Brenda's IT 465 Blog
![]() What Have I Learned? I have learned so many uses of technology through IT 465. I have learned how to create and manage a blog (although it is very plain), how to create a website for use in my future classroom, how to create a rubric and test, podcast, digital story and much much more. I was very leery after our first conference on what all was expected in this class. I considered myself somewhat of a technology aware person, but I have learned lots more about the different types of technology available to teachers that I didn’t know were available before this class. This class has definitely equipped me to be a better teacher in my future classroom. My Weak and Strong Points My big weakness in the class was the lack of time I had outside of working to be able to complete the assignments. Some days I was just too tired after working two jobs and being 6 months pregnant to even log on and see what was due. I am a very ocd person but this semester was definitely a challenge for me, not the school work but just all the factors that were working against me to get it completed. My strong points were being able to get everything created and submitted and to be able to listen to Dr. Wang or Miss. Liu on how to make it the best that it could be. Interaction Between Peers and Myself and the Instructor and Myself I felt that the interaction with my peers was adequate. However, I am person who likes to do things on my own and not have to depend on others. Some people are able to get things done on time and submitted and then when the others had not contributed yet emails were sent about who needed to do what and when, and I personally have never liked being told what to do. I understand that sometimes I added something later than the others, but my life is super busy this semester much more than anticipated with a surprise pregnancy and then it turning high risk and having doctor appts. all the time, on top of being a TA for 8 hours a day and then working another job. The weekends always work best for me and that’s when I was able to take care of my assignments for my classes. I couldn’t ask for better interaction between the instructor and the TA of the class alike. They both were very responsive to emails and very understanding of situations. Both Dr. Wang and Miss. Liu were very helpful on making sure that I understood how to do a task and if not it was explained without criticism. Communication Tools The main communication tools that were used in this class were Canvas, email, and conference. I mostly used email in order to communicate with the TA regarding assignments which were due or that needed to be corrected. Miss. Liu was always quick to respond which was a great advantage and to me there was no disadvantage to using email. Canvas was used to be able to access assignments and to see the announcements from Dr. Wang. I was used to blackboard so Canvas took me a little while to get used to which at first might have been a disadvantage but now, I think that it is much easier to navigate than blackboard. The conference tool was a great advantage to the class. I have never been required in any online class to be present for a conference, but I think it helped to make the class more real being able to see Dr. Wang and to have her explain assignments and then be able to show on her screen how to complete them. Blogfolio I didn’t care at all for the blogfolio. For one, I was so afraid of messing things up that I didn’t add much to it at all and second, I would much rather have submitted my reflections on the chapters in a word document through Canvas. I don’t feel that I am a strong writer and it drives me crazy to think of all the grammatical errors that I make that other people are reading. I think that it was a fun experience looking back but I would have much rather completed assignments in another way.
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Key Strategies for Integrating Technology into the Social Studies Curricula (Chapter 12) ![]() Integrating technology into the social studies curriculum is a little more challenging than in other subjects. In order to make it less of a challenge teachers need to be aware of all technology that is available and to make themselves familiar with it in advance. Social studies covers a broad area of subjects from political science, archaeology, history, to geography and more. One way technology can be implemented into social studies is through virtual field trips. Virtual field trips could be used for any social studies class and allows students to travel to places that they may not be able to go in real life. Geography teachers could incorporate the use of GPS to show locations on Earth that is being discusses in class. Simulations can be used for students to take part in historical events from past eras. Other technology resources could be something simple such as showing a video related to the lesson that is being covered at the time. Social studies is one are where more technology could be beneficial not only to teachers but to the students as well. Issues of Integrating Technology in Special Education (Chapter 15) Challenges which are faced in special education are the requirements for special education and inclusion, the use of policy drivers of technology which deals with the student's IEP and others. I think one of the biggest challenges which is not listed in the book is the cost of the technology that is needed for some students to achieve success. For instance, in the Title I school that I work for, if we had a child that had a need other than what the teacher was able to provide just by displaying the information on the board the funds would not be there. Funding should be a big priority for special education students so that they are able to stay in a general education classroom as much as possible and still be able to learn through their use of assistive devices. Some children might be able to use the same device for the same disability or handicap but when you have a child who is hearing impaired then the technology that you would use for a student who is visually impaired would not suffice. Technology use by students can range from text-to-speech devices, websites to help with writing difficulties, alternative keyboards, joysticks and switches for computers, screen readers, cctv, FM amplification systems, and assistive listening devices.
![]() Chapter 8 Summary Chapter 8 was full of useful information on how online classes work. There are lots of information that goes into making sure that an online class runs smoothly. Not only does it take someone behind the scenes with a technology department, it also takes the teacher and the student working together. Online classes used to be only be used for institutes for high learning but now they are used for home school students in what is called a virtual school. Students are able to log in and complete school work and receive their high school diploma. In this chapter it talks about several states which have made it a requirement for high school students to participate in an online class prior to graduation. I think that should be a requirement for all schools that way when students get into college and are interested in online classes they have some background knowledge of what to expect and are not going into it blindly. With my experience in both online classes and in the traditional classroom, even though an online class seems to be more work, I prefer it to a traditional classroom. My Website Experience... I never would have imagined that I would be creating a website. I feel like someone who is partially tech savvy but a website has never been on my list of things to do. I have to admit that it wasn't as hard as I thought that it would be. I think that it will be a fun way to keep parents engaged in what is going on in the classroom and also to provide them with resources that will benefit the student when they are not at school. It was a fun experience and I do plan to have a website for my future classroom. Hopefully... Brenda Lamb's Teacher Website ![]() Understanding Web Tools I really enjoyed the assignment this week. I kept it on a really simple kindergarten level since that is the only grade level that I have been a TA. I ran into a problem trying to use safari with the RubiStar website and had to download Google Chrome in order to get my file to download into Excel. However, after downloading Chrome it worked perfectly. My test and answer key was converted to a pdf file from the East Test Maker website, but on the answer key the website would not allow me to underline the correct answers. So I used a web program to convert the pdf document to a word document and then I was able to underline the correct answers on the answer key before saving it as a pdf. The website didn't convert the line for the name and the date to my pdf file which was frustrating and word wouldn't allow me to put one in there correctly, so I had to leave it with just the name and date and no line. Overall, I think this was a fairly simple project and I enjoyed it. I don't think that I will be using a rubric for my classroom unless it is mandatory, and I think that I would prefer to make my test in a word document as opposed to going to the website to make it and then having to download it to pdf. Test Key Rubric ![]()
Chapter 7 Summary
Distance learning was a main focus in chapter 7. I think that it is widely used today for people who prefer to have class on their own time due to work or other things life throws there way. Students who are homeschooled now have the option of attending classes in a virtual classroom for their classes while never being enrolled into a public school system. I think there are both pros and cons to distance (online) learning with some pros being that you can mostly work on your own schedule for assignments and readings and you can do it in the comfort of your own home at a time that is convenient for you and cons are that if you don't stay on top of your work you can get behind since there is nothing to hand into a teacher in a classroom, you can have connection issues which can cause assignments to be late or conferences to not work correctly. I at one time preferred online classes to the traditional classroom, now being a lot older I feel that I would benefit more from having that face to face time with a teacher. However, considering that the TA program is strictly online, this is how I will obtain my degree. Chapter 7 also focuses on audio and video which can be used in classrooms for the benefits of students. It was mentioned in the book how a teacher could record a podcast and then the students would have access to it whenever they needed to be able to re-listen to it. I think that is a very handy tool for students who might not be able to keep up in the classroom with the teacher talking and them trying to take notes. It would benefit them so that they are able to listen to the teacher in the class and access the podcast at home and take notes from the podcast. The other thing mentioned in the book was about videos or vodcast. I think that this is helpful also because it gives students a visual. Teachers are able to record and then play it back for kids. In our classroom we use videos that are created by others and put on youtube to give our students the visuals of seeing the ABCs as they say them and the same for shapes and numbers and others subject areas. I think that if I am able to obtain a position in a middle or high school that a podcast would be a great thing to give my students access to so that they have the lecture at there fingertips anytime that they need it and then will be able to ask questions if they hear something they may have missed in class. My Experience with a podcast... I really didn't like having to do a podcast. I don't like the way that I sound on recordings and I had to do it several times. I still don't like the end result but it is what it is and it is finished. Overall, the creating of the podcast was easy, except that it is suppose to be 3-5 minutes and it only ended up being two minutes and fifty five seconds. I had to try to keep thinking of things to add to make it longer, but it didn't matter how much I added because I talk so fast and even trying to slow down didn't help. There is only so much that you can say when trying to teach kindergarteners about sneaky e words.. My Podcast
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0aYJZwFtdxH
Resources and skills required for multimedia/hypermedia design, development, and integration9/24/2017 After reading about multimedia/hypermedia design, I have learned that a lot of time goes into creating websites, social media pages, and apps for phones. I think that as a teacher is it very important to become familiar with this type of design so that you are able to pass it on to your students, especially those who are in middle/high school classes. This chapter listed everything from how to be safe on the internet because of your digital footprint, to watching out for viruses that are harmful to your computer, cyberbullying, all the way to Facebook and twitter which is used my millions of people worldwide. There is so much knowledge that has gone into making the internet what it is today compared to when it first started years ago. Although, you can have basic skills to create a blog (such as I have because I am so afraid of messing it up), a Facebook page, an instagram or twitter account, you can never learn enough in order to be more advanced if one day you want to create your own webpage for your classroom. I hope that through the reading of this chapter that I am able to further the technological information that I have and to pass it on to my students one day in the near future.
My Digital Story Experience..... I learned a lot from this experience. One being if you need help don't be afraid to ask for it. I didn't think it would be that difficult as I had made a movie before using iMovie. However, I quickly realized that the application on my old Mac vs my new Mac was very different. I tried several times myself to get it to what I wanted it to be and each time would mess something up. I then went to the website thinking it would be easier, and it wasn't. The number two lesson being try to not be a procrastinator even when my week is super busy with dr appts, cheer practice, soccer practice, and a part time job. I'm thankful for family who was able to steer me in the right direction for this assignment. My Digital Story I wasn't sure at first how this group project was going to play out (I don't really care for group work and prefer to do it on my own), but over the week everything came together smoothly. I know that each member of our group had their own time frame and that some work more than one job and didn't have as much time as others however, I think everything was completed by everyone and before the deadline and each document looked great. I learned so much this week with the various documents. I was already familiar with Google drive as I use it to store worksheets and other items that I want to be able to access at a later date. I now know that I can share other documents with other teacher assistants. I think that having software tools such as word files, presentations, and spreadsheets at our fingertips will make our jobs as teachers one of convenience when there are items we have created that we would like to share with other teachers or that other teachers would even like to share with us. I plan to make a habit to use Google documents to make worksheets/homework sheets for my classes, to organize my grades and seating charts, and to make presentations that will help younger students to fully understand a subject that they may have difficulty grasping. Even though I was leery starting out on this project with others, I think that it has taught me a lot about team work and because of this project it will make me a better teacher and for right now a better teacher assistant.
My Group Group Discussion Group Story Group Presentation Group Survey Group Spreadsheet Instructional Software for Teaching (Chapter 3)
The definition of instructional software according to the book is “a general term for computer programs used specifically to deliver instruction or assist with the delivery of instruction on a topic (Roblyer pg. 75) There are two different types of software which is used primarily for helping teachers with instruction and students with learning but there is also tool software which is used for the purpose to assist in activities of instruction. The invention of instructional software has helped in the classroom as it can fill in the gaps where the teacher leaves off. In our kindergarten classroom we use Starfall and ABCYA programs for the children to use during center time. Starfall to me is more of a teaching website where the children listen to the alphabet and click along to hear the sounds and words that start with that letter and also hear sentences with words of that letter. ABCYA is more a gaming software where student can choose various games to play with their ABCs and numbers. I think that more advanced software can be beneficial to older students as well. The book mentioned about virtual labs as opposed to actually going to a lab. I think that it would be a good decision to offer those for people who suffer from anxiety and would much rather complete the lab on their own as opposed to having to be in close quarters with others. It could also be for those who are afraid to fail and would much rather work behind a computer and be more comfortable. Century Teaching with Technology Tools – The Basics Suite (Chapter 4) The three basic software tools that people buy are word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software (Roblyer pg. 136). Word processing software is used to put words on a screen. It is used to create documents and to make them look more professional. There is also much more that you can do with a word processing application. You can use it to create invitations, calendars, flyers, and newsletters just to name a few. Using an application like Microsoft word you are able to type lesson plans or students are able to use it to type a research paper to make it more presentable than it being handwritten. Using a spreadsheet application, you are able to make a grade book to organize the grades of your students, to make checklists for your classroom, a budget tracker for your class so that you don’t overspend. Presentation software like Power Point can be used to make a presentation for the class so that they are able to see a visual representation of what you are talking about and are able to take notes from it instead of trying to write as you speak. Power Point can also be used to add audio and video for a presentation from a student on a project that has been researched. There are many other uses for these basics software tools, but this just names a few. 21st Century Teaching with Technology Tools – Beyond the Basics (Chapter 5) There are many software tools which are available for use by teachers and students. Software tools can range from a paint program to a program which can help to build a website. I never realized how many programs are there for the benefit of various needs until I read this chapter. There are test and worksheet generators to help teachers make their own based on what they learning in their classroom. Computer based testing systems allows students to be able to take their tests on a screen or onto an optically scanned “bubble sheet” which can give results immediately (Roblyer pg. 156). There are also software tools which can store your documents in the “cloud” or something similar like google docs where you can share your documents with others. I think it is convenient to be able to switch between computers or tablets and still be able to access the documents which you need. I think my favorite will be the lesson planning software as well as the electronic gradebook. I like to have written copies of everything I have but I also like the convenience of being able to pull it up and print it off to have a nice organized version as well. There are lots more software tools which are at our disposable and I am sure that they are just as many in the process of being developed. According to the book there are two views that should take place in learning technology. The first one being directed instruction which is where the teacher transmits a predefined set of information to students through teacher-organized activities and the other is inquiry-based learning where the learners should generate their own knowledge through experiences (Roblyer, pg. 34). The teacher organized activities are where teachers are directing students in what to do and how to do it. However, in order for a teacher to be able to implement technology into the classroom the teacher must have knowledge of the technology. If the teacher has no knowledge of the technology then it can't be used. Most students these days have access to tablets at home and possibly computers and therefore, are able to teach themselves how to manipulate the device to be able to find the information that they are looking for.
The book defines educational technology as a combination of the processes and tools involved in addressing educational need and problems, with an emphasis on applying the most current digital and information tools (Roblyer, pg. 5) Technology was first used in education in 1959 (pg.6) and has advanced to where we are now. Technology in the classroom today is not strictly desk top computers, but the use of laptops, tablets, e reading devices, apple tvs, promethean boards, and other such devices. Just this year in our classroom we have the use of an Apple tv and an Ipad. It makes it much more convenient to be able to sit with the class on the carpet while using the iPad to project to the board instead of having to sit back at the computer which has to stay hooked to the wall projector box. With advanced technology comes issues with this technology. We experience this more than we should in our classroom. Some days the wifi on the iPad works at quick speed while other days it’s too slow to load and we must go back to the laptop which is connected to the school network. We also experience difficulty with the desktop computers which at times will work smoothly and other times we can barely get them turned on and logged in. I think that technology education in the classroom must be taught at an early age due to the degree of advancement that comes technology. The state tests are completed on the computer and without proper knowledge of the use the younger children have a disadvantage on their score.
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Brenda Lamb University of Southern Mississippi Blog Roll
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