Reflective Post

Before I started this course, I thought I knew what it meant to integrate technology into education. I was on the computer all of the time, I knew how to search properly, I used several of the Microsoft Office programs, and I thought I could figure the rest out myself. Now that I have learned so much more, I realize how little I knew about technology and education.

By Jeffrey Anderson [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I was also never a group work type of person (ironic, since I want to be a teacher), even though I believe in the advantages to cooperative learning. I have experienced the benefits to group work, personally, while in this class. For example, while working on the collaborative lesson plan, I was able to put my opinions and ideas in, while also receiving suggestions and ideas from others. Ultimately, it was an enjoyable experience because I was able to learn from my group members. Group work is also a great way for students to get a sense of control and responsibility, and it helps teachers focus on small groups rather than class as a whole (Maloy, 2014, p. 61). Not only did the collaborative lesson plan provide a learning experience as I stated, but it was also an assignment that helped me develop an understanding of a few of the learning objectives in this class. I was able to demonstrate and further my knowledge in ways to create a lesson plan that applies to everyone. We were able to create a lesson plan that included necessary help or assistive technology for students in need, such as ELL students.

Like I said above, I am not a groupwork kind of person, which is still somewhat true; I have taken many personality type quizzes and have always gotten the results of INFP (Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, Perceiving) or INTP (Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Perceiving). The most recent personality quiz that I have taken described me as INFP, and lists some career choices recommended for that personality type, teaching is one of them, but it is not specified as to what kind of teacher (BSM Consulting, Inc., 2015). My goal is to be an elementary teacher, which is listed under the ISFJ (Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging) personality type in my text book from another course I have taken (Fralick, 2012). Although my personality type is not ideal for the career I have chosen, knowing myself has made me realize how to use my knowledge of personality type to enhance my ability to become an elementary teacher. Knowing that I am INFP, or INTP, and taking this course has helped me put my goals into better perspective. It has also given me many resource that I now know how to use and enhance with my own personality.

   by  Brett Jordan 

   by  RichardStep.com 

My favorite assignment that we were given was the WebQuest. WebQuests are an amazing way to get students involved in learning. According to the text, WebQuests are a way for teachers to have students use their individual learning strengths (p. 140). As I was researching them, I enjoyed doing some of the WebQuests myself, and it was just as enjoyable and educational making a WebQuest of my own. Even though the WebQuest was my favorite, I would have to say that I learned the most from creating my ePortfolio. While creating my portfolio on the Weebly site, I had to use many of the skills obtained in this course. The blog posts built up to it though, because for each blog post, I was required to use a (different) Web 2.0 tool. Each time I created something using the variety of Web 2.0 tools, I was enhancing my knowledge of what types of technology were best to use in a classroom, and how to use them educationally (p. 10).

I can honestly say that, to me, this course was more educational than most. I didn't just learn a concept and take a test on it; I was able to implement what I was learning, and what I had already learned, into assignments. In addition to using what I learned, the assignments were not just given to complete, they were a perfect preparation for what I am going to have to do and create in my not-so-far future!

My least favorite parts of the course were the discussions. It’s not that I didn't like the topics, but it was the fact that they felt sporadic to me. I would have enjoyed, and learned more from them, if we had them more often throughout the course. I may feel that way because my other online class had a discussion every week, but I enjoyed the frequency. I was able to get an idea of my classmates’ opinions and ideas, which broadened my knowledge; whereas, I only received that form the group assignments in this course.

To sum it up, I would say more discussions would be an ideal improvement. I am trying to think of ways to improve the course, but I mostly come up with positive aspects of it. My experience in this class has enhanced my knowledge of integrating technology into education phenomenally, and made me realize that the knowledge is never-ending. Technology is always changing, which means the relationship between technology and education is always changing and progressing!



Resources:

Careers for INFP Personality Types. (n.d.). Retrieved May 3, 2015, from https://www.personalitypage.com/html/INFP_car.html

Career Test Center - personality types. (2013, January 1). Retrieved May 3, 2015, from http://www.careertest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl

Fralick, M. (2012). Exploring Your Personality and Major. Cornerstone Experience Building the Foundation for Success.; (5th ed.). Kendall Hunt Pub.

Giuliano, J. (2015). Education Quotes. Created with Classtools.net

Maloy, R. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Digital Blog Post #L: Chapter 12

I liked that the authors broke down the two factors that create successful learning. The teacher mindset is an important factor in successful learning. What needs to be considered is what resources on the internet will promote the learning of a specific goal. The technological resources should be used to tie everything together, as in, you should have a set lesson plan and integrate the technology, not the other way around. Also, multiple pathways are important because there are so many ways to integrate technology into the lesson. If you only use one pathway, then you could be missing out on important information that students could use. There are always options, such as the smartboard as the technology used for the whole classroom, instead of each student having their own computers.

The stages of technology integration were very informative. I was able to picture myself, while learning, into each stage. The entry stage I have already gone through, because I have learned how to use the computer and I am able to apply that knowledge to my work. In my intro to teaching class, I used basic technology integration in my lesson plan presented to the class. I used a youtube video and a document projector, but had not yet learned more in-depth technology integration. I feel like adaptation, appropriation, and invention are continuous and not necessarily in stages. To be in the adaptation stage, you must be experimenting with the many uses of technology, which is the invention stage, and once you have decided on the technology for the lesson you have reached the appropriation stage.

Click here for larger version

It intrigues me to know why things are the way they are and this chapter is more descriptive, to me, than the other chapters. It didn't just tell you that you should use the technology and how it helps students, but it is more descriptive as to how it helps the teacher, and the steps to go about using technology.

Resources:

Giuliano, J. (2015). Trasbin Game. Created with Classtools.net


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

Digital Blog Post #K: Chapter 6

Reading this chapter made me appreciate social bookmarking more than I already do. I like that when I become a teacher, I will be able to go back and use some of the sites that I have previously saved, and I like that its almost like a mini search engine. I can easily find websites that experiences teachers have already bookmarked. It is better than Googling them and finding websites that aren't legitimate or useful.

I like the word folksonomy. I thought it was funny and it is a good word to describe a community of people with like interests and such! I also like the tagging feature on social bookmarking sites. It's convenient to be able to type a few words in and find what you are looking for. I have explored Delicious after I made the account for this site and I like that there are so many things to explore, but at the same time it isn't just random things with similar word like a regular search engine.

I have used information alerts in the past, but I never thought about using them for any other reason other than for personal use. I like that the textbook gave the idea of a teacher getting notified of new teaching methodology and things like that.

After reading Chapter 6 in the text, see if you can rack up the points with the game below. Good Luck!

Resources:

Giuliano, J. (2015). Learning with Technology. Created with FlipQuiz.me

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

Digital Blog Post #J: Chapter 11

I like to make pro and con lists for myself, so when I see them somewhere else I am always interested. On page 285, there is a list and table that gives the pros and cons to a digital portfolio. Seeing as we are going to have to create our own ePortfolio, I was intrigued. Having a digital portfolio is good because it is easily accessible, anyone with internet (which is almost everyone) has the ability to access said ePortfolio. It is also easy to carry around, instead of having a stack of papers, all you need is some kind of electronic device. Digital portfolios give the creator the ability to use creativity to express their skills, interests, and accomplishments. Digital portfolios also expand the network that a paper portfolio reaches.

The down side of having a digital portfolio is that if you are not well educated in technology, it is a harder task to accomplish. It also requires the person to spend a great deal of time on learning how to use the technology. Digital portfolios don't always reach the goal audience either, and the digital portfolios give the creator the idea of enhancing the look of the portfolio rather than the information.
Created by Jeanine Giuliano
Although there are several pros and several cons, I feel that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

The preassessments remind me of when I was in elementary school, and when a lesson was just beginning, we would fill out the KWL charts. The KWL charts were made up of three columns; the first was the K column in which we wrote what we Know about the subject, the second was the column where we would write what we Want to know, and the third was the column that we would write what we Learned after the lesson. They were a way to get students interested in the subject at hand, and I am glad that I was reminded, so that I can use them for my future students,

I really liked the idea of teaching with a clicker. Most students enjoy being involved in the lesson plan, and I think it is a new way to integrate the student participation in class.

Resources:

Giuliano, J. (2015). Survey. Created with Surveymonkey.com

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

Digital Blog Post #I: Chapter 4

When I think of using technology in lesson development, I tend to think immediately of using a computer in class, but as the book indicates, it doesn't always consist of using a computer for every lesson. It was nice to read the list of online lesson development resources on page 75. I have never heard of most of them. I have, however, heard of Wonderopolis and Smithsonian's History Explorer, both of which are fun and very inspirational to use for future lesson plans for myself.

The diagram of the Elements of Lesson Development was very educational. I understood that teaching and lesson planning is a constant cycle, but to see it on paper was helpful for me to understand and focus on when I am looking at lesson planning. Each element affects the other, as well as, each element relying on the others.




Reading about the student performance rubrics was eye-opening. I have always seen the rubrics and followed them accordingly, but to understand, in detail, what they are for is very good to know for the future when creating rubrics for my own students. I know that I have already made my own rubric for evaluating a website, but to read more about it was interesting.

Resources:

Giuliano, J. (2015). Andrea. Created with Voki.com

Giuliano, J. (2015). Gregory. Created with Voki.com

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

Digital Badge Post #H: Chapter 9

Digital Projectors, or multimedia projectors, are used to project images from a computer or other digital device to a large screen or some other surface. Document cameras capture what is on a paper and project it onto a large screen just as a digital projector does to a computer screen. I have never used these technologies until I started college in 2014. I graduated high school in 2008, when our best projector system was the overhead projector that was as big as a computer and had to constantly be refocused when moved. I find the digital projectors much more useful and the document cameras much more convenient!




On page 221 of the textbook, Table 9.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Powerpoint lists a disadvantage to each advantage. I respectfully disagree with some of the disadvantages. The first was that they can't take the place of more in-depth discussions and analysis. I do not disagree that this is true, but I think that PowerPoint presentations are actually an incredible in-depth discussion starter. After presenting facts, they lead to greater and more thoroughly thought out questions, rather than hearing a lecture and only thinking of basic questions to go along with the lesson. I, also, disagree with the disadvantage of students tuning out during the presentation because I have learned, through this class, how to embed pictures, videos, and audio into what I am working on. Anyone can include these things, and even if they do not know how to embed things, they can always copy and paste a link that they can go to in order to keep the students' attention.

I enjoyed reading about the video streaming resources for teachers in the Tech Tool 9.2 section of the text. I decided to check a few of them out and I especially liked the PBS Learning Media. I found it very educational, as well as, impressed by the wide range of subject matter.

Resources:

Giuliano, J (14 March 2015). Tech Advance. Created with Voki.com

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

Digital Blog Post #F: Chapter 8

I like the idea of a teacher-made website. I have seen them myself, mostly made for elementary school classes. I think it is helpful, especially for parents who want to see, specifically, details about their child's class. I also like the idea for a Wiki being a communication medium between teachers and students. It is also very helpful to have an additional place to find homework assignments, if a student forgets to write their assignments down. I have also seen teachers put copies of their worksheets on their website, so that students can go online if the misplace their work. 

I have never heard of educational networking. I found it interesting and resourceful that teachers are now communicating with each other through a sort of educational-social network. I think it is a very smart idea to use a network to discuss curriculum and educational information. 

Ning is also very intriguing to me, I like that anyone, regardless of experience can use it. It is a website that you can create a social network, either public or only open to those invited. Technology has advanced so much over the years and although some people are "afraid" of the internet and its effects, it has come a long way to ease and improve our communication techniques.

Resources:

Giuliano, J. (2015). BrainyBox. Created with Classtools.net

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