Re-reading my initial post on how I view technology integration, I would say that my views have not changed, but I feel that my knowledge has expanded. Before this course, I agreed that technology integration was beneficial for students because it gave them an authentic audience and also allowed for more collaboration and engagement. However, I did not feel that I had an abundance of resources that I knew I could use in the classroom and that in practice, although my view is pro-technology integration, may have fallen short because I did not have the tools I needed without doing more of my own research. This course has helped to prepare me and give me the tools I felt I was missing and I feel that I have the resources I was looking for to give my students the technology integration experience I was seeking after. Everything I have learned this quarter about educational technology pedagogy will affect how I teach because in class we discussed how to use the tools in practice so I not only walked away knowing the tools, but also how they may look when used in a classroom.
Some specific tools and resources I will use are Geoguessr, Woordle, Animoto, Spreaker and a classroom blog. I will use Geoguessr because I see how it can be used in so many meaningful ways and it provides an authentic way of learning about geography. I enjoy that this tools allows you to look around and zoom because it helps students to find clues as to where they may be in the world. I will use Woordle because I already have many ideas of how I can incorporate this tool into the classroom. One specific lesson would be to take a famous speech and see which words appear the largest and lead into a discussion about why that may be. I will use Animoto because it allows students to express their understanding in a creative manner using video and it is an easily accessible tool for students to use. Likewise, I will use Spreaker in my classroom because students who do not enjoy writing about their understanding can choose to talk about their understanding. Lastly, I will use a classroom blog due to many reasons, but most importantly because I feel that it creates a connection between the teacher, students, parents and the world to create a meaningful experience. Some ideas I would like to learn more about is virtual field trips with local museums, aquariums, zoos, etc. and how I can go about setting those up for my classroom. I also hope to expand my "tool kit" of websites and resources so that I feel even more prepared to integrate technology meaningfully into my future classroom.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Journal Reflection
I read the article e-Leadership in higher education: The fifth “age” of educational technology research from the British Journal of Educational Technology. This article spoke about the importance of using technology in classrooms and how many educators currently view technology. The author believes that technology is a tool that modern society students need to have in the classroom due to the how beneficial technological tools are for students. Technology allows students to become more interactive, and independent learners who can increase their knowledge with the click of a button and guidance from their teacher. The author strongly believes that technologies biggest benefit for students in the collaborative atmosphere it creates for students and gives them more authentic means of expressing what they are doing in school. The biggest issue the author has with technology integration is that many educators are not prepared enough to teach it and/or incorporate it into their classroom. The author firmly states that both administrators and educators need to have prep courses in how to use technology in a meaningful manner because currently it is mostly being used improperly or not at all. The article breaks down the e-Leadership outlook that the journal uses and gives specific training tips and technology resources for educators to begin expanding their own knowledge about technology.
From this article, I learned how unused technology is in the classroom because the author states that typically technology is integrated poorly when integrated at all within the classroom. Reflecting on my own practicum experiences I agree that this statement is true because the few classroom I have seen who integrate technology were meaningless games that the students would play when given free time. A big part of this problem is educators who are not trained on how to properly use technology in the class. Teachers are so busy with day-to-day activities that there is little time left to click around on the internet, blogs, or app store to find meaningful activities that would fit into a lesson. Administrators should have a day in which they can provide educators with a list of resources and give examples of them used in lessons and the time to check some of the resources during the training time. This would take a big road block out of the way for educators because it gives them the tools they need to begin to create meaningful technology integrated activities into their classroom.
Article Reference
Jameson, J. (2013). e-Leadership in higher education: The fifth “age” of educational technology research. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915. DOI: 10.1111/bjet.12103
From this article, I learned how unused technology is in the classroom because the author states that typically technology is integrated poorly when integrated at all within the classroom. Reflecting on my own practicum experiences I agree that this statement is true because the few classroom I have seen who integrate technology were meaningless games that the students would play when given free time. A big part of this problem is educators who are not trained on how to properly use technology in the class. Teachers are so busy with day-to-day activities that there is little time left to click around on the internet, blogs, or app store to find meaningful activities that would fit into a lesson. Administrators should have a day in which they can provide educators with a list of resources and give examples of them used in lessons and the time to check some of the resources during the training time. This would take a big road block out of the way for educators because it gives them the tools they need to begin to create meaningful technology integrated activities into their classroom.
Article Reference
Jameson, J. (2013). e-Leadership in higher education: The fifth “age” of educational technology research. British Journal of Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915. DOI: 10.1111/bjet.12103
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Thus far...
If someone told me that instructive technology was beneficial in the classroom, I would mostly agree with them. However, I would not know how I would actually incorporate this idea into my own practice besides basic iPad applications, Smart Boards and other more common technology. From this course I have been exposed to other outlets for good instructional technology. I have been able to make connections about how to integrate these tools for specific lessons and purposes rather than having this blank canvas of where to go with the tools I know. Specifically, I have learned how beneficial a class blog is for both students and parents and I have visited several class blogs on my own. This visiting helped me to take parts and pieces I liked from each blog so I can visualize how my own future class blog my look one day. I have also learned some amazing iPad applications to use in the classroom, such as educreation rather than visiting the app store and finding educational games than may not even have a strong educational focus.
An iPad alone is an amazing tool to have students take pictures of objects in and out of the room that can further their understanding about a topic. For example, if I had students to and take pictures of long i vowel sound words and later reviewed those pictures and noticed a specific student seemed to really miss the point of the lesson, I could revisit the concept with that student. I feel that I have a whole new world before me with so many tools that I had yet to be exposed to and now I am able to take advantage of all of them to benefit my own future students. I am excited to see what other new things I will learn in the weeks to come.
An iPad alone is an amazing tool to have students take pictures of objects in and out of the room that can further their understanding about a topic. For example, if I had students to and take pictures of long i vowel sound words and later reviewed those pictures and noticed a specific student seemed to really miss the point of the lesson, I could revisit the concept with that student. I feel that I have a whole new world before me with so many tools that I had yet to be exposed to and now I am able to take advantage of all of them to benefit my own future students. I am excited to see what other new things I will learn in the weeks to come.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Integrating Technology
Technology integration in the classroom provides students
with a more meaningful experience while creating a more engaging task. My broad
definition of technology includes items such as tablets, computers, websites,
smart boards, projectors, blogs, PowerPoint presentations, videos, and other
similar technological tools. Technology can easily be included into the
classroom by asking students to participate in more technological assignments,
such as PowerPoint presentations about a science unit, creating videos and/or
podcasts describing a character, etc. As a teacher, one can easily integrate
technology into their own practice by creating a class blog in which students
and parents can access to learn more about or review what is being taught in
the classroom. Teachers can also integrate more videos, presentations and other
interactive resources that technology provides into the classroom to deepen
student comprehension and involvement. All of these technology resources lead
to higher student learning and family engagement because students have access
to materials from the classroom and parents are seeing and learning more about
what their child is doing in school.
I have been in many classrooms and have witnessed a wide
variety of technology practices. For the large part, I have mostly witnessed
teachers using simple smart board applications, using a projector/ document
camera while modeling directions for students, and/or having students play
educational games on the computer during free time. I have never witnessed a
teacher who asked students to use a computer in class other than researching a
topic for a writing piece. Students need to have the opportunity to interact
with technology while in the classroom to deepen their understanding of a
concept while providing them with a different and new facet of sharing their
understanding about a topic/concept. I believe that technology should be used
when it can deepen the understanding of the material for students and/or when
students should express their understanding in a non-traditional manner that
still provides a comparable learning outcome if the traditional method was
used. Technology should also be used to give students a real audience for their
work while sharing so that their sharing becomes more meaningful and connected
to the real world. Technology is a beneficial tool that many teachers do not
choose to implement into their classrooms and this has a negative impact on the
students in their class who are not being exposed to other forms of expression
and learning. I encourage all educators to integrate meaningful technology into
their classrooms to benefit their students’ education.
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