Module 6 Reflection

Technology is having as significant an influence on education as it is on society in general. Consider the legal, social, and ethical issues arising from the implementation of current and emerging technology in schools. What three issues do you think are the most critical to teachers? Explain each issue, and justify your selection of them as the most critical issues.

I think there are many issues with implementing technology in the classroom. I think the three most critical to teachers are money or funds, awareness, and acceptable use. Funds will always be an issue with technology. Implementing different types of technology in a classroom cost a lot of money. Depending on what area you teach in or the school you are at, they may or may not have they money to buy different resources. This is an issue because technology has become a big part of how the upcoming generation learns and teachers are always having to adapt to how their students learn. Awareness is another issue because I feel like teachers are not aware of the issues or even aware of how to use the newest technology. For example, my cooperating teacher has a smart board in her classroom, but I have yet to see her use it because she is unfamiliar with the software. Personally, I did not realize how many issues were out there dealing with technology and I think that is something that teachers should be knowledgable of. Another issue is acceptable use and this falls into legal issues. Most schools do have a filtering software that denies access to many unacceptable websites, but how do we know for sure that the websites are being blocked or that the students have not found a way to go around it. As teachers, we should educate our students on appropriate use because we cannot always monitor them when they are using a computer, ipads, or other technology devices.

Module 5 Reflection

Students with disabilities can be supported by technology in many ways. Discuss how students with disabilities who need help with certain subjects can be supported by educational technology. Select a subject and provide a specific example of how you could support diverse learners in your classroom with technology.


    With recent technology advancements, there are many ways in which technology can support and benefit students with disabilities. Math is a subject in which many students struggle with today. Ipads and interactive boards are two ways in which you can support the diverse learners in your classroom. Ipads have many apps avaliable that can assist students with learning. Ipads can make learning fun and interesting because I think students do not realize how much they learn when they are using technology or playing games. Interactive whiteboards can be directly incorporated with your lessons; having games, word problems, or even just the students revealing the answers to the problems. Almost any technology resource can increase the students independence and up their participation in a classroom.  

Module 4 Reflection

In the digital world that we live in, a web site will almost be a requirement for your future classroom. Assume that you have decided to create a classroom web site. What types of pages would you include and what would each page be used for? What information do you think would be the most important to include on your site? How will you make sure you implement elements of good design on your web site? Include a link to a classroom webpage that catches your eye and why you might want to use it as a model for your future site.

       If I were to create my own website for my classroom, I would try to include many different pages. One would be about me and would contain my contact information. This would make it easy for parents/guardians to have my information on hand if they needed to get in touch with me. I would have a page for the weekly newsletter. It will also get sent home on paper, but putting it on here will make sure that the parents have access to it. The newsletter would include the calendar for the week, vocabulary and spelling words, and any classroom news that I have. I would also have a separate calendar page that would include my schedule and the school's. A link of websites would be another thing I would want to include. This could be informational sites, educational games, or even a link to where we might be visiting for field trip. The last thing I would want to include would be a classroom documents page, where the information that I send home, could also be avaliable online, such as field trip forms, medical forms, and more. Out of all of these, I think that contact information and the newsletter are probably the most important.

      I will implement elements of good design on my website by having a readable font color and font size. I will have everything spaced where it is not cluttered and make it pleasing to the eye!  

This is the link for a page that is a model for my future site:
http://schoolcenter.hilton.k12.ny.us/education/staff/staff.php?sectiondetailid=21976 

Module 3 Reflection

How could the digital technologies described in Chapter 6 be used or adapted to address student diversity? Be specific in your examples.

 

There are many ways that the digital technologies in chapter 6 can be adapted to address student diversity. Touch screen monitors are very useful within the classroom. They can be used for students who may struggle using a mouse and keyboard due to a physical impairment. Electronic whiteboards can make any lesson interactive for the students. These can be useful with students who have difficulty with fine motor skills. Speakers and headphones can be very helpful during reading. Students can listen to books on cd or listen to lessons that have been previously recorded. Clickers can be used to get anonymous feedback from students and since they are anonymous it will eliminate students being scared of answering aloud. There are many resources out there for teachers, and I feel like you can find some way to adapt almost any technology within the classroom.  

Module 2 Reflection

Take the learning styles inventory to find out what kind of learner you are and reflect on your results. (http://www.literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html)

Identify a favorite teacher in elementary or secondary school. Describe three practices or techniques that this teacher used to meet your own learning needs that were significant in helping you learn. Do these practices/techniques correspond with your results to the learning inventory? How can you be sure you are meeting the many different learning styles you will have in your classroom one day?

 

            

My top three intelligences from the inventory were body movement/kinesthetic, logic/math, and self/intrapersonal. I definitely agree with the first two. I have always been the type of person that needs to move around constantly. Doing any kind of hands-on activity in school was always helpful to my learning. Since elementary school, math has always been my best and favorite subject! I was blessed to have great math teachers that helped me discover a love for math early on. I was not expecting self to be in my top three intelligences because I think I grew out of always needing to keep and be with myself. All of these relate to how I learn. I was a kinesthetic and visual learner throughout elementary school and I still am now.

My favorite teacher in secondary school (7^th, 8^th, and 10^thgrade) was Mrs. Daniel. She taught me pre-algebra, algebra I, and algebra II. One technique she used was she played classical music while we took our test. She believed that listening to the music calmed us while taking test. Also while we took test, she would always give us a peppermint or jolly rancher because she believed the candy could help us remember. I don’t know if I necessarily believe the same things and I don’t think these go along with my learning styles, but I loved that she did this because it is really hard for me to sit in silence.

A second technique she used was letting us have brain breaks. She would give us like a minute to get up and stretch and even talk once or twice during her class period. This was beneficial to my learning style because I was the one that was wiggling all through class just because I needed to be moving at all times. Even though we were older she knew that my particular class needed it. Another technique she used was letting us chose to work in groups of work by ourselves for certain tasks. This does relate to my learning styles, because I did like to work by myself when I was in high school. Now, I do not mind working in groups, but I think it was nice to have the choice.

When I have my own classroom, I think it would beneficial to let the students tell what they believe their learning style is or let them take a small inventory, if it is an upper grade. If they are not able to do this, as a teacher, you have to make sure you are using differentiated instruction throughout all subjects. It is very important for a teacher to reach out to every learning style in the classroom.

 

Module 1 Reflection

Imagine that you are teaching in a school. Select a grade level and subject area and describe how you would use three different types of academic software to teach a specific topic.

 

If I were teaching math in a third grade classroom, there would be many different types academic software I could use when teaching fractions. I would use Kidspiration, drill-and-practice software, and educational games. KIdspiration is a visual way of learning and is great for the students who learn visually. Two of its many activities are comparing fractions using fraction tiles and one higher level activity is adding and subtracting fractions.

The drill-and-practice software will be used to reinforce what the students have already learned. The students get an immediate feedback with this software, knowing whether or not they answer the questions correctly. Some of these types of software keep track of what questions are answered correctly, so that it knows when to change the level of questioning. I would use this to practice basic math facts and as a review before you move on to a different section of fractions or any topic.

I would also use educational games. These present the content in a game format. Educational games would add fun to the classroom, but I think many students don’t realize how much they are learning at the same time. There are many different types of games available to teachers and most cover more than one topic.



A Little Bit About Me

My name is Katey Segrest. I am from Shorter, AL. I'm attending the University of Montevallo pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. I will graduate in December of this year and I cannot wait to have my own classroom! I will be using this blog as part of my Educational Technology class to document what I learn throughout the semester. I hope to learn many new things about technology and how I can use it in my future classroom!