Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Midterm
I believe that I did pretty well on the midterm. I felt somewhat confused as to what all to study and focus my studying on, but overall I am pretty confident in my work. I did not have one specific section that was more difficult for me. I did take a few minutes to get back into "mac" mode for me again but overall I was able to complete the questions with a little time and patients. I did struggle for a minute to remember from the first week how we did a print screen on the mac but I figured it out relatively quickly. I knew it was some combination of keys! I hope everyone else felt confident and that we all do well on our midterm! Enjoy spring break!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Filamentality/ WebQuest
I think in the link to the first article, “Educational World,” put the usefulness of WebQuest perfectly. “I find it the perfect model for teachers searching for ways to incorporate the Internet into the classroom on both a short-term and long-term basis.” I have found a few ways to use technology to increase students learning by adding to teaching or short term technology related assignments. The idea of WebQuest is the first technology I am aware of that can actually allow students to take the lead in their learning allowing teachers to become facilitators as Professor McCulloch stated.
On the Discovery School page I clicked on a couple of the examples from the exemplary WebQuests including some that had moving graphics. Like Professor McCulloch said these pages can be somewhat “dry” since we were not taught how to insert graphics. I think since the instruction page is a very basic layout choosing interactive and interesting sites is very important to keep the student’s attention.
When reading the “FOCUS” article I began to reflect upon past lessons about technology we have learned. Not only do we find websites that are attention getters and interesting but we must keep in mind what we read about and how to assess a website last week to find our great sites. Also, like stated in the article I think that bookmarks are a good way to keep track of relevant links so that when creating a new page you can browse previously found sites to cut down on searching time. When speaking of how to orchestrate your learners and resources I really like the idea of using class time to go over what to do in the lab if this setting is the only option for computer access. Too many times I have wasted precious time in a computer lab listening to a teacher explain what could have been done in the classroom previously. I also can see myself using the idea of printing web pages and placing them around the room for students to use and find. This way students still search for the information but it does not rely on a working computer and internet access. A good back up plan incase the internet at the school is down the day you planned a lesson. I like the idea of when using groups allow students to look at different pages or even the same page using a different perspective. WebQuest really seems to take the dullness of memorized standard information and allows students to apply and think deeper, like Bloom’s Taxonomy, which is important when much of our curriculum is now content driven.
The article The Student WebQuest opened my eyes to the various uses and topics that have been and can be used for WebQuests. Since the internet has so much available the sky really is not even the limit for creative and dedicated teachers. Like the article concluded with, I believe a final reflection will bring analysis and critical thinking to a deeper level in discussion and allow the teacher, who may be more uninvolved directly in such an assignment, to gather feedback to adapt or enhance the lesson, page or assignment.
Finally, what I learned this week. Wow I feel that this week was a very useful tool with the filamentality. Not only have I discovered new ways to enhance and deepen students’ thought and learning but a new way to “plan” or “run” a lesson. Taking a step back as a teacher may be hard for some at first, but putting learning into the hands of the students can create such a meaningful learning experience for both students and teachers.
On the Discovery School page I clicked on a couple of the examples from the exemplary WebQuests including some that had moving graphics. Like Professor McCulloch said these pages can be somewhat “dry” since we were not taught how to insert graphics. I think since the instruction page is a very basic layout choosing interactive and interesting sites is very important to keep the student’s attention.
When reading the “FOCUS” article I began to reflect upon past lessons about technology we have learned. Not only do we find websites that are attention getters and interesting but we must keep in mind what we read about and how to assess a website last week to find our great sites. Also, like stated in the article I think that bookmarks are a good way to keep track of relevant links so that when creating a new page you can browse previously found sites to cut down on searching time. When speaking of how to orchestrate your learners and resources I really like the idea of using class time to go over what to do in the lab if this setting is the only option for computer access. Too many times I have wasted precious time in a computer lab listening to a teacher explain what could have been done in the classroom previously. I also can see myself using the idea of printing web pages and placing them around the room for students to use and find. This way students still search for the information but it does not rely on a working computer and internet access. A good back up plan incase the internet at the school is down the day you planned a lesson. I like the idea of when using groups allow students to look at different pages or even the same page using a different perspective. WebQuest really seems to take the dullness of memorized standard information and allows students to apply and think deeper, like Bloom’s Taxonomy, which is important when much of our curriculum is now content driven.
The article The Student WebQuest opened my eyes to the various uses and topics that have been and can be used for WebQuests. Since the internet has so much available the sky really is not even the limit for creative and dedicated teachers. Like the article concluded with, I believe a final reflection will bring analysis and critical thinking to a deeper level in discussion and allow the teacher, who may be more uninvolved directly in such an assignment, to gather feedback to adapt or enhance the lesson, page or assignment.
Finally, what I learned this week. Wow I feel that this week was a very useful tool with the filamentality. Not only have I discovered new ways to enhance and deepen students’ thought and learning but a new way to “plan” or “run” a lesson. Taking a step back as a teacher may be hard for some at first, but putting learning into the hands of the students can create such a meaningful learning experience for both students and teachers.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Excel and Teaching Students to Use the Internet as a Research Tool
I have always been relatively comfortable with excel but never truly applied its usefulness to the classroom. I have thought about creating rosters or grading sheets but never knew I could make them so “pretty” or thought of allowing students to use excel to record their data for experiments. Also seeing that I can compare and turn grades into percentages and averaging assignments will assist me in modifying my teaching and assigned activities. Overall, I see myself using excel for a few different uses in my classroom.
I liked the Teaching Students to Use the Internet as a Research Tool article. Not only will this come in handy when assessing the validity of sites for my research as a student, but also as a teacher presenting or quoting sites, as well as teaching students to look at websites with a more critical eye. Some of the ideas I had not thought of included if a site is a pay site is will usually be worth something, I usually think of pay sites as either really good or spam. Seeing the various databases out there available in specific curriculum areas made me aware that I can and should be using more subject specific search engines. Some sites listed that sounded of interest to me in the future included: ed.net briefs, teachers.net, and U.S. Department of Education. I never knew much about directories, but feel that I learned a little more about them in this article. I did not know they were usually not made without much human intervention. Finally, it is important to look at the author or lack of author. I have always wondered why some sites do not produce or site the author and the article puts it best. If this work is good and reliable why would you not want to take credit for it!?
I liked the Teaching Students to Use the Internet as a Research Tool article. Not only will this come in handy when assessing the validity of sites for my research as a student, but also as a teacher presenting or quoting sites, as well as teaching students to look at websites with a more critical eye. Some of the ideas I had not thought of included if a site is a pay site is will usually be worth something, I usually think of pay sites as either really good or spam. Seeing the various databases out there available in specific curriculum areas made me aware that I can and should be using more subject specific search engines. Some sites listed that sounded of interest to me in the future included: ed.net briefs, teachers.net, and U.S. Department of Education. I never knew much about directories, but feel that I learned a little more about them in this article. I did not know they were usually not made without much human intervention. Finally, it is important to look at the author or lack of author. I have always wondered why some sites do not produce or site the author and the article puts it best. If this work is good and reliable why would you not want to take credit for it!?
Monday, March 5, 2007
Evaluation Website
I will definitely use this website in my future teaching career. I often hesitate on using information I find from various sources, such as the internet because I worry about the value and accuracy of the information. Having a website that walks you through the steps of evaluating various teaching tools will assist me in feeling more confident in my technology choices. If I feel that I have found a high quality program, going through the evaluation checks will assist me in determining if the program will enrich the learning environment and enhance my teaching. The top links for the various criteria will be useful in a quick overview and evaluation of various tools in the classroom, but some of the links down below will be even more useful if I have the time to go in-depth into examining these tools further. Specifically I see myself using the Children’s Software Evaluation Instrument. Although I do not plan to teach young students, I need to keep in mind teaching high school special education students, many of their processing levels and mental abilities are that of younger children. The Children’s Software Evaluation Instrument has a clear layout of guidelines on a form to assess thoroughly tools and their value to the students. If all teachers used these evaluations on their tools they present to their classes, I believe that we would have higher standards of teaching. Many times I believe teachers use certain tools to fill the time or make the lesson easier for them to teach. After a review of the tools they plan to use with one of the criteria outlined on the site the teacher could reflect and reassess the need and actual value of the tools used and chosen. On a deeper level, I thought that the Questions to Ask About Your Technology Investment would be useful when I begin teaching to become a more reflective teacher. This evaluation method presents questions to determine the value of various tools but does not just force the teacher to classify and breeze through a list of criteria options. Having a tool that asks open ended questions leading to an evaluation of tools allows teachers to keep their current group of students’ learning styles and needs in mind while specifically addressing the value and evaluating the technology tools chosen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)