1.Introduction video
Our first assignment in IT 365
was to get into groups and make introduction videos. We took turns recording
each other and uploaded our videos to our blogs. This assignment taught me how
to introduce myself in a more professional way, as I would on the first day of
class as a teacher. However, I did find that it was much more difficult to talk
about myself rather than write about myself. Prior to this assignment, I had
never made a video introducing myself, and I had no clue what to say. I have
written numerous introductions in my lifetime, but when I was required to give
a vocal introduction while being recorded, I had difficulty finding the right
words to say. Since we only had a short amount of time to complete this
in-class assignment, I only had one chance for my introduction to be recorded.
Although I was far from pleased with it, I posted it to my blog and moved on to
the next assignment. To make up for the awkwardness of my video, I wrote much
more in the written part of my introduction to make up for it. If I could do
this assignment over, I would make my introduction video for my future
elementary students focusing on what they would want to know about me; this is
how I would use this assignment for my future teaching. The NETS-T standard
that this assignment met was standard 2: design and develop digital-age
learning experiences and assessments. This standard was met because we used our
own cell phones, which allowed us to “incorporate digital tools and resources
to promote student learning and creativity.”
2.TED Video
The TED videos that we watched in
this class gave me so much inspiration as a future educator. My favorite one
was about John Hunter and the World Peace Game. John Hunter is an extraordinary
educator, dedicated to helping children reach their full potential. This video
taught me how big of a role teachers truly have in the lives of students. The
TED videos taught me that I should be more open-minded to other opinions even
if I don’t fully agree with them. The only problem I encountered with the TED
videos was that I initially had no interest in sitting through a video in
class. I prefer to being doing something with my hands rather than sitting and
watching someone talk. I overcame this by actually listening to what the
speakers had to say. I found that there was a lot to be taken away from each of
the videos, and they certainly left me feeling inspired. One way that I plan to
use these videos for my future teaching is to share them with other future
educators who may need some inspiration. I also plan to stay up to date with
any other TED videos that relate to education. These videos met NETS-T standard
5: engage in professional growth and leadership. Each teacher that spoke in the
TED videos offered advice that will help other teachers to grow and become
better leaders. The speakers in the TED videos met standard 5 by “participating
in local and global learning communities”, “developing the leadership and
technology skills of others”, and “contributing to the effectiveness, vitality,
and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community”.
My concept map was my very first
lesson plan experience. I learned how to use the Inspiration tool and
discovered that lesson plans require a lot of work. This assignment taught me
how to base lessons off of the Common Core Standards, and I had no clue how I
was going to do this at first. I changed my mind about which standards I was
going to use several times, but I finally decided to go with two Literacy
standards for first graders. The big problem I had with this assignment was
that I was not pleased at all with my concept map once I had finished. When
others began presenting theirs, I realized that I wanted to completely start
over. Luckily, I did not get the chance to present on the first day. I fixed
this problem by downloading Inspiration on my laptop and completely starting
over. I used the same standards, but I came up with different activities for
each day and made my concept map more visually appealing. I found this
assignment to be the most useful for my future teaching since I learned how to
use the Common Core to create a weeklong lesson plan. There are two NETS-T
standards that this assignment met. The first is standard 1: facilitate and
inspire student learning and creativity. This standard was met by using
“technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning,
creativity, and innovation”. The second standard met is standard 2: design and
develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments. This standard was met
by “developing learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary
tools and resources to maximize content learning in context”.
Our class was assigned to
download DoNotTrackMe onto our personal computers for homework. The purpose of
the DoNotTrackMe download is to block websites that track what you search for
on the Internet. After downloading this onto my laptop, I surfed the net as
usual and was surprised to discover that I had at least one or more tracker on
each of my daily visited websites. I wasn’t expecting to have any trackers, and
I was a little freaked out by how many I had on Facebook and Vine. DoNotTrackMe
blocked these trackers from following me, and I still have it installed on my
laptop. Every time I search the web, it shows me in the top left-hand corner
how many trackers have been blocked. This assignment taught me that there truly
is no privacy on the Internet. I had no clue that my activity was being tracked,
and this was a huge eye opener for me. I have actually had zero problems with
this download, and I plan to keep it installed on my laptop. DoNotTrackMe will
help me in my future teaching of Internet safety. It is extremely important
that children learn about Internet safety at a young age so that they can be
aware of the many dangers. This download would also be helpful to have on
classroom computers to block trackers. This assignment met NETS-T standard 4:
promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. This standard is met
because the DoNotTrackMe assignment teaches “safe, ethical use of digital
information and technology”.
I had never heard of augmented
reality prior to reading Laura Devaney’s article “Augmented Reality Snags a
Coveted Spot in Classrooms” for homework, so I learned what augmented reality
is and how it is being used to enhance student learning. Augmented reality
takes learning to a whole new level as it allows you to find information about
anything by simply scanning whatever item you wish to find information on. A
problem that I encountered was with the augmented reality iPhone app. I
downloaded the free version, but I was unable to find much information about the
items I was searching for. This free version could definitely use some
improvements. However, advanced and working augmented reality apps can
certainly be beneficial for student learning. Students are able to use hands-on
learning and are allowed to be as creative as they’d like. I plan to use the
knowledge I obtained about augmented reality in my future classroom by allowing
my students to experiment with it for projects. Hopefully, by that time, the
free app will be improved and can be easily used in the classroom. The NETS-T
standard that this particular assignment met was standard 1: facilitate and
inspire student learning and creativity. This standard was met by advancing
“student learning in virtual environments”. Augmented reality also “promotes
student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’
conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes”.
For this assignment, we created
an account on the Voki website and made our own avatar. We were told to address
our students and their parents as if we were the teacher. I learned how to
introduce myself in a way that appeals to both students and parents. I had
never thought of having a place online for parents to stay on top of what their
child is doing each week, and I think that this is a great idea for my future
teaching! The only problem I encountered was getting my Voki avatar to speak.
With the help of my classmate, I was able to figure out what I was doing wrong
and fix this problem. This activity got me excited for my future classroom since
we were able to pretend that we were already teachers through an avatar. I plan
to use what I have learned through this assignment to create an online
environment for parents and students in the future. This is a great way for
parents to get involved in their child’s academic success and stay informed on
what their child is learning. This assignment meets two of the NETS-T
standards. First, it meets standard 1: facilitate and inspire students. This
standard is met by “advancing student learning in both face-to-face and virtual
environments”. The second standard met is standard 5: model digital-age work
and learning. Standard 5 is met by “collaborating with students, peers,
parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support
student success and innovation”.
7.Web 2.0 Sites
We were each assigned one or two
websites to explore and think about how we could use them in our future
classrooms. Out of the list of websites, I had only heard of a few of them, but
I still didn’t know much about them. I learned what each website was created
for, and discovered that some of them could be pretty useful to me in the
future. I was assigned to explore Vimeo and Wordpress. The only problem I
encountered was getting Vimeo to work, but I overcame this obstacle by being
patient with the website and focusing on the positive aspects of it. I didn’t
have any trouble with Wordpress, and if I ever become interested in blogging,
this is the website I will use. Some of my peers had problems getting their
websites to work at all, but this was only because these websites were
ineffective. However, there were several websites that I was impressed with and
plan to use for my future teaching career. The websites that impressed me were
Instagrok, Glogster, Wordpress, Edmodo, and Socrative. This assignment met
NETS-T standard 3: model digital-age work and learning. This standard was met by
“demonstrating fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current
knowledge to new technologies and situations”, “collaborating with students,
peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to
support student success and innovation”, communicating relevant information and
ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of
digital-age media and formats”, and “modeling and facilitating effective use of
current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use
information resources to support research and learning”.
8.Website
I created my website on cyber
bullying and learned so much more about this topic that I wasn’t aware of. Through
my research, I discovered that I have witnessed cyber bullying several times
and never even realized it until this assignment. My website discussed the
effects, frequency, and different ways to prevent cyber bullying. I learned
that there are many ways that cyber bullying can be prevented before it occurs.
Some problems I had while creating my website were with getting the layout,
font, and images to look right. Nothing looked put together and my website
looked sloppy. I was able to fix this problem by inserting tables and changing
the form of the layout on each page. The knowledge I obtained from this
assignment can be used in my future teaching career to teach my future students
about cyber bullying. It is important that students understand exactly what
this is and know what signs to look for. I also learned how to create a website
through Google and how to use the different tools offered. The NETS-T standard
that this assignment met was standard 4: promote and model digital citizenship
and responsibility. Not everyone’s website was on cyber bullying, but everyone
was required to make theirs about something relating to digital citizenship.
Through this assignment, we were able to “advocate, model, and teach safe,
legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect
for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of
sources”. We also promoted and modeled “digital etiquette and responsible
social interactions related to the use of technology information”.
9.Movie
The last project we did for this
class was to create a movie using the Movie Maker application. I had never done
anything like this before, so I learned how to do several different things. I
learned how to import pictures from my phone to the computer through email,
download and save mp3 songs, and how to put these things together to create a
movie. I came across several problems for this assignment, and these problems
caused me a great deal of frustration. When I was choosing my pictures for the
assignment, I didn’t think about how I would use them to tell a story. Luckily,
I came up with an idea I could use to tell a story through my ten random
pictures. After I had posted my finished movie to my blog, I discovered that my
song wasn’t working. My movie hadn’t saved properly, so I had to start over.
This didn’t take too long, and I was able to finish and repost before time for
my presentation. I could use the knowledge I gained from this assignment to
make short slideshow presentations for my future students. Movie Maker is a
great presentation tool, and I certainly think that it will come in handy
someday. The NETS-T standard that this assignment met is standard 1: facilitate
and inspire student learning and creativity. Through creating our own movies,
we were able to “promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking
and inventiveness”. This assignment advanced our “student learning, creativity,
and innovation”.
This class has taught me that
there are both positive and negative aspects to the increasing use of
technology in the classroom. At first, I was extremely close-minded about ideas
such as the Tech Common Core. Most students at the high school I attended
abused technology in the classroom by using it for all of the wrong reasons.
They would rarely stay on task and didn’t use any of it to advance their
learning. In one of my high school technology classes, more than half of the
class was constantly on social media sites instead of focusing on the lesson
being taught. This teacher didn’t care, so the class continued to abuse the
Internet rights. This experience was all I thought about when we started
reading articles in this class about technology in the classroom. The more
articles and opinions I was exposed to, the more open minded I became. I came
to realize that there are so many positive aspects to integrating technology in
the classroom that they might outweigh the negative. Technology wasn’t the problem
in my high school class; the teacher was the problem. I was allowed several
opportunities to use the iPad in this IT 365 class, and I have truly been able
to see what a great teaching device this is. Through each assignment we have
completed this semester, I have learned something new and useful that will
benefit my future teaching career. I would say that my strongest point in this
class has been listening to other opinions and allowing myself to be more open
minded. The class discussions we have had taught me how to be a much better
listener. I am also strong in my organizational skills because I always make
sure to keep my assignments organized and always write down everything in my
planner. My weakest point would have to be vocalizing my thoughts and opinions.
Although I didn’t speak up much in this class, I have learned much more by
simply sitting back and listening to the thoughts and opinions of my peers. I
think that I have a difficult time vocalizing my thoughts because I am more of
a writer than a speaker. A future learning goal of mine is to vocalize thoughts
aloud that I would normally write and keep to myself. This will force me to
step out of my comfort zone and speak up. Another future learning goal of mine
is to allow my creativity to flow. I claim that I am not a creative person, but
I believe that everyone has a creative side. As a future educator, it is
important that I tap into my creative side and use my ideas to their fullest
potential. This class has taught me numerous ways to integrate technology into
the classroom. Two devices that I definitely plan on using everyday in my
future classroom are an iPad and a Smartboard. The Blogspot website we used for
this class was great for posting all of our work in one place. Blogs are great
educational tools for older students, but younger students should stick to regular
paper for assignments. Overall, this class has definitely benefited my future
teaching career, and I have gained knowledge that will stay with me forever.
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