1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
-Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments
This semester I participated in a lesson plan facilitation
which allowed me to get comfortable with using technology within a lesson plan.
In doing so I modeled collaborative knowledge by working with students and
colleagues both face-to-face and through virtual environments. Working with my
group, I found a lesson plan that was online and we were able to change it
around to make it our own. The lesson plan included having the students do
research, which is a good way to encourage the constructivism model of
teaching. We also included a video from the internet that we showed to the
class. The video was humorous but informative and it used pictures and movement
to help the students see the information they were hearing. A lot of students
learn visually and so having various types of resources to meet the students’
learning needs is important.
Throughout the process of creating and developing the lesson plan I learned
several helpful skills, particularly in regards to technology use that I will
carry with me into my future career as a teacher. Technology is an important
tool that teachers can use in their classrooms and should integrate into lesson
plans. We used Prezi, an
internet source used to create cool slide show presentations, which provided
students with a visual to the information we were discussing in class. It also
builds on ideas (as we went through the slide show) and is a great way to keep
students’ attention. Another skill that I learned in this course is that when using technology there are always possibilities
that issues could arise. Knowing this, we were able to explore some of these
issues and brainstorm ways to fix or prevent them. It is always a good idea to
have a backup plan available just in case something goes wrong. My group used
the internet to get worksheets together just in case our Prezi presentation did
not work. One of the worksheets, a moon phase’s calendar for this month,
presented the students with a real life situation. This is a different approach
to learning than the slide-show but still provides a visual for the students.
Lastly, I also learned that there
are so many details that go into creating a lesson plan. Even if a teacher has
every little detail covered and they think they know exactly how the plan will
go, it could always change. I found that
the students guide the speed at which the class moves. In my classroom I
would allow the students to work until the majority of them completed
the assignment and then moved on. By creating a lesson plan, I learned a lot of useful skills for future planning!
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
- Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
In creating a lesson plan for this course, my group provided students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments that went along with the content we were teaching. We first used a worksheet that students had to do basic research for to the find the answers. This provided the primary form of assessment for our lesson plan. Once they completed the worksheet, we were able to tell how much they information they were able to find on the website. By doing researching students are learning in a constructivism manner. Students are finding their own answers and therefore will probably remember them longer than if they had to simply memorize the answers. By allowing students to do their own research on certain websites that should already be pulled up on their screens, we were able to monitor the students and also incorporate technology into our lesson plan. We also told them that once they completed their worksheet, they would be able to play a game. The game also had to with the topic being taught so not only did it encourage students to get their work done, it also helped them to develop their knowledge of the topic. After all the students were done with the worksheet, we had a class discussion about it. This allowed students to share what they found and also learn what their peers were able to find online. By having a class discussion, students didn’t have to listen to their teacher talk more about the lesson or just give them the answers. Instead they were able to collaborate with their classmates to see what they found. This helps to create a deeper understanding of the subject and also allows the teacher to tell what the students seem to be getting and what they may need to work on a little more.
- Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.
This semester I learned how to effectively use current digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research that I do. In week 2, I learned a lot from examples in class that proved to us the importance of citing sources. Even if a website looks reliable, it is still extremely important to do some simple research just to make sure. The acronym I learned for finding out if a website was reliable was C.R.A.P, which I found very clever. The first part of this is Currency; finding out how recent the information was published by looking at the publication date and the last time the website was updated. It is important to make sure the information is current enough for the research being done so that the information is accurate (some things may have changed since it was last updated). I did this by looking through a website to check the date of publication and the last time it was updated, which happened to be that morning. The next part is Reliability which looks at what kind of website it is, what information they have, and if the information is opinionated or factual. It is also important to look at the references for data and quotes on the page, if there are any, because this shows that the creator did some research about that topic. I checked for reliability on the website I was looking at and found that it was a '.org' site. The site also had a lot of information on it about the topic. The third part of the acronym is Authority. This is looking for who the creator of the site is, what credentials they hold, and if they are reputable. Sometimes this takes some digging to find but it is a good idea to know so you can determine if the person has experience or interest in the topic. Also looking to see if there are advertisements will be a good hint about whether the site is professional or not. When I looked through the website I was using, I found that the person who created the site didn't have much credibility. I also saw a lot of advertisements on the page which is not a good sign of authority. The last part of the criteria is Purpose or Point of View in which you want to find if the information is biased, intended for a particular audience, and what the point of the website it. By finding out the purpose of the website you will know if it is informational, entertaining, or trying to sell something. The website I was looking at had a page that gave information about the topic, and it turned out to be extremely misleading. If all of these criteria seem good and the website looks trustworthy after looking into it, then it probably is, if not then it does not fit C.R.A.P criteria and therefore is no good for professional research. The website that I was looking at turned out to be a joke, it's purpose was to entertain and it was crap, according to this criteria.
4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
- Promote and Model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
This semester I learned how to model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions when using technology. One of the first things I learned in this Education Technology course was the importance of digital etiquette. Although digital etiquette varies depending on if you’re using yammer (a social networking site where you can communicate with people in the class) to ask a quick question from the class and teacher or sending a professional e-mail, knowing proper digital etiquette is important, particularly in e-mails that are being sent. When I e-mail a professional who may not know me yet, the e-mail is the first impression they get of me. Because of this and the fact that I too am going to be a professional, it is important for me to write in a proficient manner. We learned that there are multiple parts to putting together a professional e-mail. The first is using a clear subject that sums up the point in just a couple words. The next part of the e-mail is including a greeting that is suitable for the person you are writing to. For example, the most common greeting starts with the word “Dear” and continues by using the appropriate title and name. So instead of “Dear Lauren” someone writing to me would use “Dear Ms. Mullins.” The next important part of a professional e-mail is the body of the e-mail. In this, like most other types of writing, you want to be concise but informative. A good body paragraph gives the receiver enough information to get the point of the e-mail, but not too much that would add confusion. Then, to end the e-mail, you would include a closing line that is suitable to the person you are writing to. In a professional e-mail this will most likely be “Sincerely” and then your signature. In the signature that we made in this class we included our name followed by our major, our school ID#, a phone number that we can reached by, and our e-mail address. The very last step of showing digital etiquette is to reread the writing and use spell check.
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
- Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve students learning
This semester I participated in a local learning community to learn about uses of technology in the classroom to improve student learning. I went to an Elementary school and interviewed four teachers about how they use various forms of technology in their classroom. From the four interviews that I conducted, I learned a lot of useful information about using technology in the classroom. There are so many opportunities that teachers have to integrate technology in their lesson plans. As I talked to the teachers I realized a pattern of pros and cons of using technology. Most of the things they said about technology were good, however they did mention how occasionally the internet would be down and they couldn’t do certain parts of their lesson plans. They also mentioned how useful technology is in their classroom. Whether they are showing a video to their class or creating worksheet, it was clear that technology is a big part of today’s classrooms, and it will continue to be as I become a teacher. I learned about creative ways to incorporate technology in a lesson plan, like showing videos in class, using websites that have the course textbook on it, and using a smart-board. The teachers shared with me some of the sites they use for both individual student computer time and using the computer as a class. I found that even though each class only had a couple of computers in them, they found ways to allow all the kids to have individual learning time at the computers by taking short quizzes on books they read, playing multiplication games online, or doing some basic research. All four teachers had a smart-board in their classroom and they all admitted to using it daily. I found out just some of the neat things the smart-board can do, like create flip charts where the teacher (and students) can write on the board and flip back and forth between pages. They can also draw something on the board, cut it out, and move it around to where they need it. I learned how the smart-board connects with the computer and can access the internet which was great because the teachers could get online to show videos, pictures, books, exercise activities, or anything else they could find online. All the teachers seemed to like this teaching tool because it helped the students visualize information. When the students could see the information, they were reported to have a better understanding of it. In this particular school there are many Spanish speaking students who came from different cultures. They may not know what something like a cave or the Underground Railroad is, however when the teacher is able to pull up a picture on the smart-board, they can relate a cave to what they already know; and a picture of the Underground Railroad may help give them a better understanding of it. Whatever the technology may be, it seems to be helping students learn in the classroom. I look forward to seeing what technology will be used in classrooms by the time I become a teacher.
