Oh the Things I Have Learned about Technology!

            

What My Kids Thought In The Beginning

           Wow! Let me just begin by saying that I learned so much more than what I even planned on from this course. I now feel more confident in incorporating a variety of forms of technology within my future classroom!

            In the beginning, I mentioned wanting to learn how to use the Promethean board more affectively, while also wanting to be able to provide quizzes and surveys using the technology-based tool. Not only did I learn how to incorporate those aspects into my future lessons, but I also discovered some very useful apps that will allow me to provide assessment within my future teaching. For example, now I can create a lesson using technology, and each child can have an iPad in front of them following along. As the children follow along, I can incorporate activities for them to do as individuals or groups, which will allow me to grasp their understandings. Not only will this provide on the spot assessment, but it will also help the children who miss class to stay on track, as they can also take part in the lesson either inside or outside of school.

            Secondly, I mentioned wanting to learn more about flipcharts, and my knowledge on them now is far more than what it was in the beginning. I now understand their usefulness within the classroom, and how they allow for a variety of forms of assessment within one simple lesson. What is great about this tool, as a future teacher, is that I will be able to provide multiple types of assessment within one lesson, and will be able to gauge which types of assessment are most affective and helpful to my specific students. Flipcharts will also allow my lessons to be more interactive, which in turn will keep students more engaged in what they are learning.

            Thirdly, not only did I learn about the aspects that I originally wanted to learn more about, but also many other technology tools that I can use within the classroom. For example, iMovie will allow me to incorporate educational field trips within the classroom, if the funds are not available to go on an actual field trip. All I have to do is take the images and incorporate them into an iMovie. Thus, it will allow children to learn more about their community, while also serving an educational purpose. Another technology aspect that I learned more about over the semester was how to use wikis and blogs affectively within the classroom. I had never thought about the variety of ways in which they could be used, but now I look forward to implementing them in a variety of ways within my future classroom. For example, I can use them for parent sign up sheets, interactive web based activities, or for children to blog about their school experiences. Therefore, I now have so many technology tools, that I should be able to integrate technology into almost any subject matter within my future classroom.

            All these technology tools and projects are great, and I loved being able to incorporate them all into one website. A website, like the one we created in class, will allow parents and children to learn more about me as a teacher and our classroom before school starts, it will keep parents informed about what is going on in the classroom, and it will also provides parents and children a lot of useful tools to aid them in their learning. I feel it can be a very affective and useful tool in aiding parents and children learn throughout the year!

            One thing to remind myself through my upcoming career is that I must be willing to take a chance with technology and incorporate it in a variety of ways within the classroom, as it is becoming the new learning tool in today’s society. Although it took a lot of time and work, it was well worth it to see the educational outcomes and usefulness that technology lends to me as a future teacher.

Getting Children Involved in the Classroom

If we want children to be more interested in learning, then shouldn't we create a learning experience that is more exciting? That is one great thing about interactive white boards, they allow children to get involved in classroom lessons. As we say in Early Childhood Education, 'passing the pen'
is important for children to be engaged in a lesson.

One great aspect about interactive white boards is that they allow for multiple methods of teaching. Using the interactive whiteboard teachers can allow children to move things around on the board, zoom in on objects on the board, have instant feedback on their choices, and so much more! Teachers, if they have the tools, can also allow children to do an anonymous vote on something being discussed in the classroom. The way this works is that children are provided a clicker that allows them to chose their answer, and it be anonymous, also providing on the spot feedback. I would love to be able to use this tool in my future classroom, so that children's answers are not influenced by peers, at least not as much as they would be if the vote was done through the raising of hands.

Not to say that it won't be a challenge to get use to implementing the tools in my classroom, but it will definitely be worth the struggles in the beginning. Although these tools take a lot of training, it is totally worth the training if it means that my children will be more interactive in the classroom. Evidence shows that children who are involved in classroom learning are more likely to achieve at a higher level.

Thus, to reach those higher potentials of learning, I plan to implement the interactive white board into my future classroom, in as many ways as possible. I personally have experienced using the interactive white boards in several classroom settings, and they are an awesome learning tool, but unfortunately are not used as often as they could be. Therefore, I want to make the interactive white board as useful as possible, not only for me but also my students. I plan to use the interactive white board to have classroom votes, for interactive learning, and as a simple tool to discuss and explain specific classroom topics. I would also like to use the interactive white board to go on virtual field trips with my children. Although these are the main ways in which I know how to use an interactive white board thus far, I plan to learn about other ways to implement it into my future teaching.

Wikis in the Classroom

Even though blogs are interesting, there is so much more one can do with a wiki. Teacher’sFirst described wikis as a way for continuous editing of a document. Therefore, when there is continuous editing, isn’t the product only getting better? Maybe yes, maybe no.

In terms of Wikipedia, it is great to see everyone’s thoughts coming together to create a meaning and/or document on a specific term or topic. However, how do we know that information is always correct? We don’t. Yet, the great part about this aspect is that everyone can learn and bounce ideas off one another, and although the answer may not be 100% correct, it can be edited. However, this is an issue when it comes to using Wikipedia as a source, because we do not know that the information is always accurate. However, wikis can be used in multiple ways, they do not just have to be used as a source.

Some Ways to Use Wikis in the Classroom

This is what makes wikis so awesome, because they can be used in a variety of ways for educational purposes. I personally would love to use wiki’s as a part of my future classroom, and not only for my students, but also my parents. One reason I think it is a great tool is because it allows children to bounce ideas off of one another when working on a group project. It will also allow them to continually edit their work, and it can promote teamwork, within the classroom. If we want classroom’s to be a community, then we must provide tools that support that community aspect. Secondly, as for my children’s parents, I think it could be a great tool for multiple reasons. First off, it allows parents to communicate and share ideas, and discuss them as a group. Secondly, with wikis I can share so much more with parents. This, along with many other reasons, is why wikis are a great tool for classrooms. Yet, the only thing, as mentioned previously, is that one has to be careful because people can change and turn things around. Therefore, the discussion of how to work on a wiki with others is very important, as we do not want anyone to think that their contribution is not appreciated. 

All in all, wikis are a great tool, and as our world becomes more and more technology based, I think it is something that classrooms should look into using more often.  

Blogging on a Blog

Ok, so let's be serious. How many parents really want to take time out of their day, every day, to read simple blabbering about what is going on in the classroom? The answer is probably very few. Most parents are overwhelmed by all the other things they have to do in life, such as cooking dinner, helping their child with their homework, and so much more. This is why I love Ms. Cassidy's Classroom Blog. Her blogs are very simple and to the point. There is not a bunch of fluff in her writing, and I also love how she compliments everything with pictures or videos of the children in action. In my opinion, a picture can be more explanatory than language.

I feel that this is a great method, as it allows parents to get more involved in conversation. What is the point in the teacher writing a whole lot of information about something, if parents are not going to read it? Also, you do not promote parent/teacher conversation when all information is provided. Therefore, this is why I find her method of providing a small amount of information a positive way to create a blog. For example, the image below encourages further discussion between both parent and child, along with parent and teacher interaction, about an activity that happened on a particular day in the classroom.

Another aspect that I love about Ms. Cassidy's Classroom Blog is that the children each have their own blog section. This allows the blog to be both a community cite, while also being individualized. Although, parents may not have time to read everything that their child did at once, they can always go back and reference their child's work, which I find to be awesome. Some details that can be seen in the classroom can not always be sent home on a piece of paper. Therefore, through visual representations parents can see all the awesome things there children are doing and learning about in the classroom.

Organization is also a huge key in teaching, and Ms. Cassidy's Classroom Blog displays a great deal of organization. Every post has a specific date next to it, this way parents are not having to continually look for the date in small print. Also, through the archives, parents can go back to specific months and look at their child's previous work. Another great aspect, along side her organization, are the extra sources that are provided through her classroom blog. Ms. Cassidy provides external links that are useful to both parents, students, and other teachers. For example, in the image below, Ms. Cassidy has provided links to an article on reading, a website for parents, teachers, and children to explore, and more!

Overall, Ms. Cassidy's blog contains so many wonderful elements in a very organized format. I hope to have a classroom blog that is as successful and useful to families of my future students someday.

Course Expectations

Hello, my name is Bekah Wolford, and I am currently enrolled in the course TPTE 486. I am currently working towards my undergraduate in Child and Family Studies, with a concentration in Early Childhood Education. Therefore, from this class, I hope to gain a lot of knowledge on useful ways to use technology in my future classroom. I would love to learn how to have classroom quizzes/surveys using the Promethean board. I would also love to discover how to use flip charts for my future classroom, as I have heard so many talk about how awesome they are to use in the classroom. I would also love to learn how to use the Promethean board more effectively, as I always feel there are new things to learn about technology. I look forward to learning all of this and more in this class.