Apply and Discover 11.1

Before beginning this class I had no idea just how far technology integration into the classroom could go. I think it would be safe to say that I was very technologically naïve! At the beginning of this class I thought of technology integration as just having computers available to students to use in the classroom. I now understand all of the tools available (Web 2.0!) to allow students to interact and engage in their learning using technology. My thoughts about technology integration have changed in that I now understand that technology is a tool that most all students in today’s classrooms know how to use. When teachers can incorporate technology into the classroom it allows students to explore and become active participants in their own learning experience!

Being able to use technology to meet state standards allows teachers the opportunity to differentiate their teaching style to meet the many learning needs of their students. We all know that our students are not “cookie cutter” learners; they each learn and understand in their own unique way. If we can use technology to create programs or utilize games that would teach the same concept, but present the material in a new way, why not? We live in a world where each state assesses its students using standardized tests. Many times our students are just taught to pass a test.  Isn’t it more important to understand and know the material being taught rather than just memorize it to pass a test? Technology integration allows for a better understanding.

My thinking about technology in the classroom has changed because I now understand how interactive technology can be and how much it allows for differentiation. I had no idea that about WebQuests, using blogs, Pod Casts, etc. Honestly, my ideas of technology integration were limited to Power Points and the occasional YouTube video. Seeing and understanding that students can take a very active role and even work together using technology allows me to better understand the importance of “speaking the language” that our digital native learns speak and incorporating technology, as much as possible, into the curriculum and lessons.

            

One of the biggest concepts from this class that I am taking with me is the practice of Student-Centered Learning and the idea of Universal Design in the classroom. Allowing students to take control of their learning only allows that student to gain better knowledge of content and really take an interest in what they are learning, not just learn (memorize) to pass a test. I have learned that technology only works to aid teachers when it comes to meeting the many learning need of their students. Technology allows students to work at their own pace and challenge themselves appropriately while all still gaining the same ideas and skill sets.

            

Apply and Discover 10.1

Karena Allen - A Frog's Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP5iilroUvc

 

Karena's WebQuest was very centered for her targeted age groups (1st and 2nd grade).  enjoyed the simple language ans set up as well as incorporating terms that are used by other teachers throughout the school (Must-Do and Can-Do). I also enjoyed the links and thought that they were a great use of connecting learning to life by using sites that showed frogs from their state (NH).The rubric was simple and to the point, exactly what you are looking for in a 1st and 2nd grade classroom!

My only thought is while there were several forms of assessment provided through the use of printouts, what about assessments using technology? I wonder if that is something that is not possible in her particular school or if she has just found greater success with paper print outs.

Overall I really enjoyed this WebQuest and even learned something myself!

Apply and Discover 10.1

Dawn Glidden - True Stories Told Live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HRzKBi_6UA

 

I really enjoyed how Dawn used technology and encouraged her students to do so as well. A great link used in the introduction (I Remember When...) is a great way to get the students thinking about topics. I also really enjoyed the idea of having "winners" and the prize being having your Pod Cast published on the school site. What a great incentive to work hard and create something that they can be proud of. 

 Also, allowing students to vote on each others  work is a great way to have group work and create a sort of "competition" in the classroom. A great tool for the age group!

Overall I really enjoyed the presentation and idea behind the WebQuest. The WebQuest did seem a little difficult to navigate, but not impossible. I would have also liked to see more of the links and pages of the WebQuest in the presentation.

Apply and Discover 10.1

Jenn Freeda - Matter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSyQg0HuNEU

I enjoyed Jenn's opening, it was full of bright images and colors that would grab the attention of kindergartners. Including parent volunteers and simple directions is a great way to encourage the parents to participate and become active in their students learning. The videos that she uses from brainpop.com are age appropriate and fun. The fact that the students can then choose from two different quizzes and the quizzes are spoken or the students can read them is a great way to differentiate for student learning.

I also enjoyed the final project of creating pancakes! What a great visual for students to see and learn how matter changes. And what kindergartner does not love a tasty treat?! The rubric was also very positive and encouraging to the students. It was defiantly age appropriate.

Overall I really enjoyed this WebQuest. I feel that it is something that would be fun for in school and also at home.

Apply and Discover 9.1

      What does it mean to "provide equal access to the digital world"? 

   
     Providing equal access to the digital world means being able to meet the many different learning needs and styles of our students through the use of technology. Teachers need to plan and accommodate the wide range of learning abilities that they have in their classroom by providing many outlets of technology for their students to explore and learn about a given topic. After all, it has been said “The way people learn is as unique as their fingerprints” (UDLCast). If that is the case, teachers have their work cut out for them!

     In Module 9 we read and viewed videos all focusing on Universal Design Learning (UDL), “a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn” (Cast). The Center for Applied Special Technology (Cast) has formulated those principals into three main principals –

 --The curriculum provides multiple means of representation. Subject matter can be presented in alternate modes for students who learn best from visual or auditory information, or for those who need differing levels of complexity. 


 --The curriculum provides multiple means of expression to allow students to respond with their preferred means of control. This accommodates the differing cognitive strategies and motor-system controls of students. 


 --The curriculum provides multiple means of engagement. Students' interests in learning are matched with the mode of presentation and their preferred means of expression. Students are more motivated when they are engaged with what they are learning. (Orkwis)

While many teachers have been implementing the ideas of UDL for many years, whether it is by offering larger text books for students who have trouble reading or by viewing visual aids such as pictures or videos, the growing use and availability of technology in the classroom is providing teachers the opportunity to reach a wide range of student abilities. Technology only works to aid teachers in their practice of UDL because it provides the greatest flexibility for teachers when it comes to presentation of material and assessment of student progress.
   
     With almost all of our students growing up in a world flooded by technology, teachers are able to utilize technology and all its tools and really engage and interest their students in learning. Our students come to us from all walks of life, it is our job to reach each one of them and challenge them in a way that will encourage them to learn and grow. If we can use technology to speak to the diverse learning abilities of each of our students we are able to create more of an equal playing field in the classroom where students all learn together.

 Resources 

Cast. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/

Orkwis, R., & (1999, December). Curriculum Access and Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-4/access.htm

UDLCast (2010). UDL at a Glance. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDvKnY0g6e4

Apply and Discover 3.1

Tagxedo - Shel Silverstein

http://www.tagxedo.com/app.html?submission=12c34499393443a1

Apply and Discover 3.2

My Animoto Video

Apply and Discover 2.2

In today’s schools, with a population of digital natives, it is becoming more important to introduce and utilize technology to engage our students in their learning and to prepare them for the world outside of the classroom. Technology is not just a form of entertainment; it is a positive learning tool that opens up so many doors for those who know how to use it and are given the opportunity. As teachers we know that not all students learn at the same pace or same level. I know from experience that it can be difficult to effectively communicate an idea or lesson to my students in ways that they all grasp and understand. Through the use of technology in the classroom instruction can become more student-centered, meaning that each student can control the pace and way that they explore a topic. 

During our reading for Module 2 we were provided with an article entitled Technology Applications to support Diverse Learner. I found that this particular article opened my eyes to the specific technology accommodations that exist for our students. Technology that I found particularly interesting was the text to speech options, ScreenReader by TextHelp or Reading Pen by Wizcomtec, talking word processors, Read and Write Gold by TextHelp or Write Outloud by Don Johnsto, and OCR and word processors, TestTalkster. Thinking back to my own education, I feel almost cheated that these tools and the idea of student-centered learning did not exist.  

Having done my undergraduate work in English and Literary Studies, and thinking back to my practicum and student teaching work in a very rural community in Washington County, Maine, I remember many of my junior high school students unable to read a chapter of a novel for discussion or making up excuses as to why they could not read, “the print is too small.” Or my Senior high school students writing the first draft of their college essays and not knowing where to start a new paragraph or the correct structure of an essay. These were seniors, some preparing for college! I still think back to those students and can’t help but feel sad for them. This school did utilize technology very well. We had a computer lab that students could use the laptops for no more than two hours a day. I remember trying to set up a lesson for my students to research the biography of different Maine authors and present their findings to the class using SMART board. We were only able to get computers one day, the rest of the research was done at home or outside of the class and I had to bring a SMART board from my university over to the high school. Such a simple lesson with technology use was so difficult to pull off! 

If the types of technology mentioned above had been available to those students I believe they would have been so much further ahead in their understanding of literacy and reading comprehension. If I were to design instruction for those students today I would encourage them to use such technologies listed above as well as things like interactive media and graphic organizers. It was mentioned through our discussion boards that one teacher gives each of her students a simple quiz at the begging of the school year to determine how they learn best. I love, love, LOVE this! Not only does it show the students that you care about their education, but you show them that they should too! Once we know how our student’s best learn we can then see technology we have available and what we can research other technologies that could possibly be introduced to our students.

On a Side Note –

I found this site that I thought provided a pretty fun learning styles quiz, as well as breaking down the different learning styles.

http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html

Teachable Moments

By Matthew Henry Hall