Digital Blog Post #L – Chapter 12

Chapter 12 in our text book is titled “Integrating Technology and Creating Change as Teacher Leaders”. It has a lot of great information about using technology to become a better teacher and learner. The first concept that I thought was important is technology integration.  Technology Integration is the “way that teachers connect technology into all aspects of their instructional and professional work” (Maloy, et al, 2013, p.298). This allows teachers to use new and creative ways to teach their students. Technology integrated into the lessons can also make learning for the students more fun and exciting. It also provides more options for teachers to provide a better education journey for their students. One good example of integrating technology into a lesson is virtual field trips that I talked about in the last my last blog on chapter 6. I think it is a great idea for teachers to use anything they can to make learning better for their students.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

The second concept is educational change. I think this is a very important thing for teachers to understand and keep up with. The world around us is constantly changing and keeping up with that change as a teacher is important. Students need to know what is going on around them and they deserve the option to get the best education available to them. Sometimes the best education means that new technologies should be available to them and used. Change also allows teachers to modify something that isn't working for them or their students and make it better. Below is a YouTube video from the Council of Educational Change.

The third concept, BYOT programs, is a great example of integrating technology and educational change. BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) Programs allows students to bring their technologies from home and use them in the classroom. There is some controversy about this because not all students have technology to bring in or it might not be as updates as other students technology. There is also worry that teachers won’t be as up to date on the technology as the students. I think that these are things we shouldn't worry about. Students can always share devices in a group and if teachers aren't as up to date with technology then maybe it can be a learning experience for both the teacher and the students. I think this is a great program and more schools should use it.

Banner Created By Chasity Kahl on Piktochart

In conclusion, as the world changes around us it is important for teachers to keep up with and be aware of changes. Using technology integration with educational change and BYOT programs can make learning better for students. It can provide new and exciting learning experiences for students and teachers might also learn a thing or two along the way.

Resources:

Council for Educational Change. (2014, April 23). Council for Educational Change. Retrieved April 18, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Ec77ekbnY

Kahl, C. (2015, April 18). Banner. Retrieved April 18, 2015, from https://magic.piktochart.com/output/5620191-untitled-banner

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post #K – Chapter 6

Chapter 6 in the text book was all about online learning and using educational websites and apps to help teachers use technology in an educational way. The first concept that interested me is social bookmarking.  Bookmarking is probably something everyone does when they are on the internet. You find a website you find interesting and you bookmark it so you can later go into your bookmarks and find it easily. Social bookmarking expands that concept by allowing someone to take their bookmarks and share them with other users. These bookmarks are public and be added onto by other users. If there is a bookmark you don’t want everyone to see you can also keep it private. I think that this is a great resource for teachers. It allows you to easily go back to websites that you have found useful in the past, plus it allows you to share your information with everyone else. Looking at other teacher’s social bookmarks could also give you great ideas for new lessons.

Poster Created on Canva By Chasity Kahl

Another great concept from chapter 6 is information alert. Information alert is “an electronic notice that new information about a topic has just become available in some electronic publication format.” (Maloy, et al, 2013, p.135) These alerts allow teachers to constantly be updated on topics that are useful to them. I think this is a great time saving tool that as a future teacher I would defiantly use. Not only is it time saving but it would also keep me updated on the latest information and that would also insure that my lessons would be up to date. I think it is important to give student lessons that are as updated as possible.

The third concept that I wanted to learn more about is visual field trips. Visual field trips are a way for student to take a field trip without even leaving the classroom. The field trip in its entirety is taken by going online and viewing it on a computer. This can be done by one student viewing it on the computer or by projecting it onto a screen for the entire class to view. I did a little research and found a great article Get Outta Class With Virtual Field Trips. This article includes a lot of like for virtual field trip links that will be useful to me as a future teacher. I think providing visual field trip will allow students to learn more about the world around them. It will also make the lessons fun and interactive.Below is an example of a virtual field trip that I found on YouTube.

 In conclusion, chapter 6 does a great job of explaining new ways for teachers to use technology to better their teaching abilities. Social bookmarking and information alerts will allow teachers to keep up to date with the information they need and it will also allow them to easily find and share that information. Visual field trips will also let teachers take their students on tours around the world without even leaving their classroom. All of these tools are only going to make learning and teaching better.

Resources:

Kahl, C. (2015, April 12). Explore - Poster by chasity.kahl6. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from https://www.canva.com/design/DABN_R6WyVo/JuNTwiCWQyLDvW84D4pWzw/view?&utm_content=DABN_R6WyVo&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton&cc_from_uid=UABN_VjhVUI

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Steele-Carlin, S. (2014, October 29). Get Outta Class With Virtual Field Trips. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech071.shtml

VirtualFieldTripsnet. (2014, November 1). Virtual Field Trip - Amazon Rainforest. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEsV5rqbVNQ

Digital Blog Post #J – Chapter 11

Chapter 11 in the textbook is about engaging students in performance assessment and reflective learning. It has a ton on good information on building portfolios and doing assessments. The first concept that I wanted to explore further is preassessments. Preassessments are various strategies that teachers use to assess the knowledge of their students. This makes the teachers aware of what the students know and what the students need to work on. Teachers can then start working on their lesson plans. Teachers can use multiple things to assess their student’s knowledge. Some of those things are “pretests, writing prompts, graphic organizers, observations, questions, and surveys.” (Maloy, et al, 2013, p.285) I think that these strategies are all great ways for a teacher to assess their students. I think it is very important for a teacher to know where their students are in their education journey. It gives both the student and the teacher a good starting point. A good online preassessment you can create is a FlipQuiz. Below is a link of an assessment that I created on this chapter.

Chapter 11 Assessment

Photo Created by Morten Oddvik on Flickr

The second concept that caught my attention was reflection. Reflection is a way for a teacher to look back at what they have done and think about what they can do to to better. Some lessons may need to be modified while others may not be useful and they may need to be cut. A good way for a teacher to do this is to maintain a portfolio and keep it updated. "It is a meaningful and effective way to summarize the knowledge, skills, and dispositions one has gained into the complex process of teaching."(Maloy, et al, 2013, p.281) I think it is also a great way for teachers to keep up with new ways of teaching and technology's that can assist them in creating better lessons.

“Study the past if you would define the future.”

― Confucius

The third and last concept is digital teaching portfolio. A digital teaching portfolio is "a collection of educational and professional materials stored in an electronic format."(Maloy, et al, 2013, p.279) This is a great way to teachers to keep everything that have learned in one spot and allow them to go back and view everything. This is also where a teacher would go when they are doing their reflection. A great use of this portfolio is so teachers can reuse information for their lesson. All the research done to find the information is stored and can easily be found and reused. I think this is a great thing for all teachers to have. It is a time saver, a learning tool, and a good use of technology in the classroom.

In conclusion, technology can be seen throughout the teaching process. Teachers can use surveys online and other technology for student preassessments. This helps both the students and the teachers. If a teacher creates a digital teaching portfolio they can also use everything they collect to reflect on what they are teaching and what can be improved upon. This will assist teachers in keeping up with new teaching techniques and new technology that can be used in the classroom.

Resources:

Kahl, C. (2015, April 5). Chapter 11 | FlipQuiz. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://flipquiz.me/quiz/21264

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Oddvik, M. (2011, November 27). Teacher's Desk. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/mortsan/5145386791/in/photolist-8QFsen-bnMheE-5KS8nD-8V1xqD-6n5Q3H-64h3us-7mBmJT-5g7BnW-5ft8e9-8QPwAE-5KWmUQ-5KS87n-ehiZ8H-ehBnRE-r14gC8-5fddtC-5KS8Fa-ArTky-icCiyZ-icCWN6-64his9-7vn6qc-bzyULm-bobDJe-FeHeY-mvR316-bkd3kK-doyKkQ-doyAx6-doyJSJ-doyyS8-doyJ2s-doyCSt-doyDwa-doyCtK-doynDV-doyKAb-doyE1P-doyAQV-bcGqcH-osrvQZ-p5TQsh-eha4mb-5KWmRS-jsyKgS-nJZftk-oSxTeU-j4uf24-oxezNB-eh3UTg