Blog Post 10

I would use the data collection surveys to take attendance or get students opinions of my class or assignments. I would not do too much with data collection because I want to teach 1st graders and they may not fully understand the data collection process; however, having students check in for attendance with a fun question could get them excited for the school day. I could use data collection to ask the parents what they think about the homework load, class topics, etc. I would use reporting tools such as Excel to record and analyze class grades, learning styles, test scores, etc. Again these students would be younger so I would use reporting tools largely for my own benefit, while going over the data in very simple terms with the class.

I really enjoyed looking at what my classmates chose to do for their independent learning projects. I found this so interesting because we really got free reign with these projects and it was fun to see the unique projects that people chose to explore. I also really liked learning about these programs, tutorials, etc. through my classmates. It gave me more background knowledge on the various educational technology programs through the use of an example.

I would like to learn how to better use Adobe Photoshop next. This is because I used to be very good at using Photoshop and I am technically Adobe Photoshop Certified. I have not used the program extensively in a few years and I am loosing a lot of the information and skills I once had. I really enjoyed using Photoshop so I want to continue to learn more and perfect my skills. I will achieve this by saving up money to purchase the software. Then, I will practice what I already know how to do and use Lynda.com tutorials to walk me through things that I would like to learn and do not know how to do yet.

Blog Post 9

"The Flipped Classroom" is essentially a classroom where the "homework" is to listen to prerecorded lectures from the teacher and the "classwork" is engaging and actively working with the content learned. This is done to deepen the understanding of the content and allow for students to work along side of the teacher. This way, the teacher can better guide students with their work and understanding of the knowledge rather than just using class time to talk at the class. A good source of educational videos to help teach a flipped classroom is Khan Academy.
https://www.khanacademy.org

Open education is education that is open to majority of people. They are typically offered online for free. You do not have to be enrolled in any university to take advantage of the class. It allows everyone to have access to education and breaks down monetary barriers. Some examples are Khan Academy and Coursera.
https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-education
Open content is downloadable instructional materials that are available to the public for free online. It is important to follow copyright and distribution guidelines when using ones content. It is also important to remember that things online can be changed by nearly anyone; however, if your school district adopts an online/open text, it can maintain a version that can only be edited by certain selected people.
https://funnymonkey.com/2010/using-open-content-to-drive-educational-change
Open source refers to software. The use of open source education software can help to reduce costs and stay within budgets. There are open source versions of programs that are often free to use and download and similar to software that is usually very pricey to use. For an example, Open Office is comparable to Microsoft Office. Some more examples of helpful open source programs are RedNotebook (calendar based journal for organization), ownCloud (private file sharing server), FocusWriter (used for keeping students on task while at a computer), etc.
https://opensource.com/education/15/8/5-back-school-open-source-programs-2015

The first assignment was relatively boring to me. This is just because I have worked with PowerPoint so many times that I really did not learn anything new. If I were to do the project again I would choose different and more colorful pictures in order to capture students attention better. For the second assignment, I learned how to create buttons and make a non-linear PowerPoint. I had never done anything like that before so that assignment was almost all completely new to me. I think I completed the project pretty smoothly; however, if I had more time, I would have made something more exciting than a quiz. For example, I could have made a Jeopardy game.

First Assignment

Second Assignment

ILP2 "Design"- Prezi

For my second independent learning project I turned my PowerPoint project into a Prezi. I did this to learn how to use Prezi, but also to compare the two programs. I realized that Prezi is not as user friendly as PowerPoint; however, it is a more creative, interactive, and interesting way to teach students information. I think the moving and zooming in and out of different content can captivate some students and gain their interest, I also believe that it could serve as a distraction for other students. It is something I would probably use every once in a while, but not very often because it took me twice as long as it would to make a PowerPoint of the same quality.

Link to my Prezi:

http://prezi.com/ig5dutcb7lzw/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Blog Post 8

In a lesson on poetry, I could use PowerPoint to support the lesson while utilizing Bloom's Taxonomy. For the remember level, I can have students create a slide that has a list of types of poems that they know. For the understand level, I could assign each group with a different one of those poems and have each group explain (on a different slide) the components of their respective poem type. For the apply level, I could have each group write an example poem (of the type they were assigned) on its own slide using the knowledge they learned on the previous slide. For the analyze level, I could have the students exchange poems and explicate the poems. They can then organize their notes and findings into a "smart graphic" chart on another slide of their PowerPoint. For the evaluate level, the students could evaluate the purpose of poems and how they have been used throughout history by making a slide with historic examples and explaining them to the class. For the create level, the students could compose a jeopardy game on PowerPoint to test the rest of the class about the components of their groups respective poem type.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com

This site offers tutorials and reviews of the best free sites and apps for teachers and students. It is regularly updated so teachers can discover new technology trends easily. It is also helpful because the author offers lots of advice and help on how to use and implement the technology in the classroom.

Blog Post 7

Adaptive technologies are different types of technology that help assist and support students (and anyone) with disabilities with common tasks that you and I might take for granted. The podcast talks about using different input and output devices to help students with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy. It talks about the option of a joystick for those who can't type or effectively use a normal computer mouse as an example. The book breaks up the different adaptive technologies into many categories to farther understanding. I have met several people with visual disabilities that use adaptive technologies to do things like magnify the font of something so that they can read it. I think the main challenge of using adaptive technology in the classroom is learning to use the program effectively as well. Many of these technologies need extra material in order to be helpful. If a screen reader is reading a power-point presentation with pictures on it, it cannot read the pictures aloud. The teacher would have to provide supplemental descriptions of every picture they include in the document and properly insert them so that the screen reader knows to read the description of the image.

I had no clue how to create a web page before doing this assignment. I learned that Weebly is a free website that can be used to make your own web page online. I liked that the website was very simple and easy to use and figure out. I did not like that most of the pictures that are on the site itself have to be payed for. This is easily worked around by finding images on google images and adding them in. This can be used to create a classroom website in the future. Classroom websites can improve organization and communication with parents and students. I can improve in the future by familiarizing myself with the website and learning how to do more than just the basic functions.
http://eme2040lp.weebly.com/

Before working with Diigo, I was unaware that anything like it existed. I learned that students, coworkers, etc. can collaborate with each other and bookmark, highlight, and make notes on important webpages and share them in one place that can be easily accessed by a group. This can be very useful when collaborating with my fellow teachers. We can share useful articles on lesson plans, teaching strategies, or games and then give each other insight on our own personal connection to each article. Students can use this technology similarly by sharing articles and taking notes/ giving feedback when working in a group or on a group assignment. 

Blog Post 6

I observe at Raa Middle School so I looked up their school website. It looks like not every teacher is required to have a class page; however, if the teacher does have a class page they provide the link on the website. I was able to look at a few of the pages without a password or login. The websites offer educational videos that are on the topic they are discussing in class. Some class pages also offer contact information to the professor and a schedule of class events and assignments. Some pages also gave the textbook login information, a syllabus, a tab for tests and quizzes, and even a tab for assignments and extra credit opportunities. The class page in the screenshot below is Mr. King's Class from Raa middle school. He is an 8th grade social studies teacher.
https://www.sites.google.com/site/classwithyourmajesty/

The podcast breaks teacher technology into four different categories. They are all very useful for teachers; however, I see myself using some technology more than others. Grading software and tools such as spreadsheets will be a necessity for any teacher. It makes grading much more efficient and the  likelihood of human error much lower. I would also use a class website like the one above to keep my students and parents informed of what is going on, what is due, and what is coming up next in my class. I would link my email to the website and use the class page and email a sources of communication between me, students, and parents so that my class could run as smoothly as possible and I could be reached with ease if anyone had any questions about anything.

The Technology Sandbox had so many cool and useful tools for teachers and classrooms. I really enjoy using the Smart Board. I am not super experienced with lot of technology, but I think I could be easily trained to use the Smart Board. I like that it can be interactive for up to eight students at a time. I would use it to play games with the class to reinforce learned subjects and curriculum. I would also use the regular white board option. An example for this option would be a math lesson, I could ask a student to show their work on the board so that the other students can see how that students worked the problem out. In high school, a couple of my classes used the white board and it always made class participation higher. This is because students are excited to use the new and fun technology and it creates an incentive to participate in the classroom activity.

Blog Post 5

I think that Web 2.0 tools like blogs are very useful in the classroom and for teachers. The podcast reiterates this point by stating that teachers can make class blogs to post homework updates and other announcements. This is very useful to a classroom of busy and forgetful students. I have seen twitter used in a similar way where teachers can instantly post reminders and useful announcements to students. Twitter is extremely helpful because the student can be notified immediately on their phone. I think YouTube can also be a helpful tool in the classroom; however, teachers need to be careful because it can also serve as a distraction. Teachers should filter what students can see and view on YouTube.

Skype is a tool I never thought about using in the classroom; however, it can be very beneficial to students. Skype is a video calling software where people can connect over webcam through the internet. Students can collaborate on assignments at home over Skype and can visually see what others are doing. Teachers can also use Skype to connect with other professionals that can make a presentation to their class from a far off location. Teachers can potentially connect with professionals and other classrooms from all over the world and provide learning opportunities for their students that would not otherwise be possible.

Skype

I think that cloud computing is the technology advancement that holds the biggest promise for education. This is because of its helpful nature in regards to collaborative projects. Cloud computing is already beginning to be utilized in some schools in classrooms with more money friendly options such as Google Apps. Students could store assignments that they are working on in the cloud and access them from any location. Cloud computing can even open up the possibility of getting access to a fully functioning school anywhere, even in impoverished countries. This technology advancement will be very helpful to education in the future.