Reflective Post.

EME 2040 

     

     At the beginning of this semester I thought this class was going to go over how some technology programs worked; however, I'm glad it was more than that. I have been exposed to many different sites that will be useful in my field. It's a good thing we were introduced to Delicious because I would never be able to remember all the different sites. This class taught me more than just sites though, I learned what "Hash tags" are, Wikis, I made a pecha kucha, and instructional pages. 

     With Delicious when we insert a link we can use different tags, to label what it is, so if we think of it differently in the future we can somewhat narrow it down. As far as the learning outcomes, I can now make my own webpage and web quest because of your given resources. The collaborative web page was a challenge because the only form of communication was through the page itself. 

Photo credit to Matthew Hester from Flickr

      Also I learned about Creative Commons, and how important copyrighted material really is. I'm glad I now know of Flickr so I can be smart about what photos I use, and to give proper credit to the owner. I used this picture because this entire course everything was at our fingertips. No more is pen and paper, but to be used in the digital world, or pens are our fingers, and the ink is the letters of the keyboard.

     To conclude, I just want to say yes this was a lot of work in this class; however, it's been useful. I feel as though this is going to be some of the most useful material in my career. To enhance this course I would actually have liked to do a live chat through Skype, or something, just to better my understand of living in a digital world. I think that would make if feel more real. Maybe next time we could work that into being a scheduled assignment. Lastly I just want to thank you for being a wonderful teacher. :) 

Resources: 

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5     

Journal post #10

Chapter 10:Promoting Success for All Students through Technology.

Focus Question: How can teachers use technology to create universally designed classrooms?

     Not every child is the same, and so one method for all is not applicable. It's hard enough being the only teacher for twenty different kids, but with the use of technology we can become more efficient in the little amount of time we have with each student. For example, but using computers to take tests on or to even read, we can allow head sets to listen and help sound out the words they have difficulties with. As teachers our common goal is for our students to succeed; but honestly the school day isn't nearly long enough to establish a rapport with each individual, to define their specific needs and to find what works best for them. That's why with technology we can adapt to our students based off what the results show. So basically if we use technology, we can universally establish an idea of how our students need to be taught, in order to learn.
 I like this quote from our book: "The purpose of universal design in schools is "Full participation and access for students with disabilities while providing individualized options for all" (Hehir, 2005, p.99)."    

Tech Tool: Extra large and online calculators.

     Kids love different objects, or anything that can grab their attention, and the CC16 Extra-large calculator from Kikkerland is most definitely an attention grabber. I've learned it only performs the basic functions, (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing) but as children that's all they really need. I feel as though this can be used as a universal tool for students because of the large buttons. Because of how large it is, this tool can be used by other students who don't exactly have control of their fingers, or are even visually impaired. Also this calculator can even spark other topics such as the origin of the "Calculator."  I've also learned about the online calculators, featuring links to more than 22,000 calculation programs by Jim Martindale. This site has online simulations, and teaching modules.

 

 

 

Photo credit to 401(K) 2013 from Flickr

 

 

   Summary:

     To conclude, as our world is becoming more and more diverse, with unique individuals everyday, we can still rely on technology to be universal. Gone are the days of the "One size fits all" and here are the individual educational learning plans, focused on the specific individual; but because we just do not have enough time in our days, and enough days in the school year, we need technology. Although we can utilize technology for testing purposes, and evaluating a students level, we can not determine their performance unless we watch them every step of the way, technology just makes extra time for us to establish somewhat more of a rapport with our students.

Resources:

Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    
EME2040 Sample Blog
Blogger 
 youtube.com 
Flickr.com 

Journal Post #9

Creating and sharing information with multimedia technologies.

Focus question: What is multimedia technology and how can teachers use it to effectively create and share visual information dynamically in their teaching?

     From reading the text, I've learned that "Multimedia" means "the presentation of material using both words and pictures." This also goes to include, videos, voice, sounds and animation. Also in the book they assume the student's learning will enhance by use several different sources to teach, I happen to agree with this. As we advance into our "Digital world" our students are not going to enjoy caring around large text books with tons of print, they're going to prefer watching a video, or a brief power point. By forcing our students to read lots of text is just going to confuse them if they can't grasp the concepts to begin with; whereas if there's a video with a demonstration, or some other picture or illustration, the student's will actually comprehend the information.

After watching this video I thought about what it would have been like to only have a text book describe this to me. I don't think I would have understood this concept at all if it weren't for a video. On top of that, I didn't even have to leave the comfort of my own home. 

Tech Tool: Digital Projectors.

     Digital projectors are a wonderful invention. Instead of rolling in the giant television hooking that up every time, along with that, not everyone could see, so we would have to move our seats, and get situated, all that takes too long. To have a projector it allows our students to sit where ever they're assigned, and still see the board with ease. I enjoy the digital projectors, especially the newer ones, that don't require the over head lamp that blinds us. I prefer today's smart boards. We can show any kind of document on there, edit it, take extra notes on the board and save it to the file. I've actually has a math teacher who would write all his problems on the board, print them out and give them to us as study notes.

Photo credit to Rebecca Morrison from Flickr

Summary:

     To conclude, I enjoy and encourage using multimedia technology in the class room. With each passing day there seems to be something new coming out in our digital world. With us being so busy, and too many places to commute, having the internet and being able to stay connected by the web, to watch videos, tutorials, gather information, all while saving time, money and different expenses. If our kids today are more capable with using technology I think we should embrace it; who really want's to lug around a ton of books when we can down load them all? Who want's to spend countless hours in the library flipping through pages, or having to find a baby sitter because you have to meet at a specific location. By using multimedia we can use different web casts, and still chat face to face.


     
Resources:
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    
EME2040 Sample Blog
Blogger

Journal Post #8

Chapter 8 communicating and networking with websites, blogs, wikis, and more.

Focus Question: How can teachers use communications technologies as teaching and learning tools.

     With the world toady being so far advanced in just a short while, we now have access to almost everything at our fingertips, why not embrace it? As an everyday person might use e-mail to relay information, blogs, online discussions or identify a website, they're still using and portraying information. With the use of the web and the internet we can reach out to so many more resources, with the internet we as educators are not limited. Also, most of our students already used these tools for recreational use, so if teachers could mandate a separate account for educational purposes, the students will already know how to navigate their way about the pages, and will be connected to not only just their friends, but their classmates and the teacher as well, even after school hours. As we have just explored in our class, in Google documents we can collaboratively work on an assignment at once without clustering around at a desk, or being loud from verbal discussion. Or we could implement the use of Google Blogger to use as a journal, and instead of passing around a notebook we as a class could access any page all at once.

Tech Tool: Teacher website and blog-building resources.

     I am going to focus on the second approach. Staying connected is a be deal in today's society, not only with personal friends, but in the classroom with your peers as well. At the same time we as educators need to be cautious of how we use the internet, and be cautious of what information may be out there. By using the second approach (Commercially Available Template) this allows us to create many different functions that also happen to be password protected. With this approach we can invite our students to create their own blogs, and instead of using the internet in a toxic way, by the teacher monitoring what is talked about in the posts, maybe the students will steer away from a negative influence and learn to be proactive with the opportunities the internet presents.

Summary:

     All in all I feel as though the internet is a very powerful tool, that can be used to our advantage. We as educators just need to have an open mind, be more educated and explore the different tools we can use. As teachers we should be looking for more ways to communicate with our students, and technology is a wonderful gateway to a better communication path. Instead of our students posting their discussions on other recreational sites such as "Facebook" and the "Twitter" we can open a new door to some proactive sites, such as Google Blogger. It's almost like having an online journal, where if you have a question you can always reach someone or some resource.

Resources:

Youtube video credit is given to: ahstechteacher

Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011).Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    

EME2040 Sample Blog

Blogger

Journal post #7

Chapter 7: Problem Solving and Inquiry Learning with Software and Web Tools.

Focus Question: How can teachers use computer games and simulations as learning resources?
   
     As the book states, when most teachers, parents and students hear the idea of using games to learn, they automatically think video games; and actually that's exactly right. Instead of thinking negatively about video games we need to stop being blindsided by the inaccurate acquisition of them all being violent, being rated for a mature audience and the main cause for our youths deterioration. Of course these are always going to be out and available, but by being an effective teacher, we can implement games that are designed to be fun, and even teach a full lesson. By playing games to learn the students are still applying all their academic skills. When playing a game are there not directions they must read and follow, maybe a little math involved, but most of all the literacy and vocabulary that's hidden within the content of the application. Our students are improving their hand-eye coordination, reading and responding. I agree with our book when it says, "Gaming creates a "virtual worlds for learning."      

Tech Tool: A math learning game- Zoombinis Logical Journey.

      With today's world quickly advancing, always coming out with technologies, upgraded versions and more appealing ideals to students then just being a scholar, we as teachers need to be more creative, and especially working with little elementary school kids we need to be able to capture their attention despite the surrounding outside environment. I have discovered the Zoombinis Logical Journey is not only fun and creative, but there are many different levels, and there's not a one chance time to get the answer right, this game allows the students to learn from their mistakes, implementing real word strategies. This is also a critical thinking game, to sharpen those skills as well.

                                                   Video credit to ratchet5 from youtube


Summary:

     To conclude, I have fallen victim to believing the myths of how games are bad for our youth and they only rot their minds, but now I know there is more to gaming then meets the eye. After reading this chapter, and exploring this Tech Tool I have gained further insight to different applications that can be even more entreating to our students and actually beneficial. 

Resources:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/563155-zoombinis-logical-journey 

Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    
EME2040 Sample Blog
Blogger

Journal Post #6

Teaching with Educational Websites and Other Online Resources

Focus Question: How are information management technologies such as bookmarking, social bookmarking, and information alerts useful to teachers.

     Information management technologies such as bookmarking are very useful to teachers (and everyone) because, although I like to believe teachers are informational sources themselves, we can't always remember where we've found useful information. I have just been introduced to "Delicious" which is a bookmarking website where I can store a website I found, by labeling it with words that I would use to describe it later if I had forgotten the title. Also on this site, you can become "Friends" with one another and network informational sites, view each others profile, and access many other sites we may not have known about. By bookmarking our sites online, with the use of our computer, we can effectively store our information in one place, becoming organized, and easily accessible.  

Tech Tool: An Interactive Online Field Trip: The Cave of Chauvet-Point-D'Arc.

     The World Wide Web is in fact endless, it holds many opportunities, and awaits what we can create next. By utilizing the internet, we can connect with numerous people and organizations, we can become interactive and broaden our "Group work." For example, in a science class we can do dissections, and take a virtual tour around the inside of our specimen. The best part of being interactive, is the long distant learning. We can communicate with people and other scholars across the world.       

Summary:

     To conclude, teaching with educational websites, and other online resources, are very useful in today's fast paced modern world. With so many useful websites to interact with, by bookmarking them, using "Tags" to label them with words to better describe, so you could find anything with ease at your finger tips. The use of technology has tremendously impacted our world, and with the use of it, we can navigate ourselves to every corner of it.     

Resources:
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    
EME2040 Sample Blog
Blogger
Flickr.com

Photo credit to Howie Weiner from Flickr

Journal post #5

Researching and Evaluating Internet Information.

Focus Question: What are search engines and how do they work?

     It's almost as I've been using technology "blindly," without actually knowing what a "search engine" was, I've been using them all along. A search engine is anything that you would type a topic of interest into, and it'll find an abundance of information for you automatically. From my text book it says it's a "Software program that uses networks of computers to access from it's database." We type in the "Keywords" an it searches instantaneously.

Tech Tool: Photo and Audio Resources on the Web.

     We all like to associate words with visuals, and sometimes maybe that's the only part someone can take away. By adding photos and audio we can better explain thing by having them pronounced to us, maybe we're reading something above our level and if it's not pronounced right, we can misinterpret the whole concept. One resource I'd like to focus on is "Flickr." I've become very familiar with this site, one that I've never known before. It's a great place to find images, that are appropriate, and also be able to share with one another. (But also remembering to give proper credit to the owner of the image.)

Summary:

     All in all, search engines are like rummaging through an entire library, in the matter of seconds and photo and audio resources are very useful as well. In fact, if you don't know the URL for a specific site, you would use a search engine using the keywords until you found it. Flickr, for example, I had used Google, (a search engine) to find the website, and on that site, to find the image I wanted, I would search for it using their search engine.

 Resources:

Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5    
EME2040 Sample Blog
Blogger


 Flickr.com

Photo credit to Karl Foxley from Flickr