EDLD+5364+Teaching+with+Technology


 * Teaching with Technology **

Week 5, FINAL WEEK...Assignment 1..Updating Personal Wiki

There is so much to get done by Friday it is crazy. Of course, I have been working so hard on so many other things, I am just getting around to updating this wiki. The good news is, my Final Assessment is done, my discussion board is done, all the "screen work" is done for the course...we are wrapping up our final project..and our reflection. This class has taken us to so many different levels. I feel like I have learned so much more in this class than I had ever imagined I could. I think it got to the point that I learned so much, I could not incorporate all of it in projects and assignments. You get to a point you can only enter so much information and then you will overload the students if you put in too many requirements. This week we learned al lot about reflection and assessment. I think many times teachers invest som much time in creating awesome assignments using technology that by the time the end comes, they have not put together how they are going to assess the project. Sometimes this is very difficult. How do you make sure each student go out of it, what you think they should have? This is an important piece to any lesson. Using technology in lessons though, makes it more challenging for the teachers to test the students and their knowledge. Graphic organizers are one way students can reflect on what they knew in the beginning and what they learned by the end of the project. Organizing ideas and putting things together in a before and after "chart" is a great way to see what was learned in the process. In our Web 2.0 book, there were many different ways students can be assessed and each of the tools are unique to each lesson. It will be great to get this project done and end the class for the holidays, but I must say, this class has actually taught me many things that I will go on to use in the future and have already started to use in my lab with my teachers and students.

Week 4 Assignment 1...Updating Personal Wiki

OK, I am going to try this again. I think this time I will copy this into Word and paste it just in case I loose the information again. I have been contact with Wiki support. I lost the last posting (and this page) yesterday as I was updating for this week. I do not remember most of what I typed, but of course, I remember it was good. :) This week we are focusing all on the student-centered learning experience with technology. Well, I have been teaching technology classes for over 6 years now. The CTE department has been focused on student-centered learning the whole time. Teachers should all be focused on student-centered learning. Pitler's content stresses the importance of implementing learning activities that support cooperative learning strategies. Well, core teachers ask me all the time "how come you don't have discipline problems?" My response to them was always, I use technology to teach, the students love it and don't have time to do anything bad. Teaching the students with tools they are used to using is amazing. Technology is all these kids know. From Kindergarten to HS right now, technology is all they have known. Give the students a collaborative project, give them a technology based issue..they will run with it. Students love working collaboratively and cooperatively on a common goal. If you give them limitations on things, they do not get as much out of the lessons. Give them a worksheet, they will put it off until the last minute, copy each other and turn it in. What did they learn from it? Give them a project, maybe a couple of questions, and have them use the Internet to do research on that topic...you will get some amazing work back from them. Ask them to create a blog, a wiki, a PowerPoint, anything like this, and you will get some even more amazing work. Students want to be challenged. Technology challenges their world. Well, we have the kids all involved in the technology...how do we get the teachers to grasp all of it and run? It's great to say you are going to use it or if you have the technology available...who is going to support those teachers? How are those teachers going to learn how to use that technology? Districts have to be prepared to train their teachers, encourage them to use technology by making them comfortable using the technology in their classroom. Teacher must also be willing to come out of their shells. They do not have to know everything about that technology. That is the beauty of technology with these students...they are willing to teach anyone. There are going to be students who know more than the teacher..let them shine, let them teach the technology. Students learn more from each other than the teacher. We as educators have to be more open to using the technology in the classroom and districts have to be willing to support all the teachers and provide sufficient training.

Week 3 Assignment 1....Updating Personal Wiki

Oh where to begin. After being sick for 8 days and not getting to enjoy Thanksgiving and the family, I thought I would get a head start on this week. Oh man, and I so excited I did this. Between the readings, the videos, the discussion, the overall scenario we are working on...we are to do a UDL. Well, let's just say, I have worked for 5 hours today and have gotten A LOT done. I am still not completely sure it is all correct, but I do feel some sense of accomplishment by having some of it done. Oh ya, it's only Wed. I think Sunday comes way too fast. I have taught technology courses for 6 years now. I have to say, I have learned a lot of things from this class in just the three weeks we have been working. I was not aware of all these strategies, who supported them, old and new concepts of technology in the classroom etc. It's amazing to me what I have learned. If you are a good educator, you should ask yourself, What will students learn?, Which strategies provide evidence of student learning?, etc. This does not surprise me that Pilter's book addresses these. State standards and benchmark areas are very important for teachers to have pinned down in every technology lesson. Most of the time, your team leaders are going to want to know what it is you are doing with these students and is it educational? Most core teachers want to know how your students are learning anything when they are on the computer all the time. Well, some teachers don't realize just how much students do learn when they are put in front of technology. They love using it. It is very important to make sure the state standards are tied in with every lesson that is being done at all times, but especially when using technology. Technology is beneficial and the students learn a lot, but hey can also get off task very quickly when technology is involved. Teachers must also be prepared to have rubrics or some other form of assessment when using technology in the classroom. I can do many assignments using technology, but if in the end I cannot assess whether or not the technology enhanced the students learning, it is not worth using. There are many things to think about when using technology in the classroom, but one of the most important things that has to be considered is, "Did the technology enhance the learning of something in the classroom?" If the technology just added more work or just more fun, it probably is not being used properly. Technology needs to be used in the classroom to enhance the learning process, not just make it fun. This week is full of assignments and things to keep up busy, but I know in the end it will all be worth it. I feel this class, I will use, being and Instructional Technologist.

Week 2 Assignment 1...Updating Personal Wiki

This week we are learning about different technology strategies to teach diverse groups of students. This week is actually very interested to me and something I think we all deal with on a daily basis. I have been a technology teacher for over 6 years now. I have taught in a very rich school and in a middle of the road school. I have to say, I really did not like teaching at the rich school. I found this whole school a disgrace to education. I think they prepared their students well for college, but that was all. They never taught students how to work with each other, how to work with others that are not like them, teach them to appreciate all they have, or just how to be citizens in our society. These students will go off, make really good grades in college, open their own business and be very successful. This is not a bad thing, I guess, just not what I want to be a part of. The middle of the road school has always been my favorite. These students appreciate what you have to teach them, the technology they have, the ability to work together, and the chance to learn how to succeed. These students usually take in every little thing you tell them. They do not have technology at home, the ability to play games at home for hours, or the ability to watch TV in most cases. These students are the students who absorbed everything you teach them in class.

I taught a web design class and I had students take the course who had taken three of my other courses. Some of these students did not have access to any technology at home. They came to my class before school, during lunch, and after school. This class was in charge of the school's website. They were to gather the infrormation, take pictures, do intereviews, and bring back all the information and put it in a professional format for the website. They enjoyed this class so much. Some of them began making contacts in the community and started helping them create their websites in the community. These students just shined. These students built their self esteem and were so proud every week when we presented their page(s). They would invite family and friends into the class and present with such pride. Some of these students hardly ever made it to school before taking this class. Most of the time, they made pretty good grades, but they didn't like school or had to take care of their families, so they couldn't come to school. Anyway, they came to school that year and improved all their grades in all their classes, it was a requirement for staying in my class, so they worked hard and proved themselves. Someone believed in them. Not all students learn in the same way. Some students are motivated by different things. Some students just need to know someone believes in them and that they know they can be successful. Technology will always enhance learning and make for a better learning environment for those students who need something different. Teaching in rows and using worksheets is OVER.

Week 1 Assignment 2...Updating Personal Wiki

This is our first week with Teaching with Technology. We have once again formulated groups to be able to come together and create a great learning environment for a scenario we have been given. One thing I am encountering in this course already is creating Google Doc. I have never used this program, so this will be interesting to see how this way of communicating will work. This week we have learned about learning theories which are relative to teaching with technology. The three theories are constructivism connectivism, and cyborg. Constructivism is where we all begin when it comes to any type of learning. This theory is based on the baseline of what someone already knows. As people learn, read, and are exposed to more information, they are able to build on their knowledge about something and it allows them to construct new knowledge, therefore, the theory of constructivism is in the making. Connectivism is more complex than that. Connectivism has the learner being able to make connections between various sources of information. Learning is more like a continual process and more about being able to create connections between various sources of information. This theory is more about knowing where to find information using different resources. We learn more with this theory through social interactions and technology databases. Cyborg is the other theory we have discussed this week. This is new to me; I was not sure what this one meant. This theory is based on the interaction of humans and machines. Cyborg seems really interesting to me. I plan on focusing a little more on this topic to find out more about it. I am interested in the research found to prove how humans and machines interact to improve education. I know technology such as the computer, IPod, and other forms of technology have improved education, but this one is pretty interesting to me. I want to know more about Cyborg.

Funny how I want to know more about Cyborg and the first article I read had a lot about it specifically. It's funny how we all know social networking is used every day, Facebook, Blogging, texting, Myspace, etc... but yet, for educational purposes, we are all afraid of it. "Social Networking Technologists in Education" brings up many points of how we are using social networking and firmly states how “as the technology explosion continues world-wide, society's call for education's timely response sounds louder than ever before" is a great statement. No matter what we think..it's here. We must all take this technology advanced group of students and teach them more. Educators can no longer be scared of technology or say, no, I will learn that later...it's here. We all have to learn to grab the technology and fly with it. We will never be more knowledgeable than our students, they have too much time on their hands and they learn more on their own about technology. We just have to be willing to teach the students using the type of tools they find interesting. Cyborg, this is not viewed as other or separate from human, but definitely see technological advances with human evolution. This is our jobs as educators to continue with this theory. We must learn to move the kids with technology, not using it as a supplement.

We must all learn how to have our students be involved in the learning process. The time of the teacher standing in the front of the room teaching the students all day, is gone. The students must interact with technology, manipulatives, teach each other, enhance each students abilities, and be able to help each other. Students learn best with hands on opportunities and using as much technology and manipulatives as possible. Teaching styles have to change. There are many teaching models that can be tweaked and we can make learning for these students just as fun as the video games they play while they are at home. Sitting in rows, listening to a lecture, and regenerating what the teacher said, that is out. Move on. If this is the kind of teacher you are, we have a problem.