Blog Post #6

When I read the prompt for the sixth blog post in this course, the first school that came to my mind was my elementary school - Resurrection Catholic School. I visited the website that I used to call my home and, although I could not find any specific "class" pages, I did find a curriculum page. This page highlights what specific topics those in the elementary school will be covering, along with those in the middle school. The link for the website is: http://www.rcslakeland.org/academics/curriculum/. And the screenshot of the curriculum page can be seen below!

If my plan to become a high school teacher actually follows through, then I would envision myself using technology in the classroom to better enhance my communication with students, parents, and other teachers. I would hope that I would correctly and effectively utilize productivity tools, thus allowing me to complete every day tasks in a more organized manner.

Last week, we visited the COE Tech Sandbox, where we were able to experience new technologies that may be available to us in the classroom. One of these tools, and one that I often used in both middle school and high school, was a SmartBoard. The SmartBoard is, essentially, an interactive white board. Since I have past experience with this specific tool, I feel like I would be prepared to use a SmartBoard in my own future classroom and utilize the unique experiences that only a SmartBoard can provide.

ILP 1: Participation

Last week we traveled to the COE Tech Sandbox as a class field trip and I learned a lot about different types of technology that I didn't know existed! To be honest, I didn't even know where the Tech Sandbox was located in the Stone Building and that students had access to the technology there. One of the technological tools that we got to look at can be seen below - it's a learning tool that attaches to iPads; the electronic reader can sense when the letters are placed near the device and students can even race each other to see who can spell the words the fastest.

Another cool piece of technology that we got to play with was Google glasses. Although they were hard to use at first, the prototype has a lot of potential for the future, even though the instructors at the Sandbox said that the glasses seemed to be "dead" technology. These glasses can be seen below, in a selfie I took with my friend and classmate Hannah!

Blog Post #5

Web 2.0 technologies are known as the second generation tools because they tend to be more sophisticated, interactive, and collaborative than the original web 1.0 technologies. Based on the podcast about using web 2.0 in the classroom, I think that the tool most useful in the classroom would be Twitter - it opens a world of communication previously hidden from students and allows them to directly (and quickly) message either professors, other peers, or even famous authors/politicians. However, I think that wiki pages would be less useful in the classroom; growing up, we are constantly told not to use wiki and, although we did utilize the technology in this course, I think that using wiki as a collaborative tool is both outdated and tedious. No one likes group projects, anyway.

When I was in high school, we often used a web 2.0 technology called Edmodo - it was basically designed as a Facebook page, but all of your friends were your classmates and the posts were only school-related. It even had an app that would send you notifications when your teacher posted an assignment or reply! Many students (including myself) did not appreciate Edmodo at the time, but looking at it from a teacher's point of view has made me realize the benefits that Edmodo actually has. The link is https://www.edmodo.com, but you would need a specific class code to get into a particular classroom/course.

Out of all of the advancements presented in chapter twelve, I think that the most successful/interesting would be "gamification" - it adds game elements to instructional content to increase motivation and interactivity among students. I would say that 3D printing would be the most successful and utilized in the classroom, but I have watched enough Grey's Anatomy episodes to know that 3D printing involves a long process and, in my opinion, it can be better used in the medical field.

Blog Post #4

When I was in high school, I created a personal Twitter account just because all of my friends had already done so - it was the "cool" thing to do. As I got into college, I realized how easily news can be shared via Twitter and how many politicians even had their own Twitter accounts. When we began utilizing Twitter in this course, I created another Twitter account just for my weekly tweets and educational updates. By having all of my classmates and my professor on Twitter, I have been able to better understand the material and, not to mention, my classmates' tweets serve as good reminders for any assignments that may be due. Although I have only interacted with a few of my classmates via Twitter, learning how to communicate with others on different online platforms is beneficial to any future job, especially considering the pace at which technology is advancing. After using Twitter in this course, I will definitely be considering using Twitter in my future classroom - it allows for fast communication and is exciting compared to other social media outlets!

The digital divide is a term used to describe the gap between those who do and do not have access to technology - not everyone owns a computer and not everyone has internet access at home. This divide has affected student success for years, especially as technology advances. Students who have access to technology are more likely to succeed in school, while those on the other end of the spectrum are more likely to struggle in school. As an educator, it is important to understand these differences and to treat each student according to their needs; maybe spend more time with those who are struggling or create specific assignments that will guide them in the right direction, especially when technology is being used. If a homework assignment calls for the use of technology and a student does not have those resources at home, give him or her extra time during the school day or delay the assignment's due date a week. At the end of the day, the students are our top priority as educators and we should try to help them in any way possible.

Active learning software is a diverse collection of academic software that can be used to enrich teaching and learning, both for students and teachers. Out of all of the software types presented in chapter eight, the student software that I would expect to use the most in my future classroom would be desktop publishing, which would enable me to create study materials, worksheets, flyers, posters, online magazines, and other media. The student software that I would be least likely to utilize in my future classroom, however, would be authoring systems. If my goal of becoming a high school English teacher becomes a reality, then I will not be needing authoring systems such as "Storyline" as much as I would need "Microsoft Publisher".

Blog Post #3

Out of all of the ELA technology standards, I would say that the one I would be most comfortable with teaching about would be SL.3 - "Evaluate Speaker's Point of View". This standard involves evaluating a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence or rhetoric; I often used these skills in my high school courses and feel that I would be able to communicate these skills effectively when applied to media sources. The one ELA technology standard that I would need to be more educated about, however, would be SL.5 - "Use Digital Media". This standard involves making strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information/enhance understanding of presentations. Although I have used digital media in the past, there are a wide variety of sources that I am unfamiliar with and would need extra guidance before trying to communicate this standard with others.

Based on the information presented in chapter nine, the technology application that I would like to use with my future students would be an online blog. If my current plan follows through, I will end up becoming a high school teacher in the English department and a blog would fit perfectly with the curriculum. Since I will be teaching in a high school atmosphere, the digital citizenship guideline that would appropriately fit this situation would be: "Student participation in the community is meaningful, appropriate, and on topic and advances the community as a whole". As high schoolers, they will already demonstrate the technology skills necessary to use the blog but they will need encouragement to contribute appropriately and respectfully to the assignment(s).

To be honest, the main thing that I learned from the newsletter design assignment was how much work teachers actually put into those newsletters - all those years spent in school, I didn't even realize how much time and energy went into making them! I will say, however, that I initially struggled with the "two column" function and I was even confused on how to insert a hyperlink. If I were to do this assignment a second time, I would not wait until the last minute to think of article topics, because being creative can be hard sometimes. Either way, I am pretty happy with how my newsletter design assignment turned out!