Author: megansclarke

Technology is advancing constantly, and there is such amazing technology that can really improve education. The book discussed a lot of cool technological advancements that are used in the classroom. However, one in particular that they didn’t mention that I actually used at FSU is the online virtual world known as Second Life. This program allows students to interact with their classmates in a virtual world where they can share their ideas and collaborate on assignments. I used Second Life to perform Lab experiments and it was really cool to get to do those labs without leaving your home. There are teachers present online, so if you need any help or have questions they are able to chat with you through the messaging tool. I think that this software should be implemented in more classrooms moving forward because kids think it’s fun and are more inclined to do their assignments through that website. It’s as if you’re playing a game because its fun, but you’re also learning very useful lessons.

Since technology is becoming more and more prominent in education, this Digital Divide is causing an unfair advantage to those students who have access to technology as opposed to those who don’t. The impact of the Digital Divide is that it creates disparity among students. Those students who don’t have access to technology are at a disadvantage in school because they won’t know how to complete tasks that have to be done online. Not having access at a young age in today’s day will impact them into their future careers because it’s hard to catch up with technology constantly advancing. As a future educator, I will try to find out how many of my students don’t have access to technology at home so that I will know to not assign homework that needs to be done online. That will help by not favoring those who do have technology because the others will simply not be able to do it at all and get bad grades.

http://go.secondlife.com/landing/romance/?lang=en&utm_campaign=16e13160e73e20e2e96d9fb821&utm_content=7756&utm_source=gamespipe

Adaptive technologies can be any object or system that is designed to increase or maintain the capabilities of students with disabilities. I think that adaptive technology is necessary in the classroom in order to maintain equity within your classroom. Equity means that all students have the same opportunity to achieve their educational goals. Some examples of adaptive technologies are audio players, seat cushions, phonetic spelling software, talking calculators, smart pens, and the list just goes on. Personally, I have not used any adaptive technologies but I have had friends or observed people using them. One of my friends had dyscalculia and had a really hard time with math calculations even ones that a typical person would find easy. She had to use a talking calculator that would vocalize each button she clicked to ensure her that she was inputting the correct math problem. The calculator explains the answer to the problem to help her get a better understanding of it. As a future educator, I definitely want to have adaptive technology in my classroom so that all my students have an equal opportunity to learn. A challenge that I percieve using adaptive technologies in the classroom would for example be with the talking calculator. The talking calculator when I was a student was very distracting, so I can only imagine what problems I may face as an educator is dealing with all of my students that are easily distracted.

Some new skills that I have acquired through working on my WebQuest assignment is learning how to use a design a website on a different website creator. For my WebQuest, I used Wix. I found that Wix was very easy to use, and to me it was easier to use than Word Press. I have used Wix before and I found that this time around, my website was more elaborate and better put together than the first one I created. I really liked how there was a variety of templates that we were able to choose from and edit. I found this very helpful because I’m a very visual person and the fact that the templates were laid out to where I just needed edit what I was writing. As a future educator, this assignment will help me when creating a classroom website to help with communication between myself and the students and parents.

https://megansclarke.wixsite.com/mysite

I definitely would like to maintain a course website as an educator because it is a great way to stay connected with your class and help them stay on task. A course website is a good way for parents and students to get the same information and to limit the amount of confusion if a student doesn’t hear the instructions properly. I think that course websites are important especially for when students are absent instead of taking up the teacher’s lesson time, they can just refer to the website to see what they missed.

An interesting and beneficial software tool that I have come across through observing elementary schools is one called, ClassDojo. This is usually projected on a SmartBoard with a little character for each of the students with their names right below it. This tool is used to improve students’ behavior by giving feedback right after an action is done whether it’s good or bad. If the student, for example, is caught working collaboratively with another peer, the teacher can add +1 to both of the students dojo points and it will pop up on the board for everyone to see. In a class I observed that used this system, I think it really benefited them because they were all striving to get more dojo points. Once a student did something considered bad, such as being off task, and they saw their dojo points decrease, they snapped out of it and made sure they didn’t mess up again. Another reason I liked this system is because the parents can see how many points their child earned that day so they can reinforce the good behavior or punish for the bad behavior.

https://www.classdojo.com/el-gr/

In the future, I envision myself utilizing a lot of technology in the classroom to accomplish my professional responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. One way that I have noticed a lot of people use technology to organize their grading, roster, and weekly tasks is through Excel. Excel is a great tool in the classroom, and I am going to teach my students at a young age how to do basic skills on it. I remember I didn’t start actually using and learning about Excel until late into my high school career. I have come to realize how useful of a tool it actually is. There is so much you can do with Excel that would benefit you as an educator.

Maplewood Elementary school is where I went for Kindergarten through Fifth grade. I remember when I went there teachers used to have their class websites linked onto the school’s main page. However, when trying to find them now was not possible. The only thing you can access now publicly is the teachers’ email addresses. I thought that was strange so I proceeded to see if the same was true for my high school that I graduated from. I know for a fact that my teachers all has websites. However, when trying to find the teachers on the school’s homepage it looks the same as the elementary schools website did. It only allowed you to email the teachers and there was no links to their website that was available publicly without logging in to something. I’m not sure the reasoning behind this but it looks like it could be a district thing. 

https://www.browardschools.com/maplewood

Twitter: I think having a twitter designated for this class is fun and a good way to interact with peers especially since this is an online class. It’s a good way to communicate as well as see other people’s opinions on certain things. Twitter could be helpful in my future career as an educator by tweeting to my students and their parents reminders about assignments, upcoming events, and volunteer opportunities and much more!

The Dynamic Instructional Design (DID) Model is a step-by-step planning model that ensures no step is missed while providing a framework for quality, technology-rich instruction (Duffy, 2018, pg. 61). The basis of this model is to take into account the needs of each individual student. I really think that it is so important to not just focus on spitting out material to the students that the state wants you to give out. Instead, focus on the individual students’ needs and formulate your material that will best suit each and every student to maximize their learning. The lesson plan I chose to analyze is a math lesson for fifth graders. It is very nicely laid out and I think it follows all of the DID model steps very well. It takes the learners into account, includes standards that are going to be met, and different ways to approach this topic or explain it. For example, it gives teachers specific guiding questions to ask to get a discussion going about the lesson. The lesson plan also includes supporting technologies that can be used including powerpoint and video explanations, and at the end it includes different assessments to ensure that the students have mastered the topic. https://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceLesson/Preview/47989

I love that open content and open source educational tools are able to be accessed by anyone. It allows people to gain knowledge by surfing the internet. The internet is an amazing resource to further people’s knowledge on topics that they feel they aren’t proficient in or want to know more about. In elementary school through high school we were always discouraged to use Wikipedia as a source, but it really is a great open source to gain knowledge. I found a great definition that goes deeper into open education and why it is so useful. It explains that open education is education without academic admission requirements and is typically offered online. This article explains the history of this technique even when there was limited technologies and resources, that people used to share their resources with one another and gain knowledge that way. I also like how this article includes some drawbacks of this concept. This includes lack of technology in developing countries, copyright issues, quality assurance of the education materials, and infrastructure limitations in developing countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_education

Considering Open Education with an Interdisciplinary Lens

As a student, I have used Microsoft Word in almost all of my classes for as long as I can remember. I have used it for Study guides, class notes, resumes, papers, you name it. Microsoft Word is such a useful resource, and as I am getting more and more familiar with how to use it, I am realizing that it can be used to make so many things! My teachers have also used Microsoft Word to create various resources for the classroom such as tests, newsletters, syllabi, and study materials. There’s so many different ways you can use MW, and I can’t wait to learn more about it.

Personally, I make sure that I never take someone else’s work and take credit for it as my own. I would never want someone to do that with my work so why do it with their work. Copyright is a huge issue that is taken very seriously. There are expectations in place here at FSU that ensure that people aren’t taking credit for someone else’s work. Someone that I knew once plagiarized a paper and as a result ended up failing her course and almost got kicked out of her university. To avoid the copyright issues, I always make sure that I cite my source immediately after putting it on my document in whatever format I was told. Don’t wait until the end to cite because you might forget some of the citations and you’ll end up paying for it. As a future educator, I would discuss how plagiarism is not tolerated, and teach the students the appropriate ways to cite their sources, including pictures that they got off Google. Also to ensure that when creating education materials for my students that I myself don’t use copyrighted materials; I will just get creative and make my own original work. I will also encourage students to create their own work as well.

Technology implementation comes with many complicated issues that need to be addressed. In my future classroom, I will make sure that I go over thoroughly the following implementation issues: Cyberbullying, right to privacy, and academic dishonesty. Cyberbullying is increasingly becoming more problematic among today’s youths. I will have consequences in place that no student would want to have to deter them from participating in it. Everyone has their right to privacy. When it comes to implementing a system in the classroom where the students privacy is protected I will have an agreement that everyone will sign at the beginning of the year. This agreement will say that they must use school facilities to engage only in appropriate activities (Duffy, 2018, pg. 307). I will also stress the importance of never input their identity into any unfamiliar software or website that’s not related to our academics. Another huge implementation issue is academic dishonesty. Student cheating has long been a problem in classroom but has become a common practice on the internet (Duffy, 2018, pg. 305). A lot of students try to do things the “easy” way and just cheat through an assignment. Not only will they suffer consequences as a result, but they will also not learn the material properly and will fail their tests. To combat Academic dishonesty I will come up with policies with the students on the first week of school so that they feel like they are a part of the rule making and most likely abide by them. Depending on the grade level I teach, I will utilize websites such as Turnitin to help me easily find those that are plagiarizing.

What influences teachers and students to use technology in the classroom?

In today’s society, technology is constantly advancing with the newer generations. Teachers are influenced to use technology in the classroom because it is a more effective way for students to learn. Especially since students use technology regularly at home. It only makes sense for teachers to utilize it in the classrooms as well. The internet has a plethora of resources that student’s can use to expand their knowledge on a topic that is taught in class. I feel like the opportunities with using technology in the classroom are endless, and super beneficial for both the students and educators.

My reflections on the ISTE Standards

ITSE Standards is also known as International Society for Technology in Education which are designed to work with learning models. They are also associated with new approaches to education, such as technology use in the classrooms. One of the standards that is meaningful to me the Empowered Learner standard. With this standard, students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences (ISTE, 2019). I think that this is so important because it’s good to use the resources that you’re provided to reach your education goals. What’s the point in having all this amazing technology if you’re just going to let it sit around and collect dust. It’s important for educators to make this a point for their students to help them get used to researching their topics and exploring the information thats out there to further their knowledge. One of the standards that is outside my skill set it is the
Innovative Designer Standard. This standard gets the students to use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions (ISTE, 2019). Although I would consider myself good with technology, I am definitely no expert. Using multiple technologies in a creative way towards a learning goal just seems too stressful to me. I definitely could work towards using a variety of technologies to perform this standard, but I would need to work on it.

Describing the term “Digital Natives”

“Digital Native” is used to describe a youth that was raised into the age of technology and familiar with it from an early age. Personally, I agree with this term because in my generation and especially the younger generations under me have grown up engrossed in technology whether its at home or school. In education, I grew up with technology in the classroom from K-12. Each year there were newer technological advances to keep up with the times. I have noticed in my experience at FSUS, that they utilize more technology in Elementary school than I did at that age. It is amazing to see the younger generations so proficient in using technology that I didn’t use at that age. I was observing a second grade classroom and the students were easily using the smart board without hesitation and in an effective manner. They were also logging into their laptops super quickly, and knew how to get to the website they were supposed to be on. They jumped right into what they were supposed to do with minimal guidance. I was mind blown because they really are digital natives and it’s something that comes so easily to the youth because its the norm to them. I have noticed that my younger professors here at FSU are very proficient with their use of technology, especially with how they set up Canvas and make the most out of it. Not all of my professors though are good with technology. A few of my older professors have struggled with setting up projectors or getting Canvas to do what they want it to. I don’t blame them though because they were born into a different time where education was more hands on and on whiteboards. As a future educator, I plan on balancing the use of technology as well as using pen and paper, especially when it comes to teaching math. There are ways that you can practice your math skill with technology, but for me I learn it better by pen and paper.

When I was younger, I wasn’t introduced to a lot of technology until I was about eight years old. I got my first cellphone which was a Nokia, and I remember not knowing what texting was especially with that phone. A few years later, I got an Ipad and laptop and was quickly adapting to the new technology. Today, I would say I am up to date with all the latest technology, but obviously there is always room to learn more ways to utilize technology.

I hope to learn more ways that technology can be used in the classroom to help improve education. From my observations at FSUS, the students utilize a lot more technology in K-5 than I ever did in Elementary School. It was amazing to see the students know exactly how to start up their computers and accurately use the smart board in the classroom. The current education system is becoming more and more technologically advanced and it’s good to keep finding more ways that it can be beneficial for the students. 

The Learning Styles quiz really got me thinking and the questions were very intriguing. I have come to the realization that I am a visual learner and that I prefer factual information more than concepts or theories. This quiz helped me understand why I enjoy subjects like math because there’s one solution, but many ways you’re able to achieve it. 

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

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