Final Post

When I started the class, I wasn't sure what to expect. I felt a little intimidated because I don't do much with technology with the exception of work programs, social media and google. To my surprise it really didn't have much to do with work programs but learning and teaching using technology. I had never heard of the majority of the programs that Professor Coleman was talking about. That even made me more nervous and I thought "boy this isn't going to be easy." I'm glad that I decided not to quit and give the class a chance. I have learned many new things and improved on the few programs I thought I knew. I had never in my life done a blog post but this program really allowed to learn a lot through the choices we were allowed to choose from. The Prezi, I think became my favorite and will use it again. I tried different programs as well such as bubblus which I also enjoyed but then there were some like powtoons which I just couldn't get into. I thought that I knew what there was to learn about google, which to me was email and search engine. To my surprise google docs exists and I loved it. It's neat to see that this program can used to create any kind of document and better to work on it with others without having to be on the same computer. I think this is a great program for students who are in either middle school or high school, I believe this will teach students and teachers how to work together with other teachers or students in a different classroom or even state. The wikispaces and webquests were interesting programs that help how to incorporate technology into the classroom. These are sites that I had never heard of either, maybe because I'm not yet a teacher but not even from the teachers that work in my building. Creating an ePortfolio is something I had never thought of, to me a resume was the usual typed up paper of what you know. With an ePortfolio my future employers can actually see what I know and not just hear and hopefully consider me a better candidate for a teaching position. I also like that I can give parents access to this information and they too can see what I can do as a teacher and what to expect. A syllabus is good but adding the technology part just makes it more interesting and hopefully excite the students. The delicious page was very effective for me. I was able to go back to anything I added there. No guessing as to which website or tab I had found something in. Thanks to the delicious page I just had to click and it automatically brought to the video or website I was at. I didn't just use it for this class but for my other classes as well. For example, I linked the edutopia webpage for my assignment of best practices. I was able to go back to the page several times when looking for information on ELL students and my video that put into my wikispaces for our learning theories. Easy access at anytime. I think that the curriculum mirrored what we were learning out of the book and at the time we were using those programs. The only assignment that I didn't like was the rubric assignment. I don't know if it was because I missed the class or because I put way to much thought into. I wish we could have done more hands on in class with the programs. I really enjoyed the getting to know each other techniques that were used and had fun with scavenger hunt. It really taught us how to work together as a group and that not everything has to be done individually. Over all I really enjoyed the class.

Defining "Best Practice" in Teaching. (2015, May 29). Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/defining-best-practice-teaching-rebecca-alber

 

Maloy, R., O’Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
 

 Marzano Baby. (2012, October 20). Retrieved December 10, 2015, from https://youtu.be/ThJ1ypwXQLQ

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First, It's no surprise to me that children are starting very young to use technology. I have several nieces, nephews and great nieces that are between the ages of 2-4 and they know their way around iPad. Although I don't always agree with my sisters as to how long the children use their iPads, I also know that it puts them at an advantage. Whether we like it or not technology is taking over how people learn and the sooner they get introduced to it the better. I guess my question would be how much is too much?

Second, I have mixed emotions on the iGeneration, on the one side I like it but on the flip side I hate it. Everywhere I look everyone's on some kind of digital device and it makes me wonder. The textbook says  95% of 12-17 year-olds are online and 80% of those adolescents use sites such as Facebook or Twitter.(Lenhart, Madden, Smith, Purcell, Zickuhr, & Rainie, 2011). Is the device more interesting than what's going on in front of you? You will never get that second back and you may have missed something that you will never see again. Or maybe you will, if someone recorded it but the feeling you get at that moment can never be recaptured. Although I love the fact that I can talk to my nephew who's in Hawaii and I can actually see how he's doing through the phone. Yes, there are many interesting things on Facebook, Instagram, and so on but what about running around outside with your brother or sister? That could be very fun as well.

Third, I thought that I had a digital identity by the programs that I work with all day, but I was wrong. Sure I know how to find out a lot of information that pertains to my job but I see there's a lot more out there that I have never even heard of. For example, writing a blog here today. I had heard of blogs but I've never had to see them or even use one. I think now I can add another niche to the programs I know how to use. I'm excited to see how big my "digital identity" can be and what I can with them.

In Conclusion, I'm eager to learn all the new technologies that are out there to be able to incorporate them into the classroom. I grew up with the older generation, where everything had to looked up manually and it was very time consuming. Studying to become a teacher in this era definitely has it's benefits for me. Working at the school, I get to see the two ends of the spectrum. They younger teachers that use nothing but technology and the older ones who are old school and use nothing but the text book. Learning to incorporate the two will be very interesting.

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R, Edwards, S., Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition, Boston, MA; Pearson Education Inc.