The two projects I reviewed were by my classmates Nia and Brittany. Nia’s final project was a top motion video on organism relationships. In the film Nia used graphics and characters to display the relationships of mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism. One of the things I found interesting about Nia’s project was the way her sound effects were perfectly timed with the frame, I also found it easier to understand organism relationships thanks to her animation style. The overall presentation was very well put together and you can tell a great deal of effort went into it. I think the activity was perfectly aligned with Nia’s standards and the graphics and text not only explained each concept but applied it in a fun way. Brittany’s final project was an arcade game on ratios. I am not very good at math so I found the game format interesting and interactive. Brittany did not limit her arcade questions to word problems; in fact, she actually incorporated some mathematic definitions and numerical problems in her game. I think Brittany’s students will find her game engaging because it involves lots of movement (key strokes) and the game is interactive, colorful, and challenging. I think Brittany’s game and standard are perfectly aligned because the variety of questions she provides does not limit students to simply regurgitate information, the game requires them to think and apply their knowledge by selecting the correct answer. Overall both projects were very well constructed, engaging, and a pleasure to view and participate in. This class has really equipped teachers of various content areas and grade levels a chance to produce engaging classroom activities outside of the routine text book, pen, and paper activity. The final projects completed by my classmates and I will set the standard for the types of interactive technology we will use in our future classrooms, and though I began this class as a digital alien I am confident enough in my abilities to now say I am a digital native.
Blog Post 4 Digital Story (Book Talk)
For the digital book talk , it really took me quite a bit of time to piece together my assignment and I think the area I struggled the most was the 10 photo selection and the actual ordering of my storyboard. This project definitely required a great deal of planning and each step became a bit meticulous for me at times. Overall I am very happy with my finished work for the assignment. The value in completing this course’s tasks is that they require you to think as the teacher and the student. Sometimes as educators when we give direction and instruction it only makes since in our mind, by having to complete the tasks as the student we can really assess if our directions are clear and concise and if the students will fully understand what we are asking them to do. Essentially the value in the tasks is in the finished project, being able to effectively give direction and having the ability execute that direction through a project, as a student, equips us with a special insight that’s needed in today’s classroom. I could definitely see myself using digital stories and possibly even web quest in my classroom. I could have my students to create digital book reports to help understand key characters, events, and authors that we study in class. The Web quests would be a great resource to use for my students to become familiar with the steps of the research process. I could also design web quests for my students when covering extremely detailed units such as Shakespeare or Edgar Allen Poe. Even though both processes are tedious I really enjoyed creating my digital story, and though I did not submit a web quest I am interested in learning how to effectively create one so that I can apply it in my classroom.
Blog Post #3
Based on what I have learned so far in this class, I think it is essential to incorporate technology into the classroom. When I first began this course I was more concerned about incorporating so much technology in the classroom that I would be overwhelmed and my students would be underwhelmed because they are digital natives. After learning about the different techniques and resources available to the classroom teacher I can definitely say my views on technology integration have changed. I realize that technology integration is more driven by the curriculum and less by technology itself. The purpose of Technology integration is for students to be able to use technology to perfect their 21st century learning skills, problem solve, and critically think. Personally speaking, I think some of the future challenges I face integrating technology into the classroom will be staying current, lack of training, lack of technology support, and lack of technological resources. I think lack of technological resources being the most important because many times school cannot afford to update classroom technology because of budgeting and other factors. I could definitely work around this issue by having the student bring their own technology. On the contrary, by having student bring their own technology or family shared technology parents are liable if the gadgets are misplaced or lost.
I plan to overcome the above mentioned challenges by providing in class time to allow my students the opportunity to familiarize themselves with new technology, attending professional development training on new gadgets and software, applying technology more in personal life to become more comfortable using it, and finding other resources to use technology outside of the regular computer such as the smart phone, tablet, notebooks, mp3 players, etc. I have learned so far that the possibilities and ways to use technology are endless and sometimes it can be as simple as using a search engine. For the budgeting and limited resource issues, as a classroom teacher there are always methods to increase income like achieving high test scores, competitions, fundraising, and grant opportunities to ensure that my student have all that they need to compete in a global market.
Blog Post 2 Tech Theory
Prior to this class I have never used a blog, however; I love to read them. My favorite blog sites are TalkingwithTami.com and Madamenoire.com. I love these blogs because they have great articles on fashion, makeup tips, parenting advice, commentaries, and hilarious spoof materials. I do have some familiarity with wikis especially Wikipedia. Wikipedia was my go to site for assignments until I realized anyone could contribute to a page so the information was not always reliable.
I think a blog would be useful in the classroom as a way to inform parents of classroom activities and events. In my classroom I would have various blogs where students could provide feedback on assessments and projects or even materials covered in the class. I think a blog would be a great way to interact with students and provide them a place where they could share their likes or dislikes of assignments or share any ideas they may have to make a lesson more engaging. I would use a wiki page in my classroom on student research projects. As a requirement I would have students create a wiki page on the topic of their choice as it relates to the class and students could use the wiki page as a study tool in preparation for a unit test or as a refresher for a midterm or final exam.
Some other technologies that I think can help promote writing across the curriculum are e-books, because they take away the dreaded pen and paper and allow students the ability to book mark, highlight, and annotate easier for reference purposes. Reading pens, these devices are awesome because they can scan text and read the material allowed. A device like this is beneficial especially in helping students use the writing process. A portable tablet or smart phone, these devices are great because the student doesn’t always have to have a pc available when ideas arise , with a tablet/smartphone/and stylus creative writing is literally at their finger tips.
In my classroom I would definitely use the reading pens; I think this gadget is neat and easily managed. Students could use the reading pen to peer edit, proofread, and review words, phrases, or definitions they may not understand or know. For ESL students using the reading pens could help with word pronunciation and phonetics. In my opinion the reading pen is a necessity in the 21st Century classroom.
Blog Post #1 Tech Theory
Technology integration is essential for the 21st Century classroom. Our students are truly digital natives and their familiarity with technology is something that comes second nature to them. I believe in order for a teacher to be able to fully engage their student’s technology is a necessity. I have noticed especially with Savannah Chatham County Public School, teachers have been asked to attend professional development trainings in which the focus is how to incorporate more technology into the classroom, and how to collaborate across the curriculum to include technology in all subjects. Recently, I participated in a Professional Development to introduce possible new software to teach the common core curriculum. In addition to new testing software, upgraded models of gadgets being used in the classrooms in other parts of the country were introduced such as the interactive smart board, tablet, and google glasses. I found the google glasses to be the most interesting of all. In a classroom setting the glasses would be beneficial for monitoring student productivity and grading assignments, however; I found the greatest flaw was that the glasses could be distractor to the teacher. When teachers were asked to grade assignments the glasses allowed a visual of the assignment to be stored into the grading system so that a grade could be assigned at a later time. However, teachers unfamiliar with the gadget struggled to take clear images or they had images of the desk, bad focused images, or images that were too close to the page. Technology is rapidly changing and progressing and as teachers it is our duty to be familiar with new technology and incorporate it into the classroom. By doing so, we are ensuring are students are prepared for stable careers in our ever changing society. I am not a technologically savvy person, I have recently mastered the smart phone and by the time that happened I was using an obsolete model. Technology Integration in the classroom is something that is integral in achieving success for our students and keeping them engaged. Without integrating technology our students will not be prepared to compete in the areas of Math, Science, and Engineering.
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