In the End

What teaching strategies used during this course compliment integration of technology?

I think the variety of tools that we learned about will definitely help with technology integration in my classroom. I learned about wikis, podcasts, simulation software, and other technology that will greatly improve my teaching with the aid of technology.

Using and staying up-to-date with technology will allow me to make a better impact in my students' lives as they live in a time where technology is rapidly evolving.

How do you personally define technology integration after completing this course?

Simply, using technology to enhance and improve learning in the classroom. This could cover a variety of subjects, or help individuals who are gifted or struggling. Used appropriately, it can greatly improve the objectives and content of preexisting curriculum.

Results of Learning

1. Reflect on the skills used as a result of your learning so far that you are applying to promote an effective method of applying the modern instructional technology and producing instructional media and aids into teaching.

While working on my teacher website, I realized that I have become more comfortable with and knowledgeable of the Internet and creating websites. I created a Wiki earlier in this course and I feel that my abilities in following steps to create a website, and just being more willing to try out the options in creating such a project have greatly improved.

Creating Power Point presentations has also become easier for me, although I want to work on improving my skills in this area. I offered to put together our groups technology presentation, so I hope that will give me more time and ability to learn more about Power Point.

2. What do you expect are the students' affective outcomes from using these forms of technology?

I am actually really excited about some of the websites I read about in chapter 12 as well as some of the sites others shared and that I found on my own. My students really enjoy working on the laptops and learning how to use new websites, activities, etc. So, I think that using new websites will really encourage learning in my classroom.

As for Power Point, I'm planning on using some pre-fabricated presentations that will give some information about our new theme unit. I would also consider having students work in groups to produce their own Power Point presentations. This would give them a great sense of accomplishment to be able to use and produce something using technology.

Culture of Technology Workshop 6

Sherry Turkle (2004) says, "Information technology is identity technology. Embedding it in a culture that supports democracy, freedom of expression, tolerance, diversity, and complexity of opinion is one of the decade's greatest challenges (p. B28)."

1. What role could multimedia instructional materials and student multimedia projects play in bringing about this culture?

I think that, in this case, technology could be compared to art. By this I mean to make the connection to freedom of expression/speech and creativity. Students who are enabled to use a variety of technological resources have the ability to create high-quality work. With proper training and usage, these multimedia tools can greatly benefit the learning and assessment of students' knowledge and connections to subject topics and areas. Since the culture that is expressed above is a reality, students must be equipped to be able to learn and create through such avenues.

2. How can teachers' use of multimedia support the development of such a culture?

When teachers model proper use of anything, it helps to promote that item. In this case, multimedia support can be used to keep students current and open up new possibilities for authentic learning experiences. It can also create a link to non-multimedia learning, which will help students remain active in a variety of learning experiences.

3. What are the challenges in your classroom?

I'd say money, time, and training (for myself) are the biggest challenges in my classroom. I feel like exploring new technology properly takes a lot of time, which for some reason I never have enough of! Our school's budget for technology is not a priority, so it's hard to purchase new software, subscribe to websites, etc. This in itself can make learning about new technology difficult. Finally, I really learn best by physically trying out new things. Being a little tech-handicapped, I would really learn best from someone who knows how to use technology and testing it out for myself. In general, this could even look like a technologically savvy person teaching me, with an example, how to review and choose software which is appropriate for the grade level which I teach.

Questions

1. After you have explored the Questioning Toolkit websites, what types of questions do you generally use when you teach students?

I'd say the top three types of questions that I use while teaching include clarification, hypothetical and essential questions. Clarification questions help me challenge my students to think further, maybe further back. By this I mean that if I ask a "Why..." question my students need to think back through the steps of what we just studies and figure out what produced a certain outcome.

Hypothetical questions enable my students to think about what might or could happen. This kind of questioning helps ignite imagination and creativity. If this happened, then what...

Essential questions are important in Like-Minded schools. This digs into the soul and who a person really is, or could be. These questions engage the mind and heart.


2. What kinds of questions would lead students to think critically and at higher levels?

Probing and elaborating questions could be used to lead students to higher thinking. Digging deeper into the facets of an issue or problem by asking probing questions spark important critical thinking on the part of the student. Elaborating questions, on the other hand, take a problem further than a simple answer. These create the ability for students' minds to be stretched and expanded toward higher thinking.

3. What kind of questions would compliment the integration of technologies in your classroom?

It would be good to use technology for planning and strategizing in classroom situations. Technology would also be useful with organizational questions. To me, technology is useful for organization, finding and putting information in order to understand better. The internet can be a huge asset in finding information and putting it all together.

Significant Learning Experience

-We are mid-point in this class, reflect on a significant learning experience you had in at least one of the learning activities so far in a workshop. Describe why it was important.



I really think that blogs have captured my attention over most of the technology that we have discussed thus far. I think that since I am already involved in reading and responding to blogs at a personal level, adding this to my professional life seems like an obvious step.



Having read and looked over the examples and exploring other educational blogs, I have found this aspect of technology to pique my interest. As a teacher, I am always looking for new material as well as other educators with whom I can collaborate. Blogs provide a level of accessibility that can be casual but professional, depending on the audience.



-How would you use any of the tools as a form of professional development, building learning networks, and/or provide a platform to become a world changer?



I think many people have already changed the face of education by integrating various forms of technology in their classrooms. The most public of these pioneers are those who are online, using tools such as blogs to further the causes of education.



For myself, I would be interested in creating, or simply being involved in an educational blog network. I think I would like to be involved with a specific focus group, for instance a subject or topic, rather than an open-ended educational blog group.



I know there are already several blogs, written by a set group of people, which focus on specific topics. I would like to get into being a normal writer on one of those blogs. That would give me the ability to share my ideas, learn from co-writers, and learn from the "audience."

Podcasts as Teaching Tools

1. Reflect on how you could use "Podcasts" to distribute your lessons.

My first thought, since it was brought up during our group discussion, is that if the school were closed down for an extended period of time teachers could upload lessons as a Podcast. This thought is in light of the H1N1 outbreak over the past year or so. There were certainly times where our schools were discussing what to do if they were shut down.

I could also use Podcasts to supplement or enhance my own teaching. They are not unlike videos that I use from the web, such as Bill Nye the Science Guy. The drawback of that would be that most Podcasts I have seen/heard are pretty dull, especially for students at an elementary level.



2. What do you expect are the students' affective outcomes when the students use this form of technology to learn?

As mentioned above, it would be difficult to make (or find) Podcasts that were not too boring for my elementary students. I think that, as with any newly introduced technology, they would be interested at first, but then lose interest pretty quickly. I know that elementary students really thrive on interaction, and since we all learn differently, these Podcasts would be more accepted by the audio/visual learners. BUT, that leaves out the kinsthetic learners, which many young children are. Interaction and movement are so important for young people!

Student Responses to Technology

• What do you expect are the students' cognitive outcomes when the students use technology?

Being that people learn in a variety of ways, I feel that students gain from a variety of methods. Using technology in the classroom could very well enhance cognition. Used properly, computers and other technology could allow for information to be presented in ways that are not available without such amenities. Technology can allow for a more organized, structured presentation of materials as well as make accessible ways of analysis and synthesis that could be more creative and original.

The downfall is that technology isn't going to be this kind of platform or tool for every student, and possibly only a select few. The ease or creativity of taking in knowledge, creating, and presenting quality learning experiences could greatly vary depending on the dynamics of the group(s) being taught.

• What do you expect are the students' affective outcomes when the students use technology?

I would say, from my experience, that students are generally excited and interested in learning from technology, namely computers. New and exciting things are motivational to learning. I have however seen that once students run into a problem which is difficult or takes time to fix (something as simple as a slow Internet connection) they lose interest in the activity. I would also assert that students who are repeatedly exposed to technology over time would, on majority, become less motivated (than initially) and in turn not be as positively affected by the technology, therefore not really enhancing the affective aspect of learning from a technological source.