Technology Inquiry Wiki Reflection

When completing this task I probably took more time than necessary. I put a lot of effort into my wiki and hope that it shows. The part that took up hours of my time was my screencast. For some reason I could not get through the entire thing without messing up even though I had a script prepared. Then the microphone I was using was not allowing me to increase its volume so it wasn't picking up my voice well. I had to talk into the microphone while it was an inch from my face to get the volume that I wanted. Overall I am pleased with the final product. Doing this assignment will make my life so much easier when creating a wiki for my future classroom. I now know firsthand how it works and its capabilities. I think having us as students create a wiki was more effective than just telling us how it works because we were able to interact and manipulate it ourselves.

IWB Reflection

I feel as though I spent lots of time creating and revising my interactive whiteboard lesson. I made sure to consider what students at the second grade level are capable of reading and doing. Creating a lesson using the Smartboard made me want to have one in everyone of my classes! Making the lesson was fairly simple and picking a standard to form the lesson around was the most time consuming. I was overwhelmed with the program at first because I was unfamiliar with it. Now I feel extremely comfortable using the Notebook software thanks to this assignment. I thought it was useful creating this lesson because this is likely a program that may be included in my future classroom. I look forward to utilizing interactive whiteboards in my classroom.

How Will You Teach? Incorporating Technology

A few ways that I plan on using technology in my future elementary classroom are:

• SMART board - having an interactive whiteboard in the classroom expands so many new possibilities for lessons and ways to keep students intrigued. I hope that this tool is included in my future classroom, but if not I will do my best to find a way to get one into my room. By the time I have my own classroom, hopefully the interactive whiteboard programs will improve and become even better than they are now.
• Classroom Wiki - In the older elementary grades allowing students to be in charge and manage a classroom wiki can have lists of benefits. I want my students to know how to use this technology, but also be able to share what they are learning with others globally. Had this been included in my elementary education I would be much more comfortable using different forms of technology today.
• Skype - I love the idea of communicating with other classrooms and possibly even influential people over the internet. If my classroom is doing a reading unit, for example, the opportunity to talk to the author in real time would be exciting for me and my students. Communicating with other classrooms across the world when working on a unit and collaborating on a project would make the information more real and tangible for students.

Professor Boyer stressed the use of Scratch in the classroom because it is so simple to personalize games for students who need extra practice. I'm not opposed to using Scratch in my classroom, it was just not in my top 3. I think that Scratch program would allow teachers (and students) to develop games that apply to their interests even outside of school while including educational information. A resource that we talked about was "iTunes U". The iTunes application allows teachers to listen to educational podcasts that can help with professional development. Another interesting point brought up was that many textbook publishing companies are introducing online textbooks. I personally do not want to read information on a computer screen and I'm sure some students may find that difficult as well. I do think that it is worth it though to invest in these online books. I loved the idea of having students record screencasts documenting their reading levels at different points of the year and sharing that with parents. Students could be able to examine how they have progressed which I think would prove very rewarding for everyone involved.

Exit Post 12-9-10

How had my thinking about technology's role in teaching and learning changed over the semester?

My thinking about technology has expanded exponentially this semester. I learned many new tools that will fit in perfectly with my future classroom. I am glad that we were required to use all of the tools rather than just be lectured about them because that would not have been as effective as actually trying to figure it out later on in our careers after only being lectured about it. I enjoyed this course and feel as though I'm coming away with many new tools to make my classroom a better learning environment.

PSA Reflection

I feel as though I exerted lots of effort into this PSA assignment. It took a while to come with an idea for a video that was something other than cyberbullying so that took the longest. I felt a bit silly when producing this video, but still had fun with it. The whole editing process with the transitions was tricky to figure out at first because the video order kept jumping around. I was unfamilar with the Windows Movie Maker technology prior to this project, but now that I have the basic skills I can use it in other classes for projects as well. Creating and sharing a PSA is beneficial to my future teaching because I am aware of the technology tools for editing and creating a professional video presentation. I thought that this assignment was a fun way to learn how to use technology that I was not very familiar with previously, while relaying an educational message.

PSA Checking Your Sources

12-2-10 Exit Post

In class we watched a Youtube video about education technology integration in a teacher's classroom. She used to use traditional methods of teaching, but found that students were disengaged and not wanting to learn. After integratign technology she found that her students came to class excited to learn. Having students access homework over the internet provides a paperless classroom which is important and then students have less materials to forget at home. We talked about using a site called EPal where classrooms worldwide are looking for other rooms to interact and correspond with. I would definately use this website in my future teaching in order to expose my student to different cultures and improve writing skills. We all participated in a jigsaw activity with articles about dumb things teachers do with technology and the best things teachers can do with technology.