ILP #3 "Participation" - Interview

In this interview I ask a former teacher of mine how COVID-19 has affected the way she uses technology and other ways she would normally engage implement technology in her classroom. Click here to learn about my experience.

Journal 8

Diigo is a very beneficial application to use especially in classes that require a lot of research such as History and English. When conducting research for extensive topics teachers as well as students have to shovel through pages of scholarly articles in order to find evidences for their claims. Diigo would allow them to annotate their findings online and save those annotations any time they want to go back and look at them. In my eyes, this is a much better way to conduct research than printing out hundreds of papers or not being able to highlight sections that you want to include in your paper.

I think that all elements of Bloom's Taxonomy is important. To get students to simply remember information I think repeated uses of Kahoot or flash memory games are a great way to engrain information into a students' head. To get students to understand the information you're giving them it is important to make sure that you go into detail with the lesson. Having students share their understanding of the topic to their peers is another good way to engage if they are making sense out of the information. In history especially to make sure that students are applying their knowledge charts and maps are used. Creating, evaluating, and analyzing can be done in big projects that encompass a whole era rather than one topic. For example, in 6th grade my history teacher assigned us a four part project where we had to create greek baseball cards which explain the goods/goddesses powers, write an essay, build a temple, and create out own tests on greek mythology that other students would then take.

EdTech is a good website where teachers can stay up to date on technology. Their motto is, " technology solutions that drive education." They are specifically working to help teachers successfully implement to usage of different technologies in their classrooms. They can help you with a variety of topics such as classroom management, networking, digital workspace, and software.

ILP #2: PLN

Listen to my voice thread presentation on how teachers can create a network through Quora, as well as the benefits of Quora, its best features, and how to get started with it!

Journal 7

My experience with Twitter has been a good one so far. Twitter is a great way to see how other people feel about situations and policies that effect the education system as a whole. It is also an easy way to stay informed on current educational policies. Many people share articles that articulate and explain what policies mean and how they would effect teachers or students. Of course it is advised to check the reliability of all articles we engage with. The only issue I have is finding the right people to follow. I want to make sure I follow people who are active and post reliable content.

A new skill I learned during the website design assignment was embedding a calendar in the website. I have never seen any of my teachers include that on their websites so I found the tool very useful. The website designing was easy to maneuver. I also liked how there were a bunch of pre-ready themes to choose from in case someone was not as creative or tech savvy to create their website completely from scratch. When switching between pages I just wish it were easier to do that while editing because sometimes I would mess up the layout of one page while trying to change to another. Next time I'll probably think about how the information related to each other more on the pages. Learning how to design a website seems like it could be used in every other career choice possible. If I ever started my own law firm of course this would give me experience in creating websites using the C.R.A.P principles.

Although their purposes are similar, assistive and adaptive technology are two different things. Assistive technologies are devices used to improve functional capabilities of people with disabilities. Adaptive technologies are things specifically designed for enhancing the capabilities of people with disabilities. I have seen some peers in my high school classes use screen amplifiers and books that were printed with extra large texts. The biggest challenge with using these technologies is a classroom I think would be making sure that they are actually assisting the student to the best of their ability.

Journal 6

I decided to look at my old middle school's website. I specifically decided to look at the website of 8th grade teachers at RJ Murray Middle School.  Most of the teachers websites have yet to be set up. However, from the websites that are set up, I noticed that the teachers included a list of classes that they teach as well as a brief introduction to what those classes will entail. The teachers also provided links that would help their students study at home and clarify information. On these websites, the teachers included a list of supplies that the students would need for that particular class. Also, each website has a link to Schoology which is how the teachers communicate with their students. Work sheets and notes are also posted on these websites.

Although I would not want to be completely reliant on technology as a teacher, I would definitely use some form of online communication with my students outside of emailing to make me more accessible to the students outside of the classroom. Something like Schoology is ideal because not only can the students easily communicate with the teacher but they can communicate with their peers as well which could foster a better classroom environment. You can also quiz students on Schoology and they earn badges which is a good form of positive reinforcement. Kahoot is also a good way to review with students and it also fun for them. No matter the technology I would use its purpose would be to make everything more efficient for not only me but the students as well.

I was introduced to many different kind of technologies while at the Tech Sandbox. I particularly liked the 3-D printer. If I were to teach History this could be useful because I could replicate artifacts through the 3-D printer to add a more hands on dynamic to the classroom. Also when, teaching about geography I could us 3-D printed pieces of countries to test my students on where the countries belong. The virtual reality headsets could also be used well in a history classroom. Sometimes it can be hard to picture or imagine how certain events in history happened so the virtual reality software could be used to help students picture real time conditions of historic events. Of course nothing extremely graphic or detrimental would be displayed through this. Lastly, the Promethean ActivBoard would be very useful in the classroom. This board doubled as a projector and it also had built in games for all subjects. My favorite thing about it is that it is more accessible than a SmartBoard because it can be wheeled around and the height is adjustable.

Journal 5

Diigo is something that I feel like I would use outside of EME2040. Since I am a history major, we have to do a lot of research and annotate a lot of articles. I personally like to highlight and leave comments so I would be forced to print all of the articles that I wanted to incorporate into my essays. With Diigo, I would not have to print the articles out because it allows you to highlight, leave comments, and even share with groups. The only thing that I do not like about Diigo is that you have to reinstall the extension every time you want to annotate something.

I have always been interested in starting a blog of my own because it is almost like an online diary in a sense. Although I am not using this blog to speak about personal issues I do enjoy it more than just completing discussion posts on Canvas. I like how you can choose your own layout and theme for the blog because it makes it more personalized to me. I also enjoy how you can view others peoples posts and comment on them. Since the blogs are open to the public there is a possibility that you could connect with people all over the world and share ideas with them. The only thing I do not like about about this blogging software specifically is that there are not as many choices of how to set the blog up. My favorite thing I learned from blogging is how to copyright your blog so that people can not steal your words and thoughts. 

One Web 2.0 tool that I would like to incorporate into my classroom is instagram. By the time I would have become a teacher, the students would have grown up with this app and almost if not all of them would have experience using this app. I feel like through using it in the classroom, you could teach the importance of watching what you post online. Through instagram I could interact with my students and they could also interact with me to create discussions. Teachers have routinely been straying away from social media apps for privacy reasons but I feel as though appealing to something that students are already interested in would only improve the classroom. 

Instagram Link

Journal 4

I used twitter daily before taking this class so my experience has been a smooth one. I am familiar with all of the concepts that the app has. I think it is very cool how twitter connects you with people from all over the world who have similar views as you. I know that other social media apps can do this as well but the platform and layout of twitter makes it more accessible to me. I have been interacting with classmates, current teachers, and advocates for better funding in schools. By interacting with all of these people I have been introduced to a bunch of information that I had no idea about pertaining to public schools as well as ways in which we can make the lives of teachers and students better. I hope to become a civil rights attorney in the future. Twitter could help me keep the public updated on injustices occurring in our society as well as inform me on these as well. I could also collaborate with other attorneys through Twitter.

The digital divide is one problem that we will have to face in the future when it comes to students using technology in the classroom. For one, some students simply do not have access to technology when they are home which can make it incredibly difficult for them to succeed in classes that heavily depend on technology. I believe that ending the digital divide starts with more school funding. Every school needs several computer labs so that students can conduct research while at school if the assignment calls for that. I also think that there should be sets of portable computers that can travel from class to class. It is important that when teachers assign work that has technology involved, they give the students enough time to complete those assignments in class just in case they do not have access to technology at home otherwise they are put at a disadvantage.

Two educational software programs that I am interested in using in my future classroom (if I were a teacher) would be Class Dojo and Kahoot. Class Dojo is used to track the behavior of students. When you add or takeaway points in the app the parents are automatically notified. There are also learning opportunities within Class Dojo as well. Especially with younger kids, Class Dojo is a good way to ensure that the students are always behaving. Kahoot can be used to assess students on their knowledge of topics being taught in class. I have never met anyone who does not enjoy playing Kahoot. The competitive edge to the software makes it more fun for students to participate.

ILP Design #1 - iMovie

I used iMovie to create a history lesson for the Tulsa Race Riot in the Greenwood District of Ohio. Check out the YouTube link for that video. Check out the VoiceThread link to see how I constructed the iMovie, other ways iMovie can be used in the classroom, as well as the pros and cons of using iMovie in the classroom.

https://voicethread.com/share/13659272/
https://youtu.be/i5cQQe0Ixjg

Journal 3

The standard that I have chosen pertains to grades six through eight. Standard LAFS.68.WHST.2.6 basically says that the students should be able to use technology such as the internet to come to conclusions about relationships that they have researched as well as present new ideas that they have found through the internet. As of now I feel comfortable implementing this standard especially after completing the word formatting check and the newsletter assignment. Word and Google Docs are the two most common applications that students use in order to present new information, usually in the form of an essay. In order to get them comfortable with using more than just basic word functions I would teach them to use the insert table and flow chart functions. These features are better at displaying relationship based information.

I would probably use the Instructional Resources took from CPALMS the most in my classroom. I find this tool very helpful because it provides you with lesson plans for any grade level and academic subject that you are looking to teach in your classroom. These lesson plans include learning goals for the students as well as key words and an estimated instructional time. I find the instructional time most important because teachers are constantly trying to follow a strict timeline in order to cover all material before end of the year exams arrive. By including the estimated instructional time, teachers could plan their months out easier and actually stick to it.

My favorite skills learned from the Newsletter Design assignment were the border function and the column function. As a teacher especially, letters home to parents usually have some kind of artistic value to them and I think adding even just a simple border gives those letters a livelier look. The same can be said for the column function, it gives the letters more dimension and makes it more pleasing to the eye to read. Otherwise, the letters would look like time consuming essays that the parents have to read. WordArt was also a fun skill that I learned more about. I did not know that you could bend or flip the letters by using WordArt. To improve my newsletter I would construct it on a non-apple computer so that the structure of the newsletter is not lost when you export it.

Journal 2

In high school I was never formally introduced to MS Word. It was just something that I had basic knowledge of. No teachers would make us do anything extensive on Word. This caused me to never learn even half of the functions that Word has to offer. This is the first class where I have done more than just type an essay in Word. I was familiar with word art and tables but I never knew about applying borders or any other functions that were required on our newsletter assignment.

As a teacher it is very important to inform your students of copyright issues and plagiarism before starting any big projects that requires them to develop their own opinions. This is especially needed when research projects are introduced. Many students believe that simply changing words around dismisses them from the act of plagiarism. The teacher should make it very well known that if the idea is not yours you can not treat it as such within their assignments. As for copyright while being a teacher, yes teachers may get inspiration from other sources but the same rules apply. If the idea is not originally yours you should use the proper citations in order to credit the creator of the original content.

As much as technology has been used in my high school years and even in college, lack of productivity has never been an issue and I think it is because of how the teacher sets up rules and expectations in the classroom. When using technology teachers have need to be willing to be strict and not budge on their rules. If the lesson plan says that students can use phones or computers to research then the teacher should make sure that that is what the students are doing. Of course there are some students who will challenge the teacher and at the point the educator will have to assert their authority to let the students know that they are serious when it comes to using technology.

As for cyberbullying, teachers should also inform their students that cyberbullying is a crime according to the law and will be dealt with accordingly. Teachers should monitor all educational social media accounts such as Edmodo and Schoology in search of cyberbullying. If/When cyberbullying is reported the teacher should take the proper actions to make sure that the bully is punished for their actions. Providing the bully and the person being bullied access to the school counselor would also be a good idea. I believe that counseling sessions are important because school does put a lot of pressure on students and often times they are going through issues at home as well which causes them to act out in school. Of course this is no excuse for the act of bullying but in the end of it all, it is important to make sure that each student walks out of the instance in a better situation than when they came in.

Journal 1

As time has progressed and technology has continuously improved there have been discussions about the use of technology in the classroom. Most believe that technology offers undeniable benefits in the classroom that can not be overlooked. A lot of teachers have decided to incorporate educational technology in their classroom in order to encourage independent learning within their students. Many students already have technological devices in their possession and these devices have the answers to almost any question they could ask. With the guidance of a teacher they could be put to use in order to facilitate the best learning experience possible.

I believe that standard 6 of the ISTE Standards for Educators is the most important because it states that the educator should help their students take control of their own learning while also creating learning opportunities for them. This is important for educators to do because feeding students the information will not help them comprehend and recall it in the long run. By making sure that the students are learning while also being avid in finding the answers that they need, the educator is building an independent and confident student. The standard also says that educators should "model and nurture creativity." This is important because encouraging students to be creativity will help them become better problem solvers in the future.

The term digital native in my opinion is kind of useless. Of course there are generations of children who have grown up using technology so they can navigate the basics from an earlier age but it does not mean that they necessarily understand how or why technology works. Most people who have advanced and built new technologies are from a generation that did not grow up using technology at all. Anyone can learn how to use it so I do not think that the term "digital native" should really be used when addressing people and their understanding of technology. Navigating basic systems can be done at any age and is a learned behavior. Between me and my teachers there has not been a major difference in the way that we use technology that I have noticed. They might honestly have had more knowledge on some technology than I have. If I were to be an educator I am sure that my students would be confident when using new technologies but as an adult I would have the same or even more access to that same technology so it would not be necessarily foreign if I put in the effort to learn it as they have.

Introduction

Hello! My name is Jaedan Mack. I am a first year student who is studying History at Florida State University with a minor in Education. I was born and raised in Saint Augustine, Florida which is about 35 minutes from Jacksonville. My hobbies include binging TV shows, cooking, and doing makeup. My favorite TV show at the moment will have to be either The Office or Unreal, both which have sadly been discontinued. My favorite genre of music is alternative pop and my favorite song as of now is Evil Woman by Eric Grooms.

My experiences with technology before this classroom has been very scarce to say the least. In middle school I took an advanced technology class where we mainly focused on photoshop and building rockets however my skills on photoshop were very mediocre because I would just spend full classes making posters of my favorite celebrities. My teachers have used technology to play games such as Jeopardy and Kahoot which were very popular in the classroom and kept the students engaged. In elementary school I remember using smartboards which were probably the most advanced technology I have experienced in a classroom.

Since social media and technology is so prevalent in today's generation and the generations to come I hope to learn how to use these to a teachers advantage in order to engage students in classwork and while also making the classroom run more efficiently. I am considering being a high school teacher and that is where technology would probably be more useful in the education system since teachers are also trying to prepare students for the real world. I have never experienced a teacher using social media to engage their students even though I feel like since we spend so much time on them it would be a good way to capture your students' attention.