What Great Resources ED 5670 Has Given Me!

I browsed through more of the on-line resources that Dr. Smirnova made available to our class for this final week of the course. I particularly liked the link to a site that helps educators create webquests for their students. This is a technology tool that I have seen examples of in other classes and it is something I would love to offer to my future students. I appreciate having this resource to look further into in the future. The other resource I really liked is the site that offers four sites for on-line stories. This could be a particularly helpful tool with children who are reticent to write to help them gain confidence through an engaging learning medium.

Thank you, Dr. Smirnova, and my fellow classmates in ED 5670-T1, for the useful resources regarding the use of technology tools in a classroom!

Self-Assessment of My WOW Project Presentation

• Organization of the presentation (flow, length, practiced). Presentation parts: Intro, Body, and Conclusion + References and Appendices.
• I rehearsed my presentation numerous times and I believe that paid off during my presentation. I am pleased with the flow of my presentation and the fact that I gave an effective introduction, discussion of major content areas of the topic, and an effective conclusion. 
• Topic stimulation (active engagement).
• I believe I kept classmates engaged by periodically checking for understanding. I think my introduction helped get people thinking about the topic and the  links within the wiki page kept the discussion and materials moving, which helps keep people engaged. Also, the design of the wiki site is interactive by nature.
• Usefulness of materials (clear, practical, handy, relevant, informative, handout(s), resources provided).
• I believe my materials were very effective and useful. 
• Knowledge of the topic (expertise, good ideas, insights).
• I thought I did an effective job providing background information and summaries for the major concepts within my topic. I kept my speech conversational and avoided reading from my slides when I could. 
• Scope of teaching ideas and curriculum impact (goals clear, important, appropriate, significant, doable).
• I believe all of the technology tools I included are geared towards clear, important, appropriate, significant and doable classroom applications. 
• Effort (digging deep, extensive depth displayed in the research and provided presentation, work-work-work-work, persistence).
• This project reflects significant amounts of research and work. Hopefully that shined through during the presentation.
• Audience involvement (Grabbers, Check for Understanding stops, activities, summative assessment tools, etc.) 
• I started with an interactive introduction, checked for understanding multiple times, and provided an interactive summative assessment. 
• References (APA style is followed).
• All references were provided in the APA format. 

Final Reflections on ED 5670-T1 Literacy and Technology Course (MSMC)

I foresee my job as a teacher as giving children the experiences, information and skills they need at their developmental age so that they may fully experience what they are capable of doing in the world. Part of that endeavor will involve making school a meaningful place. Children deserve to spend their days doing things they are interested in and having fun as they learn. My goal is to make my classroom a place that students look forward to coming to each morning because they perceive it as a place that is fun, rewarding, positive and interesting.  I want to make my students believe in themselves as learners and discover their innate passion for learning about the world and what they are capable of doing and discovering in it. My personal goal is to learn the technical and theoretical aspects of my job well enough to think and operate at a mastery level so that I can most aptly provide appropriate, student-centered activities that match students’ developmental levels. Eventually, my hope is to spend a majority of my energy and focus on providing high-quality, research-based instruction that is highly tailored to the interests and needs of all of my students.

I hope to use technology as one of the key tools for bringing my classroom to life for my students and having it embody authentic aspects of kids’ own lives.  As such, technology should help make my classroom a place that students enjoy spending time in and look forward to coming to each morning.  One exciting realization I have had with regards to using technology in my classroom is the fact that it can serve as a means for students to collaborate with me to collectively learn about new advances in technology tools. That is one way that students can feel like they are part of a community where everyone respects what each person has to offer so far as experiences, know-how and skills.  This will communicate that I as the teacher respect them as individuals and am willing to learn from them.

One piece of information that I greatly value from taking ED 5670-T1 is the LoTi paradigm for technology implementation in classrooms. This will be a helpful tool for me as I seek to create a technology-based classroom and curriculum for my students.  It provides descriptive details about what the highest levels of technology implementation look like. I can use this as a model for when I plan my future classroom instruction.  I will also take with me the new paradigm of a 21^st century learner so that I will better understand how my students like to learn and what technology tools they find relevant in their lives.  I found the video “Learning to Change-Changing to Learn” inspiring and insightful and will likely keep referencing that video to keep the vision of the 21^st century learner alive and front-and-center in my mind as a future educator.  I will also continue to think about the theory of constructivism and how it can inform my instructional planning so that I can provide the kinds of student-centered and meaningful learning experiences I want to provide for my students.  I believe this course was a constructivist model of teaching in that as students we were able to seek out materials and engage in learning activities independently.  The professor served as our guide with providing requisite information and assignments that she knew would enable us to achieve the course’s learning outcomes. In this regard, this was my favorite class to take in my entire master’s program. I genuinely enjoyed being responsible for my own learning and be able to independently engage in activities and complete course readings and assignments. I LOVED the freedom to construct my own understanding of course principles and concepts and to create my own meanings.  One of my chief struggles with previous graduate school classes was the requirement to sit in a classroom and be lectured on course information.  In nearly every case, I would have preferred being able to independently complete course assignments and reading and meet with the professor solely for him/her to share personal anecdotes that could supplement and enrich my understanding and insight into effective teaching.  When teachers instead talked about what I had read in the book it seemed like it was wasteful redundancy as far as my time investment.  In this regard, our professor gave us all the opportunity to experience firsthand what a constructivist model of teaching and learning is. And boy am I hooked!

I now have a broad understanding of many of the Web 2.0 tools that would be integral in a technology-based classroom.  I can create websites, wikis, blog pages, twitter accounts, digital posters and newsletters and visual art all using various Web 2.0 tools and websites.  This understanding is something I can transfer to my students and use as a tool to better understand what is relevant in the lives of my future learners. 

I will also bring to my future classroom my experiences working collaboratively with classmates using various Web 2.0 tools during this course.  In the group I worked in, we served as excellent assets to each other as we helped to clarify logistics of the course, course concepts and assignments for each other. We also pooled together our individual strengths and talents to complete group assignments. From these assignments we learned from what each of us brought to the table and used each other as resources to compliment our own areas of confusion and/or weaknesses.  We also forged strong bonds with each other and got to know each other better. All of these experiences were worthwhile, constructive and beneficial. I look forward to providing these kinds of experiences for my students.

The final presentations by my classmates were very informative and provided me with a WEALTH of information about technology tools that I can use with my future students. I have already bookmarked a number of them so that I have access to them on my computer. I plan to add many more as I look at additional projects on the Moodle discussion forum. I think it would be neat to have my future students do similar kinds of research about technology tools and share it with classmates. This could be a nice beginning of the year activity to familiarize students with the technology tools that are available for them to use in their learning. 

All in all, this course has provided me with information that will help me to create the kind of classroom experience I wish to create for my students.  I have benefited from new information that will help me reach my goal. I have also been enriched and inspired by much of what was provided during the class. It is an exciting time to be an educator with so many student-centered theories helping you to create meaningful and authentic learning experiences that help children see the possibilities for enjoying being alive in this world.  


Here is the link to my website and wiki page where you will find more information from this technology course.

Colorful Uniqueness of Classmates' Blogs

Throughout the course I have been visiting classmates' blogs and making comments on their various blog postings. This experience has been valuable for witnessing the sheer abundance of diversity in self-expression that was shown through my classmates' blogs. I loved how the postings nudged us all to be reflective and share personal insights and confusion. I found myself relating to many entries on both of these fronts.

From my experience reading others' blogs I have a sense that most graduate students in the course are open to using technology in their future classrooms. They also seem to value the various Web 2.0 tools that we learned about during the course. It is interesting to see a progression of openness to using technology in classrooms reflected in the sequence of blog responses. Most peoples' postings started out with a hesitant and cautious attitude towards technology and progressed to an open, more confident attitude.

Lastly, I share in the pride that most classmates seem to be feeling around having successfully used various Web 2.0 tools. Congratulations everyone for working hard and learning to become 21st-century-learning savvy!!!

My New Wiki Page: Combining Technology with the 6 C's of Motivation

I really enjoyed making my wiki page for my final class project.  The topic I covered is: Combining Technology with the 6 C's of Motivation.

The most salient part of my experience with making this wiki is how fulfilled I feel in having created a site like this. I was able to connect my pages so a reader can flow through them in a logical manner. I also figured out how to create a professional design and layout for the various site pages. All in all, this felt like a gratifying accomplishment both in learning the process for creating a wiki site and in the final product I produced.

How could I use this technology in my future classroom?
Just as my professor used it in this class. I could ask students to research topics of interest related to a unit theme or topic and provide wiki sites as an option for demonstrating what they've learned. Students can also use wiki sites as means for self-expression and reflection during the school-year.

How else could I use a wiki site as an educator?
I could build various kinds of wiki sites to share information with colleagues. They can be collaborative sites whereby colleagues can edit and contribute to site topics.

I am very excited about now being able to build wiki sites. Thank you, Dr. Smirnova!

Final Reflections on ED 5670-T1 Literacy and Technology Course (MSMC)

I foresee my job as a teacher as giving children the experiences, information and skills they need at their developmental age so that they may fully experience what they are capable of doing in the world. Part of that endeavor will involve making school a meaningful place. Children deserve to spend their days doing things they are interested in and having fun as they learn. My goal is to make my classroom a place that students look forward to coming to each morning because they perceive it as a place that is fun, rewarding, positive and interesting.  I want to make my students believe in themselves as learners and discover their innate passion for learning about the world and what they are capable of doing and discovering in it. My personal goal is to learn the technical and theoretical aspects of my job well enough to think and operate at a mastery level so that I can most aptly provide appropriate, student-centered activities that match students’ developmental levels. Eventually, my hope is to spend a majority of my energy and focus on providing high-quality, research-based instruction that is highly tailored to the interests and needs of all of my students.

I hope to use technology as one of the key tools for bringing my classroom to life for my students and having it embody authentic aspects of kids’ own lives.  As such, technology should help make my classroom a place that students enjoy spending time in and look forward to coming to each morning.  One exciting realization I have had with regards to using technology in my classroom is the fact that it can serve as a means for students to collaborate with me to collectively learn about new advances in technology tools. That is one way that students can feel like they are part of a community where everyone respects what each person has to offer so far as experiences, know-how and skills.  This will communicate that I as the teacher respect them as individuals and am willing to learn from them.

One piece of information that I greatly value from taking ED 5670-T1 is the LoTi paradigm for technology implementation in classrooms. This will be a helpful tool for me as I seek to create a technology-based classroom and curriculum for my students.  It provides descriptive details about what the highest levels of technology implementation look like. I can use this as a model for when I plan my future classroom instruction.  I will also take with me the new paradigm of a 21^st century learner so that I will better understand how my students like to learn and what technology tools they find relevant in their lives.  I found the video “Learning to Change-Changing to Learn” inspiring and insightful and will likely keep referencing that video to keep the vision of the 21^st century learner alive and front-and-center in my mind as a future educator.  I will also continue to think about the theory of constructivism and how it can inform my instructional planning so that I can provide the kinds of student-centered and meaningful learning experiences I want to provide for my students.  I believe this course was a constructivist model of teaching in that as students we were able to seek out materials and engage in learning activities independently.  The professor served as our guide with providing requisite information and assignments that she knew would enable us to achieve the course’s learning outcomes. In this regard, this was my favorite class to take in my entire master’s program. I genuinely enjoyed being responsible for my own learning and be able to independently engage in activities and complete course readings and assignments. I LOVED the freedom to construct my own understanding of course principles and concepts and to create my own meanings.  One of my chief struggles with previous graduate school classes was the requirement to sit in a classroom and be lectured on course information.  In nearly every case, I would have preferred being able to independently complete course assignments and reading and meet with the professor solely for him/her to share personal anecdotes that could supplement and enrich my understanding and insight into effective teaching.  When teachers instead talked about what I had read in the book it seemed like it was wasteful redundancy as far as my time investment.  In this regard, our professor gave us all the opportunity to experience firsthand what a constructivist model of teaching and learning is. And boy am I hooked!

I now have a broad understanding of many of the Web 2.0 tools that would be integral in a technology-based classroom.  I can create websites, wikis, blog pages, twitter accounts, digital posters and newsletters and visual art all using various Web 2.0 tools and websites.  This understanding is something I can transfer to my students and use as a tool to better understand what is relevant in the lives of my future learners. 

I will also bring to my future classroom my experiences working collaboratively with classmates using various Web 2.0 tools during this course.  In the group I worked in, we served as excellent assets to each other as we helped to clarify logistics of the course, course concepts and assignments for each other. We also pooled together our individual strengths and talents to complete group assignments. From these assignments we learned from what each of us brought to the table and used each other as resources to compliment our own areas of confusion and/or weaknesses.  We also forged strong bonds with each other and got to know each other better. All of these experiences were worthwhile, constructive and beneficial. I look forward to providing these kinds of experiences for my students.

All in all, this course has provided me with information that will help me to create the kind of classroom experience I wish to create for my students.  I have benefited from new information that will help me reach my goal. I have also been enriched and inspired by much of what was provided during the class. It is an exciting time to be an educator with so many student-centered theories helping you to create meaningful and authentic learning experiences that help children see the possibilities for enjoying being alive in this world.  


Here is the link to my website and wiki page where you will find more information from this technology course.

Ignorance is Not Bliss When It Comes to Judging the Quality of Websites.

Microsoft

Cornell University's library has a very helpful list of five criteria for evaluating web pages. I found this to be a helpful guide for learning how to be a discriminating consumer of information on the Internet. This understanding is something I hope to provide to my students in my Web 2.0 classroom.