chapter 10 & 11

Chapter 10 talks about using technology to teach students of different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. Multiple instructional methods and varied teaching approaches addresses different learning needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. New York State is a big "melting pot" where multicultural education is evident in almost every classroom. Differentiated instruction addresses needs of diverse students within the same class. Universal design for learning creates teaching and learning situations that meet the needs of students with different needs while presenting the same opportunities for everyone. Creating accommodations and  limiting modifications are practices that ensure equal opportunity for learning.  Speech recognition software, text treading software, interactive storybooks and storybooks apps are examples of assistive technologies that aid students with disabilities.

Chapter 11 talks about the important role of assessment in teaching and learning. Three interrelated elements of assessment are: new teacher assessment, student assessment, and student self-assessment. A digital teaching portfolio "is a collection of educational and professional materials stored in an electronic format". The portfolio shows teacher's growth and development over time. The portfolio includes a teacher's resume, philosophy of education and references, lesson or unit plan and reflections, academic courses and research experiences, and teaching experience. Teacher's personal reflection is a learning experience.  I like how the author describes a portfolio as celebratory scrapbook of the past. Student's also create digital portfolios which become "both a personal and a public piece of writing".  Students also engage in assessment. Students' engagement in decision making motivates students. I am excited about the portfolios we will create as the last project in our class. I am also nervous about choosing the appropriate components for each section of the portfolio. The good thing is that it can be updated and improved at any time. :)

chapter 7 & 8

Chapter 7 describes how educational software, apps, and learning games enhance problem solving and inquiry learning. Students learn best when they are fully engaged which can be achieved by implementing problem solving and inquiry learning. Educators want students to ask questions, make predictions, test theories, and revise ideas based on data and evidence. Educational software and educational apps aid teachers in creating engaging lessons. Students get motivated when presented with real-life (ill-structured)  problems. No one simple formula can be used to solve such problems. Students think creatively and critically when using apps or educational games in classroom environment. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, and Norton Antivirus are some of the software applications available to students. Kid Pix and Google Earth are among computer building, inventing, and creating software. Gamification is the "application of game elements to non-gaming situations, often to motivate or influence behavior. Educational games enhance academic learning by promoting higher levels of problem solving and inquiry learning. . Edutainment games promote problem solving and inquiry learning. Entertainment games are mainly for fun with relatively low levels of problem solving and inquiry learning without any explicit learning or educational goals for students. A stimulation games promote stealth learning where students learn without realizing they are learning. Intelligent tutoring system provides students with practice they need in weak academic areas.Students today are exposed to so many different technological advances promoting their problem solving and inquiry learning.

Chapter 8 lists different media technologies used in teaching such as email and text messaging, blogs, online discussions and Wikis. Communication technologies are divided into synchronous communications (occur in real time) and asynchronous communications (involve a time delay). Teachers also engage in educational networking. The big advantage of today's technology is a possibility for students to learn beyond the school day by following websites, blogs, teachers post notes, inquiry questions, homework assignments, and many more. Our class is a great example of learning beyond school day. We, students, engaged in so many different learning activities.

I love it! What a great way to learn and "travel" around the world.
How can I use it in my classroom? Because I teach Preschool, I would have to do some searching to find something age appropriate. I know my son will love it.
I will definitely share it with other teachers. I can see great opportunities for educators to enrich their lessons.

Today's class was very helpful. I feel more comfortable creating my WebQuest.

Chapter 5 & 6

Chapter 5 talks about Information Literacy and Digital Citizenship. Information literacy is defined by the American Library Association as the "ability to recognize when information is needed and to then have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information". Both teachers and students need educational information that is accurate, interesting, and relevant. Students need the skills to "locate, gather, organize, interpret, synthesize, manage, present, use, and evaluate" the information (digital and information literacy). They also acquire "the capacity to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate messages in a wide variety of forms" (media literacy). The chapter questions the reading in today's computer based society. I found it interesting, but believable, that less and less kids different ages read books for fun. Students spend more time reading online that reading books. I also found interesting that more people who use e-readers, spend time reading. The chapter also mentions search engines which are software programs that use networks of computers to access information from its databases. I think many people agree that the most popular one is Google. I can't help myself but to share a joke I heard once.

Is Google a man or a woman?
It's a woman, because it finishes your sentences. :)

Chapter 5 touches upon a very important issue in Internet searching - how to search, where to search, and how to identify reliable sources. It also discusses responsibilities of digital citizens. It explains Copyright, Creative Commons, plagiarism, and cheating. Cyberbullying is also discussed in the chapter, which is the ever growing issue among young people.
Chapter 6 describes how online information, digital content, and educational websites can be used by educators to teach students. It provides useful apps and websites. The chapter teaches about WebQuests (a very useful topic :) ). It also discusses virtual field trips and interactive videoconferencing. The chapter also discusses and lists educational websites for teachers.

1) Do you think we can encourage students to read more by giving them the freedom of choosing online reading?
2) Do you think the easy access to online resources makes students prone to cheating and plagiarising?

take away message

I really enjoyed today's class. Watching the iMovies of my classmates was a treat. Great job!
It made me reflect on how can I improve my projects in the future. Because I teach 3-year-olds, sometimes it is difficult for me to apply the concepts to kids so young. But I am learning.  I can't wait do more iMovies.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 talks about intergrating technology into every day lessons.
In my PreK3 classroom I use a projector. I use it to play educational clips, interactive games, and pictures. I have many educational DVD's and use the Internet to find clips associated with my lessons. We subscribe to Scholastic's Let's Find Out and Clifford's Big Idea magazines. Every flyer is accompanied with an online version with videos, games, and printable worksheets.
For lesson planning I use PlanbookEdu.com. I like it, because I can copy periods. During my day, many periods repeat daily, so with a click of a button I copy plans. I also like it because I can highlight text and use different backgroud color, to make some periods stand out.
Our school uses OptionC for grading and communication with parents. Each students gets a code to sign it to view information. It includes grades, future assignments, attendance history, and messages to and from parents.

For my assesment I use technology during clips. When I play an interactive games, I observe who is participating and answering questions. Students who do not participate (and by now I know who is shy or tired, and who need additional instruction) I meet later for some one-on-one instruction.  I got new  iPads, but haven't put them out yet. We are still learning rules.

I like all the websites and apps provided in the textbook. Although many are not age appropriate for my students, there are some that I find useful. I also appreciate all ideas from my classmates. Thank you for sharing!

Summary of today's class

My take away message of today's class is to be creative and engage the audience. I loved the PowerPoint presentations demonstrated in the class. I had no idea how engaging they can be. I hope I can create a good piece myself.

Chapter 3 & 9

I like the question that opens chapter 3 -"What can you teach with technology that you cannot teach just as well without it?" I think we can teach without technology, but can we imagine a classroom without it in 21 st century classroom? Technology opens new possibilities for students across grade levels and the curriculum. Today's technologies "generate unique, powerful, and transformative learning experiences that do not happen in the same way or with the same impact when nonelectronic materials are used".
Current learning standards for educational technologies include five topics: critical thinking and problem solving, digital literacies, electronic communications and collaborations, creativity, and ditital citizenship. These standards applied in the classrooms enhance Student-Centered learning. The research conducted over 40 years period (Tamin et al., 2011)shows that "technology does produce gains in student learning when it is used to actively engage students, create communication among learners, and offer students opportunities to manipulate and interpret in a computer-based learning evvironment".  As a teacher I felt needed and appreciated after reading the other part of their findings, that "[i]n contrast, technology as a sole provider of academic content does not result in student learning gains. Teachers are critically important in supporting learning by focusing student's attention on questions to investigate and by enabling students to process and reflect on what they are learning through conversing and writing". 

A while ago my son's class visited a bank. One of the tellers explained to them how the bank works. She showed them how checks can be scanned and deposited. After the presentation they were asked to draw a picture of a bank from the future. My son drew a robot sitting behind the counter doing all the work. When we returned to their classroom, the teacher asked the students to draw a picture of a classroom from the future. There were computers, Smartboards, calculators, iPads, and projectors in their pictures, and every one of them had a teacher standing in the room!  When the teacher asked them wether they would like a robot or computer to teach them, they all started laughing and said the teacher was silly.  

Chapter 9 lists multimedia technologies used by teachers. They combine text, data, voice, picture, and video. PowerPoints are widely used in classrooms for presentations, however they are not engaging and often uninteresting. Digital projectors, document cameras, videos, webcasts are among many technological advances that engage students in learning. Because I teach PreK, I can not do any projects with them. Their participation is limited to using iPads and engaging in video clips. I can see how older students can participate in creating projects involving multimedia technologies.

I have a projector in my classroom, and I'm limited to playing "educational clips" for students. I try to make it interesting and engaging by pausing, rewinding, and asking questions. The fact that they watch a clip on a huge screen, gets their attention no matter what the theme is. I am very inetersted in Streamimg Video Resources for Teachers listed in the chapter and one day would like to learn Digital Storytelling.

Questions:
1. What kind of Multimedia Technologies can be used in Early Childhood classrooms?
2. What Multimedia Technologies do you see in the classrooms 50, 100 years from now?

Chapter 1 & 2

Technology plays an important role in the lives of students and teachers. The terms used in chapter one digital childhood and iGeneration describe well the influence of technology on our lives. Teachers use technology as instructional tools in the classroom, professional resources outside-the-classroom, and as learning resources inside- and outside-the-classroom.
The goal of the new Common Core Standars applied in today's classrooms is to get the students ready to succeed in the future. The technology will only develope, and we can only imagine what our children and their children will experience in the future. The National Council of Teachers of English issued a 21st century literacies (skills the students will need in the future). "To live and to work successfully in this new century, students must have the basic competencies of reading, writing, and computation, and an array of technology-based literacies, including proficiency with technology tools, the ability to build relationships and solve problems collaboratively, the capability to desigh and share information, the capacity to analyze and evaluate information from multiple sources, and the capability to handle information in ethical ways".
The great advantage of using technology in the classroom is to engage students by applying differentiated instruction and motivating those who lack interest. Students can "visit" the places they learn about without leaving their homes or classrooms. My older son had to create a movie trailer in his computer class. It was the best project ever. He was so excited to do it.
My PreK students play educational games on computers during Center Time. Recently we had replaced computers with iPods, because the students were losing interest. Almost all of the students kept touching the computer screen, having the experience with iPods or other touch screen devices  at home.
I can not see the future in education without a teacher, but can not picture it without the technology either.

Questions:
1. Can the role of a techer be replaced with technology based learning?
2. What can be done for older teachers, who do not feel comfortable with technology, to ensure technology enhanced classrooms?

Personal Learning Goals

My personal learning  goal for this course is to succesfully complete it and to learn a lot. I have been teaching Preschool for 5 years, and I use technology in my daily lessons. The first few days of PreK are always challenging, and I have to say that the use of my projector saves me every time. I incorporate educational clips to enchance learning, and at time play something just for fun. Well, my students had a lot of fun the first week of school! I would like lo learn how to incorporate the use of technology at the higher level. I like the idea of blogging, (even though I prefer the face-to-face interactions), and hope I will not only learn from Dr. Chen, but also from my classmates.