Ch 11

Chapter 11 talks about self-assessment through the use of technology.  Such technologies can be portfolios, online surveys, presentations, as well as media publications.  This chapter also discusses topics that we will see often in the future as educators such as performance-based assessment, digital portfolios, assessment and evaluation through technology, and systems that promote student participation.

One of the main topics that I was most interested in is the topic of digital portfolios.  Aside from having to do one for this class, I was curious to see the impact it has on present educators.  I agree that some advantages of having a digital portfolio include easy access, creativity, visual displays, as well as access to sharing information with the web community.

Some disadvantages include limitations to computer access, being tech-savvy, and the idea that the presentation may cause content to be overlooked.  Reflecting on this information about portfolios, I thought of some ways to overcome the challenges.  First, now a days, we have easy access to the Internet whether it would be from our phones to ipads/tablets, and small portable laptops that are not inconvenient to carry around often.  In terms of being tech-savvy, simply stay up to date with the latest technology.  Lastly, always make sure to have full content that will be well reflected by the style of our portfolios and not to rely on the style only.

Some questions to think about:

How can we make sure portfolios are full with content?
How can we balance style with content?

Tech Class Ch 9...

Looking at other students' blogs, aapparently I skipped a chapter.  My apologies!

Chapter 9 discusses the use of technology in terms of media to use in our classrooms.  Technologies such as text, data, pictures, and videos are just a few of the vast usage of media.  This chapter digs further into more creative as well as useful forms of media that can be integrated in our teaching.  It is important to understand, expose, as well as to be exposed to the variety of media in our teaching and learning.   Throughout my childhood years, I must say I was not privileged enough to have the exposure to different kinds of  media as the students of this generation do.  I believe this will enhance their learning.  Furthermore, if almost every young student is able to have an iPhone, or an apple product of some sort, there is simply no excuse to include media in our lessons as future teachers. 

For example, the use of PowerPoint presentations are not only visually stimulant for the young mind but can incorporate other forms of media in one screen.  Although there are many critiques when it comes to the use of PowerPoint slides, I personally enjoy creating and learning from PowerPoint slide presentations.  I find it useful and easy to put together when I am presenting in class as well as taking notes from in my own classes. I cannot think of one class/professor in my college years that has not used PowerPoint presentations in their lessons.  With this idea in mind, to this day, I wonder whether or not I have been "trained" to learn from PowerPoint presentations or whether my learning style is more adjusted to this visual form of learning.

Another example of a media-like use of technology is seen in the use of video.  Throughout my observations at elementary schools, I have seen many teachers use programs such as "Brain Pop" (videos) in their lessons.  At first, I was skeptical at the fact that the teacher just sits back and relaxes, but I then saw how much the students enjoyed watching the videos-as we all know, maintaining the attention of elementary school students can be a difficult task.  Lastly, I enjoyed how the chapter mentioned how to make videos because it allowed me to reflect back on our "video trailer" assignment.

tech class ch 10

Chapter 10 focuses on additional forms of technologies that can help teachers come up with alternative ways of teaching for students who need or are accustomed to a different way of learning.  For example, certain students might be accustomed to lecture work while other students might be accustomed to hands-on learning.  Furthermore, there are technologies that can help students with special needs such as assistive learning devices.  These technologies help to promote differentiated instruction as well as the universal design for learning.  These include a large range of different activities of teaching the curriculum in a way that can suffice the specific needs of students.

The classroom organization tools on pages 282-283, was very helpful in portraying the idea of what technology tools are considered low, mid, or high tech in terms of the ways that they are used.  This allowed my to realized that even the smallest or simplest tasks can be incorporated and used as "high tech" depending on HOW the teachers deliver the lesson.

In addition, I have a big interest in assistive learning technologies.  Having been a speech-language pathologist major during my undergraduate years, I am informed of the high need for assistive learning technologies for the communicative impaired.  Students with disabilities may have limitations on their learning when compared to mainstream students.  With the help of assitive learning devices, the learning gap between these students can decrease.  Some examples of assistive technologies that were discussed in the chapter are handheld dictionaries, advanced calculators.  Furthermore, for those students who have communicative impairments, there are speech recognition software as well as text reading software that the teacher can use in order to help with the learning process.

Tech Class catching up:

I just wanted to spend a blog entry on reflecting on my experience after Hurricane Sandy.  What I have experienced was only a mere fraction compared to those around me.  Living on Long Island, it is not often that we get hurricanes or severe storms that cause what hurricane Sandy has caused.  I only lost power but for some people it was their homes. 

I felt so disconnected from the world by not having power.  I couldn't get updates from the news or see the devastation that took place until I got power back.  As soon as I saw the news I was so shocked at the  misfortune that happened.  Even so, without having power for a long period of time, I was able to go to other places where I can charge my laptop and phone, and then look up the latest news of hurricane Sandy.  I even got to reply to my family members overseas, letting them know that my family and I are alright.  I was more worried about replying back to them then about having power in my house.  They informed me of how tragic and "non filtered" the news was in their country.  That is probably why they were so worried.  In their point of view, they saw the most damage and the saddest news stories about hurricane Sandy.

In addition, after being off from work for several days, I return to work mentally preparing myself for more sad news to hear.  My supervisor lives in Oceanside, and she was one of the many from my job who lost their homes. What was only left of her house standing were the frames of the house.   Furthermore, she even saw the homes of her neighbors destroyed and cars burst into flames.  She and her husband did have a place to stay, however, she is still suffering through the panic and stress of getting her home back together.  This includes, going over the, at times, misinformation given in regards to insurance claims, going back and forth in terms of what has to get done first, as well as where to seek even further help (red cross/shelters). 

Watching her now as she constantly is calling her insurance agent, the electrician, the inspector, her smile is what amazes me the most.  The fact that she can still manage to laugh and smile despite all that has happened is inspiring.

Digital Games for Learning Activity

NETS for Teachers were addressed in many ways when I was on freerice.com.  At first, I was confused at what had to get done, but then I realized that my task was to find synonyms to the words provided to me.  In addition, I realized the hunger awareness information that was presented in other parts of the website.  For every question I answered correctly, grains of rice were place in the bowl and I was informed that those grains would be donated.  I became more interested in the other tasks I can do to donate more rice.  The website had links to other websites that are informative in regards to hunger awareness and how one can help.

For this game, I saw both NET-T 4, which teachers can be exposed to the social and global issues of hunger awareness.  In addition, teachers become aware of other sources of information that can be utilize to inform.

In addition, I also saw NETS-S 5, which students are exposed to the societal issues of global hunger.  Just as I realized what the website entails, so will the students.  Furthermore, the students took action in helping with hunger by participating in the activity and selected the correct answer to the questions provided.  Although I don't know how reliable the scale is in terms of how much rice grains are really donated for the cause, that could be something the teacher can look further into.

Tech Class #7

I found the class session to be very helpful in regards to learning about web-quests.  Seeing the purpose of creating web-quests in action as opposed to just reading about them helped me better understand what I can do to complete my web-quest.  In addition, seeing the idea implemented on two different settings- an elementary school setting and a high school setting, helped me realize the numerous possibilities that this form of lesson can be used with.  


In chapter 7, the main topics discussed are problem-solving and inquiry learning opportunities for students.  I was very interested in these topics because I have very little knowledge in knowing which software to use to or what games/programs should be used to help with children's learning.  I find the problem-solving and inquiry learning very useful and believe that those factors should be the basis of every learning lesson-- especially in math.  I think there is a problem when students answer the numeric question correctly  but not the correct answer to the question.  There's learning the material and then there is applying it to our lives.  Using the content that was presented and applying it to real life situations are vital and can help students understand the content better for more advanced learning.  Furthermore, speaking of effective learning material, I actually have never heard of the Intelligent Tutoring systems and hope to apply it in my future educating. 

I plan to use the Educational Software preview guide to help me determine software that can be used for k-12 students.  Has anyone tried downloading/using Kid Pix, Squeak etoys, or Zoombinis Logical Journey? If so, please inform me with details on how you feel about them :)

Week 6 of tech class

Chapter 6 focuses on many topics including information management, bookmarking, social booking marking, Web-quests, and virtual fields.  These are all forms of storing information-such as links and having access to those links of information when you are not by your computer.  What I found most amusing was the survey on page 141, "Reading and Technology in the next ten years" which asked young to late adolescents what they think reading will entail in the next 10 years.  One of the choices included "Books will have secret codes and links to websites where people can join virtual worlds." This stuck out to me because I was reminded of how popular the virtual worlds are as seen in the digital nation video; therefore, I would not be surprised if they have that now.

Turning gears to my video, I stressed over the fact that I've never made created a video before.  After finally completing a task that I probably would not have learned on my own outside of the classroom, I gained a greater appreciation of this method of introduction.  I can actually see myself making a few more videos before I can call myself a pro and actually use them in teaching in the future.  I hope that I will feel the same way after I finish completing my first webquest.

Class 5 tech class

After reading chapter 4, I couldn't agree more that technology is a necessity to help educators in all that they do- assessing, creating lesson plans, evaluations, etc.  I also agree that technology has not been implemented in all schools; therefore concrete technological lesson plans are not enforced yet.  I think the timing for the Common Core standards came at a right time so while educators are creatively coming up with ways to create lesson plans, he or she can use the Common Core standards as a guide to make sure they are still enforcing the content that needs to be taught.  In addition, different students from different schools will still be learning the same curriculum, in terms of content, in order to have all students in the same learning level.  Furthermore, it can prevent teachers from getting carried away with technology or prevent them from focusing to much on the small technical details rather than the foundation of the learning material.

It is comforting even now when teachers send additional/supplemental information on blackboard or by e-mail, therefore having a 'technology-based learning environment" is essential for a teacher to practice.  With the major theme of integrating technology in this chapter, it is important to understand the amount of technology that should be used.  That was one concern that I've always had- how much is too much?  Looking at the stages of technology integration in chapter 4, I see that my biggest and probably the most challenging step would be the last one, the invention stage.  I am not sure I will have enough experience to explore new creative ways to include technology to a personal collection professional teaching techniques.  I guess the best teacher in that sense would be experience in the field.


Here are my questions for our guest speaker tomorrow regarding K-12 online education:


1. Will the socioeconomic status of students have an effect in their online learning k-12 curriculum assessments?

2. How will the social/people skills be affected in students enrolled in the k-12 online education?

3. What changes will be made for standards for teachers when/if this style of education is enforced in the future?

4th week of tech class

Chapter 5 discusses more of the current topics that we, as students and future educators, come across everyday.  The first point that I would like to mention is the idea of the "limitless information" we can obtain on the internet.  Statistics in the textbook show that "by May 2005, the search engine Google reported it was indexing over eight billion Web pages, with the number growing everyday" (page114).  That amount surprised me and I can't even imagine how large the number is now in 2012.

With the factor of limitless information on the internet, it is very important to determine which sources are valid or invalid.  For example, for researching topics in sociology, is it smart to use Wikipedia, or the ProQuest search engine for scholarly journals on sociology.  For us, the answer would be an obvious one, for we were taught how to look up valid sources to support our information.  But personally, I feel it's okay to look at something on Wikipedia, to at the very least find out the definition of a term or concept, and with that in mind, one can research valid sources.

In addition to understanding the limitless findings on the internet and how to determine which sources are reliable, it is very important to stress about giving credit where credit is due.  St. John's as well as many other colleges, have taken serious steps to avoid and punish those who plagiarize.  My question would be, how to explain the affects of plagiarism to elementary school children.  How do we show them that it is okay to look information to support homework or projects/essays they may be working on, but set that distinction between looking up information and using that very information that is not your own in your work.


Additional questions:
1.  Has anyone completed a web-quest before? 

3rd week of tech class

One of the many ideas that struck out to me during our 3rd class is the idea of a "flipped classroom."  It reminds me of the concept of "backward learning."  "Flipped classroom" is when the lecture or content of the curriculum is presented outside of the classroom while the group discussion, sharing, and gathering of information takes place during scheduled class time.  My first thought is how the role of the teacher will play in the learning development of this teaching technique.  If the teacher will also be in the classroom to facilitate discussion and/or answer questions students may have, then I wonder how the pace of the class will run.  I've noticed and seen how packed the curriculum can be for elementary schools and to have the students take charge of the discussion in class may affect how much content can be covered.  In addition, how will the teacher assess what the students learn?  These are just a few critiques I had of the idea of the "flipped classroom."

In chapter 3, a very important idea that I reflected upon was the idea of "What do I teach Monday?"  When I begin teaching, in the near future I hope, I always think about how the content that needs to be covered and how I may present the material in class.  It is very helpful and even comforting that there are two reliable sites that offer online articles and resources that we can utilize in our teaching instruction (page 61).

I am happy to read that this chapter covers the UBD- Understanding By Design, also known us "backwards design."  I've also covered this topic in another education course.  I agree with the concept that the objectives or goals of the students should be established first.  For everyone to understand the foundation of the lesson.  In addition, with so much going on in a classroom of 20-30 students, one can get carried away and drift into another topic.  Having the student learning objectives established first will prevent that digression from taking place.  Furthermore, I agree with the altered for of assessments that can be used to determine whether or not the students reached the objectives that were initially introduced.  

This can help gear teachers towards a more content base learning than just focusing on the activities (hands-on) that students may do.  The same goes for the use of technology.  With the student goals established in the beginning of the course, technology will not be used as a distraction or a form of entertainment.

2nd Week of Tech Class

As I watched the two videos, "Growing Up Online" and "Digital Nation,"  I began to think that maybe the statistics that were given in chapter one may have been underestimating the dependency that our youth has on the internet.  For example, in the first video, the fact that a typical Friday night party would be to gather in someone's basement and play online games is rather unusual.  It was not like this back in the day to say the very least.  Furthermore, when teenagers feel that they have an entirely different personality on the internet can also be troublesome.  I don't think they realize the amount of content can be seen by hundreds of thousands of people.

The story that stuck out to me the most from the first video is about Ryan.  He committed suicide after not only being bullied at school, but also at the comfort of his own home- cyber-bullying.  It wasn't until after his passing that his father decided to look through his laptop to look for answers as to why he committed that act.  What was most disturbing is that the father found that a website and chats with another young boy about how to commit suicide.  This struck me because not only is that sick but that really deteriorates the most basic purpose of having access to the internet, which is to seek knowledge.

Being an advocate for self-expression and online socializing during my teenage years, this movie was certainly an eye opener to the "dark side" of internet usage.  I will most certainly continue my thoughts about the two videos in my reflection.



Two questions from ch 2:
1- It seems like the student-centered approach makes more sense to use?  However, will that be giving too much freedom to the student when it comes to technology use?
2- How can internet literacy promote engagement and collaboration as demonstrated later in the chapter?

First Blog Entry-week 1 of Tech Class

As the start of a new semester ensues, I am excited to start off by taking a technology course.  I've seen children as young as 4 years old, playing games with an I-pad, and eager to learn more.  I would like to keep up with technology and continue to use the latest material for class work.  From the age of cassette players to MP3's, from large videos to YouTube, all of this new technology can be used in a classroom.

I've been in classes where the professors did not know how to turn on the projection screen, or had trouble looking for a specific video clip on YouTube.  This takes away not only time but motivation to even pay attention in class.  I felt like I needed to reread the course material on my own time because I was so distracted by the technical difficulties the professor had.  I do not want to be this kind of educator.  I aspire to be an educator who is on top of technology and even impress the students with the material I use to teach.  This will allow me to have their undivided attention while I make learning more interesting and fun for them.

In chapter 1 of Transforming Learning..., I've realized that the generations that we will soon be teaching will have more technology exposure than we have.  To think that "adolescents live media-saturated lives, spending an average of nearly 6 and a half hours a day with media" (pg 3, Maloy)".  This number was shocking.  Clearly technology and media are heavily included in the younger generation's daily routines.  If this is an evident interest in their lifestyle, why not incorporate it with their learning in school?

For this class, I aspire to learn many interesting and advanced methods of teaching with the use of technology.  Being a person who is very dependent on her laptop and iphone, I can't imagine coming up with teaching material and lesson plans without the use of technology.