Blog Reflection #5 - Final

This semester has been an amazing experience for me. This course has opened the doors to many new great tools for me as an educator. I have learned so… many things it is unreal. Some of the things include how to create a blog, how to use social bookmarking, how to create a wiki, how to create a webpage/ePortfolio, how to create a podcast, and I have learned of the vast amount of resources available through Google.

When looking back at my philosophy, it has definitely changed. I believe this is because of the many new things I have learned about the use of technology and the potential it has within a classroom.

All of the projects I have created this semester are something I will truly treasure. I am very proud of the things I have created and I am ready to share them with my peers. I hope to use the ePortfolio as a tool to teach other educators about the vast amount of opportunities technology brings to our classrooms today. I hope to continue my educational technology endeavors and learn many more new and useful things.  

Reflective Blog #4

Not Just an Age Phenomenon:

Are you more comfortable composing documents online than longhand?

-Yes, I prefer to use the computer for creating documents, as opposed to longhand.

Have you turned your "remembering" (phone numbers, meetings, and so on) over to a technology device?

-Yes, I use my iphone for everything! I have all of my phone numbers stored, create grocery lists, use the calendar application to keep track of my daily schedule, and much more. 

Do you go to meetings with your laptop or PDA?

-The district I work for, Forney ISD, provides laptops for all teachers. Because of this convenience, I do carry my laptop to every meeting.

Are you constantly connected? Is the Internet always on whether you are at home or work? Is your cell phone always with you?

-I would say yes, I am constantly connected. Whether I am at home or away from home I can always connect to the internet. At home I typically use my laptop and when I am on the go I usually use my cell phone.

How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time?

-If I had to guess, I would say quite a few. I am usually doing something with my family, while also being connected to some type of network. 

Do you play video or computer games?

-I do not play video or computer games.

Generational Category:

I would consider myself to be in the Net Generation category because….

-I was born between 1982 and 1991.

-I am very hopeful and determined with everything I do.

-I like the latest technologies and dislike anything slow and negative.

Net Gen and K-12 Students:

Because our students have many of the characteristics of a Net Generational learner, we need to keep this in mind when teaching them. We should be working to integrate the latest technologies into their learning environments. They should have the opportunity to use technology on a daily basis. We should also emphasize the importance of being determined and supporting them with the many decisions they make. During the day, teachers should allow for change, making sure the students do not become bored over a lesson that is going “slow”. Lastly, we need to remember to stay positive at all times; these students do not work well under negative circumstances.  

Reflective Blog #3

After reading the article, Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning, I came across one of the research based principles related to AFL that I seemed to truly relate to:

“AFL develops learners’ capacity for self-assessment so that they can become reflective and self-managing”

I believe I can relate to this principle because of my strong belief in student self-reflection. I find it very important for our students to learn the importance of reflection and the idea of assessing themselves as individuals. 

Portfolio assessments have great potential in education today. I believe it can serve as a way for students to reflect upon their learning experiences and give them a sense of motivation towards achieving a successful display of their knowledge. As the article stated, this gives students the opportunity “to tell their own story”. I also learned through the article that the portfolio may increase student understanding of what, why, and how they have actually learned.

I personally am very excited to begin the process of creating and developing my own portfolio. I believe it will help enrich my learning experience and will help me better understand what and why I have learned these new concepts. It will also help serve as a reminder for future reference and possibly be used as an example for other educators and even student portfolio opportunities. 

Reflective Blog #2

MAPping Activity

After completing the information literacy quiz, I realized I am not as “savvy” as I thought. This activity gave me a lot of new valuable information to think about when using the internet for information. I will now check the URL for specific extensions and I will check to see if it is a “personal page”. After gaining this knowledge I am not very confident about the information I have used in the past. I know there had to be sites that were not reputable sources. Even though I am sad to admit this, I am glad that I now know a new way of searching the internet, which will better my chances for the future.     

If we fail to teach our students the proper way to search the internet they are likely to find inaccurate information and will be lead to believe it is correct. Students may then use this information for important educational purposes and be caught off guard when they learn their background knowledge is incorrect. Even though some schools may block access to certain sites, many students complete projects, papers, and assignments on their personal computers at home. This will be when students find the inaccurate information.  

Delicious and/or Google Reader

There are so… many advantages for using these sites to help organize information. I personally played with Delicious the most, and I absolutely love it! There are many times when I am looking online for literacy and math station ideas, short science lessons, and even good websites for my students to use, but I never seem to find what I am looking for. With Delicious I found a way to search for specific “tags”. Within a specific search, I found a tag for “Kindergarten” and within that tag there were “related tags” for all subject areas! When I found other people who seemed to have the same interests, I could then network with these users. This was amazing, I love it!! Thank you so… much for sharing this with us.  

Creating a Wiki

When creating and developing my wiki, I chose to use it for my Kindergarten team. I wanted it to be a way to open communication between each of us three Kindergarten teachers and our group of parents. Within my wiki I began adding things like word wall words, upcoming events, homework, weekly objectives, daily schedules, and the list seems to keep growing.

Advantages/Disadvantages of a Wiki

The advantages I see in utilizing a wiki by far outnumber the disadvantages. Some advantages include greater opportunities for collaboration, quick editing, instantaneous information, open structure, people in different locations can access the same documents, and it is easy to use and learn. The only disadvantages I see is that “anyone” can edit the information posted on the wiki.

The wiki will be a great tool to help engage both my team teachers and classroom parents with collaboration. I believe it will help with communication and their interest in what is going on in the classroom. I am hoping that it will also have positive effects on my both my students’ achievement rates and attitudes towards learning.      

eLearning Tools Wiki

When exploring this wiki, I found a web 2.0 technology called “LiveBinders”. LiveBinders is an organizational tool that is used to help in assisting with the organization of written text, images, internet resources, videos, and more. I would love to explore this further. I believe it would be a great way for teachers to organize thematic units. Instead of collecting huge binders that are placed on bookshelves in the classroom, why not create a virtual binder!  

Reflective Blog #1

Educational Technology Philosophy:

As an elementary teacher I believe education plays a crucial role in the lives of all students. The purpose of education is to provide opportunities for learners to excel and gain new knowledge. This knowledge should stay with the students and allow for great opportunities. The knowledge should be used within their daily lives, whether it is used independently or in a social/collaborative setting.

The role of the learner in education should include that of a teammate. The learner should work collaboratively with peers and educators to create new learning opportunities. The learner will participate in authentic experiences and should use higher level thinking to accomplish tasks.

The role of the teacher becomes that of a facilitator. Learning should be student-centered and student-led. The teacher will become more of a motivator and work alongside each student group. The educator will teach independence and train students to use their peers as teammates in the learning process.

As a teacher I believe students should have the opportunity to work collaboratively with peers, use higher level thinking, and participate in real-life learning environments. They should have access to technology during all activities and be given choices with all assignments. After completing assignments and/or activities in the classroom students should be encouraged to complete a reflection over what they have accomplished.

My approach as an educator includes many non-traditional teaching methods and strategies. I use games, different forms of technology, hands-on experiences, and collaborative grouping to accomplish objectives within my classroom. Students not only learn new content, but they enjoy the learning experience along the way.

Within my classroom I have very high expectations for all students. Knowing that each child may be on a different academic level, I still set high goals for each student. At the beginning of each unit, I sit and have a short meeting with each student where we collaborate together and write down their goals for the upcoming weeks. Goals and expectations go hand in hand in my classroom setting, I believe this is very important for student success.

My philosophy of education seems to change in small pieces the more I learn and grow as an educator. In my opinion, technology and education work together seamlessly. Because of this, I look forward to this learning journey and what I can add to my philosophy after the class is complete.  

*This exercise will help me in the future when I need to refer back to ideas for educational technology. It may help me in gaining a new career and/or helping assist future students. Having a philosophy down in writing is good to have for many reasons. When I write down beliefs and ideas that are important to me, I seem more likely to closely follow the philosophy and live it day to day.

Educational Blogging:

There are many potential uses for blogging, especially in an educational setting. The use of weblogs is a great way to support learning. Weblogs allow students the opportunity to communicate between other classmates and the teachers. Blogging allows students to express their opinions in a way that can be discussed with others around the world. I believe blogs can help students become more reflective and engaged with their classroom activities.

Downes’ article suggests five major ways a blog can be used in education, including replacing web pages, linking sites, organize discussions, organize seminars, and finally students are asked to write their own blogs for a course grade.

I believe some schools have met a fraction of the potential, however most have not. I would say this is because of the lack of resources available to schools, teachers, and students. Without adequate funds for computers and computer programming, students will not be granted the opportunity to excel in this type of learning environment.

Creating a Culture for Teaching and Learning: 

November’s article outlines six areas to think about and change. The one that stood out to me the most was #2. Coming Attraction: Live Video Cameras in Every Classroom. After reading this idea, I began thinking of all the positive things this could bring to education. WOW!! Parents could log on to watch what is happening in their child’s classroom and teachers could now collaborate while watching video of what went on during the day. This would be a great way to build and strengthen relationships and would be a true asset to all parties involved.  

Concept Map:

My concept map explains many details within the field of educational technology. It describes today’s learners, the reality of education today, the impact technology has on education, and points out many different ways educational technology is applied within a school setting.

Expectations:  

I have high expectations for this class and learning new ways to use technology within my classroom environment. I want to take away new tools and/or strategies to use with my students that will help them become more engaged in the learning process. I would also like to learn better ways of integrated technology into the daily curriculum.