ILP #2 - Design - Stop Motion Film

For my second ILP I decided to make a stop motion clip about subtraction! This project was very fun and tedious, but I learned a lot! The link is below!

ILP #2 - Design - Bob and Suzy Practice Subtraction

#10 - It's Been Real

Data collection. I plan to use data collection as a teacher, as it can only help improve my class. I don't think any harm could come from utilizing this. Last week I learned how powerful Excel is. Through using Excel I was able to document all of the scores for my pseudo students, as well as find another of averages that were relevant for my pseudo class. This organization and collection of data will help any educator track their students and see specifically what students and subject areas need more attention. If I was, say, a middle school math teacher I could see what tests and assignments students are struggling with and better tailor my lessons to help them. This is extremely useful to any educator, or most likely any profession and I plan to use programs like Excel in the future.


Completely unrelated, when reading the blogs of my classmates one subject I found interesting was my colleagues opinions on different technologies we encountered during the tech sandbox and sports psychology lab. I know what technologies I would want to use as an educator and what technologies I found most interesting, but it was very interesting to see what other people thought each technology could be used for.


In the future I would love to relearn the specifics of Microsoft Office. I feel as though there is so much that I have yet to learn or so much that I am forgetting that could be so beneficial to myself and my students. I am sure there are several videos I could watch about this and I plan to before I step into any professional setting.

$urvey by Emma

Here is a survey about money that I made (:

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_06TphJaisSgxlB3

#9 - Sorry if I Hurt Your Feelings, Flipped Classroom

In our textbooks we read about an educational concept called the "flipped classroom". A flipped classroom is a style of learning that blends online learning outside of the class, and instruction in person with a teacher. Chapter 10 in our book best describes this as students watching pre-recorded lecture videos before coming to class for homework. This concept of teaching makes me extremely uneasy. As someone who went to a Title I school in a very low income area, this teaching method seems overwhelmingly flawed and weak. First of all, this method would be put into place assuming children had a computer at their disposal. Also, there would be zero way to account for whether or not a student actually watched the lectures or just put one on, walked away, and came to class the next day behind in their studies. Telling kids its okay to have low attention spans during class, that they can just watch videos on a screen at home, seems like a very counter-productive way to raise up America's youth. I do however support using videos to help students if they need it. For example, I used Khan Academy as a student. I would watch videos on math lessons I was having trouble understanding.


In a podcast we listened to, the words "open content" and "open sources" were brought up. This idea means that someone can access these content or sources with only minor restrictions due to licensing. These things can prove to be extremely useful to teachers who require extra resources during instruction. The website,Open Content, provides a definition, examples, and overall better understanding of what "open content" means.


For the past two weeks we made PowerPoints. For these assignments we had to design a lesson we could teach via PowerPoint, and a game. I chose to teach my students about the three branches of government. I also chose to do the game Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. An example of something I learned from this assignment is that you can record audio over a PowerPoint! What! When I realized we had to do that for the assignment I was worried it was going to be a daunting, difficult thing to do. However, it was the simplest task with such and fun reward! I will use this in the future if I am ever presenting notes to students online. I can record myself elaborating on and explaining slideshows. Here is the title slide of my assignment:

17 Ways to Design a Presentation People Want to View

17 Ways to Design a Presentation People Want to View from Jim MacLeod

This a very engaging and colorful presentation about creating a good presentation. I appreciate that within it there are several ideas for small details you can add to a slide to make it more appealing. For example, on slide 6 the words "People don't pay attention" are large and in a different color. This is a fun way to highlight an important idea!

#8 - Bloom('s Taxonomy) Where You Are Planted

Last week we visited the Sports Psychology Lab. This is a room located in our College of Education filled with all sorts of gadgets that put the human mind to the test. One device tracked the patterns of the eyes, while another tested your hand eye coordination and ability to think under pressure. One of the devices we worked with that could be beneficial in the classroom is the device the second device mentioned. It was a large board with several buttons, a button would light up and you would have to press it. However, occasionally a series of numbers or a math problem would appear in the center of the board and you would have to recite the numbers or answer the problem. This can help students in the classroom because not only is it a fun way to practice basic arithmetic, it also can make the students better human beings by strengthening their ability to think quickly and problem solve under extreme circumstances.


Bloom's Taxonomy is an educational framework that consists of several layers. The top layer being create, and the others as follows: evaluate, analyze, apply, understand, and remember. Because each layer has a separate purpose, one could easily explain Bloom's Taxonomy through a series of PowerPoint slides. For the first level, create, I would simply put the word create into a slide and proceed to hand out some sort of white board and marker and allow them to create whatever they wanted so they could associate creating with Bloom's Taxonomy's first level, create. Then for evaluate, I would put on my slide the word and the definition and then have each child discuss with their neighbor why they created the thing that they did. For the next level, analyze, I would provide the explanation "draw connections among ideas" and ask the students to see if there are any connections between their creations. For apply, I would again have the word and definition on a slide. I would ask students to raise their hands and share ideas for how they can use what they just learned about analyzing and evaluating in the real world. The next layer is understand. Students would now be asked to look at the definition on the slide and turn their neighbor and attempt to uncover if they understand what they've learned so far. I would then display the word remember and ask students to share what they remember from this activity. We would then create a six layer foldable with each layer and description so the steps of Bloom's Taxonomy could be further cemented into their brains.

The photo above is a link to a Forbes.com article about technology trends in 2016. This website posts articles frequently about business and technology and is a reliable source where one can go to stay on top of technology trends.

Post #7 - Should I Stay Or Should Diigo

This week we listened to an Adaptive Tech podcast. It defined adaptive or assistive technologies as technologies that help people with disabilities use computing equipment more effectively. Some of the examples it gave of these technologies are those with physical and learning disabilities can use voice recognition software in lieu of typing, or text-to-speech software that has the ability to read text to students. The book also provides examples of these technologies. Students can use alternative keyboards such as expanded keyboards, one-handed keyboards, and on-screen keyboards. These can make communicating to others easier for students. I have never used these technologies, nor have I met someone who uses these technologies. A problem one might face when trying to incorporate these into the classroom, is trying to maintain a sense of normalcy in the classroom and lesson plan. As accepting and flexible as a teacher might be, that doesn't mean that their classroom will be as open-minded.


I learned a lot about myself, and about Weebly through this assignment. I thought that although it made it easy to put words on a screen and create a basic website, the parameters that my lack of knowledge regarding website creation left me with resulted in a very boring and uncreative website that is probably terrifyingly similar to hundreds of other people who have used Weebly.  Next time, I can look up way to customize my website, other than just changing the color of my font. Here is a screenshot and link to my website:

I had no idea that you could annotate websites and share thoughts and information so gracefully over the internet until I started using Diigo. It allows you to highlight websites and bits of information that may be beneficial to you and those who are looking at the website with you. That's incredible. I can use this technology professionally by looking up articles, websites, anything online that I think may be valuable to students or colleagues and I can easily point out and share and communicate why I think that source is so powerful. 

ILP #1 - Design - Podcast

For my first Independent Learning Project I created a podcast. I have always appreciated podcasts as a fun and easy way to obtain knowledge. You can easily, ride to school, walk, run, while listening to a podcast. I, very excitedly, created my own. I had to edit it because my roommates and I couldn't stop giggling at the thought of me creating a podcast and pretending to be a high school English teacher. See, podcasts bring people together! They're fun to listen to and create! My podcast is me reading an excerpt from the essay "Learning Curve" in the David Sedaris book: Me Talk Pretty One Day and asking students to respond in the comments. Here is the link so you, too, can pretend to be a member of my English class:

https://soundcloud.com/sartsfield/ilp-1-participation-english-podcast-me-talk-pretty-one-day

#6 - Websites, How I Plan to Use Technology, Sandboxes... oh my!

As technology has evolved, many schools have incorporated it in to their classrooms. Additionally, schools have also begun to use technology to promote their schools and get in touch with their community outside of the classroom. This can be done through websites.

I visited the website of my mother's elementary school, Enterprise Elementary School. I could not access classrooms' websites specifically but there was a vast number of different links, found through easily navigating the sites under the name "Elementary Curriculum". Publicly, website-goers can access links about things going on in the community, teacher information, and a number of other things. It seems that any question a parent may have about the school that isn't classroom specific can be answered.

Here are two images. The first is the homepage and the second is the list of links provided when you click on the link entitled "Elementary Curriculum".

I plan to use technology in a similar way.  I want to use technology for good, as an avenue that connects myself and my students to the real world. In the podcasts it describes professional development as the concept of people in a profession further their knowledge. Chapter 7 in our textbook provides a number of different ways one can further their knowledge through technology. This coupled with my desire to use technology to better myself and students will foster professional development and student growth. I envision myself using the many features of Microsoft Word that we have learned to better reach my students both within and beyond the classroom. Making quizzes and tests and letters to parents have all been made easier through discovering the different features offered by Microsoft Office. 

Still along the lines of technology, our class visited the Tech Sandbox! This was beyond a shadow of a doubt one of the coolest things I have done all semester. We explored a ton of different technologies found in classrooms and each and every one was unbelievably engaging and fun. I have found that the importance of extracurricular learning and fun (recess) is being forgotten in schools. However, if I incorporate, say, the 3D pen into my classroom, students not only get to learn about that kind of technology, but they also get to have fun and make beautiful crafts in the process. I believe that developing a child's creativity is just as, if not more important than textbook learning. This technology allows students to experience the best of both worlds!

#5 - I Could Really Go For a Sand-Twitch

Web 2.0 tools are advanced technologies which allow us to communicate with one another in a unique way. Examples of these are YouTube and Wiki's. Although the podcast refers it as "passive" I value YouTube in the classroom because of its expansive repertoire of knowledge and information. YouTube can be used to show students a number of different videos that cater to any need a student may have.


An example of a Web 2.0 tool is the following website, https://www.twitch.tv/ . Twitch allows for a person to live stream whatever screen they are using and showcase it to an audience. Students can watch as their teacher leads a lesson from any computer. The sight is easy to navigate, as I, someone with no prior experiencing with live streaming was able to successfully live stream a video of myself playing a game with my brother in an effort to experiment with the website.


I believe gamification is an extremely effective way to reach students. Every time I have played a game in class I have become significantly more engaged in the lesson. Gamification allows for students to receive information in an exciting way. Students participate in all sorts of competitions and games outside of the classroom, so incorporating those things into a lesson allows for students to apply real world knowledge and vice versa.

#4 - The Digital Divide

     Thus far, Twitter has proved to be a fun way to interact with my peers. I don't normally interact with every person in my class on social media but our educational twitter accounts allow me to do this. It is exciting to see the different ways people interpret the going-ons of our course. I've interacted with several people in my class, whether it be through "liking a tweet" or "retweeting" their tweet. Twitter could prove to be helpful in my career by bringing me closer to my colleagues outside of our schools. My mother, a third grade teacher, has a twitter and she uses it to access her school board and fellow teachers in a mature, but relaxed tone.


     When I effortlessly use social media outlets like Twitter it's easy to forget that there is a very large population of students who don't have as easy of access to technology. This phenomenon is known as "The Digital Divide". This divide is the gap between students who have access to reliable technology, and those students who do not. The podcast says, "the impact is not just about access, but also knowledge and skills". There are many forms of active learning software that make up the instruments of the Digital Divide, Among these are academic software, productivity software, presentation software, and academic software applications. Within each of these categories are programs like simulations, graphics, drill-and-practice software, educational games, simulations, and tutorials. Many students don't have access to these kinds of software's, and some don't even have access to more common software's such as Microsoft Office, a tool that many teachers incorporate in student projects. Students who rely on the failing, outdated computers of their school libraries are deprived of basic skills students with computers at home may be learning that will better equip them for future learning and careers.


    An example of one of the skills a student more acquainted with technology can develop is the ability to properly evaluate a website. This is the ability to determine whether or not a website is good and reliable. When I examine a website I first check to see the domain of the website. If the domain is .gov or .edu I automatically consider the website to be reliable. One can also check the sources of the information provided on the website. A basic rule of thumb to live by when navigating websites for information, however, is to ask yourself the question, "would the person providing this information lose their job if it wasn't accurate?"

#3 - Continued

Due to some extremely frustrating technical issues all I have to offer you of my newsletter are some screenshots taken during my break

#3 - We Have Standards

     Among the ISTE standards, there are a series of standards for many of the different fields of education. One of the is the ELA standards, or English Language Arts standards. Among these standards, I feel most comfortable teaching the standard that encourages students to cite their sources while communicating with the world. As we saw last night in the debate, citing your sources and grounding your words in truth can prove to be very helpful in many ways. I feel most comfortable teaching this standard because I feel so strongly about citing sources. I still, however feel under prepared to teach students how to use technology strategically and capably. I don't feel I have the creativity to come up with clever ways to engage my students in technology.


     I'm getting my degree in education so I can go on to teach English as a second language to refugees in Nashville. My students would range from all ages, and so would my content and application of technology. For example, some students may not be familiar with computers, so their knowledge of digital citizenship (the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use) would be extremely minimal and need to be cleverly integrated into their learning of the English language. The language barrier would make this difficult. Learning some of the norms of technology would prove useful when assimilating into American culture because it is so regularly used in our country. Because I'm unfamiliar with the exact teaching process of the organization I plan to work for, I am unsure how I would go about integrating technology into my lessons.


     This week we had to create a newsletter for class. I have always wanted to find an excuse to use a border on Microsoft Word so learning and using this tool was quite fun. The entire assignment was fun. I enjoyed playing pretend and making up a class, and students, and community. I did however procrastinate, so I would have like to have seen what I could have created, had I given myself more time. Here is my newsletter:

#2 - Words and Rights

     As a student, Microsoft Word is very handy. I have used it for a number of different things. It is a necessity when writing essays for school, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing senseless fictional tales on Word when I was younger. Looking back on it, I'm realizing that I have very rarely seen a teacher use word, I have only seen the product of them using word: like a printed syllabus or test. The steps it took them to make those documents has never been given much thought by me. One thing that is universal for all users, is that we all use it to create.
   

     Copyright laws are something that I have also not paid much mind to. I generally just try to avoid anything that could remotely be infringing on copyright laws because the consequences of not doing so are so severe. As a teacher I would continue to hold myself to this self-constructed policy. In doing so I would create learning materials where credit was properly given. I would also encourage my students to do the same. Copyrighting something is fun for no one. The perpetrator has to worry about getting caught, the one who catches them has to handle the situation, and the person's work who was stolen is without credit.

   
     Using twitter has taught me about important ideas and concepts, and not so important ideas and concepts. For example, through my use of Twitter I have figured out a new genre of communication I can have with my colleagues and peers. I can use Twitter as a unique platform to reach a unique audience and learning how to navigate the social media has allowed me to better understand a new and popular technology. Twitter, however, has also provided me with the ability to craft witty statements in my head about life that are 140 characters or less. In my future career, Twitter as well as other personal learning networks can allow me to better connect to those I teach with and provide me with rich, special content that wouldn't be reachable otherwise.

#1- Computers, yeah?

     Hello again everyone. I'm going to begin today's post by explaining why I think computers are an integral part of educating America. Computers are a gateway for indescribable amounts of knowledge. Computers provide humans with access to everything from recipes to formulas for solving math equations to the year some obscure European artist who is famous for one painting was murdered. Computers can be used to construct power points, and tests, and a number of other important classroom necessities. However, this knowledge and power can be used for good or evil. Some critical concerns I have revolving around students and teachers using computers for their schooling are as follows:     

       

     Students can become reliant on their computers to solve their problems for them. Why learn how to solve that math problem when Google will do it for you? Why retain any knowledge you're learning if you can just pull it up on the internet in a matter of seconds?

     I have found in the past that teachers can attempt to use computers as a substitute for legitimate, productive, work. If any of my readers are familiar with the site Edmodo (essentially the social media outlet of public schools), I more than once had teachers who thought that by assigning students to read an online article and respond with their feelings to their classes' Edmodo page that they were assigning to their students thought provoking, and engaging work. This just simply isn't the case. I fear that both students and their teachers become reliant on computers and try to make them out to be a kind of device that they are not. A device that can surpass the weight and power of an engaging, hands on assignment. I feel as though computers should be used to aid these assignments (if necessary) not be forced into curriculum because everyone else is doing it.

     ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education. This society has created standards for students and teachers when it comes to using technology in education. One standard I agree with is the first. It reads, "Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity". This standard states that teachers should "engage in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources". I adore this standard because technology does, without a shadow of a doubt, have the power to solve real-world issues and solve authentic problems. Teachers have the power to teach their students how to use computers for good and equip them with the tools to seek out all of the information and knowledge technology has to offer. 

     A standard that is outside of my current skill set is the standard that reads, "Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments". This standard speaks for itself and in my current state of mind, one which I want encourage teachers to not become dependent on developing technology, I don't feel I am fit and have a mind that is geared towards "developing technology-rich learning environments" for students. 

     Google defines a "digital native" as "a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology and therefore familiar with computers at an early age". This is a title I do not agree with. Just because my peers and I are fluent with the technology we use now does not mean that we will not soon be in the very place our parents and elders stand now. Technology is developing at a rapid rate and soon myself and others my age will be lost in a sea of technology our children will be proficient in. Teachers of mine who did not grow up around technology respond differently to computers than I do, but that is expected and so common in schools that I never much paid any regards to it. Future students will soon surpass me and my title of "digital native" and that is okay.
      

#0- This is Real, This is Me

                  Hello my name is Emma and welcome to my blog. This blog was created for one of my college courses, Technology in Education. I'm going to set the tone for my blog by first explaining my prior experiences with technology. 

                  I have been exposed to technology for a long time. Because my father is a minister, the church paid for him to have one of the first ever home computers. My father showed interest in this new technology and passed his curiosity along to my older brother who, in turn, passed his curiosity along to me. I have always used computer technology recreationaly, for video games and internet consumption. However, upon entering in to high school I was given the title of Media Team Leader at my church. I became in charge of filming, editing, and publishing films and videos for my church. I got to know a variety of different video editing softwares as well as cameras and video publishing sites.

                  In this class I hope to gain a better idea of how technology is not about "improving test scores", or "keeping up with the Jones's", but about enriching the learning experience for a student. I have always been a firm believer in keeping technology out of schools, but that is solely based on my own experience and bias. I hope to gain more insight and less disdain towards the future of education.

                  

                 Pictured above are the results of my learning styles quiz. I learned that I am not entirely one kind of learner but am able to adapt to different styles of learning if I have to. Through answering questions I realized how much I identify as a visual learner, however. The questions posed in the quiz were thought provoking and allowed me to consider learning styles in a different light. I thought I could only be one kind of learner and would be forced to suffer if I had to learn any other way, but that hasn't been the case my entire life and now I finally know why.