Reflective Post:

credit to: wiki

Introduction To Technology for Educators, when I first signed up for the class I must admit I had mixed feelings both scared and excitement. I was not quite sure how the class was going to be. I thought since it was an introduction class that it would be simple, but I was wrong. It actually was a challenge,especially if technology is not your thing. For this particular class I found out that you need time and patience. I’m not a fan of technology it scares me to be honest.This course was not what I imagined it to be. It was challenging especially for a beginner like myself. This course did make me explore different websites. Which where out of my confront zone.

                                                     

   credit to: -issata on Flicker

Through out the semester the class made me use skills that I didn’t know I possessed.Some of The skills included creativity,evaluating, and Critical thinking skills.The Online engagement with my classmates was fun for me. I got to communicate with them though our discussion posts and some of the collaborative work we had to accomplish.In The discussion posts i believe we learned from each-others out takes and perspectives. We got to discuss on each others posts to both help and give our opinion which was great to communicate with one another. collaboration work such as the wikispace and the lesson plan we did was a great way to learn how to communicate and work with one another via the internet. I will admit it was sometimes difficult because of our schedules but all in all fun. I loved how we did assignments based on the chapter we were in.The book transforming learning with new technologies was our base for our blog posts.With both the blog post and the book i learned about some tech tools that i will enjoy using in the future.Towards the end i enjoyed the class more because i started understanding the concepts and thanks to the class i learned about copyright laws and ethical and legal use of material such as images and videos and how to properly use them. Also i learned new ways to identify software that can be used in classrooms and technology that can help increase the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom.

I honestly am thankful I took this course the only thing i would change about this course is the projects we did towards the end i would try spreading them out because it seems that all the difficult assignments were left towards the end. This course helped me gain knowledge that i will use in future including courses and career, but i know in time all this will change and more and more technology and software will bloom,such as the video below shows.

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

Journal post #11

Chapter 11: engaging students in performance assessment and reflective learning.

Focus question:
what is performance assessment for teachers and for students?
performance assessment for teachers is how professors and supervisors evaluate someone who is  preparing to become a teacher. The evaluation consists of the academic and classroom performance all this takes place when your observed teaching a classroom my either mentor teachers and college supervisor.performance assessment for students this is when teachers evaluate the learning process  of every student in the class throughout the school year. in mostly all the schools as a teacher will be expected to give out report cards provide feedback either written or oral also some times do conferences with family and the student discussing the students progress.By conferences you can discuss how you as a teacher can help and get feedback from the student and their family.


Tech tools:
Surveymonkey-
Surveymonkey is a neat easy to use online surveys tool you can take surveys on any topic that you are interested in helps you to also collect informatiom its free for a basic subscription which means 10 questions and no more than a 100 responses.For a pro subscription seventeen dollars a month which includes unlimited surveys and responses. If i were to become a teacher, I would must definitely enjoy using this tool in the beginning of the school year.For example asking students how they would enjoy the class to be and also if the student is a visual or non visual learner.Of course as a teacher it would be preferable to use the pro subscription.

summary and connection:
Chapter 11 discusses the use of assessments in schools,examine the components how both students and teachers can take part of it. Also it discussed the features of digital  portfolio which is great to read about  since we are going to do a teacher webpage eporfolio. This chapter also included ways to promote students involvement such as online surveys and using clickers to anonymously respond to questions posted by a teacher. clickers was first introduced to me in 8th grade i remember this very clearly because everyone in my class loved using it. I personally liked that it was anonymous, so if i answered wrong i wouldn't feel embarrassed also it was a great way for the teacher to know what we needed to work on more. I would definitely use clickers in the future.


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.

Journal post #10

Chapter 10: Promoting success for all students through Technology.

Focus question:
How can technology engage and inspire learning for diverse students?
Technology now in days can help with pretty much anything which is a great thing.technology helps in many different areas including education.Now there are many diverse students.diverse students can be linguistically and culturally diverse learners also special educational needs."How does technology come in?" you ask. well technology offers powerful ways to kick start engagement and inspire diverse learners for example they can use an online translation service ,which can also be fun for them so they can understand you as a teacher plus try to communicate with you.This expands the methods and approaches you as a teacher will do.Also revealing untold stories and hidden history at times technology has more of an entertainment t that students like for example online videos,interactive websites which gives more  answers to history than a book would at times .


Tech Tools:
Interactive whiteboards-
When i first saw this in a classroom,it was my 2nd year in high school. I thought it was the coolest thing  because it helps both the teachers and students.This interactive whiteboard engages both students and teachers to work on something together.For example a powerpoint of notes students can add by writing them in with the smart pen. I would completely use this as a future teacher because its a fun,interactive,entertaining set of equipment to use.

summary and connection:
chapter10 discussed how technology can help diverse students,writers and how teachers can use adaptive different technology and create a universally designed classroom. chapter 10 also explained the differences in instruction and universal design for learning.This chapter opened my mind to how technology and how it can help different variety of students to actually engage themselves without so much struggle.The technique i would use in the future would be letting students that have difficulty with understanding english or just not knowing what a word means is an online translator because i think it would help them.

Resources:
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013).Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.   

Journal Post #9

Journal Post #9

Chapter 9:Expressing Creativity with multimedia technologies.

Focus question:
How can teachers use video resources in their teaching?

Video resources has become real popular with how teachers teach now in days. video resources are an entertaining way to get students to learn about a certain subject. These videos can be handcrafted videos ,streaming videos,and even videos from youtube as some resources. youtube is a website full of different videos on different subjects you can mostly find anything you like on there.Handcrafted videos are videos that are focused on words,numbers,and images has mainly a white background to it.
Streaming videos are simultaneous transfer of video,data,voice.Examples are internet videos for instance youtube. A great way to use these video resources in teaching is by showing a video on the specific subject that is being taught. Also as a teacher you could be asking students to write a response of what they learned by watching the video, asking them to take notes while they watch, and even throwing in a mini pop quiz on the video. watching videos in class was always fun for me as a student i actually sometimes learn more because I'm a visual learner and if i knew there was going to be a pop quizzes i knew i would have to stay focused.

Tech tool:
TeacherTube is a great streaming video resources for teachers. It is similar to youtube but in this case it includes free educational and instructive themed videos that are made by teachers and students. The site has educator friendly videos and different categories to choose from. TeacherTube not only offers videos but It also has docs,audios,photos,and blogs. TeacherTube was launched in march 2007.

                  

Summary and connection:

Chapter 9 discussed the use of technology and how teachers can use different multimedia in their teaching.Multimedia including powerpoint,videos and movies.It discussed how all these can be used to promote learning in the classroom in a fun way.This chapter also described how teachers can use podcasts and vodcasts as a teaching and learning technologies method which i thought was interesting because podcasts are online audio recordings that can be accessed by computer,smartphones,and even  mobile device that have internet.I personally think that this chapter has been the most interesting to read because I'm all for the different multimedia resources that a teacher can include in their teaching.





Resources:
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Journal post #8



Chapter 8:communicating and collaborating with social media

Focus question:
What is the best use of a classroom website or teaching blog and how can it improve learning for students?
The best use of a classroom website is that both parents and students know the activities that are being done in the classroom. The classroom website is where teachers information can be found, also the class website focuses on the students work it provides information such as dates of exams,homework assignments,and also schedules of school events.the class website also gives a student a way to post their work and explorer on a subject or topic.This can improve learning for students for example say that a student forgets the information on a homework assignment they can just look into the class website and get the information they need. students can also get prepared on time for a test or quiz because they can look for the upcoming dates on them. our online class is a good example of this because it has information on the course and professor it lets us see or assignments and we can post them on there too.

Connections & Possibilities :
Twitter for teachers
Twitter is a huge social media/ microblogging site. It is a great informative,interactive,and blogging site.Anyone can have one you can tweet your favorite celebrity and if your lucky get tweeted back.  teachers can follow other teachers so they can get updated with school information or anything related of the sort.Also hashtags and subject lookup can be a great way to see conversation or tweets on specific subjects.Twitter can be a great way to announce things to students or parents about class websites or blog add ons or any type of information.

summary and connections:
Chapter 8 discussed ways how teachers can communicate information and collaborate with students by social media.The social media discussed were class website or blogs also emailing,and text messaging.Chapter 8 also examined wikis as a collaboration learning stagey for students and teachers, it demonstrated how to create and use a teaching blog. My favorite is the classroom website. I think it is a good thing to use because parents can go and see what topic their child is learning and homework that is being assigned.My younger sisters have a classroom page so we can see if they have homework just in case they forget to mention anything.

Journal post #7


 Chapter 7: Exploring problem solving with software, Apps and Games.

Focus question:
What are the key debates about using computer games and simulations as learning resources?
The debate is that when people think about computer games and simulations they think that its just all fun and games its discussed how some parents and teachers feel that technology should be banned for some age group students. in some perspectives people feel that computers are a distraction and can be harmful to a students learning environment because of different themes of game out there.Some people think it will effect the process of students development such as reading,writing and thinking skills its also debated how it can effect social skills.

Tech tool:
Scratch (http://scrath.mit.edu) i had to take a look it sounded interesting. scratch is a website where you can make your own games and animated characters that can be a part of a story you are making.This website has 3d and 2d features you can use this for text or images.I find it neat that you can make your own animated stories by recording voices/sounds. Its a great fun way for students to learn and teachers can make them use this as a source for a project so along the way they can follow assignment rules while still learning and having fun.

summary and connection:
Chapter 7 discussed how software, Apps, and Games can actually be used in the learning environment. k-12 can use games, apps, and software to help them with problem solving skills and understanding subjects that is being targeted in a fun way for the students to learn. which i myself when i was  a younger student enjoyed. yes there are always debates on how leaning with games and apps is a distraction but for some students it can be great because they can be visual learners  and at times education games are a great way for them to learn the subject.

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. 

Journal post #6


Chapter 6: Fostering online learning with educational websites and apps 


Focus question:
What are the different types of educational websites available on the internet?

There are 6 types of websites for both students and teachers to use for learning.
These include lesson plan,student-to-expert communication, archival and primary source, Real-time and recorded data,skills practice,and also exploration and discovery websites.
Lesson plan websites:
is a very well used tool (websites) among teachers. there are great websites that help teachers come up with ideas and additional resources for a particular lesson plan.
Student-to-expert websites:
These type of websites i find really interesting its feature includes exchanges of information and ideas in which a student can ask an expert in a particular subject.The experts can be in colleges,businesses,and other organizations. I find this tool really useful for students who want to know something on a particular subject because they can ask someone who knows about that particular subject.
Archival and primary source website:
are websites that can be used to look up historical things. It can be accessed by primary and archival sources this includes organizations, museums,and libraries.This is a great way for students to learn how to do research and also learn about historic events. students can even sometimes find activities or print outs that are provided by the website.
Real time and recorded data websites:
is a type of website in which you can learn different subjects and it would be like your physically there. I had to use a kind of website similar to Skype to be present in the class. one of my teachers went away on a conference so that was his way of giving us a lecture.
skills practice websites:
are based on subjects in which teachers can assign groups to do activities.such as for example a typing website in which it teaches you how to type faster on a computer.
Exploration and discovery websites:
is when students or teaches engage in a topic and want to explore the website and discover information on interested topics and explore the material by doing interactive learning activities.


Tech Tools:
goodreads (www.goodreads.com) a website program in which you can organize your readings online, by creating shelves you can add titles on shelves. You can rate the books you have read and share your bookshelves. This website needs registration but its free of charge to use. It is a really interesting website in which you can be social with books you have read because you can have your friends see your profile.

Summary and connection:
Chapter 6 discussed social bookmarking, how to manage digital content,and issues surrounding online learning .Also instructional technologies where introduced such as webQuests, virtual field trips and video conferencing. I find this really interesting and fun to use i remember sometime in middle school my band teacher wanted us to hear his friend play the piano and he put his friend through Skype to play for us i found it very interesting because it was something new to me.



Resources:
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.