IPL Design - Edmodo

My Edmodo was designed for 4th grade mathematics.  Students can collaborate and share with each other and as a teacher, I can share useful links, pictures, and comments.  I can also create quizzes on Edmodo for them to take and be able to review immediately after because the computer grades it.  It is a great way to connect with the students and provide educational and schedule information.  I also learned that you can make a poll on Edmodo.  This is a great tool to get the opinions of the students and receive feedback.  Click here to access my Edmodo account.  Create a free account and use the group code: 5333rx

#10 - Last Blog for the Semester

I will use data collection tools like excel for averaging scores, making tables, and many other things.  If I teach math then excel will be used quite frequently and even taught to my students so that they can use excel to their benefit.  I plan on teaching children that are visually impaired so I'm not sure they will find as much use to excel as I would as the teacher.  I will most likely use it for averaging and calculating grades and the class average.

I greatly enjoyed reading my classmates' blogs and collaborating ideas and thoughts on different subjects.  I especially enjoyed the blogs on assistive technology because it is relevant to what I will be doing in the future.  My students will be taught how to use brailers, canes, and voice recognition software.  It was interesting to read all the different types of assistive technology and how each of my classmates plans to use them in their own classroom some day.  I even got ideas for myself and my use through some of the things they posted.  I also enjoyed the topic of professional development and web 2.0 tools.  I didn't realize how many tools there are available for teachers to use! It was amazing discovering new technological advancements and their application to the teaching environment.

I would really like to learn how to use Pinterest. Teachers use this now to share and collect lesson plans, classroom decorations, projects, books, and other educational/professional materials and resources.  I will probably make one in the near future and play around with it until I figure out how to use it. I could even google how to use it or type it in YouTube to find tutorials on how to use it.  That's what I did to make a prezi for my first independent learning project.  I find this website very beneficial and can't wait to give it a try!

Desserts

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bJzhA6za8RZgxX7

#9- "flipped classroom," "open," and PowerPoint

In a "flipped" classroom, short videos are the most important piece. They could be created and posted by the instructor or from an online repository.  This encourages individual effort at home as well as collaborative effort in the classroom.  Click here for a link to free flipped classroom resources. The Khan Academy is a website that has educational videos.

Open includes education, content, and sources.  It basically is "open" for everyone to use and share.  Just like the podcast said, there is a "wealth of information" available and "open." I think one example might be Edmodo (although I'm not certain of this.)  Teachers share information and sources there.  I found another website that seems like it provides a plethora of information. It is a virtual reality download that assists in the educational experience. It is free and open to whomever would like to access it. Click here to check out the website.

I learned a lot from this assignment.  I learned how to record your voice and how to time everything perfectly.  The basic things I already knew from previous assignments and presentations but the voice recording was really cool! I also learned how to hide the speaker and things like that.  This project was definetly a learning experience for me.  I feel prepared to make "crap[ppy]" Power Points in the future. :)  I can use it to teach my students and even post online for study use with my voice in the background.  One thing I didn't like was how you can't hyperlink in the notes. This was slightly inconvenient. Hyperlinking in the notes could be beneficial if you don't want it on the slide but still want it for reference.  I also didn't like the template I chose but I spent a long time trying to find one and in the process downloaded who knows what on my computer. It was a struggle so I just ended up with this online template.  In the future I will probably just use my own templates. Below is a screen shot of the power point. I had fun making it.

Get Creative Sketchnoting Your Slides

Get Creative Sketchnoting Your Presentation from Peter Zvirinsky

This is about making sketches and using them to present. It is a very creative way to make visual aids. I really like the slide with the Black Board version.

#8 - Sports Psych, Bloom's Taxonomy, Professional Development

Because the equipment was made for sports, it is kind of a reach to use it for teaching purposes. You could use the EMG to understand the physiological and bodily response to stimuli and gauge people's true reactions to stress and other stuff. The big board with flashing lights and numbers that tested simultaneous cognitive and physical response (don't remember what it was called) could be used for autistic kids. But, like I said, it is sort of a reach and not super practical. It is all very expensive and I think money would be better used elsewhere (on technology specifically for teaching and learning in the classroom environment.)

Bloom's taxonomy promotes analyzing and and evaluating rather than just remembering facts. PowerPoint could be used at every level.
Remembering: lists, descriptions, names, diagrams and visual graphics could be put on slides to read and take notes on
Understanding: teacher can elaborate from the slide by explaining the idea or concept. Links and videos can be added to the slides to elaborate as well
Applying: real world situations, links to journals or articles, or discussion questions posted on slides
Analyzing: insert a prezi in the powerpoint to break it down into parts to analyze or make graphs, tables and charts in the power point
Evaluating: directions for an experiment, hyperlink Kahoot
Creating: make their own powerpoint

According to the podcast, professional development is the "life long learning that teachers engage in." Chapter 12 describes how learning needs change over time and new methods of teaching are required. Technology has greatly impacted teacher development. Technology has now enabled opportunities to communicate with other teachers, parents and students and also for teachers to learn from other teachers. Blogs, webinars, diigo, Twitter, and many others contribute to this. Below is a screenshot of a website that would keep teachers (and others) up to date with the technology trends.

#7 - Assistive Technology, Website Design, Diigo

According to the podcast, "adaptive or assistive technologies are technologies that help people with disabilities more effectively use computing equipment." Students could use voice recognition software instead of typing if unable to type or they can use technologies like brail printers if they are blind. I am quite familiar with the brailler in which they are referring to in the podcast. It is like a typewriter that produces raised bumps on the paper so that the people that are blind can read their completed work. Every summer I act as a voluntary mentor at a developmental sports camp (for children that are visually impaired) called Camp Abilities. I watched and assisted the kids as they typed "thank you" letters to all the donors of the camp that contributed food, equipment, and money. It was so awesome to see how efficient those machines are! That technology has dramatically increased educational opportunities for children that are visually impaired. Another piece of assistive technology they used was their canes to help navigate and prevent collisions. Since their sight is limited, and for some completely gone, they need the canes to feel their way around the world and stay safe. I take a particular interest in this subject because I plan to be an O&M instructor (orientation and mobility.) My job will be to teach them how to properly use this adaptive technology and many others. I don't foresee any specific challenges for adaptive technology in my classroom because I assume that FSU will prepare me to teach effectively and be well informed. The only challenge that comes to mind is the lack of money in the educational system and the possible limitation of how much assistive technology will be available to the students. From what I have been told, the technology is quite expensive.

To be honest, at first I completely hated the assignment. I had no idea where to even begin. But the further I dove into it, the more fun I had with it. I learned how to do everything through trial and error. I spent an enormous amount of time on my website and am pretty happy with my results. Here is a screenshot of one of my favorite pages of the website:

I couldn't figure out how to use the tockify thing though. I ended up using google calendar because it was too confusing. I think that the website would have been better if weebly offered some directional advice for first timers. I really liked how many options were available for the website though. I tried every button just to see what it did (which is probably why it took so long to complete.) The YouTube option was of particular interest to me. I thought that was a useful addition. Now that I know how to use weebly, it will be a lot more easy to do in the future. I plan on using it for my class websites in the future. 

Diigo was also a completely new experience for me. Everything we learned in class was new to me. I thought the annotation of articles was really cool. I can see that being of great use to both students and teachers. I also preferred books over the internet because I could write in them and highlight stuff to help study but now with diigo, websites offer the same capabilities. As a teacher, diigo is great to collaborate and share websites that prove beneficial to teaching. As a teacher, I can give and share ideas to students and teachers. It is an interactive website that will be very useful for future use in the classroom. Technology is great!

#6 - Class Pages, Technology Sandbox, and Technology/Professional Responsibilities

I visited the website for the Walker School.  It seems to be a charter school that includes preschool, lower school, middle school, and upper school.  The public view of the website contains information about each course, teacher, events going on, activities involved, the curriculum, and the goal of the class. It contains a positive view of the school and presents the academia as prestigious.  Below is a screenshot of one of the class pages.

Productivity tools are important to grade students' work, plan and document lessons, and communicate with students and colleagues.  According to the podcast, productivity tools are those that "help you complete every day tasks a little better."  I will use the productivity tool Microsoft Office to help me in the future of teaching.  I will also use diigo and Evernote to help plan and document lessons.  Google calendar could be beneficial as well. Online rubrics and spreadsheets will be utilized to assist in the grading process. I will use SMART boards and 3D printers if accessible in the school I choose to enhance the learning experience for my students. There is so much technology available it excites me! I can't wait to use all of these awesome tools and programs to help me teach!

At the Sandbox field trip I discovered a ton of cool and helpful pieces of technology.  One in particular that stood out to me was the goggles and computer screen that presented a 3D, lifelike experience.  I can't remember what it was called but I googled it and a brand called Oculus popped up. I guess what I used was pretty similar to the Oculus. This could allow virtual field trips anywhere around the world! It eliminates the financial and time constraint that holds students back from visiting educational places like the Vatican and the Colosseum in Rome. The opportunities are endless! I also loved the SMART board.  It is so much more efficient and convenient than the white board. I do service learning for another class at FSUS and they use the SMART boards there so I get to see it in action. The students seem to love it as well. The teacher used it for math lessons, writing lessons, and many others. The SMART board is definitely useful for every day teaching. 

ILP Design - Prezi: Timeline of Educational Technology

I created a prezi to present the timeline of major technological advancements made in the classroom. This stresses the importance of technology and shows the progress we have already made thus far. This prezi excites me for the future technology yet to come!
Here is a link to the prezi:
http://prezi.com/1snokda2ngk0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Here is a screenshot of the prezi:

#5 - Web 2.0 and Technology Advancement

Web 2.0 allow users to interact and share with each other.  According to the podcast, teachers use YouTube to show students relevant videos and enhance their learning, blogs to post updates and announcements.  Blogs can also be used for student publishing and teachers can controls to monitor use. Wikis are also used to collaborate work.  Twitter can be used to follow political and public figures and learn from them.  Diigo can be used to share resources and take notes from them.  All of these are interactive and great for the learning experience.  Other social media websites may prove less beneficial.  Instagram and Facebook may not be as useful in the classroom.  YouTube, Twitter, Blogs, and Wikis are only helpful if used appropriately and monitored by the teacher.

When I am a teacher I will probably use TED to assist me with my lessons.  They are talks by important figures that discuss technology, design, and other things going on in the world.  It contains many videos and links on all kind of important topics.  The use of video would enhance the learning experience.  The link to this is: https://www.ted.com/

Personally, I think that Open content holds the most promise,  All of the technological advancements bring hope for the future but this one intrigues me the most.  According to the book, Open content is "content that is developed through collaboration and interaction through social media rather than by a few knowledgeable authorities."  If monitored and integrated appropriately, it could greatly enhance the learning experience! The book states that open content has already "[significantly impacted]...the classroom."  I think MOOCS are also super useful and exciting.  MOOCS are massive open online courses that provide learning opportunities.  Just reading about all of these technological advancements gets me so pumped to be a teacher some day! I hope that I can use these effectively in my classroom in the future.

#4 - Digital Divide, Active Learning Software, and Web Evaluations

I am not entirely sure what the question means by "early course experiences."  I'm assuming that it means my use through the class since that is what we have been using for experience.  If this is the case then I would say that I have been interacting with classmates and Re-tweeting a lot of information about technology and interesting topics that arise.  If this question is referring to my use prior to the class then my response differs.  My personal twitter has been used to interact with peers on a more personal basis and to stay in the loop about upcoming events inside of school and outside of school.  These are important in the future as well.  Twitter can be used to inform and interact with students and colleagues in reference to upcoming school events, politics, technology advancement, and basically anything.  It is a fantastic source of communication.

The digital divide, according to the podcast, is used to describe "the gap of people who do and do not have access to technology."  Not everyone has access to a computer or the internet.  The students that do have access to computers and internet are believed to have a greater chance for educational achievement than those who do not.  This is because the students with computers have access to academic software.  According to Teaching and Learning with Technology, a few types of academic software are desktop publishing, graphics, reference, tutorials, drill-and-practice, educational games, simulations, authoring systems, special needs, and integrated learning systems.  The active learning software helps the teachers teach and the students learn effectively.

It is important to check the author's credentials (contactability), whether is is neutral or bias, content (accurate, current, appropriate for audience), design (pleasing to the eye and clear), and technical elements (level of difficulty to navigate and speed of loading) when evaluating a website.  It is also important to check the stability, URLs, and advertising when using a website for teaching.  Personally, I look at the domain of a website, the year it was publlished, the author, and the content when evaluating how good a website it.  I also try to find a website that has condensed and organized information so I'm not spending hours reading it.  Pictures, diagrams and other visuals are also very attractive during an evaluation.  Web evaluations are important so that you can be sure that you are receiving accurate, clear, and credible information for the right audience and purpose.

#3- ELA and Newsletter Design

After reading the Tech Standards Handout, I have concluded that a good portion of the standards I could be prepared to teach but there are a lot that I would need more knowledge on.  I know a good bit about technology and have some experience with its usage but integrating it into a classroom setting will be a new experience and one that I don't think I am fully prepared for yet.  I feel confident about "multimedia literature," "informational text," "history/social studies," and "science/technical subjects" included in my lessons.  More challenging will be to teach my students how to use these types of technology.  I need more preparation in this area.

According to Teaching and Learning with Technology, Digital citizenship "requires productive and responsible participation."  My students must learn to use technology in a productive, effective, and positive manner.  Discussion groups, and chats will be used.  They will be taught how to use the World Wide Web responsibly and learn how to effectively navigate it.  Learning management systems will used to help with this.

I learned how to use columns, wrap text around pics, and many other things.  I haven't figured out how to change the two columns back to one column for the permission slip yet.  My rough draft one does not include the permission slip for this reason.  Through trial and error I figured out how to do a lot on Word.  It is an amazing program with so many possibilities.  I'm impressed with all of its capabilities and am eager to learn even more about it than I already have. It is great for making Newsletters.  I plan on utilizing Word a lot in the future.

#2- Word, Copy Right, PLNs

I used MS Word as a student quite frequently.  It was the primary place I wrote essays, reports, and took notes.  I was never really taught how to use Word to its full capability. Rather, I played around with it and figured out some of its cool and helpful features.  I was taught the basic fundamentals but not in depth about it.  I also sought advice from peers to learn more about Word and all that it has to offer.  My teachers utilized MS Word as well for similar reasons.  They also used it as a template for directions on an assignment and even assignments themselves.

I wasn't told much about Copyright except that it was illegal to copy direct information from text, video, media and graphics.  In school we were taught how to properly cite information and graphics taken from sources for educational purposes.  The Fair Use criteria was never fully explained to me. After reading chapter 11 and listening to the podcast I have a more complete understanding of why we are required to cite information.  The factors involved in determining Fair Use are the nature of the work, purpose, amount used, and how it affects the profit or market.  As a teacher, it will be important that the students understand not only how to cite their info but also why they are required to do so. Older students should be informed how to protect their own creative information.  As a teacher it will also be important to understand Fair Use, software piracy, and the Copyright law in order to legally share educational information to the students.

I had previously acquired knowledge on how to utilize Twitter by playing around with it but I did learn a few more things recently like hashtags and what they do.  PLNs are a great way to communicate efficiently and collaborate with others on a subject matter.  As a teacher, it is a great way to get connected and share information with both students and other colleagues.

#1 Chapter 1 and 2

Technology is an important part of the educational experience.  In a lot of ways, technology has helped and even improved the class room setting.  There is lesson planning software, lesson planning resources, and standards alignment software that assist in lesson preparation.  Grading software assists in teacher tasks.  Presentation software, multimedia hardware and software assist teachers in lecture and class presentations.  Also, social media, teleconferencing, email, and other online discussions have improved collaboration and communication.  There is a growing need to integrate technology into education to prepare students for contemporary life.  There are also critical concerns about how technology is used.  There are environmental factors, psychological factors, and personal filters that affect and can interfere with the communication process in education.  Students also have different cognitive and learning styles that influence how they learn.  It is important that the technology used compliments these needs and learning styles rather than complicate or interfere with them.  In my opinion, technology has been used effectively.  There are many standards and organizations like Common Core, ISTE, P21, TEAC, CAEP, and NCATE that help integrate technology into teaching and learning.  Controversy arises over finances and "allotting time for integrating technology" into the classrooms.  I am fairly optimistic about all the changes and improvements that have been made so far and hope that more are to come about the challenges that are still lingering.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is a federally funded initiative to make standards for technology for students and teachers.  One of their projects is the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS.)  NETS "identifies definitive competencies for technology skills" that current and future educators should have for the educational experience of their students.  The NET-T are standards of knowledge and skills of teachers, which is outside my current skill set.  The NET-S "articulates basic technology competencies for students" and their application.  This gladdens my heart because of the benefits of the infusion of learning already created and is very exciting for future goals of supporting student learning.

Digital natives are people that have grown up knowing technology.  Digital immigrants learned about technology throughout their life and are less familiar with it.  I am considered a digital native but I still would not consider myself to be tech savvy.  I would agree that I am more familiar with technology than my elders, like my grandparents.  But I also believe that it has a lot to do with the individual's experience and interest.  My dad is much more tech savvy than I am because he uses technology frequently for work and must adapt as it changes.  I have had less of a need for such knowledge and adaptation.  My knowledge is somewhat limited to social media because that is what I use most frequently and am interested in.  My teaches taught me most of what I know about computers and technology.  They taught me how to use PowerPoint, Excel, and Word for assignments and projects.  I imagine I have a lot to learn so that I can be as beneficial to my students someday as mine were for me in regards to technology.

#0 - About Me

 

I have had very limited experience with technology.  I took a class in middle school that introduced PowerPoint, excel, and Word to me.  I also learned the proper way to type in that class.  My experience from there consists of assigned school work and projects using these three programs.  I am able to use these three with little issue but do not have an abundance of knowledge in reference to technology.

 

I hope to learn how to use these three programs and others more efficiently and with ease.  I hope to take what I learn in this class and apply it to my future assignments and teaching structures.  Technology is essential for teaching and would greatly benefit the learning environment.  I am not especially tech savvy and hope to absorb as much information as I can.

 

I learned that I am an extreme visual learner.  I benefit from pictures, diagrams, and other visual representations of the material.  I do much better when I try something out as opposed to being verbally informed how to do something.  I retain information better when it is discussed thoroughly in groups and I can participate in the application of what is learned.  Also, I am a sequential learner in that I understand material better when presented in linear steps.