Digital Blog Post #L

Hello Last Blog Post!!

Well I feel as though I've come a long way with blogger. Having to utilize not only this website but others to incorporate my learning in technological ways has most definitely broaden my horizons. It is always nice to see that the things your professors have you do are for a reason and will help you in your future. There is no doubt in my mind that the resources I used throughout this course will be continued to be used throughout my career.

As for the last chapter in this book there were a couple things that I found interesting. The first thing I would like to talk about is the Technology integration Story. The story talks about two teachers, one from a low-income rural district and another from affluent suburban system. Each of these teachers show a commitment to integrating technology into their class rooms. And I thought that this story was a good example that no matter how much funding is provided. If the technology is there, teachers should take advantage of it no matter how it looks or where it came from.

The second thing I noticed in this chapter is a key concept that technology integration and education change doesn’t just happen. The two things most needed to make them successful is teacher's mindset and multiple pathways. Teachers must have the mindset that technology can help students achieve educational goals. And teachers must also see the multiple pathways of how to most successfully use technology even with limited resources.

Creative Commons Photo By: bjmcdonald

Lastly one of the most important things probably said in this class is that teachers do not have to be "trendy", they just have to be trend-conscious. I think that teachers who do not integrate technology are afraid of change. But is they just open up their minds to change they can see that technology has easier/ more efficient ways to do many things. 

And I also made a Gliffy Diagram to show the different sites that teachers can stay trend conscious.

References:

Gonzalez, Ivana. 2016. Gliffy Diagram.

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

"The world is forever changing"
Creative Commons Photo By: mattjiggins

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Hello, hello, hello J

On this blog post I wanted to make a clear statement by saying "The world is forever changing". You can be sure of this statement because the world doesn’t pause. It doesn’t stop for a couple years so that we can learn about it in a text book. It's revolving and if we don’t keep up with the facts we will be left behind. It is important for us as teachers to not just rely on the textbooks that only get updated every couple years because of school budgets. We as teachers must go out into the world and find out ourselves what is going on so that we can teach our students. Now we are nothing close to news reporters. So where do we "go out and get" our information from? Well that’s where the world web comes from and more specifically tech tools like preselected websites for teachers or social bookmarking.

Technology allows teachers to gather information and store it in extremely better and more efficient ways than ever before. When a teacher would want to reference something before they would have to go through their piles of books if actually owned by them and search individually for their reference. Now referencing back to things are just at the tips of their fingers or a search bar per say.

Creative Commons Photo By: James Cridland

Another note to this wonderful technology world that I made before is that information is constantly changing. Technology allows for teachers to electronically be noticed when information changes or comes about. This provides busy teachers a great system of notifications of new information.

Technology is efficient in so many ways, for example: before when teachers would want students to refer to several articles or websites they would print each out for the students to read. Now teachers have access to WebQuest, Virtual Field Trips, and Videoconferencing all of these which allow students to view websites and articles that teachers provide them with out all the hard copies. Which usually the teachers keep because they have to use the same set of hard copies for their next class. Online field trips allow students to work where ever they have access to the internet. 

And I also made a Gliffy diagram as well about tech tools 6.1 and 6.2. 

References:

Gonzalez, Ivana. (2016) Gliffy Diagram.

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 #J

Hello Professor Coleman,

I'm happy you gave me a chance to turn in this blog post late because I wouldn’t have ever gotten to reading Chapter 11, in the depths that I did with that extra week.

The story "A New Teacher Uses Digital Portfolios" opens up so many thoughts for me as a student and for me as a teacher. When I was in grade school I was that student who didn’t do well at studying for a test. I did my best when teachers had something for me to go off of or when they were "reviewing" but really allowing us the chance to go over what we learned in depth and from a different perception. Although Mrs. DuBose (the retiring teacher in the story) was an exceptional teacher, Tracy was able to recognize that her assessment methods weren't successful for every student. Tracy was able to engage all students with the power of technology and to me this was a key point for this semester as a whole. Most students and teachers are used to the same ole same, and it shows very much so. It is very common to see students disengage and it is a tremendous problem that needs to be fixed. Students should be taught that learning is fun, learning is something that doesn’t have to be a set standard. Learning is something you can do freely in ways that you choose to learn so that you are pushed to your highest ability. The main point that needs to be made is whether or not a student has truly grasp the information and not just memorized it for the time being.

Digital Teaching Portfolios is a great tech tool for a teacher to have their entire career at the click of a button. To me teaching is a very important job that only very important/special people should have. I believe that teachers are one of the biggest attributors to society because they teach the future. We as grade school teachers spend over 1000 hours in a year with students. In total there are around 8500 hours in a year. That means roughly 1/8th of a year in a child's life is spent with a teacher. May not be a huge chunk but it is One person spending 1/8th of your child's time a year. Just one person. This teacher gets to know your child on a personal basis and teaches them they can be successful. Teaches them that they can be a doctor, lawyer, or even a teacher themselves. Teachers' makeup the basis of what our future leaders are made up of. All of this carries great importance and teachers should be able to show people their successes at the press of a button.

As for student portfolios I think this gives students a prime opportunity for learning enhancement. Students are able to go over past material and think about it from a different perspective. They are given more time to review and reflect what was to be learned. A portfolio should allow for examining the work that has been done, identifying the strengths and weaknesses, and making plans to improve or change certain things in the future. Reflection is key!

Creative Commons Photo By: Rubatacchini

References:

Gonzalez, Ivana. Canva Picture. 

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.