Final Exam- Reflective Post

Being an Education major, I was excited to be able to take a class that wasn't math, or history. Finally a class that pertained to what I wanted to do with my life and that interested me. With that being said, when I saw that it was a technology based class, I was a little hesitant being that I am not the most technologically advanced person in the world. After coming to the class for the first couple of weeks, and getting to know some of the people in my class, and getting my feet wet with some new technology, I felt one hundred times more confident using technology on my own. The blog post was particularly something that I thought was the most helpful in helping me learn and get used to using different tools and programs. Being that I had to do that on my own and on a regular basis, it really forced me to learn it for myself and explore the tools and programs out there to use as a future teacher. Second to the blog, some of my other favorite activities we did were the Geocache and the Collaborative Lesson Plan. Being able to interact with classmates and learn together made it especially interesting. We were able to bounce ideas off of each other, and work together to produce something, much like what it would be like working in a school with other teachers. If i had to enhance the class in any way, I might just add a test or two throughout the course, maybe that quizzed us on the textbook readings, or class lectures.

In regards to the Lesson Outcomes that we looked at in the beginning of the semester, I can definitely say that we covered all of them throughout the course. In completing our Collaborative Lesson Plan, we addressed the outcomes of developing an Internet based project incorporating technology, as well as creating ways to help English Language Learners through technological tools and teaching methods. Through the Discussion Boards we participated in over the semester, we addressed the learning outcomes of selecting tools that would be beneficial for special and diverse learners, identifying and researching ethical and legal issues for using technology in a classroom, and lastly analyzing websites based on national and state educational resources. Through creating our teacher webpage and portfolio I was able to address the learning outcome of reflecting on ways that I would use technology in a classroom, and how I would teach in a K-12 classroom. Last but not least, through reviewing a website of my choice, I was able to address the outcome of evaluating and critiquing software tools that could possibly be used in a classroom setting. It has been a great semester, and the resources that I learned about in this class, such as KaHoot, Delicious, Wordle, and Wikispaces, will be things that I use in my classroom when I finally become a teacher.  Thank you for a great year, and everything that you taught me! :)

 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.

Digital Blog Post #K- Chapter 4

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  Learning Assessments: I can definitely understand how important these would be. These allow teacher to know what they have to teach before they start the lesson, how fast or slow the kids are picking up on the material mid way through it, and how much they got out of the lesson at the conclusion of it. Without these, I believe teachers would not be able to know how much of the concept their students are grasping, and in turn would leave some more confused than anything.

Electronic Grading System: With all the planning and prepping teachers have to do in a day, anything that would simplify their workload would be a big help. Having this system that would organize students grades into categories, and allow the teacher to select the percentage at which those things affect the grade is super helpful. This also allows parents and students immediate access to grades outside of the classroom.

National Curriculum: This guides teachers in to what topics should be taught in certain categories. However, what I think is great about this, is that they don't tell teachers how to teach certain things. So a kids in different states can learn the same things, just in different ways. It keeps a sense of consistency between school districts in different counties, cities and states.


Resources:

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.

Digital Blog Post #J- Chapter 11

https://play.kahoot.it/#/k/6eedc671-12de-463b-b70d-e1ed957c5506 

 1. Surveying- I never thought of the importance of this before reading this chapter. But now, I can understand how much it can benefit both students and teachers. This way, kids aren't re-learning something they already know, and teachers aren't wasting class time going over something the students already know. This saves valuable class time, and I can definitely say I will utilize this in my classroom one day!

 2. Portfolios- I remember doing these a lot in elementary school and it was so cool to look back and see everything that I had done that year. I think both parents and students would appreciate it, and allow them to see how much they have grown and learned throughout that school year. It's something that the student could help keep track of and hold on to for as long as they would like!

 3. Democratic schools- I think that this is an important concept to have within a school to a certain degree. I do believe that if students had a say in what went in to their education that they would be more motivated in school and take more away from it. This would benefit teachers in the sense that students would be more engaged in the classroom because they chose in a way what and how they would learn that particular subject.

 Resources:

 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.

Digital Blog Post #I- Chapter 6

Resources:

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.

Digital Blog Post #H- Chapter 9

Resources:

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.

Digital Blog Post #F- Chapter 8

Resources: 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.

Digital Blog Post #E: Chapter 7

Resources: "How To Select The Best Educational Apps As Kids Go Back To School." Make Use Of. 1 Aug. 2013. Web. 1 Oct. 2015. 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. "Hector Lorenzo Blog's." Virtual Worlds for Children. 1 Oct. 2011. Web. 1 Oct. 2015 "Unit 1: What Is Problem Based Learning?" - KNILT. 1 May 2011. Web. 1 Oct. 2015. Creator of this Padlet and Blog: Jordan Wolf

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Digital Blog Post #D- Chapter 5

Resources:

 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.

Blog Post #C- Chapter 3

In reading chapter 3, these stood out to be the most important topics for me. These are all things i think are imperative to include in a classroom setting. Below is a video that better explains cognitivism and how useful it can be inside and outside of the classroom. 

Sources:

Leon, A. (2014, September 1). Learning by Doing. Retrieved September 17, 2015.

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.

Use a Learning Theory: Cognitivism. (2015, July 15). Retrieved September 17, 2015.

Digital Blog Post #B- Chapter 2

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. Diffusion of Innovation: The Adoption Curve. (n.d.). Retrieved September 10, 2015

Digital Blog Post #A- Chapter 1

From reading Chapter 1 Becoming a 21st Century Teacher,I think it put in perspective for me just how much of an affect technology has and will have on students and teachers. Growing up in an age where there was usually only one computer in a classroom, and you had a hard copy of books and worksheets, and everything was done by hand, its amazing to see how far things have come in classrooms today.

The first concept that really sparked an interest in me was the technology based textbook. For me its always been easier to have an actual textbook in front of me, rather than read it offlline. However, in reading through page 8, I saw just how much that limits what you can learn. Having this as an option for teachers to use, makes it so that they can pull various information from different sources, rather than have it all be from one persons point of view. When I have a classroom of my own I feel like this would be something useful to expand the students' minds and open them up to different perspectives. Before reading about this, it would have just been something I would have overlooked and thought would never work in a classroom.

Secondly, the idea of digital identity stuck out to me. With technology becoming a bigger influence in society today, we are really forced to learn how to use it effectively. With taking this class and learning this information, we will only become better teachers, and be able to guide our future students and lead them to success. While most will come into school already knowing how to use common sources of technology, we can help them build on what they already know, and be able to challenge them academically with technology. (page 15)

Lastly, the idea of social media technologies interested me. While my generation today uses social media as a means of staying connected with one another, and also mainly for fun, the idea that social networking sites could be used as an educational purpose is exciting. I think something like this would keep students engaged in learning, and also help them interact with others on assignments. (page 13)

https://youtu.be/2lSscbqRZVM

The link above if for a video I found on YouTube that was interesting to me about how students view technology from the past and throughout their schooling.


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.