End-of-Term Reflection

Have you opinions about technology integration in education changed since the beginning of the term? Why or why not?
1. They have changed from the beginning of the term in the way that I believe kids need to be introduced to technology at a younger age than I ever was. I started using technology in school around 6th or 7th grade, but with how much technology is now being used in everyday life, kids need to start learning how to use it in 1st through 5th grades so that can adapt to the new age of technology.


Identify one or more programs/web apps introduced this term you believe you'll use in your future classroom. Why will you use these programs/apps?
2. I am for sure going to use bubbl.us, powerpoint, and a newsletter. I believe bubbl.us is a great website that I will be able to use in my classroom for different brainstorming activities. Also, powerpoint is a great thing to use because you have students make one and then present or just use it lecture to the class. I would definitely use a newsletter too, probably just at the beginning of the year to let parents know what their kids will be doing throughout the year. Print Page in IE

Students Using Technology

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Wordle

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Integrating Websites into the Classroom

The website I looked at was Try Science and it can be found at http://tryscience.org/.  This website is attracted towards elementary and middle school students who enjoy science.  It has many different gadgets on the site, like different experiments, adventures, and field trip ideas that kids could do.  It also has other small gadgets on the website that gives the kids the chance to learn about Planet Earth and a mini quiz that kids can take to test their knowledge skills in science.  The different experiments, adventures, and field trips that they offer are very cool features on the website that are probably what is used most on the site because it gives the ability for the kids to do those types of things personally and hands-on rather than only over the computer.

This website could be used in the classroom to do science experiments in the classroom.  Since it has that feature, teachers could get experiment ideas and then be able to produce them live for their students which is much more beneficial then watching and reading about it over the web. This could also be used for kids to come up with their own ideas of things they want to learn in the science field and ways that they can do that by looking at the examples on the website.

This website could create learning outside the classroom because this could give the teacher the ability to have the kids go home and do an experiment at home, or ask the parents to take them on a field trip to a place that is listed on possibly field trip locations. Print Page in IE

PBL

My favorite project was the one where students were building a state of the art high school for the year 2050 (http://www.edutopia.org/mountlake-terrace-schools-2050-project).  I liked this project more than the rest for one specific reason.  Not only was the teacher going to assess the student's work, but each group presented their designs too two Seattle architects and so they will be able to help the teacher assess even more because they know exactly what would be good in the design or bad.

This project really requires all of the levels of thinking because you need to start at the bottom and be able to understand what the task is and what the best way to go about solving it is.  You also need evaluation, the highest level, because you need to be able to evaluate your project before you turn it in to be assessed by professionals.

I think the one thing that could improve this project is have the student's design a school for a closer year, such as 2020 or 2030 rather than 2050 because that is a long ways off and the teacher has no idea what will happen in 40 years so he could better assess it if it were a closer year because he has more of an idea of what is possible and what is not. Print Page in IE

Connecting Telecollaboration and Bloom's Taxonomy

Telecollaborative projects help students develop critical thinking skills in many different ways.  Forcing students to think beyond the obvious answer and making them explain why they believe that is correct or incorrect starts a students critical thinking process.  There is no obvious answer that is exactly right or wrong, but it makes the students actually think about why they think it works or not.  I think the first article, Commonly Asked Questions about Teaching Collaborative Activities, brought up a very good point when talking about the importance of selecting groups.  They say it can be successful letting the students pick their own group, but it is also beneficial, especially when attempting to have the students use their critical thinking skills, to choose their groups for them.  That way they are not just with their friends who know how they think already, but then they work with people they are not comfortable with and then have to work together which will then develop both of the students critical thinking skills.  In the last article, it says that the sample verbs for the evaluation level where critical thinking is necessary are judge, recommend, critique, and justify which really tells me what is meant to be done by students in that area to be able to develop their critical thinking skills.  They need to defend what they are saying, but also question other students answers to make them justify what they are saying.

Critical thinking is necessary for students to be able to do, and developing this skill just takes time and practice.  There are many different types of telecollaborative activities that can help students achieve this, but it all starts with the teacher showing them that they have confidence that all students can develop this skill. Print Page in IE

Reading Response 1

1.  The first time I really personally got involved with computers was freshman year of high school when I took keyboarding 1.  That course taught me the fundamentals of typing, and also, some basic applications on computers.  The second time I really got into using computers and using many different applications was my junior year of high school when I took a computer applications class where I learned about Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint.  I did use computers to look up different information before high school but did not learn to understand the different applications until high school.

2.  I plan on teaching fifth grade and a way of integrating technology into my classroom is to have assignments done in class which requires students to look up information on the computer and then begin to use the basic forms of Microsoft Office to do the assignment by either typing it up, or working in a group and making a short Powerpoint off of it.  This will give students the chance to begin learning how to use a computer and some of the applications on a computer which will make it easier on them when they continue on in school since they will have already been introduced to it.

3.  I believe the most challenging thing for me when it comes to integrating technology into the classroom will be to get the students wanting to use computers on more of a weekly basis rather than just on a random assignment that requires them to do so.  I feel like this will be the biggest challenge because at that age, parents do a lot for their kids, especially when it comes to technology because usually a fifth grader does not check his own e-mail or just use a computer everyday like someone does when they get older.  So getting the student to even use a computer at home, rather than having their parent do it for them, will be a big challenge and if I can get students to accept that challenge, it will be very beneficial for them and make them be a step ahead of other students their age. Print Page in IE