Digital Badge #Reflection Post

Resources:

Clip Art
Youtube


Reflection Post

In this final post, I will be reflecting on my experiences in my EME2040 Intro To Technology Course.  This course was very beneficial in many ways.  Everything in the course, from the textbook, discussion posts, various activities, assignments, and this very blog, had a very positive impact on my identity as a future teacher.  In order to better understand how all this benefited me, and in addition, sum up the entire semester, I thought it would be best to structure my blog by reviewing the things I’ve accomplished in this course, giving my thoughts and reflections about them, and along the way, show off some of the things I learned to do. 

The Textbook

To begin with, the textbook, Transforming Learning with New Technologies, was the required textbook for this online course.  In my opinion, this textbook was not only useful in this class, but very beneficial to my other teacher related courses.  This book was designed to inform and educate the reader how integrating technology in the classroom can increase productivity, engagement, enhancement of a lesson plan, and above all, as result, achieve better assessment scores.  I appreciated how each chapter was constructed and designed so that the reader, whether new to technology or not, could easily follow and understand what the learning outcomes were to be.  Overall, this book helped me better understand my digital identity as a teacher. 

The Discussion Posts

In addition to the regular assignments that were to be expected in this course, we had to participate in multiple discussion posts.  The discussion post assignments were designed to not only, as an individual, seek answers to the question or topic given, but also have the social skills, via internet, to reply to our fellow classmates and their individual posts.  I truly enjoyed doing the posts because it allowed me to broaden my education and knowledge of a particular subject.  Also, it helped me connect with my classmates.  But above all, it allowed me to view the ideas and opinion of others when it came to talking about the same topic.  As a future educator, I found this to be very helpful because this is a great demonstration towards challenging our own teaching philosophies.  In other words, although there is one topic, there is no guarantee that there is only one absolute answer.  It is our duty, as a future teacher, to listen to others and their values and beliefs, and respect that.  In the classroom, it will be our duty to understand why the student believes they are right or be patient when they continue getting the answers wrong.  This is where integrating technology may be the answer to the problem.  By "discussing" our thoughts and ideas and integrating technology as an enhancement to that discussion, the chances of the student learning the material becomes realistic. Below is a link that you can visit and it shows some examples on how integrating technology in the classroom has benefited the overall curriculum.  

 http://www.edweek.org/media/edtechstats.pdf




Activities and Assignments
The activities and assignments that we conducted in this course ranged from difficult to very difficult, according to our use of time management, collaboration, and creativity.  I personally thought that the modules made everything simple to follow, was elaborate, and was specific about what the expectations were.  To be honest, these activities and assignments could have been easy for me to follow but my poor time management and lack of communication with the professor and my fellow peers became the reason for late submissions.  But every assignment had a purpose though.  I truly enjoyed doing them because although I started this course as something of a novice to technology, these activities helped clarify the questions and obstacles I had and will most likely face again when I become a teacher. These assignments really enhanced my digital identity as a future educator.

• Website Evaluation Rubric: This assignment was a great way to start us off because it allowed us to evaluate an online source and create a rubric in the process.  Although my rubric had potential, it was not to satisfactory.  This was a great way to show me that my idea of a rubric was not what I thought.  Rather it looks more professional and fits in as a guideline on what to expect from your evaluation subject.  

• Instructional Strategies Wiki: This collaboration project was very interesting because my preconceived notion of a collaborative project was that it would be simple and easy to conduct.  This project required us to create a wiki page, as a group, on Howard Gardner's theories.  My Cooperation theory was something to be proud of.  This project allowed me to challenge myself and learn to use clip art, videos, images, and charts to elaborate on my theory.  It was useful to me also because I can definitely see myself assigning my students to create their own wiki page for further understanding on a particular subject, theory, or area of learning.  

• Webquest:  Creating a webquest was one of my favorite assignments because it allowed me to have a first hand experience creating a lesson plan and making sure to integrate technology into it; something I have difficulty adapting to.  

• Teacher Webpage Portfolio:  This portfolio was the last assignment for this course.  It justified itself in being the last assignment because it was intended for the students to design a teacher webpage and incorporate all the assignments leading up to this one.  I really liked this activity because it not only allowed me to begin the process of behaving as a teacher, but it allowed me to be proud of the accomplishments and have major credibility to my overall identity as a teacher.  I plan on using this Portfolio as a guideline to when I do become a teacher and create a high valued professional webpage that reflects me as a teacher.  As a matter of fact, speaking of my porfoltio, all these assignments could be seen through my portfolio.
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       http://mrgutierrezawesomeness.weebly.com

Overall, my experience in this class was amazing.  Although I could have gave it more of my time and have tried a little harder to complete the assignments on time, the experience was something I really needed.  As a student who didn't know much about technology and was bias about integrating them in to the classroom, I now know that there is much more to learn from technology, that is not becoming obsolete anytime soon, and that it is important to not only us but for the students.  The students are growing up in a generation where technology is becoming more a requirement, versus the day in which technology was used seldom and only as a reward.  By integrating technology, enhancing our digital identity, and practicing more and more with these web tools, the possibilities of creating lesson plans to engage all students and achieve a high success rate becomes endless!  Besides, we need technology! What are we, Neanderthals?  

Like Patrick Star, from the original nickelodeon series Spongebob, once said: 

And now here is a video demonstrating how far we have come since these "caveman" times:

Digital Badge #L

After reading chapter twelve in the required textbook, I was able to gain knowledge on the importance of integrating technology in to teacher lesson plans. Also, more importantly, I was able to learn that in order for this integration to occur, we as future educators, and present teachers, must take responsibility and make changes to the ways we create our lectures and lesson plans. This is the topic I decided to elaborate more on. I believe that this is where many of today's future and present educators still struggle to understand and cope with. As seen above, through the use of Canva, a website used for brilliant poster making, I created a poster that shows the five technology integration stages. They are, the Entry stage, adoption stage, adaption stage, appropriation stage, and the invention stage. According to the textbook, specifically a study done by the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow, each teacher could be said to fall in to one of the five stages. The stages could be described as follows:

1. Entry Stage: The teacher is mediocre when integrating technology into their lesson plan. The teacher needs a substantial amount of time to figure out how computers work and how to apply it to the lesson plan.

2. Adoption Stage: The teacher is able to use technology into their lesson plan but the majority of the lesson plan has not changed and therefore technology isn't used at its maximum potential.

3. Adaption Stage: In this stage the teacher is using technology on a regular basis and makes it a priority in the lesson plans. This is where, I believe, most teachers tend to feel that integration of technology in to lesson plans is at its max.

 4. Appropriation Stage: This is where a teachers goes beyond integrating technology in the classroom and applying it to their work life outside of school. This is a type of teacher that uses technology to continue teaching even outside the classroom and thus reaches out to students in various ways.

 5. Invention Stage: This is the level of integration that involves manipulating everything else through the use of technology. Everything the teacher could easily be performed via technological tools. The teacher has immaculate knowledge of programs, tools, softwares, apps, and etc. The teacher is very "tech-savvy" so to speak.

 After reading that specific section of the chapter and analyzing the stages I was able to determine that I fall in to the Adoption Stage. Although I am able to use technology and create lesson plans around it, I honestly can say that I am not at the Adaption Stage because I tend to fall back to old ways and wanting to teach in a way where technology is not used as much. As a future educator I have to take the time and be patient with technology and acknowledge that although its going to take a lot of time to move up on the stage list, integration of technology is important to the generation of students that are growing up in a technology based society.


Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge #J

After reading Chapter 11 and creating the classroom Jeopardy game seen above, through flipquiz.com, I was able to have a better understanding on how teachers and students work together to use technology for  better assessment learning.  My first thought about assessments were that they only pertained to the students and that they were created just to target where they stand and how to then categorize them after reviewing the results.  But reading this chapter and learning all these key terms, I was able to enhance my idea of assessments, their roles for both teacher and students, and how engagement in the classroom and outside the classroom are really important for the student to grow academically.
In this chapter they introduced how assessments are more like an evaluation towards who we are and what we hope to be when it is all said and done; a "self-reflection" more or less.  Test assessments and performance evaluations come in many ways and forms.  This is the area of the chapter I wanted to elaborate on because it was very intriguing to learn that as the student takes these assessments and performance evaluations, the teachers are also participating in them as well.  For example, we are all comfortable saying that a teachers role is to grade the work done by their students.  In this case, the students took assessments, homework, and now the teachers do their own assessments, grading the homework, and working on how to reach out to the students who didn't do so well for the next class.  But that is not where the comparisons of constant learning ends.  Whether it be writing assignments, school participation, individual performances, open book tests, or even observing and coping with behavioral challenges, both the students and teachers are always learning and growing together.  This is why engaging everyone in your classroom  to participate in a discussion or presentation is plausible.  By thinking beyond the norms and using some technology all students could receive the same attention and education as everyone else.  Students and teachers are not that different in these democratic schools and classrooms.
One way that one can really improve their classroom and the engagement of all students is by using a technology simply known as a "Clicker."  The clicker is self explanatory and easy to use.  It is used by students to click and display their answers anonymously or as a group or individually on the board.  The book described using it to answer questions on a friendly educational competition game of  Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.  Like the tv game show, the students will answer questions rapidly and correctly, in hope of obtaining the highest amount of money, points, as possible.  The Jeopardy game I created above is another example of that system.  By using the Classroom Jeopardy game, the students can be grouped and work towards a common goal.  The game help them work together on having a better understanding on Chapter 11 and the key terms.  Not only does it give the classroom an opportunity to do something fun and creative, but it allows all students to answer individually.  So those students who are shy or hardly participate or probably learn differently, will only have to click their button and say an answer without further explanation.
Overall, I can definitely see myself incorporating this type of technology in my future classroom.  Also, having a better understanding on the importance of engaging students in performance assessments and reflective learning can help me have a greater edge when becoming an overall effective and up to date teacher.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge #F

Communicating and Collaborating with Social Media - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires



After reading Chapter 8 on the required textbook, I was able to obtain 3 key concepts that intrigued me.  All three concepts come from the idea of creating a lesson plan,  a lesson plan that continues outside of the classroom and at the students home.  Like the Haiku Deck power point slides illustrated, teachers are becoming more aware of technology and its benefits when it comes to to engaging with these young students in this generation.  The traditional lesson plan idea for a teacher uses technology but it is very limited.  In this chapter, it explains how social networking should not be perceived as something to do when you're bored, rather it could be incorporated and redirected as an enhancement towards educators and their lesson plans.  One way in which this is possible is by allowing students to visit and explore the websites and links that the teacher posts on their daily agenda.  This could be possible by having the teachers create a blog or wiki page in which students can interact and critique the material that was taught in the classroom and what they learned outside the classroom.  Another way that social networking can enhance a lesson plan is the use of twitter.  By having a twitter account, the teacher can engage with students and families more regularly.  A twitter account can do so much for the educator.  It can be used to post updates about assignments, upcoming tests, friendly reminders, school projects, or simply remind students that there has been an update on the school website or blog.  

Overall, I believe that social networking for educators is a definite must for all teachers to uphold.  Not only does it bring students and teachers and families together and more involved, but it builds a stronger community with the school and outside the school as well.  Every child is exposed to technology and its perks these days, so why not take advantage of what we have and mold it into something even more positive for students and their education.  



Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge #C

After reading chapter 3 of the required textbook, I have been furthered educated in the field of education and technology as one.  Technology is a powerful advocate when it comes to transforming the way we learn and teach.  As we continue on this journey to understand and accept technology in all professions, we become further educated on what it takes to make technology a success in the workforce.  The Map above demonstrates the four learning theories that educators tend to follow when trying to educate ALL students.  Those four learning theories are, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, and Constructionsim.  These four learning theories are the subjects I chose to elaborate on.
To begin with, according to the textbook, Behaviorism is a learning theory that states that learning is a set of changes in human behavior created as a response to events in the environment. In other words, this is the old school way of learning.  I believe that the majority of schools have used this type of learning theory since the beginning of time.  Simply put, the teacher or computer is the only source of knowledge.  In this case, the learner hopes to gain knowledge and feedback by what the teacher or computer has to show. Repetition, demonstrating, and memorizing is encouraged in this type of lesson plan.  An example of this theory in a school setting would be when students go to a computer lab and follow along with the teacher up front.  But this is only one way that students can learn.
Another form of learning is called the Cognitivism learning theory.  In this theory, learning strategies such as memory, motivation, and perception are strongly encouraged.  In other words, the leaner is encouraged to use outside sources and previous education to make sense of what is being taught.  In this type of learning theory, the learners needs and differences are highly considered.  This active learning style allows the learner to learn at their cognitive pace and broaden their overall education.  Also, in this theory, the teacher is now more of a partner or coach, rather than the primary source.
Another learning theory is known as the Constructivism Theory.  In this theory the learner is comfortable and accommodated to construct their own reality.  These types of learners can be noticed by the approaches they take when given an assignment.  Using technology with these types of learners allows them to respond and stress as much as they want.  The computer activities allows them to create and respond to their own work. An example of these learners could be said to be those who are in to computer games; especially when allowed to construct a world of their own.
The last learning theory mentioned in the book and seen in the map above is the Constructionism theory.  Much like the theories mentioned above, this type of theory is focuses on the learner that can create and build off the knowledge already in existence.  But in this theory, in particular, the learner is self empowered to continue constructing their own ideas and thus influence others to continue on that idea.  In other words, if the ideas of that of a teacher are different from that of the learner, then maybe the learner can construct their own interpretation and create a new way of seeing the lesson.  This is a positive reinforcement for both teachers and learners because now a different process of learning is introduced and positive views are constructed as well.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge #B

The cartoon above illustrates a good point to Chapter 2: Understanding Educational Technology and Trends. Johnny was using his device to record the lesson plan that the professor was conducting.  After assuming that Johnny was only playing with his phone, he realizes that Johnny was actually using his device for a greater purpose.  Like the book mentions, its safe to assume that the professor in this cartoon falls in to the category of people who lag behind any change.  Not only does he not think about reaching out to the kids in different ways, but he sticks to what he knows and conducts his lesson plan the old fashion way; through the chalkboard. This all leads up to the three topics that I want to further discuss about on Chapter 2.
The first topic I wanted to talk about was when the book mentioned how technology offers students diverse learning experiences.  At first, I didn't understand how that could be possible but it truly can motivate disengaged individuals.  All large amount of students can not learn through the traditional time-established educational routine where the students sit in rows, the teacher talks, and the students write.  As technology progresses and students ability to use technology enhances, the traditional system begins to feel like a sink or swim system.  Technology in the classroom can definitely help make communication with "all" students possible.
The other topic I wanted to elaborate on is how web 2.0 tools can definitely enhance the identity of being an all around close-to-perfect teacher.  As a teacher, they are constantly learning new things.  Constantly learning new things can become overwhelming and sometimes feel like things are not organized.  Learning these tools can be essential to a teacher.  It can help create and enhance the ongoing ideas and lesson plans that come with the daily routine of a teacher.  Like the web 2.0 tools that this course is exposing us too, they can seem intimidating at first, but they truly help you stay on top of things in this pro technology world.  Technology supports both the instructional and administrative/professional work of teaching.
The last topic I wanted to discuss on was how in every organization there are small number of innovators, a large majority of followers, and a small number who lag behind any change.  As mentioned before, the cartoon illustrates someone, the professor, that has not made a change to the technology world.  As a future teacher, I too must begin transitioning from what I am comfortable with and into the world that the young generation has grown to understand.  The book makes a great valid point; it is the tech-savvy students versus the tech-resistant teachers.  It may seem that I am over exaggerating on this topic, but a large amount of students are becoming more aware of how things work and function because of technology.  That only means that it is time for teachers to catch up and challenge the young minds in the areas that they are comfortable with.  This is easier said than done though.  Although using technology is a great way to reach out to students, teachers are still finding it difficult to take what they know about technology and incorporating it in a classroom.  


Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Badge #A- Chapter 1

     After reading the first chapter in our textbook I immediately reflected on the idea of how bias I was about the correlation between technology and students.  I am someone who considers technology to be something of a distraction or irrelevant to a student's full learning capacity.  But after reading about how technologies varies dramatically by race and family income, I found out that my perspective of technology, and their use in and out of classrooms, was constructed primarily out of my social upbringing.  According to the textbook, most African American, Hispanic, and low income youngsters are less likely to have access to the latest technologies.  With that said, I fall in to that category being Hispanic and growing up in a low income family. The only access to a computer that I had was at my school or at my public library. But even though I had very limited access to a computer, I found it exciting and relieving to do homework with the assistance of technology.
     Speaking of "assistance," another section of the book that I wanted to reflect on is how we now have 21st century learners and therefore we should be teaching them with 21st century technologies.  As much as teachers, or potential, teachers want to stick with the basics of creating a lesson plan, we have to come to grasp that technology can help us enhance our ideas.  An example that I came up with was having the students use tablets to read books.  With the use of a tablet, the teacher can have students digitally highlight sentences that they don't understand and go back to it at the end of class.  Or, another example, the students can read books on their tablets and when they come across words they don't comprehend, they could immediately look it up; via internet.  This, overall, not only enhances a lesson plan, but in turn it still gives the teacher the ability to do their job and not feel like technology is doing everything.
     My final reflection comes from the idea of having a "Digital Identity."  In this 21st century,  your identity with technology will get you very far in the working force.  I believe this to be true because in every job application that requires a higher institute of learning, alongside of that comes the section if whether or not you have any experience working with technology.  In this day of age I do believe creating a digital identity is very crucial; especially if you want to become a teacher.  With this adopted identity, more teachers can build stronger relationships with students in and out of the classroom.  Also, and more importantly, having the knowledge of varies technologies will benefit the students and therefore prepare them for the future.
     In conclusion, there may be others who can relate to what I have reflected on, and there may be those who completely disagree with me.  But the point of the matter is that I have come to accept that technology will always be here and that it'll continue to grow.  Also, it can really benefit us to learn all that we can about it so that we could set great examples for the next generation of educators.  Overall, becoming a teacher in this 21st century looks and sounds quite overwhelming, but at the end of it all, I believe it'll be worth it.


Resoueces Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.


Incorporating an ipod to the lesson plan!