tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11273319581250515852024-02-20T17:15:32.293-08:00About Introduction to Technology for EducatorsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-2575835793879507022012-12-02T12:14:00.000-08:002012-12-05T17:05:19.697-08:00Reflective Essay About EME 2040 Course: Introduction to Technology For Educators <br />
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<b><span style="color: #333300; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Reflective
Essay<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333300; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “Arriving at one goal
is the starting point to another.” ~ </span><span style="color: #333300;"><span style="color: #333300; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2161458-democracy-and-education">John Dewey</a> </span></span><span style="color: #333300; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Now I can touch the sky" Photo credit to spaceyjessie on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceyjessie/4932349066/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Flickr</a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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?</span><span style="color: #333300;"> Today I am delighted I made
that decision and frankly, I think it was the best I could have done.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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 <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning"><b>PBL</b></a> 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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> Learn to develop a <a href="http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/rubrics.htm"><b>rubric</b></a> 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 <a href="http://www.infotoday.com/mmschools/mar00/osullivan&scott.htm"><b>Information and Internet Literacy</b></a>, therefore it is our duty as educators to be prepared to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> Also,
the process of creating the <b><a href="http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=167032">WebQuest</a></b> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> Contrary to this, in the case of the
<a href="http://eme2040fa12group2.wikispaces.com/Indirect+Instruction"><b>Instructional Strategy</b></a>, 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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 <b>content glossary</b> for posting and
editing original contributions and in the second one, wikis were used to
develop, share, and edit <b>project
assignments</b>. 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 </span><span style="color: #333300;">collaboration (Hughes
& Narayan, 2009).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> However, this project helped me realize
the potential of <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/wiki-technology"><b>wikis</b></a> 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, <b>Yes!</b> I think use it in my future math class as an ideal instrument
to achieve a project-based learning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> Finally, there was the <a href="http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php"><b>e-Portfolio</b></a>. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;"> 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.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg48ZFbIpv6YwvMN4dbnE5pmepvujV0S0PY_-tni7NFrNH_q55MJs10XI6NTRVdp4yDV7omOjsukQ0a6vGKmVX2J7sASf9RRZDCxXxfd3fU4yztoC3PFq4Sn7Mvd5UPZEuf1YMb9ym1h_D/s1600/Technology+teaching+learning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg48ZFbIpv6YwvMN4dbnE5pmepvujV0S0PY_-tni7NFrNH_q55MJs10XI6NTRVdp4yDV7omOjsukQ0a6vGKmVX2J7sASf9RRZDCxXxfd3fU4yztoC3PFq4Sn7Mvd5UPZEuf1YMb9ym1h_D/s1600/Technology+teaching+learning.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333300; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 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.</span><span style="color: #333300;"> </span><span style="color: #333300; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">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 <b>THANK YOU</b>!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<b>My Journey has Begun.</b>" Photo credit to MichaA on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/onnufry/4707750918/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Flickr</a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #333300; text-align: justify;"> <b> </b></span><span style="color: #333300; text-align: justify;"><b>I really enjoy a lot making these assignments!</b> 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.</span></div>
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My Digital Storytelling</div>
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Things that happened in my Introduction to Technology for Educators class on PhotoPeach
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My Power Point: Assistive/Adaptive Technologies<br />
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<b><span style="color: #333300;">References:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;">- Boss, S. (2012, November 18). PBL Teachers Need Time to Reflect, Too | Edutopia.<i> K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work | Edutopia</i>. Retrieved December 1, 2012, from </span><span style="color: #333300;"><a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-learning-teacher-reflection-suzie-boss"><span style="color: #333300;">http://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-learning-teacher-reflection-suzie-boss</span></a></span><span style="color: #333300;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;">- Hughes, J. E., & Narayan, R. (2009). Collaboration and Learning with Wikis in Post-Secondary Classrooms. <i>Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 8 </i>(ISSN: 1541-4914). Retrieved December 1, 2012, from </span><span style="color: #333300;"><a href="http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/8.1"><span style="color: #333300;">http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/8.1</span></a></span><span style="color: #333300;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;">- Maloy, R.W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards. S.A.,&Woolf, B. P. (2011). Communicating and Networking with Websites, Blogs, Wikis, and More. <i>Transforming Learning with New Technologies (pp. 217-219)</i>. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333300;">- Matthies, B., Helmke, J., & Slater, P. (2006). <i>Wikis in library instruction</i>. Indiana Libraries, 25(3), 32-34. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-11421209529430122492012-11-11T20:22:00.000-08:002012-12-02T12:33:52.218-08:00Journal Post # 11<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #c00000;">Chapter #11</span></b>: Engaging Teachers
and Students in Learning and Self-Reflection</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo credit to Ken Whytock on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7815007@N07/7985583837/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Flickr</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #c00000;">Focus Question #2</span></b>: How can
teachers and students use digital portfolios as tool for learning?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> In this sense, the <b>digital portfolios </b>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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #c00000;">Tech Tool Link</span>: <a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/home/">SurveyMonkey</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #c00000;">Summary and Personal Connection</span>: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">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.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/90/223408012_875e22988b_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/90/223408012_875e22988b_z.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo credit to nathangibbs on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathangibbs/223408012/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Flickr</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reference:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- Maloy, R.W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards. S.A.,&Woolf, B. P. (2011). Engaging Teachers and Students in Learning and Self-Reflection. <i>Transforming Learning with New Technologies (pp. 310-313). </i>Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-88294942929200318982012-11-06T06:22:00.002-08:002012-11-06T10:55:26.570-08:00Journal Post # 10<br />
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<b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">Chapter
10: Promoting Success for All Students through Technology<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">Focus
Question # 1</span></b>: What are differentiated instruction (DI) and universal
design for learning (UDL)?</div>
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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 <b>differentiated
instruction (DI)</b> 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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMDW0NjzQkk_0bYr1cjhqHpFtEMjEgIjNLTJm9FC7OwSnb6Rjm31wGwJhsh-Y9U5CqYkzNQ1PvUFiBelFlDDFzvosQak-2x4rAS2skmckYNSGkLAy9llSUqW_twjo-y0W2bzwCqXPhKTz/s1600/For+Journal+post+%23+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMDW0NjzQkk_0bYr1cjhqHpFtEMjEgIjNLTJm9FC7OwSnb6Rjm31wGwJhsh-Y9U5CqYkzNQ1PvUFiBelFlDDFzvosQak-2x4rAS2skmckYNSGkLAy9llSUqW_twjo-y0W2bzwCqXPhKTz/s1600/For+Journal+post+%23+10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">Tech
Tool Link</span></b>: The Center for Applied Special Technology (<a href="http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/">CAST</a>) </div>
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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 <a href="http://udleditions.cast.org/">books</a> 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.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">Summary
and Connection</span></b>:</div>
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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 <b>differentiated instruction</b>. Truly, all
these resources allow us to plan our classes in a more realistic and flexible
manner to meet our students’ needs.</div>
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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.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/MbGkL06EU90?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>References:</b></span><br /><br /> -Crees, A. (2012, April 6). Young man with autism appeals to Obama | <i>Fox News. Fox News - Breaking News Updates</i> | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. Retrieved November 6, 2012, from <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/06/young-man-with-autism-appeals-to-obama/">http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/06/young-man-with-autism-appeals-to-obama/</a> <br /><br /> -Photo credit to LShave on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lshave/3349516696/">Flickr</a><br /><br /><br />-Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2011). Promoting Success for All Students through Technology. <i>Transforming learning with new technologies (pp. 277-279).</i> Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-24003436232143146152012-10-29T16:49:00.001-07:002012-10-29T16:53:02.912-07:00Journal Post # 9<br />
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<b><span style="color: #009900;">Chapter #9 </span></b>Creating and Sharing
Information with Multimedia Technologies</div>
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<b><span style="color: #009900;">Focus Question # 1</span></b>: What is multimedia
technology and how can teachers use it to effectively create and share visual
information dynamically in their teaching?</div>
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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.</div>
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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.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujjywZvSIdNg7FeHsB_f_w0JbEZND6Dym-EeGeK-KSupm22w1UmbV-tJGWjnTHlNKAEX48TMY33AhrxGUZBuBiG5R24ThdJjNNETfTYgBIzKhgCNZLlrjfUm8M0naGSUf35O8CuJa6Lxe/s1600/journal+post+9+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujjywZvSIdNg7FeHsB_f_w0JbEZND6Dym-EeGeK-KSupm22w1UmbV-tJGWjnTHlNKAEX48TMY33AhrxGUZBuBiG5R24ThdJjNNETfTYgBIzKhgCNZLlrjfUm8M0naGSUf35O8CuJa6Lxe/s1600/journal+post+9+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #009900;">Tech Tool Link: </span><span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><a href="http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/zone.htm">NGA Kids: The Art Zone</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"> </span></b><span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">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</span> <span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">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 <a href="http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/collagemachine.htm">Collage Machine</a> and created my own version. Here you are: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><b>Journey Through Life</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #009900;">Summary and Connection</span></b><span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">:
As inherent characteristic of this course I am still learning about the
infinite possibilities that technology puts in front of us, the educators. </span> <span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3664/3685707012_e3afa952e3_s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3664/3685707012_e3afa952e3_s.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit to colemama on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/colemama/3685707012/in/set-72157601807499793">Flickr</a><br />
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<span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-78184655869931207172012-10-15T20:14:00.000-07:002012-10-18T16:27:35.048-07:00Chapter 8: Communicating and Networking with Websites, Blogs, Wikis and More.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #660000; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Journal Post # 8<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #660000; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"Our children have digital limbs. We cannot amputate them at the front door."- <a href="http://twitter.com/dendari">Brendan Murphy</a></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.5009186763506805&pid=15.1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #660000;"><img border="0" src="http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.5009186763506805&pid=15.1" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #660000; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Photo credit to Mike Licht on</span><span style="color: #ff0066; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <a href="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4098/4784971557_59de9eda08.jpg">Flickr</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #943634; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Focus Question # 4:</span></b> How can
teachers use wikis to promote collaborative learning?<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #943634; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Tech Tool Link:</span></b> <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/section/opinion/index.html?intc=thed">Education
Week</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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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.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #943634; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary and personal
connection:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #943634; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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DeWitt, P. (October 14, 2012). <i>Resisting Technology Is
Soooo 20th Century</i>. Retrieved October 15, 2012, from <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/10/resisting_technology_is_soooo_20th_century.html">http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/10/resisting_technology_is_soooo_20th_century.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Heitin, L. (October 10,
2012). <i>Florida School Goes Wild for Science</i>. Retrieved October 15, 2012, from <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/">http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-5045519601902109562012-10-10T10:09:00.000-07:002012-12-06T15:11:13.517-08:00Problem Solving and Inquiry Learning with Software and Web Tools<br />
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<b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Journal
Post #7<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://edutecher.net/educlipper/resize_image/3339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://edutecher.net/educlipper/resize_image/3339.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Photo on <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?q=images+about+teaching+with+educational+software+for+the+future+creative+commons&start=106&hl=en&biw=1127&bih=490&tbm=isch&tbnid=obfez7OPoeZsEM:&imgrefurl=http://edutecher.net/educlipper/index.php%3Fcategory%3D17&docid=LSHFUMIVGkIxJM&imgurl=http://edutecher.net/educlipper/resize_image/3339.jpg&w=210&h=166&ei=36F1ULWRIIWk8QSb_IGoAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=719&vpy=133&dur=14518&hovh=132&hovw=167&tx=118&ty=81&sig=11174545124780170">Google</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Focus
Question #2: </span></b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">How can teachers evaluate the different types of
educational software available today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;"> 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? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Tech
Tool Link</span></b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">: <a href="http://ed.fnal.gov/espg/using.htm"><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Educational
Software Preview Guide (ESPG)</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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 <a href="http://ed.fnal.gov/espg/evaluation_instrument.pdf"><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">evaluation tool</span></a>
and a <a href="http://ed.fnal.gov/espg/using_eval_instrument.pdf"><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">document</span></a>
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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Summary
and personal connection:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;"> The World is in their hands</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dac.dk/media/35549/Educating_Earth_blog_051010_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.dac.dk/media/35549/Educating_Earth_blog_051010_0.jpg" height="187" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit to Signe Cecilie Jochumsen on <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?q=images+about+educating+for+the+future+creative+commons&start=10&num=10&hl=en&biw=1127&bih=490&tbm=isch&tbnid=cIKn4ONWcztGDM:&imgrefurl=http://www.dac.dk/en/service-sider/news/2010/oktober/50-online-resources-for-eco-friendly-schools/%3Fbbredirect%3Dtrue&docid=fb78pfaPG31t6M&imgurl=http://www.dac.dk/media/35549/Educating_Earth_blog_051010_0.jpg&w=640&h=375&ei=tKt0UIiROYfO9QSo_IC4Aw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=474&vpy=96&dur=4111&hovh=172&hovw=293&tx=152&ty=84&sig=111745451247801704217&page=2&tbnh=103&tbnw=174&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:10,i:12">Google</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">References:</span><br />
<span style="color: #632423; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Maloy, Robert W., et al. Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Pearson Education, Inc., 2011, (pp. 178-179)</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-25287817216938910022012-09-30T20:28:00.000-07:002012-09-30T20:31:36.799-07:00Journal Post # 6<br />
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">Chapter
6: Technology with Educational Websites and Other Online Resources<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #17365d; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Focus
Question 1</span></b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">: What is information management and digital content?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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 <b>Information
Management</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">
As a source of information, the
Internet has no comparison. Such online information is known as <b>digital content</b>. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShPG6PcZ-vpi-HMbgnIzAOKhIYcNbQLdxlu_ovnrzfRdrnRp8LQYRu_dVIokJOZYWlt0RMe0_t8ptPE9ujpFkHHzr4BapT_bUXA1VihGrGskjC8cUdMRvK5CUhTgXE9qI3yR9eb180VVN/s1600/yoiu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjShPG6PcZ-vpi-HMbgnIzAOKhIYcNbQLdxlu_ovnrzfRdrnRp8LQYRu_dVIokJOZYWlt0RMe0_t8ptPE9ujpFkHHzr4BapT_bUXA1VihGrGskjC8cUdMRvK5CUhTgXE9qI3yR9eb180VVN/s400/yoiu.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #17365d;">Tech
Tool Link</span></b><span style="color: #984806;">: </span><a href="http://www.discoveryeducation.com/search/page/k-5/science/-/-/index.cfm?Nty=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=all-prelogin&Nr=AND(OR(d_Index_Type:Pre-login))&N=31+4294967275&No=15"><b><span style="color: #984806;">Discovery Education</span></b></a></div>
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<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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 </span><a href="http://www.discoveryeducation.com/aboutus/"><b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">their
own words</span></b></a><b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">: </span></b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">“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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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 </span><a href="http://www.discoveryeducation.com/administrators/curricular-resources/science/index.cfm?campaign=flyout_admin_cr_science"><b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">webpage</span></b></a><b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">,
</span></b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">you can try some remarkable curricular resources to teach science.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #17365d; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Summary
and Connection</span></b><span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;">: 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.</span><br />
<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/a/8/3/b/1306163097445951780compass-md.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.clker.com/cliparts/a/8/3/b/1306163097445951780compass-md.png" style="cursor: move;" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #783f04;">You can always find the right direction!<br />Photo credit to Thomas Howden on <a href="http://www.clker.com/clipart-125665.html">Google</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span>
<br />
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</div>
<span style="color: #984806; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-34252058001215022372012-09-26T14:48:00.000-07:002012-09-26T16:53:37.961-07:00Chapter 5: Researching and Evaluating Internet Information<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Chapter 5:
Researching and Evaluating Internet Information<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZn1ZVFiX1v2kssH3Mv8wycFkIXw6GCbC2zbePifp3cckeLABS0l6MV8g0h3YRzqritCyF3-FDs77eaCaW4PZlshz2qGixrgrYB2qYkD7NYiXEKcxCZreQiYEG34ruvDUXqe42FTKwJlL5/s1600/cheat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZn1ZVFiX1v2kssH3Mv8wycFkIXw6GCbC2zbePifp3cckeLABS0l6MV8g0h3YRzqritCyF3-FDs77eaCaW4PZlshz2qGixrgrYB2qYkD7NYiXEKcxCZreQiYEG34ruvDUXqe42FTKwJlL5/s320/cheat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Cheating? Photo credit to Howard Dickins on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorkomatic/6429810611/">Flickr</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Focus
Question 5:</span></b><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"> How teachers respond to problems of plagiarism when
students use online sources?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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 </span><a href="http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_facts.html">plagiarismdotorg:</a><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"> “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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">Tech
Tool Link</span></b><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">: </span><a href="http://www.kidsclick.org/">KidsClick!</a><span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">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”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6N1f5XIWbH-inMMyR1-AG3pYKSMLfmLK-vHw_LQjJw0hPer2UCj46Vw7PMWK0KTkwazCHrN1Rd13LcJ25sGlX_MBn9CfjSSKT1t08UnOIwgo0MCSQ3RyOh3UGMani3TaWX01HBn7YHbtA/s1600/22278-caricature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6N1f5XIWbH-inMMyR1-AG3pYKSMLfmLK-vHw_LQjJw0hPer2UCj46Vw7PMWK0KTkwazCHrN1Rd13LcJ25sGlX_MBn9CfjSSKT1t08UnOIwgo0MCSQ3RyOh3UGMani3TaWX01HBn7YHbtA/s200/22278-caricature.jpg" width="155" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary and Connection:</b><span style="color: #0f243e;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0f243e; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 128;">
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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-64437676994495686192012-09-14T19:53:00.000-07:002012-09-18T20:34:40.830-07:00Whenever you can, visit the dwelling of your imagination.<br />
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About me:</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/29/206978551_bb6d996f9b_t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/29/206978551_bb6d996f9b_t.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit to Vicky & Chuck Rogers on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/two-wrongs/206978551/">flickr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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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.<span class="hps"> For me it was</span> <span class="hps">like</span> <span class="hps">to have shifted from</span> <span class="hps">the era</span> <span class="hps">of the primitive community</span> <span class="hps">to</span> <span class="hps">this</span> tech-<span class="hps">society</span>
<span class="hps">without even</span> <span class="hps">having passed</span> <span class="hps">through the medieval stage</span>.<span class="hps"> Besides all this,
it is</span> <span class="hps">the challenge</span> <span class="hps">of trying to</span>
<span class="hps">digest</span> <span class="hps">all these in English. So if it
comes to technology, I can say that I am in kindergarten. Still</span> <span class="hps">I do not complain</span> <span class="hps">and look</span> <span class="hps">with hope</span> <span class="hps">to the future.</span></div>
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<span class="hps"> </span>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.<span class="hps"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6002/5938368253_5afd3a879d_t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6002/5938368253_5afd3a879d_t.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit to Mara on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mara_earthlight/5938368253/">Flickr</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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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?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-71053150184042336792012-09-10T07:17:00.000-07:002012-09-10T15:53:39.978-07:00<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Chapter 4: Integrating Technology
and Creating Change </div>
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<br /></div>
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“Technology is just a tool. In terms of
getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most
important.”- Bill Gates</div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;">Focus Question
2</span>: What are the key stages and pressing issues of technology
integration?</div>
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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:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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However, this complex process can be affected
by several external and internal factors. For example:</div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Administrative
Support and Teaching Style</b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">: It requires professional training, systematic
support from school administrators, sufficient resources, and moving from a
teacher-centered to student-center approach to teaching.</span></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Unwillingness
to Change Favorite Lesson Plan to Include Technology</b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">: Some teachers are not
motivated to invest time figuring out how to integrate technological resources
into their teaching.</span></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Reluctance
to Use Technology When Teaching New Lesson Plan</b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">: 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.</span></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Using
Technology as a Reward or Punishment</b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">: 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.</span></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Using
Technology as an Add-On to Other Activities</b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">: 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.</span></li>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Using
Technology to Separate Students by Ability Groups</b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">: 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.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"> Tech
Tool Link</span>: <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/assessment">edutopia</a></div>
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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 <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-howard-gardner-video">Multiple
Intelligences</a>. 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.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/LXpfCfuDqnY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #0070c0;"> Summary
and Personal Connection</span>: 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 (“<a href="http://studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Summer_2009/DigitalDivide.html">digital
inequality” and “participation gap”</a>). 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 <a href="http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=125">Nancy
Kassebaum</a> said: “<b>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.”</b><b><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-YPWGaeZpaqmiTicilvDNp8W3bBO0Rb1nH1TXnd7PZZcXKArkO2aMkRYRMAnm70oH7W0NgrLGvDXDhOfSMM6st03RyaFCGVPa1Jvi3_nvvUygjKR8ERGnnTfshs2DbE8HchWyU8jdgUR/s1600/closing+the+gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-YPWGaeZpaqmiTicilvDNp8W3bBO0Rb1nH1TXnd7PZZcXKArkO2aMkRYRMAnm70oH7W0NgrLGvDXDhOfSMM6st03RyaFCGVPa1Jvi3_nvvUygjKR8ERGnnTfshs2DbE8HchWyU8jdgUR/s320/closing+the+gap.jpg" width="250" /></a></div>
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Closing the gap. Accredited to <a href="http://www.fotosearch.com/">fotosearch</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-23200094759853430792012-09-04T20:17:00.001-07:002012-09-04T20:17:34.299-07:00Chapter 3: Developing Lessons with Technology<br />
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 191;">Focus question 1</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">:
What is meant by “lesson development using technology”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span class="hps">Given the fact</span> <span class="hps">that technology</span> <span class="hps">is a means</span> <span class="hps">very useful</span>, <span class="hps">as teachers</span> <span class="hps">we must always</span> <span class="hps">bear in</span> <span class="hps">mind</span> <span class="hps">its
potential and</span> <span class="hps">the ways in which</span> <span class="hps">this</span>
<span class="hps">can</span> <span class="hps">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.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
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:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #943634; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Tech
Tool Link</span>: </span></span><a href="http://www.fairtest.org/"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">FairTest</span></a><span class="hps"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
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 </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;">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.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> 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.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;">I
turned out really interesting reading the articles “</span><a href="http://fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Student_Test_Scores_dangerous_way_to_evaluate_teachers_-_4-24-11.pdf"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Student Test Scores: An Inaccurate Way to
Judge Teachers</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;">” by </span><a href="http://education.nationaljournal.com/contributors/Neill.php"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Monty Neill</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;"> and “</span><a href="http://www.fairtest.org/resistance-high-stakes-testing-spreads"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Resistance to High Stakes Testing Spreads</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;">” by </span><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/interviews/schaeffer.html"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bob Shaeffer</span></a><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;">. 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, </span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I believe that all
teachers should regularly consult this website.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeVFV3FP9Eib8sX66-vYwWTC2UW5B-7k41oiI7N1dEe5I0h8FoyBjiI3ZGhzic81EiCdpNJatb5zdaK3UGqPezuhvdIBt4JJq_xYMiCqea2nMOr_H-1zQh95tu2AlzJgp2H3ySfQsUyFw/s1600/last+last+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQeVFV3FP9Eib8sX66-vYwWTC2UW5B-7k41oiI7N1dEe5I0h8FoyBjiI3ZGhzic81EiCdpNJatb5zdaK3UGqPezuhvdIBt4JJq_xYMiCqea2nMOr_H-1zQh95tu2AlzJgp2H3ySfQsUyFw/s400/last+last+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">This is not the future that we want for our students. Isn’t it?</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #4f6228; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent3; mso-themeshade: 128;"> </span><span style="color: #404040; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 191;">Summary and personal Connection:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 120%;"> </span><span class="hps"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%;">How</span></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%;"> <span class="hps">complex it is the</span>
<span class="hps">process of planning</span> <span class="hps">a lesson</span>! <span class="hps">How many</span> <span class="hps">factors</span> <span class="hps">to
take it into account</span>! <span class="hps">How many</span> <span class="hps">electronic</span>
<span class="hps">resources the Internet provides for supporting lesson
development! Besides, it is the first time I heard about “understanding by
design”! I wonder if</span> <span class="hps">one day I could</span> <span class="hps">feel like a</span> <span class="hps">fish</span> <span class="hps">in the</span>
<span class="hps">water among</span> <span class="hps">so many</span> <span class="hps">technologies. And, what about
assessing and evaluating the students? How
much responsibility</span><span class="shorttext"> </span><span class="hps">it</span><span class="shorttext"> </span><span class="hps">entails! I do not</span> <span class="hps">want to be</span> <span class="hps">unfair to</span> <span class="hps">my</span>
<span class="hps">future students</span> <span class="hps">assessing their performance</span> <span class="hps">mechanically</span>,
grouping <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">classifying them according
to</span> <span class="hps">their results when</span> <span class="hps">these</span>
<span class="hps">tests do not</span> <span class="hps">take into</span> <span class="hps">account their personal qualifications</span>, socioeconomic status, <span class="hps">creative potential, </span> <span class="hps">effort</span>, <span class="hps">intellectual skills and</span> <span class="hps">spiritual
development. I really want to know</span> <span class="hps">what is in</span> <span class="hps">the students’ mind</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">heart</span>
to <span class="hps">get them to</span> <span class="hps">enjoy</span> <span class="hps">learning,</span> <span class="hps">to</span> <span class="hps">come to
love</span> <span class="hps">knowledge and</span> <span class="hps">to motivate
them to become</span> <span class="hps">better every</span> <span class="hps">day</span>.</span><span style="color: #984806; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent6; mso-themeshade: 128;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-32925340999520411662012-09-03T20:33:00.001-07:002012-09-05T09:59:18.760-07:00Chapter 2: Transforming Learning with Unique, Powerful Technology.<!--[if !mso]>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TyepcTaISlt7W8ZQ9BdZFWQvT4L1SUsxDm8ZlhPuG5xp4KG2x36qrSqUqogeiw7C6G2uew7mwdap4i7u8FxP1LKL_lNDuumpgO8aypfjB7U00kpswl6oyg7OmZd2Y6zi3-MI0ZPzYai_/s1600/Chak_19+e+-learning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0TyepcTaISlt7W8ZQ9BdZFWQvT4L1SUsxDm8ZlhPuG5xp4KG2x36qrSqUqogeiw7C6G2uew7mwdap4i7u8FxP1LKL_lNDuumpgO8aypfjB7U00kpswl6oyg7OmZd2Y6zi3-MI0ZPzYai_/s320/Chak_19+e+-learning.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Focus Question 4:
How do students use technology to access and assess information?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Nobody can deny
that current technology, as never before, allows both teachers and students the
access to a large amount of diverse and changing information. Using WebQuests,
classroom websites, digital dictionaries, web materials, time lines and others,
teachers can make students participate creatively in the search and assessment
of the required information for their projects, investigations, homework, etc.
However, for this to be successful, the students must develop skills to
recognize and find, among all the amount of information available, that they
really need, as well as to assess its quality, currency, accuracy, and
usefulness. Once the information has been selected and evaluated, they must
know how to organize and present it in a logical and attractive way. These
abilities are known as <a href="http://www.library.illinois.edu/diglit/definition.html">Information and Internet Literacy</a>. Without them,
students would be lost in a sea of information without being able to
recognize which one is the best according to their purposes. They also would be
exposed to the risk of contamination with misleading information, which
sometimes is difficult to remedy. There is nothing more dangerous to the
students’ intellectual and spiritual health that feeding their minds and hearts
with junk information.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tech Tool Link:<a href="http://www.factcheck.org/">Fact Check</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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In my opinion
this website can be a good educational resource, especially for high school
teachers and students. The publishers describe it as “a nonpartisan, nonprofit
consumer advocate for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and
confusion in U.S. politics.” It contains several articles based on results of
statistical studies, information from official sources, speeches, debates among
political figures, interviews, and news releases, designed to reveal
inaccuracies or outright lies from mayor U.S. political players.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well used, this
can be a powerful tool to educate students on the proper analysis of
information to separate the lies from the truth and the objective from the
subjective. They can come to understand how information can be manipulated
improperly to influence the audience’s mind and heart to get them to think and
act according to specific politicians’ interests.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I also liked the
webpage Factchecked.org as a classroom tool for teachers and students. Through
short videos, with adequate use of music and information, they can gain access
to over 80 FlackCheck.org digests of assessments of the accuracy of statements
by and about presidential candidates. However, something that in my opinion
should be taken into account is that because the amount and depth of its
information, teachers must be well-prepared to make a correct selection of the
topics and get the most out during activities with students.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is a video
from this website. It is a proof of the veracity of this statement: "A
text out of its context is just a pretext,"<o:p></o:p></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/40uezuL2k1w?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Summary and personal connection: This chapter
makes a summary of the different theories about the learning process and its
relation to teaching methods. It also provides an objective analysis about the
advantages and benefits of applying technology to the educational process to
achieve a “unique, powerful and transforming” teaching and learning
experience.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In a personal
sense, this chapter has impacted me because it has helped me realize how much I
need to learn about the use of technology in teaching combined with the
constructivist approach to learning, and how urgent it is for me to do so. As
an educator I have no right to deprive the students of the benefits of these
educational tools or to limit their creativity and development possibilities.
At the same time, it is my responsibility to teach them to be selective and
objective information processors. In one phrase: Go ahead and overcomes your
fears to become an e-teacher!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1127331958125051585.post-43575073872665389492012-08-25T21:04:00.000-07:002012-08-25T21:04:22.475-07:00Journal Post. About Chapter 1 by Zobeida Fernandez <br />
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<o:p> </o:p> Focus question:
How do new technologies create new opportunities for teaching and learning?</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="hps">Given</span>
<span class="hps">the demands</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">today's
society,</span> <span class="hps">educators have</span> <span class="hps">a great
responsibility to</span> <span class="hps">contribute to the</span> <span class="hps">formation of a creative generation</span> <span class="hps">able to</span>
<span class="hps">address and solve</span> <span class="hps">a variety</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">problems</span> <span class="hps">and
contradictions</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">the global
nature in</span> <span class="hps">our</span> <span class="hps">developing world</span>.
<span class="hps">Precisely</span> <span class="hps">the use of new</span> <span class="hps">technologies in</span> <span class="hps">the</span> <span class="hps">teaching-learning</span>
<span class="hps">process</span> <span class="hps">can greatly contribute to</span>
<span class="hps">this. These</span> <span class="hps">allow teachers</span> <span class="hps">more room for</span> <span class="hps">creativity</span> <span class="hps">because they are able to,</span> <span class="hps">not only</span> <span class="hps">select from</span> <span class="hps">a variety of</span> <span class="hps">existing</span> <span class="hps">tools, but</span> <span class="hps">also</span>
<span class="hps">to create</span> <span class="hps">their own to</span> <span class="hps">convey knowledge</span> <span class="hps">in a more</span> <span class="hps">attractive</span>, <span class="hps">updated</span>, <span class="hps">personalized</span>
<span class="hps">and practical way</span>. <span class="hps">For</span> <span class="hps">students</span>, they <span class="hps">feel more motivated</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">committed as</span> <span class="hps">they
find the information</span> <span class="hps">more</span> <span class="hps">attractive</span>
<span class="hps">and have more</span> <span class="hps">opportunity to</span> <span class="hps">become active and creative participants while they are learning</span>.
Therefore, these technologies allow a highly interactive, inquiry-based
teaching and learning environment in classrooms. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tech Tool link:
Encyclopedia of Educational Technology<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span class="hps">Because
it is</span> <span class="hps">the case that</span> <span class="hps">I am</span> <span class="hps">far from</span> <span class="hps">an expert</span> <span class="hps">in
the use</span> <span class="hps">of the educational technology</span>, I found
this <span class="hps">website</span> <span class="hps">instructive and</span> <span class="hps">useful</span>. <span class="hps">The</span> <span class="hps">information
is very well</span> <span class="hps">organized</span> <span class="hps">into
categories and subcategories</span> <span class="hps">that make</span> <span class="hps">easier to find</span> <span class="hps">what</span> <span class="hps">you
need.</span> <span class="hps">The articles</span> <span class="hps">are short,</span>
<span class="hps">written in</span> <span class="hps">a simple language</span> <span class="hps">and an easy to understand style</span> <span class="hps">without
affecting</span> <span class="hps">the quality</span>. <span class="hps">The videos</span>,
<span class="hps">illustrations</span> <span class="hps">and examples</span> <span class="hps">contribute</span> <span class="hps">to a better</span> <span class="hps">understanding
of the information</span>.<span class="hps"> Something that</span> <span class="hps">caught my attention</span> <span class="hps">is that this website</span>
<span class="hps">is constantly changing</span> <span class="hps">and updating</span>
<span class="hps">by</span> <span class="hps">authorized editors</span>, which <span class="hps">allows controlling the</span> <span class="hps">veracity and accuracy
of</span> <span class="hps">the information</span>. Actually, by browsing this
website, I have not only learned, but also enjoyed it. As an example of this, you can watch this video.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Summary and
personal connection: Through
statistical data, expert opinions, and research results, this chapter presents
reasons why teachers should be motivated to use new technologies in the field
of education to improve the quality of teaching, communication with students
and achieve a more creative participation in and outside the classroom. For me
this was revealing because it helped me understand that I am among the “cautious
observers” regarding my interest and willingness to use new technology in
teaching. So, I still have a long distance to travel to become an e-teacher.
However, I feel motivated to leave my comfort zone and fight to get to know and
use the Web 2.0 tools properly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09459965701997210221noreply@blogger.com1