student’s mind, it can also be dangerous; causing students to think that playing any type of game is educational.

Sources:

Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dLK9-9sY

www.canva.com

Digital Badge #D

As I was reading chapter 5 in the text, within the first few pages I was interested to see the section titled “e-Books and e-Readers”. While I was not aware (before reading) of the exact numbers related to the decline in student reading, I already knew for certain that more and more students are losing interest in reading as a hobby. As the years pass, tons of new technology is being produced while schools are still expecting students to find joy in reading. My question is: why would you want to continue reading books when you have all this technology around you that is way more stimulating than words on a page? While e-Readers and e-Books incorporate technology with reading and may help to inspire some students to read, I feel like it’s not enough and it’s never going to be enough. There is always going to be something related to technology that is more interesting than reading; and this applies to a majority of students. I know, from personal experience, that someone who already does not enjoy reading is not going to find much difference in reading books as opposed to reading on a screen.
Further into the chapter, I was extremely excited to read about the article titled “Scoop.it! Digital Magazines for Teachers and Students”. This was simply because I thought it was an amazing tool that can be used in many different ways in my teaching career personally. I plan on teaching elementary school, preferably anywhere from third to fifth grade, and I feel that at these ages my students will be interested to see information that is valuable to them put into a newspaper form. Children learn by seeing what their elders do and while you may not always think so, most children look up to their elders. When a student sees an adult reading a newspaper, it makes them interested to be to the age where they can do things such as this that would make them feel more important and adult-like if you will. I think using the Scoop.it! Magazine creater would be an amazing tool to help students feel superior and important while also providing them the information they need at an easy access for teachers.
I also found the section of chapter 5 titled “Evaluating Online Information” helpful not only while I was researching for this weeks assignment, but in general. So many students are given very basic guidelines when it comes to researching information and are not given enough help that they need to find reliable information. While researching information students need to know what is credible and not, as well as where to find this credible information and what not to look for.

Sources:

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Badge #C

While reading chapter 3 in the text, I came across the article titled “High Tech High” and found it to be quite interesting. I had always wondered if somewhere there was a school like this that was taking the use of technology to the next level and generating powerful results. What I’m interested to know is why are these schools not being provided everywhere? High Tech High is located in San Diego, California where I would imagine there is a high income level. The article states that “Technology is a constant feature of students’ everyday educational experience at HTH.”; and this school is sending every one of it’s graduates to four year colleges/universities. If these types of schools are making progress in academics, why can’t we have them all over the United States? I strongly believe that the government should recognize where our academic low points and high points are and provide more funding for the areas where schools are struggling. Judging by the results of High Tech High, technology obviously makes a world of differences in everyday learning from adolescents to adults. The school even helps prepare the students for the real world by allowing them to shadow adults in the community. This type of technology and learning should be available everywhere so that each and every student has a fair chance of succeeding academically.

I also found the section of the chapter “Information Literacy and Internet Literacy” to be something of importance. Just like the reading stated, students are believing everything they see on the internet is true. Unfortunately, because students are being asked to use the web to search for helpful information, they are not understanding that anyone and everyone has access to the web and can put whatever they want on there. I believe it’s absolutely necessary that students learn how to search for meaningful information by being taught to have an eye for solid resources. While technology is an awesomely helpful aspect of learning, it can also be very dangerous.

In exploring the text, I found the section titled “Redefining Creativity” to be interesting, yet frustrating. I understand that by using technology students can take their creativity to the next level, but what about those students in low income households who do not have the access to the latest technology? Or what about the students who have never been taught, or don’t have the resources to learn how to use the latest technology. I believe that technology is a beautiful thing; but it’s becoming so crucial for success that it’s even commercializing creativity. I hope that while using technology to express creativity, students never lose the true creativity that comes from their own minds instead of from behind a computer screen.

Sources:

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

www.ToonDoo.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rv_rmJYorE