Digital Blog Post #F

Chapters six and twelve in the Transforming Learning with New Technologies textbook were rather interesting. Chapter six was about Fostering Online Learning with Educational Websites and Apps, and Chapter twelve was about Integrating Technology and Creating Change as Teacher Leaders. Three things that I really enjoyed learning about in these chapters are, Taking Virtual Field Trips, Types of Educational Websites, and One-to-One Laptop Computing.

To begin with, Taking Virtual Field Trips, seriously how fun does that sound? I never knew that this was available online until reading this chapter, and I was extremely impressed. This is such an amazing idea when teaching about something that is on the other side of the world, or somewhere you cannot visit in person, this allows you to take your children "there". The book suggests using Scholastic, Google Earth, and also tells you that many museums, science centers, and historic places around the world have created virtual field trips and online tours on their sites. I did some research to see if I could find any actual sites that fellow teachers or aspiring teachers could use, and I struck gold! This site provides ten different sites for teachers to use, all of which are very cool. I truly believe that these would be great things to include in a lesson plan, because letting the children experience these new and beautiful places, can inspire them to travel, or to aspire to do something big in their lives. As teachers that should be our ultimate goal, to inspire our students for their futures.

Another section that I really enjoyed in the book was Educational Websites, this section provides a multitude of sites for teachers to use in the classroom. I love how this book maps things out for teachers, and includes so many resources for you to go off of. I learned that there are six different types of educational websites for teachers and students. These six include:

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Lastly, there is a section in Chapter 12 that I knew about and really think is an amazing idea but also believe it can bring up some issues, One-to-One Laptop Computing. This program basically means that each student has their own individual computing device to use in school. I think that this is a really great idea, each student has their personal computer that they can keep all their things on. I believe this will help with students losing their homework, and keeping them on track with schoolwork. This also gives teachers the chance to regularly check their laptops to be sure the students are doing their work. I do believe that this can bring problems as well though, due to personal experience. My general manager at my job has a granddaughter and she lives with him, she goes to middle school here, and her school has these laptops. Specifically, they use the chrome books. She had an issue with a  few girls in her class, and they were bullying her, they got access to her computer and wrote very inappropriate things on her work. This clearly is not acceptable, so if I were to use these in my classroom, I would really crackdown on being sure that only the student has access to their device.

I included a video here that discusses some things to consider when implementing one-to-one computing into lesson plans.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this chapters and learned many new things, and found so many amazing sites to help in my future in teaching!

Resources:
Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R.-E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Richard Smith. (2013, June 7). Implementing K-12 One-to-One Computing - Technology and Education Today. Retrieved 2016, April 24, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55TytMS7-3Y.

 

Digital Blog Post #E

After reading chapters four and nine in the text, I decided on three topics that I really enjoyed reading about and would like to share. Including Enhancing a lesson plan with technology, Student Performance Assessments, and Streaming Video Sources for Teachers.

 

Designing and developing a lesson plan can be a hard task, after our last project in class I gained a new respect for teachers and all the planning they have to do in order to have a successful day. There are three things that go into making a lesson plan, and that includes:

•  Academic Content (What to teach)
•  Teaching goals, methods, and procedures (How to teach)
•  Learning Assessments (How to know what students have learned)

 

The book provided a diagram that I liked, so I have recreated it online:

 

The academic content portion is basically about what goes into the lesson plan such as, facts, concepts, ideas, skills, and certain understandings the children should have. I like how the book explained how the lesson plan needs to be connected to the local curriculum, it also talks about the importance of digital content and technology in the lesson plan. The text provided a list of things for teaching goals, methods, and procedures. A few of my favorite were Presentation software, Web-based diagrams, Threaded discussions, and Interactive software. My favorite has to be the threaded discussions, we do this in our classes here at FSW and I really like the way it allows you to communicate on topics with your teacher and peers. It allows further explanation of what you’re teaching and what the students are learning. Lastly, in a lesson plan there has to be some sort of assessment and the best one the book gives is using Digital Portfolios. I like the idea of the students being assessed on their actual work rather than a test on the background knowledge and what not. I think it’s also better because it helps the students who are not very successful test takers.

 

Students Performance Assessments are assessments that measure what someone actually does in a certain activity, assessing performance within the context of that activity (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2013). Personally, I like these assessments more than the standard assessments, it helps with students who are not successful test takers, and students who can’t concentrate on these types of tests. Performance assessments can include educational activities, evaluations on portfolios or blogs. These types of assessments are evaluating the student’s performance rather than the book knowledge.

I have included a video of a student who explains her take on performance based assessments and how they better prepare students for college:

 

Lastly, the book included a small article of Streaming Video Sources for Teachers. I believe these are extremely important because they are an easy way to integrate technology into the classroom, and I believe they better engage students and keep them interested for longer. Students respond positively to visual learning and these sites provided allow the teacher to find a video on basically anything that is being taught. I strongly stand by using videos in the classroom, simply because I remember being in school and being so bored just listening to some teachers talk on and on. Having videos or visual representations allow the students to learn different things from different people, they engage them in their learning, and a lot of the time the videos make learning fun.

Some of the sites the book recommended include: 

• PBS Learning Media
• YouTube for Schools
• YouTube Creative Commons Search
• TeacherTube
• The Futures Channel
• SnagLearning
• Common Craft

I have included a video that includes tips for using video to improve teaching: 

 

 

Resources:

 

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R.-E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Standford Scope. (2015, February 1). A Student's View: Meaningful Learning through Performance Assessment. Retrieved 2016, April 3, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHzjlYVdojM.

Teaching Channel. (2013 March). Using Video to Improve Practice: Video 101. Retrieved 2016, April 3, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/videotaping-tips-for-teachers#video-sidebar_tab_video-guide-tab