Reflective Post

During my time in Introduction to Technology for Educators I have absolutely learned more than I ever thought was possible to learn in a technology class. From creating websites to working with group members online, this class has expanded my knowledge and love for technology even more than before.

Ever since the beginning I have been all about the idea of technology being included into the classroom and now I stand behind that even stronger. When looking back through the syllabus, I realized just how much information I absorbed this semester. I never thought that I could make a blog much less write in one with such ease. I have struggled with copy writing images throughout the semester but I have finally figured it out.

Addition to that, the objective that I took to well was “Technology/Information Management (TIM): To demonstrate the skills and use the technology necessary to collect, verify, document, and organize information from a variety of sources.” I created a blog and make it look amazing through a website that I had never heard of before. I was also able to learn about websites that will help me when I become a teacher and I thought that was my favorite thing from this course. I view it as getting a head start on how my classroom will operate and I do not think it is ever too early for that.

The next objective that I learned to do in this course was “Critical Thinking (CT): To demonstrate skills necessary for analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.” I did this when I had to complete two online group projects. I honestly thought it was the worst idea until I did the assignment. Overall the experience was a learning experience from both projects so that is all I can ask for.

“Communication (COM): To communicate effectively using standard English (written or oral)” was the objective that came most natural to me. I have always communicated well whether it is through text or oral. Talking, communicating, never an issue for me. I found that the discussions and projects are what used these the most. I found that responding to classmates in discussions was helpful to not only the recipient of the comment but also myself. Reading other classmates ideas and learning what they came up with usually pushed me to think outside of my box and learn how other people see the world. I believe that corrective criticism is something to avoid when responding through text. Always being honest, polite, and respectful is how you want to keep your comments and I have learned that through the semester. The group projects were complicated because of the lack of communication and effort that group member put in. I think it is still something to have in a course though because even though I struggled with it, I learned more things to do and not to do.

My most favorite assignment of the entire course was the e-portfolio. After struggling to figure out the web design, I finally figured it out and loved my experience. To fast forward time a little and think of where I will be when classes are finished was just what I needed to push through the end of the semester. I can picture everything in my head and it is all at my fingertips. Feel free to check out my portfolio here!

Resources:

Free Image on Pixabay - Motivational, Quote, Business. (n.d.). Retrieved December 07, 2016, from https://pixabay.com/en/motivational-quote-business-999247/

Maloy, R. W. (2013). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

(n.d.). Retrieved December 07, 2016, from https://m.youtube.com/ 

Blog Post K

Interactive Videoconferencing:

• Interactive Videoconferencing is a powerful earning technology that offers real- time access to people and places that students are unable to visit.

Successful conferences make participants at each site feel involved and invested in the experience. Interactive videoconferencing requires at least one camera, two computer screens or large television monitors, and a digital projector that shows the near and far sites. Customizing presentations is a choice that is made by organizations. I have always thought it would be a great idea to have interactive videoconferencing because it extends the classroom outside of four walls and gives the students more knowledge than usual. I have not seen this done in the classroom but I am in aw that it is happening!

Online Learning and Virtual Schools

• Online learning & Distance learning: refers to the delivery of educational experiences through computers and other technologies.
• Virtual Schools: are educational organizations that teach students mainly though online learning.
• Blending or hybrid learning: model, a combination of "clicks and bricks: in which students; face- to- face interactions with teachers in a school classroom are combined with online coursework and testing.

I have always leaned towards online learning because I like to know what assignments I will have for the entire year. I also enjoy and benefit from being able to work at my own pace and get ahead in my classes. Online learning allows students to learn on their own in a comfortable setting and I believe it is beneficial to students with busy schedules.
Online schooling started for me in high school when I took three virtual school classes and was able to finish them in half of the time that it would have taken in the classroom. Blending learning is a great tool for students that enjoy doing both, in class and online work. I think seeing your teacher/ professor is important for some students and this learning style is perfect for these students.

Lesson Plan Websites

• Lesson Plan websites: are one of the most widely used types of educational websites.

Lesson plan websites are awesome for teachers who are struggling to make a lesson enjoyable. These websites give off step- by- step methods to lesson plans, interactive activities and additional resources and curriculum extensions.
 Some examples are:

1. Thinkfinity
2. ReadWriteThink
3. EDSITEment: The best of the humanities 
4. The New York Times Learning Network
5. The Futures Channel

Having resources that teachers can access make their jobs a lot easier and definitely gives them more ideas of what to do in an assignment. Sometimes using other peoples ideas will open your thought process and broaden your teaching styles.

Resources:

Maloy, R. W. (2013). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

 @. (2015). 5 Tips for IVS Students and Parents as you head back to IVS for fall. #IVScan. Retrieved November 13, 2016, from https://ilvirtualschoolblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/25/5-tips-for-ivs-students-and-parents-and-you-head-back-to-ivs-for-fall-ivscan/ 

Blog Post J

Democratic Schools and Classrooms

1. School wide mission

• Shared decision making between the students and staff.
• A learner- centered approach in which students choose their daily activities. 
• Equality among staff and students.
• The community as an extension of the classroom.

1. Teaching Practices

• Students select themes for study, reading materials, discussion topics, and formats for publishing their own writing. 
• Students set personal goals and monitor progress.
• Students own questions and interest are the focus of classroom discussion and study.
• Students take responsibility for making decisions about classroom rules and procedures. 

Democratic schools and classrooms are places where students and teachers together make substantive decisions about important aspects of educational operations, from academic curriculum to school climate and rules. Democratic schools are  not very popular in the united states. The idea of a democratic school is to keep the students involved in the decisions in the school. Teachers want their students to feel important and heard when they are in the classroom. I do not agree with a democratic school in any way. I believe that the classroom climate and academics should be handled by the teacher. There is only one teacher in the room in my eyes because it because having more than one creates respect issues and that is something that is already an issue. Students would want control ad power and I do not believe that is a great environment to be in. I would like to see how a democratic school or classroom is ran one day just to say I am for sure against the idea.

Online Surveys for Preassesment 

• Preassesments: occur before introducing a new lesson, topic or unit as a way for teachers to determine what students now or can already do in order to inform subsequent plans for teaching. 
• Prior Knowledge- based learning: the idea that when teaching new concepts, teachers need to connect their lessons to what students already know or have been taught. 
• Online Surveys: are an effective way to activate prior knowledge and involve students in the preassessment process. 

Students favor the surveys because there are not right or wrong answers. The students also like the fact that they can tell the teachers what they are interested in learning in an online survey. Teachers benefit from the online surveys because they are paperless, track all the data for you by having a poll that is delievered and tabulated. I personally believe that preassesments are a fabulous idea. As a teacher you want to know which level each of your students are on knowing that they are all on different levels. Assuming that all students know as much knowledge as to the most intelligent student in your classroom is absurd. Doing preassesments also helps the teachers get to know their students better and also helps them when putting students in groups.
Online Learning Game

Reasons for Teaching with clickers

• Active Learning: keeps the students from passively listening to the teacher. This also helps everyone stay involved with the lesson and assignment. 
• Student involvement: Clickers give the students the opportunity to answer questions within the class without the fear of being right or wrong. The clickers also keep the students anonymous so other students do not know what you answer, when you answer, or if you are correct. Clickers always make educational group games more smooth. 
• Real- time feedback: The teachers have immediate feed back instead of having to hand grade every paper by hand. The clickers give the teachers a break from paper and pencil to actually get more questions in the lesson. 
• Question Centered involvement: Students are given a challenging question and asked individually, in pairs, or small groups to consider possible answers. Teachers being able to give questions out on the clickers gives the teacher an opportunity to get more questions in which results in more clarity. The more questions, the less paper, and the more enthusiasm in the classroom.

I had the opportunity in high school and in college to use clickers in the classroom and I absolutely loved them. Being able to have in class homework or a test on the something other than paper was more enjoyable. Having group activities and games with the clickers were what I would always benefit from the most. Being able to have a game to enjoy learning more was something I took to well because of being so athletic and competitive.

Resources

 DOhrn, H. L. (2016, November 1). Shapes and sides. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from https://create.kahoot.it/#user/6fb8dba8-dc89-40c3-bf3d-dcb72b35e237/kahoots/created 

Maloy, R. W. (2013). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

 Merino, F. (2012, August 13). Resetting Education. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from http://vator.tv/news/2012-08-13-resetting-education-tapping-into-the-classroom

Shapes song [Video file]. (2014, February 20). In Youtube/ Shapes Song. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJxq0kR8yNc 

Blog Post H

Concept Books:

Concept books are for beginning readers and English Language Learners that offer another opportunity for teachers and to use digital photography to promote literacy learning. Concept books are a prime for kindergarten and first grade teachers. The point of the books is to teach the basic concept when first attending school. For example, when a child is learning their colors, shapes, and numbers a parent or teacher can use concept books to make the process easier. I remember as a child when my mom would teach me the colors and she would always use concept books with food because I loved to eat. I was always focused enough on the book and learning both food and colors at the same time. I think another great way to extend the idea of concept books is to make it fun and give the books out with different games. I think the game will help bring the kids in with their parents and help everyone stay involved. Concept books are a pretty simple and easy way to make learning fun. There is not much confusion to what a concept book is or what their purpose is.

Alphabet books

Alphabet books are a way for students to practice spelling patterns, letter sounds, vocabulary words, and reading skills. Students can illustrate their own alphabet books to help them remember words and sounds the best way possible for them. Having the students make their own alphabet books is also beneficial because they will be able to make connections in their brains that the teachers cannot make for them. I have never thought about students making their own alphabet books before and I never made one in school, but I believe it is the most effective way for a student to learn their alphabet and the sound of letters. I would implement this in my classroom just like it is explained. There is not much to switch up about the idea of a student picking a word that makes them remember the letter and sound of each letter in the alphabet. I would print a picture of whatever it is that they chose and have them glue it to the page instead of drawing one to be more effective and clear for the parents.

PowerPoint

PowerPoint is a multimedia presentation software package and a standard feature on today’s computers. PowerPoint is a software that has so many qualities to it. PowerPoint is a presentation that is created by self and can implement just about anything into it. Using a digital projector, students, teachers, and even professionals can show their personal PowerPoint’s to large or small groups of people. PowerPoint is used in most schools from Elementary school through colleges. PowerPoint allows you to generate class discussions, promotions, presentations, and games. PowerPoint has been in every class of mine since the fourth grade that I can remember. The projectors had been released and every year after that it seemed that there was a new projector to have. With all the technology that has changed around it, PowerPoint has remained loyal and in good use to its users. I personally did not know that you can have games on PowerPoint and I see that I have been missing several opportunities to do so. I will use PowerPoint in my classroom because it is more appealing to the eye, engages the students, and definitely easier to put together. The work load to make a simple presentation is not hard and that is beneficial when time is not on your side as a teacher. 

PowerPoint example

Resources

 Concept Books: Big Ideas for Little People | Denver Public ... (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2016, from https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/abcs-and-123s 

Maloy, R. W. (2013). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

 Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 - Full Tutorial for Beginners ... (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQicwstinOA 

Digital Blog Post G

Adaptations For Classroom Learning With Technology

Adapting to a new environment such as a classroom with all new students can be extremely difficult for students and teachers. Adapting to make the learning beneficial and exciting can be a tough task to overcome but with the help of technology, it can be done. According to Robert Maloy, technology offers two main routes for designing the classroom so students with diverse learning needs can readily access key ideas and concepts. First, it supports changes in the classroom environment. Second, it supports changes in how the curriculum is delivered. There are low-tech, mid-tech, and high- tech digital accommodations.

Low- tech: refer to changes that are made easily, inexpensively, and without applying digital materials.

Mid- Tech: Involve substantive shifts in organization and delivery of curriculum that may include the use of digital materials.

High- Tech- Introduces changes associated with the integration of computers and other specialized technologies in the classroom.

Speech Recognition Software:

Speech- to- text is a software the displays a person’s spoken words on a computer screen (Maloy.2013). There a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking that reaches the expectations of the speech- to- text method. This program is something that is helpful to several types of students. Whether a student dyslexic and want to write a story without losing their train of thought seeing misspelled words, or a student impedes the idea of words in text, cursive or on a keyboard this software is beneficial. Speech- to- text is a program that learns the students voice and works according to only the voices it knows. Even though you are speaking into a microphone and everything is correctly spelled, the work still needs review from the teacher and student. Sometimes telling a story can result in talking how we speak to friends rather than proper and acceptable language for an assignment.

Interactive Electronic Storybooks and Storybook Apps

Interactive electronic storybooks also known as CD-ROM, storybooks, talking e-books, or digital talking books for children. Storybook apps bring fiction and nonfiction stories to tablet computers and smartphones (Maloy.2013). These both bring their own positives and negatives to the students.

The idea of making books more like video games and more interactive is amazing. Students and even parents can find reading more interesting. Although visual and audio elements engage the mood and reading comprehension skills and vocabulary improve, children may begin to rely on the computers. It is important to balance the amount of time spent in a text book and an interactive electronic book. The world is slowly becoming paperless but books with words only will always be around and students should not miss the opportunity to enjoy both.

Resources:

 Assistive Technology for Computer Access: Who needs it? How do you get it? (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://sci.washington.edu/info/newsletters/articles/04sp_at_computers.asp 

Maloy, R. W. (2013). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

 Post g by hollianne6 - ToonDoo - World's fastest way to create cartoons! Retrieved October 13, 2016, from http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/10503620

See Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13 in Action. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlKOA1MhlI 

Blog Post #D

Plagiarism: Copying someone else's work and using for your own.
Being a high school athlete and then a college athlete, plagiarism was a very tempting thing to do. I am not going to lie, it was something that everyone did and it was just a matter of who got away with it and what teachers did not care. The message of do not plagiarize was always enforced, but no matter what people still did it. While attending my first year of college at Flagler College, I saw an incident happen first hand and that was the day that I was no longer tempted to plagiarized. My friend in the class pretty much copied and paste her entire research paper from the internet. The professor knew immediately and he was sure to call the student out in the middle of class. Not only did everyone now know that she had plagiarized, but now the entire class knew she would be making a trip to the dean and would have to fight to stay enrolled in the college. Plagiarism does not seem that big of deal until you are embarrassed and fighting for your college enrollment. I felt awful, ashamed, and guilty all at one time. Plagiarism is something that can also happen on accident. If you cite something wrong or you are unaware on how to give credit properly, you can get in trouble with plagiarism.Most professors and teachers in this situation, give you another shot on fixing your mistake before punishing you. I have had this happen to me as well. You do not get the embarrassment side of the punishment but you do still feel ashamed of yourself. 

Cheating: using technology to learn information without permission.

There are three factors the contribute to cheating and plagiarism. Access to the internet is one and can be the best or worst thing for all students. In today's society accessing the internet is easy to do. Not just on our computer but from your cellphones as well. Students have access to the internet and apps on their phones. There are apps out there that will pretty much give you the answer to any math question you have. This past year at FSW I had another incident with a teammate this time where she got herself into trouble using the internet. All year long she would use the internet to help with math homework and when it came time for the test she would have to cheat because she never learned anything while doing her homework. Punishments were given and the situation was handled, but she taught the entire softball team a huge lesson. Cheating may feel like the right choice at the time, but in the end you are only hurting yourself and limiting yourself to the knowledge you could be learning. 

Cyberbullying: harm through technology.

Growing up in a small town where everyone knew everyone had its benefits, this just happened to be one. Cyberbullying was very limited in my town due to the fact that you were not getting away with it. There was no chance of being anonymous for long. Teachers were on top of the situations and usually knew all the drama. Cyberbullying can lead to several things and the worse being suicide. Cyberbullying can be extremely effective and dangerous. According to Maloy, there are several ways to stopping cyberbullying and they are; peer mentoring, providing ongoing support, and participating in "Teen Tech Week." (Maoly. 2013).

Take my Flipquiz to see what you retained from my blog!

Resources

 Engaging Learners By: Holliannedohrn. (2014). Retrieved September 21, 2016, from https://flipquiz.me/u/holliannedohrn/engaging-learners#embedboard

Maloy, R. W. (2013). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Digital Blog Post #B

Developing lessons and engaging students are two very import steps to setting up your every day classroom environment. Teachers creating lesson plans for the day, week, or year, have to think of the best ways to engage the students. Striving for the best out come every day is what the teacher wants. No teacher wants to look out into their class and see "can we get this over with already"  faces. Engaging the students through technology and with more conversation in the classroom is a goal to have. According to Indiana University's ongoing High School Survey of Student Engagement, it is known that only 75% of students that enroll in high school graduate in four years. For many students they drop out because classes were not engaging and they just had no interest (Maloy. 2013). I knew students would miss certain classes because they did not like the teacher or just were to tired to go, but I never knew because a class was not engaging that it would lead to students not graduating, WILD!

Overcoming a digital disconnect between the students and teachers is a real problem. Teachers knowing which technology to use and how to use it to engage the students and interest them for the entire class period is important. Having barriers on what you can and cannot operate can be a huge set back as a teacher. Knowing the latest release of technology will not only impress your students but it will engage and interest them in what else you can teach them.

With all of that being said teachers including technology into their philosophy of teaching is extremely important and beneficial! Giving the students the best education in the most interesting and engaging way is what is the most important. Having the students exciting to come to your class and eager to learn what you have in store for them next is just an exciting feeling! Don't let the students know more than you, take a stand and show them what you know. Making my class the best class is my goal!

link to my padlet

Sources

 Hollianne's Padlet. (2016, September 8). Retrieved September 08, 2016, from https://padlet.com/hdohrn6/gxeg6bznzws8

 

 Maloy, R. W. (2013). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.