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Chapter 8 & 9 Reflections

Reflecting on Chapter 8 made me laugh a little - Maloy et al focus their discussions on using computers and other technologies to share information in online learning environments, and that is the purpose of our blogs for EDU7266! It's like I'm living out the purpose of the chapter as I type this! 

One point that especially resonated with me was that adolescents and children are the "largest consumers of email and instant message technologies" (Maloy et al p.215). In our discussions of digital citizenship thus far, I feel as though we haven't sufficiently addressed this point.  As teachers, I feel we often focus our attention on the ethical use of and information obtained from internet sources and forget about the interpersonal communication that also occurs because of these technologies. Email, notes Maloy et al, is used for "workplace communication, business networking, online shopping, family talk, and recreational pursuits (p.215)."  With such a variety of uses and purposes, it can be difficulty to navigate the appropriate structure, language, and tone necessary for composing an email to a particular recipient.  In our 21st Century classrooms, I feel it is necessary to provided direct instruction addressing this. 

In my own classroom, I use email to communicate with parents regularly.  In fact, we encourage parents to communicate via email rather than by a note in their child's folder. In using this media, we have set clear guidelines as to how often teachers in our school check their email and when parents should expect a response. With smartphone technology it is easy to read and respond to emails anywhere and at anytime, making it hard to "leave work behind" at the end of the day.  By specifying that we do not check our emails after 3:30pm and not over weekends or vacation times, we are able to set clear guidelines and expectations for families and keep "work" at work. We are also expected to email a weekly newsletter to all families in our class with updates about what we did academically and reminders for the following week.  All these class newsletters as well as reminders, notices, and homework assignments are posted on our class pages for families convenience. Our principal continually reminds us that as public information, our class pages are also a huge marketing part of our school.  Perspective families use the newsletters and class pages to gain insights into our classroom and school community. 

Questions for the group: 

1. Teachers around the world use blogs as a way to share ideas and stories from their own classrooms.  Do you follow any teacher bloggers? Would you consider starting your own blog about your (current or future) classroom?

2. Chapter 9 highlighted some disadvantages of PowerPoint presentations (p.246). In your experience as a teacher and/or student do you find the use of PowerPoints advantageous or disadvantageous? 

TakeAways 4/7

Tonight's discussion focused on the various aspects of a digital portfolio.  Revisiting my undergraduate portoflio was very insightful. I saw a few formatting and ease of accessibility issues that I would like to fix.  As far as content goes, I feel that I have several pieces that better represent my abilities as a teacher and learner that I would also like to include. Uploading the assignmetns from this couse as well will make my digital portfolio even better.

TakeAways 3/31

Tonight we had the chance to meet with our groups for the Instructional Video Project.  By sharing our initial ideas with the class, we were able to focus in on one concept that we felt could be adequately discussed in the 5-7minutes allotted.  Our group will create, "What's In Your Lunchbox?: Drink Edition."  We will discuss the hidden drawbacks to many favorite lunchbox drinks such as Snapple, YooHoo, Capri Sun, and Juicy Jucie.  How much sugar do these items have?  How much caffine do they have?  We will gear our video to students in the upper elementary grades, when they begin to help make choices about what drinks they will pack. I'm excited to get started.

Chapter 7 Reflections

In chapter seven, Maloy et al discuss software and web tools to support problem solving and inquiry learning. One section that particularly stood out was about ITS, or intelligence testing systems. ITS are "powerful new software programs that promote inquiry learning by students through computer responses to student actions" (p197).  ITS  have been shown to be effective as they continuously gather data about student responses, make predictions about what students know or do not know, and provide additional practice accordingly. A quick Google search lead me to find that ITS is so well developed that there is an International ITS Conference yearly - this is the 12th year! 

Reading about ITS reminded me of <vocabulary.com>, a site we explored in class which aims to build student receptive vocabulary. In searching for other examples of ITS online, I was surprised to find that most intelligent tutoring systems are software based with hefty purchase prices.  If ITS has proven to be effective, why not provide it on an internet base, too? 

Chapter seven also challenged me to analyze the many internet based tutoring systems which connect students with actual teachers.  A colleague of mine recently suggested I sign up as a tutor at <tutor.com>  After a successful application, tutors can sign on though any internet connection and can chat with students via instant messages or through voice chats.  There is a also a platform through the website in which you can draw pictures and attach documents for the student you are working with to see. Several other websites, such as <instaEDU.com> and <tutorvista.com> offer similar services.  The feedback from such tutoring websites seems to be very positive, allowing students and teachers to connect around the world, instantly, and at their own connivence...talk about Web 2.0! 

Questions for the Group:
1. Are you familiar with tutoring websites such as <tutor.com> either as a student or a tutor? If so, what has your experience been?  If not, do you think virtual tutoring has the same potential for success as in-person tutoring? 

2. What questions do you ask yourself when evaluating gaming software and websites to use with your students? 

Chapter 4 & 6 Reflections

The title of Chapter 4 of Gunning et al highlights the authors' view of the purpose of integrating technology in education.  "Integrating Technology and Creating Change" can come in many forms, they note. It is not necessary to have the latest equipment and most up to date software; in fact many classrooms do not have access to the ideal technology. Gunning et al notes that, "Teachers must be prepared to use the technologies they have in their schools-whethere those technologies are up-to-date computers in Internet-accessible classrooms or minimally adequate machines with limited accessories and older software programs" (p109). The school I work at is lucky enough to have a combination of older and newer technologies available to the students. In my classroom for example we have two desktop computers which are too old to support many new software CDs, but do have internet access. For my kindergarteners, I find many great literacy support games through ReadWriteThink and Starfall. We also have a class set of iPads that teachers can reserve for their class to use periodically.  HERE is a great list of apps that help boost early literacy skills. I would particularly recommend Story Kit and Puppet Pals. 

Chapter 6 focuses in on online resources that teachers can integrate into their classrooms and assignments.  Gunning et al highlights the use of virtual field trips as part of educational experiences. Virtual field trips can be used as an introduction to a unit to grab students attention, or can be used more extensively by as part of a particular lesson.   Virtual field trips can be used as a whole class experience or by a small group as other students work with the teacher or independently.  I have successfully used virtual field tips in my classroom to teach the story of the first Thanksgiving.  Plimoth Plantation has several virtual tours available for various grade levels to experience life as the Pilgrims did.  Teachers can further differentiate the experience by watching with students and pausing to provide necessary scaffolding and background information.  A virtual field trip to Plimoth allows students to learn with both their visual and auditory modalities and make more meaningful connections to the information. 

Two questions for the group:
1. Have you successfully used virtual field trips in your classroom? If so, which can you suggest to the group?

2. How do you organize websites, apps, and media to use with your students?  Do you know of any useful databases such as ReadWriteThink? 

TakeAways 3/17

Tonight we further explored the topic of "digital citizenship." I had this loosely defined as appropriate and responsible behvaior in the digital world, but was surprised to see how explicitly this has been defined by certain groups.  The Australian Univeristy of New South Wales, for example, has an entire curriculum dedicated to building digital citizens from the primary grades. Their interactive website allows students to exolore pertinent issues within digital citizenship in a safe and engaging environment.  There are some great teacher resources, too! Check it out HERE