Its How You Use It

I never really thought about this concept. Its not only about making sure that you bring technology into the classroom, but its how you bring it in. What benefit will the students have if we just simply bring in a tablet or a computer program to teach a lesson if we don't know how to use it to its fullest potential? I could so easily walk into a classroom with my laptop, thinking that I am going to revolutionize the classroom, but what if I don't know all of the functions of the laptop, what if I'm not familiar with what it has to offer? All I will be doing to the classroom of students if confusing them rather than teaching them. According to the article "How Technology Can Transform Classroom", by Jesse M. Langley, "Just getting new technologies into old classrooms isn’t enough. Reaching the true potential of technology’s transformational ability requires changing how we view technology". I read this and started thinking, how do I view technology? Do I fully appreciate it? Do I even know what its capable of? After thinking for a while I realized, I don't really know everything that technology has to offer. I don't know everything there is to know about the ipad, or the computer, or the different programs that are out there, but I do know that as a future teacher I will be putting in as much effort as I can to learn everything there is to learn. I owe it to my future students.

http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/how-technology-can-transform-classrooms/

Thou Shalt Not Have Fun!

"There is no commandment that says 'Thou halt not have fun!'". This was my favorite quote from the video link posted below. I stumbled upon this youtube clip while I was doing some research on technology and education. I thought it would be beneficial to share this clip with the class because of its helpful tips about technology in the classroom, as well as is humor that goes along with it. Technology in the classroom does not only important for the student, but for the teachers as well. According to Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, "Teachers will not be replaced by technology, but teachers who don't use technology will be replaced by those who do". This is a powerful thought to wrap your head around. No body will force you to accommodate the technology urge, but if you don't it will be at your own expense.

Even the Little Ones

I am a substitute aide at my elementary school and have been for the past three years. Over the years I have noticed some changes in my elementary school. The old blackboards have been abandoned, the roll in over head projectors have been rolled away, and new smart technology has been installed in every classroom throughout the school. While I was sitting in the classroom, waiting for the teacher to leave for her lunch period, I looked around. Every student was hard at work, completing their classwork assignments with the teachers help, but based off of the work projected on the screen. I wonder how it would have been different 50 years ago, if a teacher projected something on the screen. Would the students be as attuned to and open to the technology in the classroom. After the teacher left I conducted my own little experiment with the second graders. I went around to different students and asked what their favorite kinds things to learn in class are. Some kids liked when the teacher read them stories out loud, and others liked when they did coloring activities, but many of the students said they liked it when their teacher showed pictures on the screen or when they watched movie excerpts. These are the kinds of lessons that the students are going to take away with them in the future. Technology really does make a difference.

How Powerful are Powerpoints?

Sometimes I wonder how useful powerpoints are in the classroom. While they are a good way to present information to a large group of students at once, how effective are they in the everyday classroom setting? I have been sitting in classes since coming to college that have shown me a large variety of different teaching methods. I have seen teachers teach through solid lecture, I have seen teaching through example, and I have seen teaching through student teaching, along with much more. Once of the things that I have noticed with myself however is that when I am sitting in class that is straight lecture, I will pay more attention to that in comparison to a class where the teacher reads from powerpoint slides. Why is this? I remember when powerpoints where a "new thing" in the classroom. They were innovative, different, and something that would catch the students attention. however now they seem dull, and played out. Why am I going to listen to a lecture the is being read straight off of a slide projected in class? Especially if that same slide is going to be listed on a group page somewhere for me to read at a later date? I wonder why powerpoint has lost its luster.

Action!

When thinking back to when I was in my own high school English class; I tried to remember times when my teachers included technology effectively in the classroom. If i combine the thoughts of technology mixed with my personal experiences in an English classroom i revert back to my ninth grade English teacher. She came to my high school straight out of college, young, willing to learn, and innovative. I could tell that she wanted to bring life into the classroom, and that is why she quickly became my favorite teacher. I remember her always trying to find new and interesting ways for us to learn in the classroom. As my years went on in high school I always favored this teacher, so much in fact that when I was a senior in high school I chose to be her apprentice teacher for the year through a program called Target Teach. Through this apprenticeship I saw how my favorite teacher grew not only with her lectures, but with her integration of different tools in the classroom. One of her projects that I found to be the most interesting and fun assignment was her music video project. The students had to take a song and change the lyrics of the song to better fit with whatever book they were reading. This gave the students the creativity to say what they wanted to say in a fun and new way and still learn in the process. They then had to film music videos of the songs, and edit them together to make a music video countdown. I found this use of technology enforcement interesting and fun and the students seemed to like it too.

The Power of the App

With technology these days there are unlimited opportunities for educational advancment. When I think about technology in the English Classoom, I sometimes wonder, "What can technology do to help English?" My first thought when it comes to technology, I think about numbers, mathmatics, and equations. I think of everything but what it can do for the English classroom. However upon some research, and personal exploration, I discovered the possibilities that the ipad presents to the English classroom. There are so many different Apps that can help contribute to the Eglish classroom setting. There are free books, Shakespearean project apps, SAT preperation modules, and story telling apps. All of these differnet applications can make a differenc ein the quality of the classroom.

Sifteo Cubes on the Rise?

As I was surfing around online, looking for nothing in particular, I stumbled across what seems to potentially be the new generations form of building blocks. Growing up I remember playing with alphabet blocks. My sisters and iwould stack them, arrange them, throw them; pretty much anything you could think of using them for, we did. I became interested with this article because with the Sifteo Blocks when you interact with them, they will interact fit back with you. I thought that this was a cool new concept. But not only are these blocks limited to have faces with just letters on them, but they can be used for gaming, color scheming, mathematics,video watching. The blocks are in a way like a computer chopped up into tiny pieces minus the keyboard. After watching a video and reading an article on these blocks, it got me to thinking; how could I use these in my classroom? Now it seems at first glance that these blocks are geared towards a younger demographic, however I beg to differ. The blocks can have letters on the front and be used as a quick vocabulary word game, encouraging the student to make as many words with the bank that is given in the quickest amount of time. Why couldn't I have a game activity with my students, asking them to make words pertaining to the story or unit that we are focusing on? The Sifteo Blocks also have a new Creative Kit feature that allows teachers to make new activites and customize games for the students? Could these blocks be a new innovative material to bring into our futuristic classrooms?

Final Project

Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuB3gfnEPk4CdE9tcDZjMUhxeXV0REY5SHBwNGhPNGc#gid=0

The lesson plan that I chose from my inclusion class last semester had to deal with teaching the concept of Point of View. The lesson is targeted towards a class of ninth grade students. In this particular class there is a student who is social maladjusted and needs more guidance. In this lesson the students are in the process of reading “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Haper Lee. In order to better illustrate the importance of acknowledging point of view, the story “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” by Jon Scieszka is integrated into the classroom. The students will conduct and complete multiple activities utilizing both the “True Story of the Three Little Pigs”, and well as the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The integration of technology during this lesson will help the students better relate to the material, as well as better relate the material to their lives.  The lesson will take place over the course of three days.

During session one, the students will simply be introduced to the concept of Point Of View. The instructor will lead the class discussion on the reading of the “True Story of The Three Little Pigs”. After the story is read through during the class time, the students will be expected to take part in a dialogue pertaining to Point Of View present in the story. This will require them to pick out specific words, phrases, and tones from the writing. By looking at the different words and phrases, the students will be able to better see who’s point of view the particular passage is from. Because of this requirement, the standard RL.9-10.4. is utilized. The standard calls for students to determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings. By incorporating technologies such as an iPad, the Internet, and a projector; each student will be able to have their own copy of the story. This is important in this particular lesson because of the student who suffers from being socially maladjusted. By utilizing these different technologies, the teacher will be able to display the examples of point of view on the main projector. This will help the student who is socially maladjusted better visualize the concepts at hand. Through the use of these technologies, I integrated the NETS-S standard 1. C. This standard calls for students to use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. By using the iPad and the projector, the students will have more diverse classroom experience. There will be a homework assignment presented to the students where they will be asked to take a short passage from the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” and rewrite it from a different characters point of view. If the time allows for it at the end of class, students will be able to start the assignment before they leave and utilize the instructor for additional assistance.

In session two, the students will be expected to present their homework assignments to their choice of either small groups, or the whole class. They can present their assignment using either the digital media accessible such as the smart board, or the projector. This will be a way for the instructor to evaluate the students understanding. It will incorporate the standard RL.9-10.a where they need to cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. This will only take the first quarter of class leaving them plenty of time to move into their group activity. This activity will require them to utilize the Internet and social media sights. This will utilize the NETS-S standard 2.A where the students need to interact and collaborate with peers and use a variety of digital environments and media. The students will be informed that this activity will carry into the final class session and be graded. The students will need to create a new character to be integrated into the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. They will need to create a complete profile for this student and make sure to fully grasp their character traits. They will then need to write either a narrative or a skit from this new characters point of view. This part of the lesson will also require the communication portion of the standards. In accordance with NJCCCS SL 9-10.1, the students will need to initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with each other. Through the use of the different technologies, the students will also need to adhere to the NETS-S standard 6A and 5A: Understand and use technology systems; advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of technology

Finally in session three, the students will showcase their understanding of point of view through the technology provided in the classroom. They can use any blogging site, social media, or profile system that they used to create their new character in their presentation to the class. This is the product section. The students need to show their understanding. The standard SL9-10.5: Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest is utilized, as well as NETS-S 2 A. where they need to interact and collaborate and publish with peers.

Interactivity #5

Link to my spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuB3gfnEPk4CdGo1c1ZlVlZsZTNJbmk0VmptSkhQOEE#gid=0

My interviewee is a n elementary school Special Education teacher in the Roxbury School District. She has been teaching for four years within the same district. Upon asking her to allow me to interview her for my education course she was more than willing and excited to help. When I explained the topic of the interview however, she became slightly hesitant. I informed her that the interview would be based on her knowledge of the NETS-S she responded with, “Um, What the heck is that?!”. With hesitation, she still agreed to the interview. Once I introduced my teacher to the NETS-S she was interested by it. It seemed to be something that she had never seen before but understood the importance of it.

Based on my interview with the Roxbury School District teacher, I she did not have knowledge of a formal implementation of the NETS-S, however she expressed that the school she works with is starting to integrate technology more grade wide. Through two different conductions of and interview (both in person and via email) I learned that the Roxbury school district just recently provided smart boards to all of the classrooms, new computers, smart response systems, and having the students utilizing reading and math websites throughout the day. Because of their obvious efforts to make the students accustomed to the media. By exposing the students more to to these different technologies they will not be hesitant in the future to seek out technological resources.

I was not surprised by the teacher's responses throughout the interview. I had anticipated that she would not have had much knowledge of the NETS-S. I based this knowledge on the year that she graduated from college in comparison to the updated NETS-S. Since the standards weren't updated until 2007/ 2008, and the teacher graduated before those years, I did not expect her to have known much about them. I was surprised however by how interested she became with the NETS-S. Her limited knowledge seemed to make her more motivated to learn about them and potentially utilize them in the future.

As a future educator I would look to my administration in order to implement the NETS-S. I feel that it is important to utilize the standards due to the value that they possess for the students. It is important to help students become more immersed in technology. As society continues to developed and progress, the youth of today will be expected to take on technology hands on and proactively.

Interactivity #4

Link to my Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuB3gfnEPk4CdGo1c1ZlVlZsZTNJbmk0VmptSkhQOEE

I wanted to choose a lesson plan that not only already had technology in it; but was something fun, new, and had potential to further use the technology that was already presented. One of my favorite aspects of a story and the writing process is character development. I find it so interesting that there are so many different ways to show a reader who the character is and what their personality is. Therefore, I found this particular lesson plan interesting because it was a different way to help the reader see and understand the character. There were few gaps between the learning goals and the strategies. I feel that the standards fit the strategies well, there were just a few places were I would have liked to see the author of this lesson plan take more advantage of the technologies that he was presenting. The plan mentioned facebook and twitter and numerous other technologies and interfaces, but did not let the students experiment with it. I think that the teacher should have let the students actually send these messages to one another as a form of role playing in order to get a real feel for the technology and for the characters. The technology helps to achieve the curriculum goals because it sparks an interest for the students. The students use these technologies everyday and therefore find an interest in them. By incorporating them into the classroom with a story that they may be have difficulty with, they will become more engaged.

Interactivity #3

As the years continue to pass us by, we begin to age and slowly lose touch with our senses. Comparatively, over the years technology only becomes more and more advanced. I can remember when the thought of using a computer to type up my assignments, or to look up information for papers seemed foreign to me. I can honestly say that I wasn’t sure if I would ever be using something like Google Docs, spreadsheets, or even blogs. With that being said, I was honestly a bit stressed about this particular activity. It required me to not only read about different technologies, but to prove that I could utilize them myself. I enjoyed that my group members were enthusiastic about the assignment and made efforts to get the spreadsheet started. Each member of the group took responsibility for their own work. I thought that by conducting an assignment where each member of the group had no choice but to pull their own weight was much less stressful than the stereotypical “group project”.

I never realized how many different technologies were available as learner aides within my content area. Not only did interactivity three force me to emerge myself in an unfamiliar technology, but it also opened my eyes to many new technologies that were found by my group members. I had heard of some of these different technologies that they mentioned before, but I seemed to forget about most of them over the years. Now I will have something tangible to remind me of the different methods I can use to teach my future students. This module will also be helpful in my READ 411 and CURR 314 courses. I will be able to use it as a reference to help make new and interesting lesson plans for these courses.

Interactivity #2

So many things in life go unnoticed or unappreciated. I feel like technology is one of those things, especially in reference to education. I am saying this however only from my perspective on technology in education. I feel that I, and potentially some of my peers that grew up in the same generation as me, take for granted not only what technology has provided me with, but also its struggle into the classroom. I never sat down and honestly tried to place myself into the shoes of a teacher from say 1824. What would it have been like? How would I have run my classroom? How would I keep my students interested and on point? How would I “spice up” the classroom flow? After watching the visual representation of the history of technology in our education system, I noticed the great impact that not only television has had in our classroom, but also the educational media that it is coupled with. Still today we have TV shows on PBS or daytime shows on Nickelodeon and the Disney channel that foster critical thinking and intuitiveness. I have done a great deal of babysitting throughout my teenage years where these channels were the only ones that parents would let their children watch. This is in addition to my exposure to the technology first hand as a child as well. I can still sing in my head the color song in association with normal objects that the purple Dinosaur Barney used to illustrate on my own television screen. His fun and carefree nature and intelligent demeanor made learning not seem like such a drag to me. Watching these fun characters on TV take control of their own learning and love doing it, made me want to emulate them. I feel like this is and was probably the case for most students in America as the television and educational media began to take a rise in the classroom. Without the television, teaching and instructing would have been hindered. We would still be stuck in the old ways of rote teaching that so badly needed to be metamorphosed and transformed into a shimmering crystalline education that reflected and internalized the eclectic needs of the students. The television added a new and undiscovered land to the world of education. Something that the “Columbus’s” of our teaching system took charge of and used to their advantage.

            When it comes to English education, the television not only taught students the beauty of moving pictures, but the association of these pictures with words and concepts, which helped to propel deeper thinking and understanding. Additionally the television programming aspect of this technology provided shows like Barney, Sesame Street and many other shows that promoted learning new words and sentence structure. After reading the article “A Social History of Media, Technology and schooling” by Vanessa Domine, I came to the conclusion that another highly beneficial learning aide in terms of technology would have to have been the creation of word processing. Without word processing, you would not be reading the words on this blog as you see them. Instead, knowing my track record, you would be reading a jumbled block of text with various cross outs “never-minds” and not yet corrected typos. Word processing makes it easier and faster to put thoughts into black and white. As Grace mentions in regards to her mothers experience as a teacher, “She thought that the cutting and pasting method was very powerful because it allowed students to think conceptually rather than be confined to the traditional linear format of storytelling like on a typewriter” (47). I couldn’t agree with Grace’s mother more. This form of technology showed students that it’s ok to make mistakes, but to learn from them. That thinking doesn’t just end after you write something down; there is always time and room to elaborate, make changes, and cut out what you want to say. Word processing not only impacted the students that used it, but the schools as well. It made it easier and quicker for teachers to grade assignments and create new lesson plans. There is just something beautiful and relieving that the image of a blank page that that doesn’t persecute you for mistake and re-thoughts. After the drastic change from the linear typewriter, this program rendered thinking and helped to implement in students the feeling that anything can be possible. 

                                                      "Technology to the Rescue!"

Work Cited:

Domine, Vanessa. "A Social History of Media, Technology and Schooling." The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Journal of Media Literacy Education 1 (2009): 42-52. JMLE. Web. 1 Feb. 2012..

Google Search:

"Technology and students in the classroom cartoons"

Interactivity #1

“Back when I was a young girl, if I wanted to hang out with some of my girl friends I had to go knock on their door and ask them to come outside” Whenever I think about technology and the changes that it has made to our culture, I think about my Grandmothers words. The generations have changed drastically since the time that my grandma was a young adult, and she makes sure to persistently remind me of this generation gap anytime I text or mention facebook affairs too often in front of her. Having these conversations with my grandma, or even my parents at times, makes me realize how reliant I am on technology; especially communication technology. I just recently lost my cell phone for approximately five days and I felt like I must have traveled to an unknown planet because of how lost and out of touch I felt. After enduring these five seemingly long days, I can’t imagine not having a phone at all. The three most influential technologies in my life presently are my blackberry, social networks such as facebook, and my laptop.

In reference to learning new information, the accessibility of these technologies has changed the way that I process and look for information. The instant access to the Internet that my blackberry or laptop gives me, makes it easy to look up anything and everything that I would ever need to know at any given time. Because of this however, I have become an impatient learner. I am less likely to want to read a textbook in search of the answer to a biology or history question, when I can simple type my question into a search engine. Because of the reliability that I now have on technology I don’t find myself sitting in the library late at night with my eyes blurring the lines of a textbook together to form an ink blot-like figure. Instead I am constantly searching the web and typing notes on a processor to study for my exams. There is a sort of authenticity that comes with sitting down for a long night in low light, attacking a difficult subject and drilling information into your mind. Because of this presence of authenticity alone, we know that technology has changed the way that we learn and think about learning.

In Olivia’s story, I felt myself being able to relate my uses of technology to hers. Unlike Olivia however, I do not feel as if I am exceptionally technology savvy. I am often to afraid to cause some sort of inter-web explosion with my attempts to make my own websites or download programs, leaving my computer useless. The young people in the videos seemed to be unafraid of the technology, and they fully embraced the opportunities that it provided them. I find myself often using facebook as a way to interact with my peers and family that I may not see every day. I enjoy staying updated on their lives and furthering my interpersonal relationships with all of them. Upon watching these videos, I felt that I could relate to the young people through the types of technology that they expressed were important to them. I was surprised however to see the youngest girl (of approximately ten years old) speaking about making websites and throwing herself into technology. I sometimes feel that my ability to utilize everything that the Internet and different technologies presents to me is limited. Seeing children as young as the little girl at the end of the “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn” video; navigating technology so freely, leads me to believe that as the decades continue to pass us by, younger generations will be fully reliant on and comfortable with every kind of technology. Technology has proven to be important for learning purposes, and it is therefore imperative that we not only make it accessible to our youth, but also additionally teach and promote technology and its advantages in our future classrooms.