Reflective Essay About EME 2040 Course: Introduction to Technology For Educators

Reflective Essay

    “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” ~ John Dewey 

"Now I can touch the sky" Photo credit to spaceyjessie on Flickr

     Amazingly it has been almost four months since I started this course and it is time to reflect on what has been achieved and what remains to be achieved.

     I remember vividly the first day of class. I knew I had to take this course, but to be honest, I felt in honeycombs on issues relating to technology. Just the professor began to explain the characteristics of this course and my heart began to beat like a runaway horse. So many assignments and projects, so much terminology totally new to me, and so little time! At the end of class I finished terrified with the idea of ​​leaving the course for later. I really had all the symptoms of an attack of "acute cowardliness." However, as I have a persistent personality, I decided to stay. Furthermore, anyway sooner or later I would have to face this challenge, then why keep postponing the inevitable? Today I am delighted I made that decision and frankly, I think it was the best I could have done.

     The first assignments, the Journal Posts, helped me study and meditate on the content of each chapter of the textbook. At first, I felt the same way when I came from Cuba and went to buy food and other necessities. There were so many products of the same genus, but of different brands that I felt lost. I did not know which one to choose, and in the worst case, I did not have the slightest idea about for what or how they were used. Likewise I felt about the amount of technological tools and resources available to us, the educators. I was wondering, would I get one day to master them? Would I be able to become a real e-teacher? Would I be able to overcome my fears, doubts and prejudices regarding the use of technology in education? Gradually I was getting the answer to each of these questions.

      Besides this, I came to realize that blogs offer the ideal framework for students and teachers to meditate on important issues and express their views on assignments and projects that have been made during the course. This allows them to be aware of the achievements and failures and make the necessary corrections during the progress of the process in order to achieve better results at the end. I found several useful ideas about that on the journalist and PBL  advocate Suzie Boss’s blog. She says: “By inviting student feedback, you demonstrate respect for their opinions and underscore the value of student voice.” Referring to the importance of this for us, the educators, she adds: “You'll build on the investment you've already made in project planning by setting the stage for improvements.”

     On the other hand, Board Discussion Topics made me investigate and delve into important aspects of technology and its appropriate application in the education field. Besides, I could exchange ideas, opinions and relevant information with my classmates. Really, though the two assignments were completely new to me, both helped me understand the huge potential that these means have to enhance communication with students, parents, other teachers and all of those who, in one way or another, are involved in the educational process. Well used, these technological resources can extend teaching and learning beyond the school walls and expand the connection with other important factors. Without any doubt, communication technology can be “lively, interactive teaching and learning environments” (Maloy, Verock-O’Loughlin, Edwards, & Park, 2011, p. 218).

     Learn to develop a rubric as an assessment tool and apply it to evaluate the quality of a website was for me something revealing. As a college student I already had had to seek information for various projects. However, no one ever had taught me how to know if a website is or not reliable as a source of information. Since accessing and assessing information using technology are part of my educational work, I believe that this acquired knowledge will be very useful in my future as a student and professional. Without any doubt, using Internet brings with it the need for students to gain Information and Internet Literacy, therefore it is our duty as educators to be prepared to do so. 

      Also, the process of creating the WebQuest was something I thoroughly enjoyed. Although I had to adhere to Zunal format, I also had enough freedom to use my own ideas to design it and give it my personal touch. I will definitely use it in my math classes as an ideal resource to get more participation and creativity of the part of students as well as a more active and deep learning on some aspects of the curriculum.

    But what about the projects? They were a big, big, big challenge. They squeezed my neurons and tested my patience, especially those that were collaborative such as the Lesson Plan and the Instructional Strategy Wiki. Both demanded working in groups, which as everyone knows, is sometime difficult. In both cases we had to divide the work, assign responsibilities, exchange ideas, make decisions, and evaluate each member’s work. Really, without a good communication everything would have been a failure. However, despite their similarities, both in my opinion, were very different in the degree of difficulty and the way we communicated to plan, organize and develop each assignment.

      For example, in the case of Collaborative Lesson Plan we had more freedom to communicate with each other, either personally, by cell phone or via Internet; this allowed a greater interpersonal contact and facilitated the entire process of selection, analysis and organization of the information. The first two meetings were crucial for the work planning, the exchange and discussion of ideas and the subsequent success of the assignment. After that, everything was easier and we did not need to meet face- to- face to fulfill our responsibilities. Everyone knew what to do, how and when. In addition, if necessary, we had the possibility of communicating in other ways. In truth, we had more interaction among us, got to know each other better and therefore, we were able to make a more objective assessment of the work and contribution of each one of us to the project.

     Contrary to this, in the case of the Instructional Strategy, we could only communicate through the wiki, which in my opinion, reduced our chances of communication and made difficult for us the organization, control, and distribution of responsibilities. Although this was a collective project, I felt that each of us worked more individually. There was barely any collaboration for the elaboration of the Introduction and References pages and I only managed to communicate regularly with just one member of the team. Honestly, I came to feel highly charged because I had to assume almost total responsibility for the design and development of these pages. Of course, this in turn limited the time I could devote to my own, so I could not complete all the elements asked for in the rubric. Maybe my group mates had collaborated more if the rubric were specified the minimum amount required for each member to contribute and edit the content of those pages. Once again it is proven that collaboration doesn't just happen.

     Looking for more information about using wikis in support of collaboration and learning, I found a research conducted by two professors at a University of Texas with students in two post-secondary courses. In the first course, students used the wiki as a course content glossary for posting and editing original contributions and in the second one, wikis were used to develop, share, and edit project assignments. Surprisingly to me, the opinions of students match my own because in the case of the second course project, which was similar to ours, students perceived that the wiki did not significantly contribute to collaboration (Hughes & Narayan, 2009).

     However, this project helped me realize the potential of wikis as tools to motivate, stimulate and increase the quality of the students’ participation in the construction of their own knowledge and skill development. Undoubtedly, wiki users can write, share, and edit content while only possessing rudimentary skills in web page creation (Matthies, Helmke & Slater, 2006). It also facilitates interaction and collaboration between students and teachers as well as the monitoring of the degree and quality of each student’s participation. Their inherent simplicity provides students with direct (and immediate) access to a site’s content, which is crucial in group editing or other collaborative project activities. Besides, since wikis reside on the Internet, students can access and participate from any location, provided they have Internet access. So, Yes! I think use it in my future math class as an ideal instrument to achieve a project-based learning.

     Finally, there was the e-Portfolio. In this moment of the course I could tell myself how much I had learned about technology. Despite the complexity of this project, I worked more relaxed and confident with the skills I already had, so I enjoyed it a lot more. I was more daring in its design and in the number and the variety of technological resources used. Incredibly, it took me less time to make it and I even allowed myself “to play," as it were, with the possibilities of Weebly. Since e-portfolios provide an online space for students and teachers to showcase academic work and interests, reflect on the meanings of that work and the connections between those meanings, and present themselves to prospective employers, I would love to try this technological resource in my professional future as a math teacher.

     In short I can say that although this course has been the hardest so far, it has been also the one that has given me more professionally. Now I am very aware that technology in education is becoming a way of life behind the school walls and that one major factor to the success and growth of technology education is proficient training and support for teachers. This is a reason because I think this course is so important. On the other hand, I remember that at the beginning I considered myself to be among the "cautious observers" regarding my interest and willingness to use new technology in teaching; today I consider myself among those who are willing to try and responsibly use technology to improve teaching and learning. However, I also know that I have a long way to go to be someday among the "early adopters" and achieve a high quality technology-based learning environment.

     To end this reflective essay, I want to write a few words of gratitude to you, Professor Marie Coleman, whom I consider a competent professional and excellent educator. I truly appreciate the effort you have made for motivating and preparing us to use technology and apply it appropriately to education. I appreciate the time you have dedicated to us, despite your current fragile health and as far as I'm concerned, you can be satisfied with the impact that this course has made in me personally and professionally. If any student ever tells you that this course is too difficult, you can confidently put me as an example. I did not lie or exaggerate when I said that in terms of technology I belonged to the era of wood and stone. My skills were so elementary that 99% of the content of this program was completely new to me. However, with the willingness to learn, effort, patience, dedication and your help, I could reach the end successfully. Once again THANK YOU!

"My Journey has Begun." Photo credit to MichaA on Flickr

     I really enjoy a lot making these assignments! This is a sign that it was not all worry and anxiety, there was also laughter and above all, the joy of learning by creating.

                                           

My Digital Storytelling

Things that happened in my Introduction to Technology for Educators class on PhotoPeach

My Power Point: Assistive/Adaptive Technologies

References:

- Boss, S. (2012, November 18). PBL Teachers Need Time to Reflect, Too | Edutopia. K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work | Edutopia. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-learning-teacher-reflection-suzie-boss

- Hughes, J. E., & Narayan, R. (2009). Collaboration and Learning with Wikis in Post-Secondary Classrooms. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8 (ISSN: 1541-4914). Retrieved December 1, 2012, from http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/8.1

- Maloy, R.W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards. S.A.,&Woolf, B. P. (2011). Communicating and Networking with Websites, Blogs, Wikis, and More. Transforming Learning with New Technologies (pp. 217-219). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

- Matthies, B., Helmke, J., & Slater, P. (2006). Wikis in library instruction. Indiana Libraries, 25(3), 32-34. 

Journal Post # 11

Chapter #11: Engaging Teachers and Students in Learning and Self-Reflection

Photo credit to Ken Whytock on Flickr

Focus Question #2: How can teachers and students use digital portfolios as tool for learning?

One of the most important parts of the educational process is to have the objective information needed to make a realistic assessment of its effectiveness. How much have the students learned? What skills did they develop? How effective were the instructional strategies, teaching methods as well as the technological procedures used for teachers? Where did they fail? As a teacher, what do I have to change to help  develop the capabilities of each student fully? What are the learning style, preferences and strengths of each of them? We need a realistic feedback to make the changes and improvements necessary to raise teaching-learning process to a higher quality level.

 In this sense, the digital portfolios are an effective way to assess teachers’ and students’ accomplishments. For teachers it is an individually prepared and personalized collection of their work, educational approach, philosophy about education, achievements, goals and expectations. For students it is a computer-based collection of their performance over time.

In my opinion, this tool not only shows students progress, but also increases their engagement; promotes a continuing conversation about learning between teachers, parents, and students; and extends academic lessons beyond school walls. It also offers an opportunity for students to showcase skills and kinds of intelligence that often are not measured on standardized tests and at the same time each of them has the chance to show their creativity and their own personal stamp.

One of the most important ingredients in a portfolio is the student’s reflection on their work. Student reflections help teachers discover and observe what the students are really experiencing, thinking about, questioning, wondering about, trying, and attaining. Therefore, a portfolio provides a more comprehensive view of each student’s learning. As students consistently gather and reflect on their work, educators develop a clear picture of the learning that is taking place and are better able to identify areas that need attention.

Tech Tool Link:  SurveyMonkey

This website offers the possibility to create templates for different surveys, compute the information, analyze the results and send them to wherever we need. This could be a useful resource to involve students in preassessment process and a way for teachers to determine what they know, what skills they have, what they would like to learn and what they think about important academic topics. In this way  teachers could make better decisions about the topics they will teach as well as the methods, procedures, resources and evaluative techniques they will used.   

Summary and Personal Connection: 

For me, a person who come from an underdeveloped country, where teachers still store the information in files, not exactly digital, and these at the same time on shelves made ​​of different materials, the word portfolio evoked the image of a huge folder full of papers, difficult to transport and in constant danger of being eaten by moths. That is why I appreciate so much the great possibilities offered by tools such as digital portfolios for both teacher and students.

I am delighted to know that I can count on these technological resources that support active roles by students in the learning assessment process and enrich their learning. While the paper is static, the digital format has the ability to be updated, improved and enriched constantly, so it is more interactive. In addition, the digital portfolio can identify me as a competent professional and become the key that will open for me new and better employment opportunities.

Photo credit to nathangibbs on Flickr

Reference:

- Maloy, R.W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards. S.A.,&Woolf, B. P. (2011). Engaging Teachers and Students in Learning and Self-Reflection. Transforming Learning with New Technologies (pp. 310-313). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.  

Journal Post # 10

Chapter 10: Promoting Success for All Students through Technology

Focus Question # 1: What are differentiated instruction (DI) and universal design for learning (UDL)?

     Just as no two fingerprints are alike, neither are two students. Each comes with their own experiences, culture, background, abilities, learning style; some even have some kind of disability. Obviously, there are many factors that make each student different and therefore unique. Regardless of these differences, each has the right to learn, to develop their skills and potentials fully. Therefore, it is up to us, the educators, to meet this challenge imprinting our teaching with the flexibility, variety and creativity necessary to reach every student and meet their individual needs. It is precisely here where differentiated instruction (DI) comes to play its role. It means that teachers proactively plan varied approaches to what students need to learn, how they will learn it, and/or how they will show what they have learned in order to increase the likelihood that each student will learn as much as he or she can, as efficiently as possible. To accomplish this, learning activities may be differentiated on the basis of students' readiness for learning the specific content or skill, their interests or their preferred ways of learning. In a differentiated classroom, students experience learning in many configurations –working in small groups (with peers having similar or different readiness, interests, or learning preferences), with a partner, individually, and as a whole group.

     Closely linked to this approach is the concept of Universal Design for Learning. The central practical premise of UDL is that a curriculum should include alternatives to make it accessible and appropriate for individuals with different backgrounds, learning styles, abilities, and disabilities in widely varied learning contexts. This reflects the need to accommodate differences, creating learning experiences that suit the learner and maximize his or her ability to progress. UDL provides a framework that helps teachers differentiate their instruction through carefully articulated goals and individualized material, methods, technology strategies, and assessments. In short, this means access to quality and effective education for all.

Tech Tool Link: The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST)

      This is an interactive website that provides information, ideas, lesson plans, activities, case stories, books, videos intended to assist teachers to find effective ways to implement UDL in the classroom. By the way, I found it very practical some of the books on this site, especially for ELL students, because it offers the readers the opportunity to interact with content and other resources to obtain more explanations, illustrations, examples and exercises that allow them to get a full understanding of the story. There are also useful links to other websites, articles, and books about UDL.

Summary and Connection:

     Finishing reading this chapter I started to think about the huge amount of doors that the technology applied to education open to us. Just one of these is the possibility to make real the differentiated instruction. Truly, all these resources allow us to plan our classes in a more realistic and flexible manner to meet our students’ needs.

     In summer, I took the course: Diversity for Educators and in one of the assignments I had the opportunity to know about the sad story of Billy Pagoni, a young man here in Naples diagnosed with autism who finished high school and wanted to continue studying to become a baker, but no school could offer him a course that meets his needs. Billy implored on a video posted on Facebook. “I want to be a baker. I am a great student. I never miss a day of school. I get A’s on my report card. Please, can you help me go to college? I am an American. I am autistic.” The article about him was published on Fox News.com and it includes comments made by his mother. One of them says: “While universities currently offer specialized programs for blind, deaf, ESL and high-functioning Asperger’s students, there are little to no options for more severely autistic children.” Obviously, we all have to continue fighting for the principles advocated by UDL do not remain at the theoretical level, but rather to make education truly accessible for everyone.

References:

-Crees, A. (2012, April 6). Young man with autism appeals to Obama | Fox News. Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/06/young-man-with-autism-appeals-to-obama/

-Photo credit to LShave on Flickr


-Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2011). Promoting Success for All Students through Technology. Transforming learning with new technologies (pp. 277-279). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Journal Post # 9

Chapter #9 Creating and Sharing Information with Multimedia Technologies

Focus Question # 1: What is multimedia technology and how can teachers use it to effectively create and share visual information dynamically in their teaching?

     Multimedia technology in the educational process is just the proper, balanced and effective selection, combination and integration by teachers of those tools that use words, images, voices, sound, video and animation, in order to convey information in an attractive, interactive, and creative manner and get students to assimilate, understand, remember and apply the study material.

     Common examples of these are Power Point presentations, academically CD-ROMs, DVDs, TV programs, podcasts, etc. However, the main point of all this is to use them in such a way that the teaching and learning process can be interactive. Only then, the students will be an active part of their own learning making them to live a unique and unforgettable experience.

Tech Tool Link: NGA Kids: The Art Zone

     In my opinion, something that makes the learning experience boring and even stressful, is when students are forced to do something they do not feel identified with, do not understand, do not see the relevance and applicability and to top it off, they have to memorize it for a test. It is not the same to get a lecture about an artist and his works, that personally to experience the process of creating something. Precisely this website enables children and young people learn while they themselves made ​​a painting, a collage, a sculpture, etc. At the same time, traditional folk music and surprising animations enliven the online compositions. Really it is a great tool to teach students to love the art. I tried the Collage Machine and created my own version. Here you are: 

Journey Through Life

Summary and Connection:  As inherent characteristic of this course I am still learning about the infinite possibilities that technology puts in front of us, the educators.  Many of us complain that our students remain too much time glued to their devices and technologies and that it takes them away from family and social realities enclosing them in a virtual world. But, you know what? At this point of this course I have realized that this is just a justification for our intellectual laziness and lack of creative effort. There are neither the students nor the technology; there are some of us who do not want to get out of our shell to experiment with new teaching methods exploiting the potential of the technology.

Photo credit to colemama on Flickr

Reference: 

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Park, B. (2011). Creating and Sharing Information with Multimedia Technologies. Transforming Learning with New Technologies (pp. 243-244). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 8: Communicating and Networking with Websites, Blogs, Wikis and More.

Journal Post # 8
"Our children have digital limbs. We cannot amputate them at the front door."- Brendan Murphy

Photo credit to Mike Licht on Flickr

Focus Question # 4: How can teachers use wikis to promote collaborative learning?

     Good teachers, always worry about getting their students to engage in a more personal, meaningful and creative participation in class. I remember long ago I heard from a good pedagogue, "the good professor speaks little, but listens attentively and makes his students speak." Technologically speaking, that is precisely what the Wikis achieve.

     Since a wiki is a website developed collaboratively by a community of users, allowing any user to add and edit content, this makes possible collaborative learning environments for teachers and students. For example, the teacher may pose a problem and students working collectively, but at the same time printing their own personal stamp, investigate, discover, and develop concepts, strategies, and methodologies for solving it.

     A variation of these is the wikitext, in which students participate with the teacher in creating the textbooks for their classes. The result is that they feel personally connected to curriculum content and therefore more motivated to study it. They are not just content receivers, but also content creators and editors. Evidently, this tool facilitates an inquiry-based learning with a student-centered learning very much in tune with the constructivist approach.

Tech Tool Link: Education Week

     I really believe this website contains updated, comprehensive, professional, helpful and practical information for us, the educators. I read varied and very interesting articles about how to motivate students, how to maintain constructive relationships with parents, address the students’ individual needs using the e-books, the importance of laying a good foundation in early education, etc. I also read about the experience of Todd Quinn, a zoologist who dedicates his time voluntarily to teach young and brings a different exotic animal to class each week. Some of his students' behavior, especially the behavior of his special needs kids, has changed since he started bringing in the animals into class.  Another article that struck me was the one written by Peter DeWitt, the principal of an elementary school about the need for educators strive to integrate technology into their classrooms rather than resist using it or classifying it as harmful to students. He said: “Some educators believe that students do not know how to use their devices properly, (…). Our job as educators is to build a bridge between what they use it for and what we want them to use it for.” Actually I loved the information on this site and I could continue commenting about the other possibilities it offers, but I prefer that you try it for yourself.

Summary and personal connection:

     I have always known that good communication is essential to obtain a good education, but to be honest, only until I examined and meditated on this chapter, I had not fully aware of the vast possibilities that teacher and classroom websites, email, discussion boards, blogs and wikis have to create engaging and productive educational activities as well as to facilitate and enhance communication with all those who in one way or another are involved in the educational process. Undeniably, this chapter has opened before me new perspectives for integrating technology into and out the classroom

References:

DeWitt, P.  (October 14, 2012). Resisting Technology Is Soooo 20th Century. Retrieved October 15, 2012, from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/10/resisting_technology_is_soooo_20th_century.html

Heitin, L. (October 10, 2012). Florida School Goes Wild for Science. Retrieved October 15, 2012, from http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/

Problem Solving and Inquiry Learning with Software and Web Tools

Journal Post #7

Photo on Google

Focus Question #2: How can teachers evaluate the different types of educational software available today?

     Making correct decisions is a skill not very common. Daily, since we wake up until we go to bed, we have to make decisions, some more simple, but others are really important as they will have significant consequences. In fact, I would put the decision that as teachers we should do about which educational software use in our classes among these.

     It is essential therefore, get to know the differences between low-quality and high-quality software. I agree completely with what Seymour Papert wrote in his book "The connected family: Bridging the digital generation gap" that before deciding which software to buy, every teacher should ask first: “Will the child program the computer or will the computer program the child?” Unfortunately, still there are some that leave little room for the students’ creativity because what they do is merely controlling their activity, teaching them to repeat and reproduce mechanically and not to think, reason, plan, evaluate and apply learning. Fortunately, we have valuable help and guidance to choose wisely. There are rubrics and specialized websites that allow us to evaluate objectively the educational software considering the following criteria: Teacher support, Content, Assessment, Technical quality, and Instructional design.

      However, I have only one big "but."  According to our textbook for this course, teachers will commonly find software choices that have been preselected by the district; even more, in some schools they are not allowed to add their own software to the school system network and others allow them to add programs after having gone through a slow and cumbersome process (Page 178). I wonder, if we are the ones directly and daily in contact with students, we know well the curriculum, we are responsible for complying the  standards, then should not we have a greater and decisive involvement in the selection of educational software for an entire school or school system?  

Tech Tool Link: Educational Software Preview Guide (ESPG)

     I consider that this online searchable directory can be very helpful in locating educational software for a particular curriculum area, grade level, and hardware. Once selected the software, this website link us to the publishers and we can request it for preview. Moreover, the fact that it provides teachers a comprehensive evaluation tool and a document on using the evaluation instrument to assess the software, allows a constant feedback that can facilitate and improve the selection of educational software by other educators. My only concern is that its preview guide has not been updated since 2007; therefore, some of its information is obsolete. It is a pity because with so many responsibilities and demands that we have, being able to access a reliable website for accurate information about something as important as educational software would be really a great help to us.

Summary and personal connection:

     This chapter got ​​me thinking about how much teaching has changed since I was a student to this day. Back then having a good rule, a quality pen, a notebook with stripes and a comfortable and convenient desk made ​​us feel in heaven. Now we are able to use a lot of technological aids such as educational software for problem solving and inquiry learning, skill-learning games, virtual worlds, etc. Therefore, we need to catch up and make the best effort to encourage our students to think, create and solve problems. We urgently need schools that can achieve what so many years ago the pedagogue Jean Piaget said: “To create men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.” 

                                                     The World is in their hands

Photo credit to Signe Cecilie Jochumsen on Google

References:
Maloy, Robert W., et al. Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Pearson Education, Inc., 2011, (pp. 178-179)

Journal Post # 6

Chapter 6: Technology with Educational Websites and Other Online Resources

Focus Question 1: What is information management and digital content?

     Undoubtedly we are living in the age of technology and information. Formerly to be informed we read the newspaper, listened to the news or simply watched these on TV. Today with just a CLICK we have access to an enormous amount of information that is updated every second. As educators, how can we find, organize and use the needed, useful and appropriate information for a teaching process that actively involve and engage the students, as well as help them develop their critical thinking and skills such as information and Internet literacy? The answer is Information Management.

     Information management is the process of finding, organizing and using information. This requires skills to find valuable information, organize it efficiently, so that we can easily access it when we need it, and use it to make it available to our students through interactive, creative and meaningful sessions within and outside the school.

      As a source of information, the Internet has no comparison. Such online information is known as digital content. Obviously this is a must if we want to fulfill our responsibility to teach and educate students in line with the demands of the present time. However, despite how valuable is this digital content, without the skills to properly manage this considerable information, it would be useless.

Tech Tool Link: Discovery Education

     The first thing I can say about this website is: Too bad I did not know it before making our collaborative lesson plan! How many useful and innovative ideas to make a lesson plan! In their own words: “Discovery Education offers a breadth and depth of digital media content that is immersive, engaging and brings the world into the classroom to give every student a chance to experience fascinating people, places, and events. All content is aligned to state standards, can be aligned to custom curriculum, and supports classroom instruction regardless of the technology platform.” In my opinion this is a high-quality website that allows interactivity, exploration, and engagement.

    One can have access to: Interactive digital textbooks, engaging standards-aligned content, lesson plans, comprehensive professional development, assessment services, virtual experiences, learning communities, and much, much more. If you go to this webpage, you can try some remarkable curricular resources to teach science.

Summary and Connection: I think that for us, the teachers, this is one of the most important chapters. I've learned a lot about organizing electronic resources to address curriculum frameworks and learning standards, Web Quests, educational websites available to us on the Internet and how to use these to provide interactive and engaging learning experiences for students. Indeed, the information in this chapter has helped me have a more complete picture of how I can use technology in my future classes, and if in case someday I feel lost in the sea of electronic information, I know I can always turn to this chapter to find the right course.

You can always find the right direction!
Photo credit to Thomas Howden on Google

                                                                

Chapter 5: Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

Chapter 5: Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

Cheating? Photo credit to Howard Dickins on Flickr

Focus Question 5: How teachers respond to problems of plagiarism when students use online sources?

     For me, the plagiarism in general reveals students’ moral deficiency when it is intentional, or ethical ignorance of how to use information provided by any source when it is unintentional. In both cases, the educator role is extremely important to prevent it and teach students strong ethical values that will help them become citizens honest, responsible and socially valuable. Unfortunately our schools are not free of this scourge. Let's look at this data coming from plagiarismdotorg: “A national survey published in Education Week found that 54% of students admitted to plagiarizing from the internet; 74% of students admitted that at least once during the past school year they had engaged in "serious" cheating; and 47% of students believe their teachers sometimes choose to ignore students who are cheating.”

     When you want to end up with an evil, one has to go to the roots of this. The plagiarism can have many causes. Students may lack the necessary skills to research, evaluate information critically, selecting the right one, organize it, present it and cite it correctly. They also may not know the exact meaning of intellectual property, copyright, public domain, paraphrasing, attribution, etc. Then, there is the pressure of having good grades on tests, the large amount of homework, and the demand that each individual teacher makes them regardless the overall burden of the entire program of study.

     So, as educators we must educate students in the correct use of information by explaining to them clearly before they submit their work, how to use the Internet responsibly and ethically. Also, I think that as teachers we must avoid the easy way out in teaching. We must prepare ourselves and delve into the information to make assignments that require students to think critically and creatively, to become himself a researcher, an inventor and a scientist, not just a consumer-ripper of information.

Tech Tool Link: KidsClick!

     Indeed, browsing through this website was easy, entertaining, interesting, safe and instructive. I believe it contains quality information that can be very helpful both teachers and students. This is beautifully designed and organized so that students can find the information leading them to other valuable websites that they can investigate. In this way, it contributes to the development of a critical thinking because far from pigeonhole and limit them, it leaves them open to other possibilities so they can select the best. Besides, this makes possible for them to learn how to do a responsible and ethical use of information. But what I liked most is that this site is quite instructive so, ZERO COMMERCIALS! NO PROPAGANDA!  As they say: “Since one of our beliefs is that providing an objective information service for children is not compatible with simultaneously targeting them with marketing, we do not accept advertising on the KidsClick! pages.”

This is an example of what kids can do on this website. They can create cartoons; send them to friends, post, etc. I titled mine: “Sleeping in class”

Summary and Connection:

     This chapter has been very important for me because it has helped me know how I can help my future students to develop the necessary skills to investigate and evaluate online information. It has been especially useful to me everything related to the Internet tools for students. As an educator I have always worried about being able to provide students valuable and safe sources of information, but I did not know exactly which one could be. Now I have significant information to integrate these to the teaching-learning process.  Although I do not have much time, I tried to navigate through some of these websites and I could experience for myself the potential these have if, as educators, we make a proper use them.

Whenever you can, visit the dwelling of your imagination.

 About me:

Photo credit to Vicky & Chuck Rogers on flickr

   Hello everyone. Here you have my small Bio. My name is Zobeida Fernandez and I came from Cuba just a few years ago, so I can tell you from personal experience what it means “culture shock.” To give you an idea, I changed from a bicycle, a telephone from the 70s, the horse-drawn carriages, the daily blackouts, lack of information and the shortages of almost everything you need, to a high-tech society with access to an overwhelming amount of information that changes and updates per second. For me it was like to have shifted from the era of the primitive community to this tech-society without even having passed through the medieval stage. Besides all this, it is the challenge of trying to digest all these in English. So if it comes to technology, I can say that I am in kindergarten. Still I do not complain and look with hope to the future.

     In Cuba I was a teacher for many years. I taught physics, mathematics and psychology at the university; I really enjoy teaching very much. I also love to read and write, but to be honest, it is still hard for me express myself in English. However, I enjoy the challenges as well as the pleasure that gives me to learn new things. I do not like giving up and I think that be persistent and be willing to admit our mistakes, listen to an advice and rectify them are qualities needed to get where we want. Something that also occupies an important part of my life is to study the Bible; to me it contains a unique practical wisdom. For example: “In the abundance of words there does not fail to be transgression, but the one keeping his lips in check is acting discreetly”(Proverbs 10:19). How many problems we would avoid if we learned to control that organ so small, but so powerful? It can unite or separate, hurt or heal, bring peace or start a war, sow love or hate, create a problem or solve it.

Photo credit to Mara on Flickr

     Besides all this, I like to create things and use imagination. It is fun to put wings to our mind and let it free for a while. When she returns from her trip, she can come loaded with new and good ideas. Do you want to try it?

Chapter 4: Integrating Technology and Creating Change

     “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.”- Bill Gates

     Focus Question 2: What are the key stages and pressing issues of technology integration?

    Neither the integration of technology in learning is something that can be accomplished in the day to the next, nor can the formation of a technology-using educator be achieved by magic. This, like all processes, requires patience, willingness, knowledge, as well as skills and expertise, which is only achieved with regular practice and vast gained experience using technology in education. Only then educators are able to use balanced and creative technological tools and new practices to make possible for every student to reach his/her full learning potential. Therefore, this passes through the following stages:

  However, this complex process can be affected by several external and internal factors. For example:

•  Administrative Support and Teaching Style: It requires professional training, systematic support from school administrators, sufficient resources, and moving from a teacher-centered to student-center approach to teaching.
• Unwillingness to Change Favorite Lesson Plan to Include Technology: Some teachers are not motivated to invest time figuring out how to integrate technological resources into their teaching.
• Reluctance to Use Technology When Teaching New Lesson Plan: Infusing technology when teachers are asked to teach material they have not taught before requires time and energy, so this may seem like a burden that is best avoided.
• Using Technology as a Reward or Punishment: Students who behave and perform well get to use technology as a reward. On the other hand, students who misbehave or fail to get work done are denied computer time. This completely distorts the purpose of using technological resources in teaching and reduces its positive effect on learning process.
• Using Technology as an Add-On to Other Activities: To respond to school system requirements, some teachers use technology whether it enhances or detracts from learning. In this case, the classes are saturated with technology without resulting in an improvement of the teaching- learning process.
• Using Technology to Separate Students by Ability Groups: Children with higher test scores are given one kind of program while others with lower scores get another kind. Although at first glance this may seem logical and beneficial, actually establishes a gap between both groups of students and does not promote the integration of all them in activities that promote the exchange and cooperation among all.

        Tech Tool Link: edutopia

    This time I decided to venture through this web-site and really become fascinated. One thing is theoretically learn about the technology applied to the teaching-learning process by reading the book, and quite another to see with my own eyes practical examples of how this works. It contains articles, interviews, videos, blogs, on important, practical and innovative issues regarding the use of technology in education, written by professionals and specialists who are not sitting behind a desk dictating resolutions and policies, but by true educators who from their classrooms, struggle each day to find new and better ways of developing students’ creative potential. I was impacted by the interview with the Professor at Harvard University Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences. I fully agree with him, we all think and learn differently. So, not taking this into consideration when we educate students is very unfair. As educators we should differentiate the instruction for everyone to enjoy while learning. I also enjoyed very much watching the video on "Project-Based Learning." It's really inspiring to see what can be accomplished when we put students at the center of the educational process and work to and for them. I leave this here for you to enjoy it.

       Summary and Personal Connection: In general, this chapter offers practical approaches to help us infuse technology into both classroom and professional work. It also makes a realistic analysis about possible external and internal barriers we might need to overcome to integrate technology into our work as educators. Something that touched my heart was the existing differences in students’ possibilities to get access to technology within the context of their family, social, economic and cultural realities (“digital inequality” and “participation gap”). However, something that is very clear to me is that it cannot become an excuse to stop looking strategies to promote successful learning using the technology we already have. Instead of seeing those issues as a difficulty or limitation we must see it as a chance to create. Sometimes local circumstances are not what have to change, but our attitude and thinking. Former senator Nancy Kassebaum said: “There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work, then it fails.”

Closing the gap. Accredited to fotosearch

Chapter 3: Developing Lessons with Technology

Focus question 1: What is meant by “lesson development using technology”?

     Given the fact that technology is a means very useful, as teachers we must always bear in mind its potential and the ways in which this can contribute to how teachers develop lessons. Therefore, it involves a teacher’s responsible and creative decision about these aspects: What to teach (academic content), how to teach (teaching goals, methods, and procedures), and how to know what students have learned (learning assessments), as well as how teacher can use electronic resources to facilitate these three processes.

     For example, educators can use digital content available on the Internet to select what will be explored or explained to students each day. On the other hand, technology can support in a variety ways, the selection, organization, and implementation of how this content is going to be taught and assessed. Some of these are: Presentation software, teacher-developed websites, interactive software, assistive technologies, electronic tests and quizzes, digital portfolios, personal response systems, online evaluation rubrics and many others technology tools.  Attempting to show the complexity, dynamism, and interaction of and in this process, it occurred to me represents it in this way:

  

     Tech Tool Link: FairTest

     Since finding a fair, realistic, objective, respectful and educational way to assess students’ and teachers’ performance is a real challenge, I found this online resource very practical. It provides information, technical assistance and advocacy on a broad range of testing concerns. It also facilitates the exchange of information and ideas among teachers, parents, education reform and civil rights organizations seeking to improve student assessment practices. I enjoyed reading a variety of articles about misusing tests, teachers’ and researchers’ created assessment tools (like performance assessments), creative practices that are being used in schools across the nation, and proposals for resolutions to transform the current evaluation system. I turned out really interesting reading the articles “Student Test Scores: An Inaccurate Way to Judge Teachers” by Monty Neill and “Resistance to High Stakes Testing Spreads” by Bob Shaeffer. Both articles have helped me see these issues from a completely different and more realistic perspective.  Because it is a powerful tool to make us aware of the need to seek better ways of assessment and to keep us up to date with the latest research and expert opinions on the matter, I believe that all teachers should regularly consult this website.

                                           

This is not the future that we want for our students. Isn’t it?

     Summary and personal Connection:  How complex it is the process of planning a lesson! How many factors to take it into account! How many electronic resources the Internet provides for supporting lesson development! Besides, it is the first time I heard about “understanding by design”! I wonder if one day I could feel like a fish in the water among so many technologies.  And, what about assessing and evaluating the students?  How much responsibility it entails! I do not want to be unfair to my future students  assessing their performance mechanically, grouping and classifying them according to their results when these tests do not take into account their personal qualifications, socioeconomic status, creative potential,  effort, intellectual  skills and spiritual development. I really want to know what is in the students’ mind and heart to get them to enjoy learning, to come to love knowledge and to motivate them to become better every day.