Reflection of EDUC 422

Discuss your perspectives of technology in education and how it has changed since the first day of class. Share your insights and/or particular favorite resources to future students of this course.  What action steps might you next take to continue to grow your craft as a teacher?

Through the completion of this education technology course, I have gained so many insights and beneficial knowledge that I can hopefully use when I have my own classroom one day. I came into the course very naive and had very little experience with technology in the sense of how we were applying it. Being technologically savvy was not my forte but as we progressed throughout the semester I felt that I became more and more comfortable with the resources and tools we were being introduced to use. Growing up technology was not implemented into the classroom as much as it is today, and it makes me that much more excited to accommodate these resources into my instruction, for the incredible benefits they provide for the students. Learning and understanding these tools made me feel as a future educator extremely involved with my work as well as engaged with what I was doing. I cant help but feel that my future students will feel the same way. 

For future students of this class, the main insight and advice I can give you is to be open minded and eager to want to use these resources. Personally for me there were sometimes that I felt overwhelmed just due to my digital inabilities to begin with but asking for help and guidance is not a crime and don't feel ashamed. You have to put in the effort and time to learn these resources. Which brings me to my next point, even though there seems like there is a lot of work in this course and you may feel overwhelmed at points, everything falls into place and every assignment is worth the time to understand. My favorite resource that I created during this course was the teacher webpage. I felt for my over technological level it was fairly easy to use and it was my own space to do what I pleased. I cant wait to one day have a webpage that students will actually get to look at and take part in. This tool is a great way to keep parents involved as well as a place to show my students videos and support for material that they need additional help in. It is also a great digital place that I can be myself and show everyone important aspects about me. 

From the beginning I always felt that teaching and learning should never have caps or ceilings that limit their power. As educators we should always be seeking new ways to reach our students and make learning that much more interesting and meaningful. We want to help prepare our students for life outside of the classroom and how we choose to do this never has to be the same. I would really like to be able to go to future teach conventions and maybe travel to schools that are making a positive and differential impact in the education system. Learn from other countries and the way they structure their schools and curriculum. We can all learn from each other and if we choose to not take advantage of that aspect we are just putting limits on our growth. I hope to continue to use these technological tools that I have gained through this course and discover new tools that will add on to what I have already learned. The digital world is place that I hope to continue to discover new things and ways to help shed new light on learning for my students. Growing my craft as a future educator will forever be a work in progress and I hope to always be eager and curious during the process of teaching.

Positive and Negatives of Integrating Technology in the Classroom

Link to the great Presentation

Digital Citizenship Poster

RIGHT2COPY

Random Thoughts about Teaching & Learning

That...

That our purpose as educators is undeniably crucial to the development and future successes of our future generations.

That planning to fail is failing to plan in every aspect of life.

That educators should be nationally recognized and respected on all accounts for the value that they bring to every student.

That effort and williningness is key in order for success.

That students need to be influenced and challenged in positive ways for future encounters.

That technology is becoming an increasingly prominent aspect of educating and efforts should be made to positively influence students and communities.

That every perspective of life should be counted for and respected.

That education will always have room for improvement and change based off the needs of society.

That there should never be a cap to the possibilities of learning!

References:
Heick, T. "25 Random Thoughts about Teaching & Learning." TeachThought. March 21, 2015. Web March 30, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.teachthought.com/learning/25-random-thoughts-about-teaching-learning/.

Students Blog Reflection:
Angela Manipon

1. That people have to want to learn in order to actually learn.

2. That teachers should take into account their students’ interests.

3. That keeping up with current culture is just as much as an effective method as keeping up with current technology.

Based off of Angela's blog post I really thought her first "That" statement is key to the purpose of learning. Every student has to want to learn in order to actually learn. You will have passions throughout your life but you have to want to put forth effort for those passions. This plays into her next point where teachers should take into account their students interests. Getting to know your students is crucial for success for both the student and the educator. Knowing their interests will play into them wanting to learn based off of these interests.

Social Media for Teachers

Social media is a booming aspect in the lives of many if not most present day students generation. Having a safe and useful way for teachers to make the connection with students through these different avenues of social media, I believe will provide educators a more versatile way to engage and respond to students. I have recently found much interest in Pinterest lately, and have experienced of how much it really has to offer society. As far as when it comes to the education realm, I have not put much effort into the detail there is in this field but I can only imagine there is a plethora of amazing ideas for education needs. After reading the "37 ways teachers can use Pinterest in the Classroom" truly caught my attention when it came to how useful this tool can be for an educator. There are amazing ways to get crafty in decorating your classroom, making it a fun and energetic place for your students. Pinterest has a vast amount of ideas and ways to help make your teaching and environment more creative for you and your students. The ways in which students can be exposed to Pinterest in an appropriate manner and get so much knowledge out of it is refreshing and awesome. Teachers can have students pin as a lesson, find ideas for virtual field trips, have group work be visual, have students photo journal, and so much more! I really like how the article stated that Pinterest provides an opportunity to for students to be hands on in their learning. So much present research is going into this field of providing students with a hands on learning experience and the great benefits that come out of it. I also really enjoyed how teachers can can help support and aid each other with the use of Pinterest. Providing eventful and productive ideas to other teachers help spread the word and help promote a sharing community throughout. Pinterest is suppose to be a tool for teachers and students to have fun and expand there thoughts and ideas. The main thing is to have FUN with it!

Degrading the Grading: Journal Posting #3

Growing up as a student I always was always very concerned with the grade I was getting on every assignment or test. This purpose of worrying about grades so much drove me to try and do every assignment or study for every test to the best of my ability. I was so worried about getting a bad grade and what my teacher, parents, fellow students would think of me that I would continue to stress myself out to get the best grade. Many times when I received a grade I did not get any feedback other than one comment on a test, such as "Good work" or "Nice!" for good grades and no comment at all if it was an average or poor grade. There were few times where a teacher asked me to discuss a good or bad grade. Especially due to the fact that receiving poor grades was not something that I got on a regular basis, teachers didn't seem it was worth it to talk to me individually about the grade or give me feedback because I felt they thought that was "out of my character" or I just didn't study. I felt growing up and currently still as a student now that I have been engrained to worry so much about the grade you get in the class, you don't fully immerse yourself into learning the content. I always thought, especially in college , that it would be so great that the content was the main purpose of the course and that the grade was perceived in a different light, such as a pass or fail element or a quality of engagement in the course. I was so frustrated that after I took a class I forgot the material after a short couple of months after receiving my final grade. After stating all of this I pretty much felt that grades were the most important aspect of school rather than what I was actually learning. The better the grades I got the more opportunities I felt I received, both socially and educationally.

In regards to a grading scale, I feel that it provides definite choices when it comes to taking ownership for a students own learning. There are two choices that I feel are obvious for students when it comes to a grading scale. Students can view grades as important and take their studies seriously or students can see the difficult and unobtainable. Grades teachers feel keep students on track and helps the educator take and keep control of students. There is also discussion that students need grades because of the fact that colleges demand them. Which I feel is very true because there is so much emphasis on high school students to get the best grades, perform exceptionally well on state/national tests, and have many extra-curricular activities. Potentially if colleges did not put so much emphasis on high grades this would ease elementary and secondary schooling to maybe not emphasize grades so much and truly focus on LEARNING!

EDUC 422 - Project #3

Project #3

Using the Internet While Test Taking

When I was younger I always thought about how great it would be if were able to use a computer to help with taking our tests. I thought how easy it would be browse the internet and be able to get every answer on the test. I also thought about how great it would be having the computer as my aide, which meant that I wouldn't need to study as much. In college I had a couple tests that were strictly online exams, I did not study enough for the test and the questions were definitely much harder than what I anticipated. I didn't do as well as I thought I would have and was thoroughly disappointed. Even though this was a personal experience that appears to be against the use of computers during test taking, I definitely couldn't agree more with the side on enabling students to use technology during tests.

Both sides have valid points and arguments that should be equally assessed. The side that believes internet integration during tests is acceptable states that with the use of computers students will hopefully engage in higher level thinking situations. These situations include critical analysis, idea synthesis, or delineation of evaluative arguments which are posed to challenge the thinking of the students and push them to step out of the repetitive memorization of facts and dates. On the other end of the spectrum, individuals feel that with the use of computers while students take tests, takes away from the purpose of what the test is suppose to represent, which is the knowledge of the student not the computers capabilty. They feel that if students are allowed to use computers on tests it takes away from them doing the actual thinkings themselves and it would pose great difficulty monitoring what the students will be accessing while the test is in session.

Now knowing the different arguments from both sides and having personal experience of the issue, I feel that there are both valid arguments on both sides. I don't personally think that having the ability to use computers on every test would be wise, but for specific subjects I think it would be a great addition to the way students are tested. It makes them think of the material in a different perspective having to give answers that aren't just from memory. I definitely do think that it will help aide students down the line when they get in the work force due to the fact that technology is already such a strong asset in society. Why not prepare our students for what they will be using to assess real life situations?

Technology Integration: A Short History

Growing up in a very tech-centered society I was already somewhat aware of how much technology was integrated into our classrooms. I know some districts and schools are very well off, which ables them to provide more technology based learning environments for their students, and vise versa for the schools that aren't as well off. What surprised me the most was how many different ways technology can be used in a positive light to promote individual based learning for the unique needs of every student. I still don't think that the social aspect of school should be removed, but applying a new technological perspective to help children learn I think is fantastic. It really touched me to read that through technology students are able to take their learning environment into their own hands and feel a sense of control about what they are learning. It was also intriguing to read that with the use of technology, students can have a better handle on the higher learning goals which set for them, promoting high expectations and the needs to succeed. When used in the appropriate manner I was read that it truly helps develop students with higher-level thinking skills, creativity, and research abilities. These tools have been proven to be essential for when you are older in the work force.

Before reading the article, I was very much skeptical about technology being such a key part in our students educational world. But now having read what I have and been provided with numerous examples of how technology can complement education and the way teachers teach, shows me the great benefits that could come with this form of integration. Our society like mentioned before is very much tech driven and providing our students with the successful tools will give them the experiences and recipe for success. With such a big push for technology in our education system, major efforts need to be made to make sure that teachers are professionally and adequately taught to use this form of educating. If integrating technology into the classroom is proving to be beneficial for the students, and it being done in a safe, professional atmosphere, then absolutely there needs to be a technology function in our education environment.

Boss, Susie. (2011, September). Technology Integration: A Short History. EDUtopia. http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-history

All About Me - 422- Lauren Dotson

Hi my name is Lauren Dotson. I have always had a passion for helping others especially young children and I noticed from an early age becoming a teacher always seemed like a good fit for me. I have a long line of teachers in my family and with their guidance gave me the push to want to become an educator. I have lived in San Diego all of my life, loving every moment living close to the beach and hustle of the great city. Playing soccer and traveling have been a vital part of my life since I was young and I hope one day to be able to bring my experiences to the classroom. Learning all of the elements of a great educator truly excites me and what really gives me passion is the fact that education is a profession where growth is infinite. There is always something more you can offer your students and it is your desire and responsibility to want to give that to them.