Digital Blog Post #B – Chapter 2

After reading Chapter 2 there were three concepts that I wanted to explore. The first concept is Instructional Practices which is where “the teacher is interacting directly with students.”( Maloy, et al, 2013, p.28) This allows the teacher to integrate technology into the student’s lessons. Some of these things could be as simple as creating a PowerPoint to make a lesson more simple and fun or even creating a survey for the students to text in answers or take online. The more I read up on the link between teaching and technology the more ways I find that teachers can include technology into lessons to make the lessons interactive, current, and fun for the students. As a future teacher using instructional practices are going to be very beneficial to me.

Photo credit to Kathy Cassidy on Flickr

The second concept is Digital Continuum. This basically explains the link between low income areas having less access to technologies and higher income areas having easier access to the same technologies. As a teacher if I work in a lower income area funding for newer technology may be none minimum to nonexistent. In that case I would have to work harder to provide access to technologies by fundraising, writing grants, or even spending money out of pocket. If I taught in a higher income area then it is more likely that students will have more access at home and schools would have more funding to provide newer technologies.

The third concept is called digital disconnect. This is the view that students have about their teachers in regards to technology. Students are younger and view themselves as being more tech savvy than their teachers. Students think that teachers are slower to learn and use certain technologies in the classroom. I can see how students may feel that way. Sometime schools don’t have the technologies that students want to use or not all students have access to the same technologies in and out of school. For a teacher to learn and use new technologies in the classroom then all students need the same access to it. This may be a slow process for some schools. I think as a future teacher learning new technologies is going to be a very important ongoing learning process. If teachers can keep up with the technologies then students may feel a little different.

In conclusion, teachers need to use instructional practices in the classroom to enhance the lessons for the students. Providing this may also keep student involved in the lesson. The more technology used in the classroom may also make the students feel like there is less of a digital disconnect. This many not be possible all the time for teachers though because there may be an issue with funding if their school is in a low income area.

Resources

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

Digital Blog Post #A – Chapter 1

In Chapter 1 of our text book, Transforming Learning with New Technologies, there were three concepts that really stood out to me. The first concept was technology-based text book. This concept allows teachers to build their own lessons using different forms of technology. I think that this is a great idea and will allow me as a teacher to build unique lessons that cater to a variety of students and their different learning speeds. This will also allow me to make lessons interactive and fun for the students. As a teacher it might also allow me to find out what isn't working for the student and because the lessons are technology based I can change the lessons up to better serve the students.

The second concept, Web 2.0 Tools, was more of a helpful tool that can be put into practice to help teachers integrate technology into their lessons. I am the kind of person that uses the minimum amount of technology possible. Yes, I can use a computer and I am attached to my kindle and but even though I have a smart phone I mostly use it just to make phone calls. I do have a Facebook page but I probably check it twice a year. I didn't realize that being a teacher would require the use of so much technology (not that it’s a bad thing). Chapter 1 really gets into the kinds of technology teachers can use and Web 2.0 Tools really fascinated me.  I Googled Web 2.0 Tools to find out more about it and found Discovery EducationWeb2014: Web 2.0 Tools. This site allows teachers to learn how to use all kinds of technology to help students on their learning journey. While I was on the site I found a YouTube video that went over some websites that can allow teachers to let student use their phones to do in class surveys and more. I posted the video below because I think it can be very useful information for any teacher (or future teacher) to have.

The third concept that interested me was Digital Identity. This concept is explained as a teachers “technology talents and competencies” (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 15). The book goes on to explain how important it is for a teacher to not only put technology to use in the classroom but also keep up to date with it at all times. Technology is something that is forever changing and evolving. I can see how helpful this concept can be. It can allow teachers, students, and a parent to know what is going on at all times. As a teacher technology can allow you to keep up with curriculum, updated technology, student’s progress, social media, blogs, and many more things. As a teacher your digital identity is how you put all these technologies to work and how well, and often, you use them.

In conclusion, Chapter 1 in our text book, Transforming Learning with New Technologies, was very enlightening for me and made me reflect on several concepts that are very interesting. I learned that technology is going to play a big part of my role as a teacher. It is going to allow me to better serve my students with tools such as Web 2.0 and the ability to create my own text book with technology-based text books.  I also now know that as I learn these new technologies and put them to use it will create my digital identity. 

Photo credit to jennip98 on Flickr

Resources

Discovery Education Web2014 : Home. (2015). Retrieved January 17, 2015, from http://web2014.discoveryeducation.com/

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

Web 2.0. (2010, January 6). Retrieved January 17, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLEEA14E12B59B9EF5&v=SmJe-cfESuk&feature=player_embedded