Blog Journal 9

I have learned many new skills because of all of the assignments we have completed in class using Diigo. First of all, I have learned how to pick out important information in a web page filled with information. I have also learned to comment relevant ideas about information so that I not only reiterate the concepts, but I also add in my own ideas and experiences. A third skill that I have found relevant is that of being able to collaborate with my peers in order to share information that could benefit all of us. I have enjoyed seeing what others have posted in our Diigo group, commenting on their posts, and them commenting on mine. This application can be incredibly useful in the future for me, especially in my classroom, with team members, and in my individual professional efforts. Diigo can be used for so many different purposes. I can envision myself giving my students an English activity where they must find different, relevant literature and share it in the Diigo group, and comment and highlight important information. I can also see myself communicating with team members and others in my profession to better my knowledge of teaching. We could share ideas and lesson plans in our Diigo group that we find online, and we could support each other through our comments on each others' annotations. I can absolutely see myself using this application in the future. It is a wonderful tool!

Bloom's Taxonomy is a very interesting idea, and I think it is important to keep this idea in mind when thinking about learning. This idea is a pyramid, with different concepts on each level of the pyramid. Starting from the bottom and working to the top, the concepts include "remember", "understand", "apply", "analyze", "evaluate", and "create". As the concepts get higher up on the pyramid, the more rigorous they become. Student learning at each level of Bloom's Taxonomy can be supported with PowerPoint in a particular lesson. A lesson I think of right now is an English lesson for a high school class. "Remember", the first concept on the pyramid, could be represented through a slide that asks students to recall a specific character or story they have read. Next, "understand" can be represented with a slide that asks questions about each of the characters or plot details in a story. Thirdly, "apply" could be represented through a slide that asks application questions about the story, and the students could discuss in small groups. An example of a relevant question could be "Why do you think this character feel a certain way during this point in the story?". Next, "analyze" is a step further. This concept could be represented through a slide that tells the students to compare and contrast a few of the characters. Then, "evaluate" can be represented through a slide that tells each student to defend their stance on why they compared or contrasted characters the way that they did. Lastly, "create" could be represented with a slide that explains information on an upcoming project that the students will have to complete and create that is relevant to what they learned in class on this day. As one can see, there are many ways that Bloom's Taxonomy can be utilized in the classroom and on PowerPoint. 

Technology can be directly related to teacher professional development. There are many examples of how teachers can use technology and different web pages or social medias to connect with their peers, colleagues, and fellow professionals. By staying up-to-date with technology, teachers will not feel alone in their profession, they will connect with others, and they will never cease to learn new things about educating. A site that I have found that can be used to stay informed of technology trends is Microsoft.com. Microsoft is one of the leading technology producers today. On this website, Microsoft does not only keep people up to date on the latest technology products they have produced, but it also provides information and courses for teachers that want to use these new emerging technologies in their classrooms. There are many different lessons and courses one can access from the website in order to develop their knowledge of education technology further. The website also focuses highly on STEM education, so it has a lot of resources surrounding this goal for learning. 

link to the website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/educators/stem?&OCID=AID2000043_SEM_6Nfe8IGM&utm_source=bing&msclkid=1a6e1b18d0381d8fa26d46a3e58aab50

ILP "Participation" - LinkedIn Learning Course

For my second Independent Learning Project, I had to participate in a professional development activity. We had a wide range of options to choose from, and I ended up choosing to participate in a LinkedIn learning course. The course was called "Getting Things Done", by David Allen. I really enjoyed the process of going through this course, because I have never completed something quite like it, and I feel like I learned a lot about how to stay organized and on task. To complete my project, I had to make a free trial account on the LinkedIn Learning website (the trial will last me a month). I then had to choose which course I wanted to take. Once I clicked on the course, I was automatically taken to a page to complete it. There were many videos to watch, and a toolbar on the side in case I wanted to follow along or take notes. Once I completed the course, "Getting Things Done", I then had to make a PowerPoint presentation on what I learned. After creating the PowerPoint, I uploaded it to voicethread.com in order to comment on each of my slides. My voice thread is linked below, so check it out! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this project. I feel as though it benefited me for my future career as a teacher, because teachers always have a lot of tasks to complete, and "Getting Things Done" helped me to understand how to complete tasks in a timely, organized manner. Thanks for reading!

My Voice Thread

Blog Journal 8

My experience with Twitter has been very interesting so far. I have never had a Twitter account until this class, so I think it is really cool that I am getting to learn about this type of social media along with all of the other things we are learning in this technology class. There are huge correlations between what we are learning and what I see on Twitter. From using Twitter, I have learned that a person doesn't have to use social media just to benefit themselves and gain followers and likes. Instead, professionals can use Twitter in order to learn more about their profession and get opinions from people that are in their same position. I have also learned how to interact well with people on social media, tweet them, and respond to their tweets. There are many benefits to using Twitter. One benefit is the fact that a person can connect with others just like themselves so that they don't have to feel alone in their profession. Twitter connects people from far and wide into one spot on the internet so that they can have conversations and share information. Another benefit of using Twitter is the fact that there is no lack of information to be found. If a person is looking to find more information on a certain topic, they can just follow a page that focuses on that topic. They can also participate in Twitter conferences and chats. I am not experiencing any issues with Twitter. Everything is quite simple to use, and I feel as though people have been very receptive to my tweets. 

The Web Design assignment was very interesting, and I had a really good time creating my own website. I also gained some skills while working on this assignment. One of the skills I gained is how to use the software, "Weebly". I had never used this software before this assignment, so I had to teach myself how to use it in order to create my website. Another skill I gained is utilizing C.R.A.P. design principles to create the most visually appealing site possible. I made sure to only use a few fonts and to space paragraphs and pictures out well. Something I liked about this project was the fact that we could use our own creativity to make the website how we wanted. I loved being able to choose the colors and pictures I wanted to utilize. One thing I did not enjoy about this assignment was how we had a lot of parameters to follow. These parameters made the task tedious and a bit less enjoyable, even though I still liked the creation of the website a lot. I think in the future, I could improve the website by spending more time on it, adding more information, and putting some interactive elements on the page, such as a slideshow or buttons. What I learned from this assignment can be used in my future career because I learned the fundamentals of website design. Now, once I become a teacher, I can be confident in creating a class website. I will know how to place information to be visually appealing, and I will be able to use the website to put important announcements up for parents and students. 

link to my website: http://msdepurysclass.weebly.com/

Assistive and adaptive technologies are wonderful technological advances that can be used to benefit and support learners. These types of technologies are used to help students that have disabilities, either physical or mental. This technology allows for disabled learners to use technology in a way that is beneficial to them so that they can learn in (almost) the same way as students without disabilities. An example of assistive and adaptive technologies is voice to text dictation so that students that don't have the ability to see can still participate in writing papers or projects online. Another example is word processing formats that allow for spell check and proofreading so that students with disabilities such as dyslexia can have an equal opportunity at writing a coherent paper. I don't really know of anyone that uses these technologies except for the people that live at the nursing home my mom works at. These people don't have the same eyesight that they used to have, so they use functions on their phones and tablets to enlarge the words they are reading. I feel like there are some challenges that are involved in using adaptive technologies in the classroom. One of these challenges is the fact that the teacher must learn the technology before introducing it to her students. This technology might take a while to fully learn and understand, so there would be a time issue, and disabled students might fall behind their non-disabled peers. Another challenge is the fact that the technology might take up more space in a classroom. There might be less room to move around freely in the classroom which could be frustrating for all. While there are some drawbacks to these types of technologies, I still believe they should be implemented where they can, so that all students can learn with an equal advantage.  

Blog Journal 7

It has been quite enjoyable over the past week to learn about websites, how they should be designed, and how schools and teachers can use them. I chose to evaluate an elementary class website from Hubbard Elementary School. The actual website I found is a school district website, but it has links to the middle school, high school, and elementary school class pages. After being directed to a page with the links to all of the Hubbard Elementary School class pages, I began to search and click on a few. All of the teachers were really creative when they created their pages! I especially loved looking at one of the kindergarten teacher's pages: Mrs. Libeg. I enjoyed looking at how each of them put their personal touch on their site. Publically, I was able to view all of the information from these sites. Some of the information that is included in these pages is what the class is learning, the class newsletter, homework, schedules, and important information. There are separate tabs a person can click on to view what they need to. The designs are very streamlined, easy to follow, and pleasant to the eye. I love that this Ohio elementary school has chosen to require their teachers to have class pages. In this way, people can view all of the important information they need to in one place and get updates when necessary.

link to the elementary website: https://www.hubbard.k12.oh.us/elementar

link to a class page example: https://sites.google.com/hubbard.k12.oh.us/libega/home

Screenshots:

I envision myself using technology in multiple ways as a teacher. I want to use technology so that I can stay organized and accomplish my teaching responsibilities as quickly and effectively as possible. I could definitely see myself creating a class page where I put all of my lesson plans, homework for the class, and important information. I love this idea because it puts all information in one, easy to access space, so that my classroom will stay organized, parents will stay organized, and so will I. Rather than getting stressed out from losing important papers, I would like everything to be digitized so that I will always know exactly where to find everything. Another use of technology I would like to take part in is using certain software that are made specifically for teachers. Many of these resources have already made lesson plans and activities so that all I would need to do is click on one and teach it! There are also some other softwares that provide a space for teachers to organize their thoughts and all important documents. Some of these softwares are Gradekeeper and TestCommander. 

My field trip to Technology Sandbox was incredible! I learned so much, saw some cool gadgets, and have already started brainstorming how I would use some of the technology we saw within my own classroom. One specific thing that jumped out at me during the field trip was the 3D pen. A 3D pen is a gadget that gets filled with plastic filament, heats up, and then can be drawn with to create 3D masterpieces.I had so much fun playing with the 3D pen, learning how to use it, and making some hilarious creations. After thinking about how I could use something like this, I decided that it could probably be used really well to teach kindergartners their letters or to teach other elementary school students how to spell words. The students could each be given one of the pens and then told a letter or word to draw with the pen. An added bonus is that the child can keep the letters they make and reuse them when they are done! I believe that I will utilize 3D pens when I have a classroom, because they are an easy, interactive way to engage students and allow them to enjoy what they are learning. Although I did not take photos of my experience at Tech Sandbox, I know I will be back, and I will never forget what I saw and learned.  

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Blog Journal 5

Using Diigo was quite a unique experience, and I definitely noticed some perks to it, but also some issues. I think that Diigo is a great resource to learn about, especially because I aspire to be an elementary teacher. This program truly is an amazing way to connect with like-minded people, share resources, and comment on them. There were a few things that I did not like about using Diigo. The first thing that was a bit of an issue for me was the installation process. I had a hard time finding the page that had the link to download the program. Then, when I had downloaded it, I had a hard time to get the program to work because it was not clear to me that I had to close out all tabs and reopen the program. Therefore, the installation process was a bit inconvenient, time consuming, and confusing. Another thing I disliked was the learning curve that it took to actually understand how to use the program. We had to watch a video because it was a bit confusing. Something I liked about Diigo was the fact that it utilizes technology in order to connect people so they can share insights about websites they have found. I liked that it was a collaborative website, and not just an independent assignment. Another thing I found that I liked about this program was that it actually allowed for me to comment directly on a website page by highlighting and adding notes. Overall, although Diigo has some problems, it also can be a very helpful program for teachers.

My experience with blogging has been quite dynamic so far. I have enjoyed learning the blogger.com platform to write my posts, and I enjoy reflecting on what I am learning in class through these posts. Something I do not like about blogging is how time consuming it is for me to write my responses. Each entry takes me a while to write because I truly care about how my thoughts are portrayed. Another thing that I have a hard time with is the actual layout process of this program. It is kind of confusing and hard to understand the idea of adding widgets and extra things to my blog. Something I like about blogging is that the actual process of writing a post is completely simple. It is really easy just to open up a new blog post, write on it, and publish it. I also like that I have a space where people can read my thoughts and that we are utilizing technology to benefit others with our posts, rather than just writing papers that only our teacher will see. During the blogging process, I have learned how to work programs, such as blogger.com, and I have also learned how to write engaging content so that readers would enjoy learning about technology in the classroom. 

An interesting Web 2.0 tool that could have a potential for use in the classroom is podcasts. Podcasts are recordings of people who discuss and banter on several topics. There are multiple different types of podcasts. They range from religious sermons to movie reviews. A podcast is recorded and then put onto the web in order for others to listen and learn from the thoughts of others. I personally enjoy listening to podcasts. I find them to be very informative and relaxing. I think that podcasts could be used in a teaching setting, especially to help kids learn by hearing voices other than their teacher's. This technique changes up the learning process so that kids don't get bored with just one thing over and over again. I could see myself as a teacher playing a podcast for students after a rowdy time at recess. Therefore, students can relax and calm down while also learning something worthwhile. A link to use podcasts as a tool in teaching is https://www.podcasts.com/. I encourage everyone to look into using new Web 2.0 tools so that we can advance education for the future. 

Blog Journal 4

Our use of Twitter in this class has been very beneficial to me in communicating with my classmates. I have enjoyed learning the ropes of Twitter use, as I did not have a Twitter until I started this class. What a great way to utilize technology within our class to better ourselves and our knowledge of education! I have been interacting with many of my classmates, through commenting on their posts, asking questions, and retweeting posts I think they will find interesting. I have been retweeting posts from educational twitter accounts, such as Harvard and Nat Geo Education, and I think that the information these accounts have posted is invaluable. Through my interactions on Twitter, I have found that interacting with others is an incredibly beneficial way to learn more about issues in education and current events. There is an abundance of information on Twitter, and it has been a great experience for me to not just be on my own in this class, but to have a huge community that supports me with what I am learning and allows me to learn from them. I believe Twitter will be helpful in my future career through participating in Twitter chats and creating a community of teachers like me. It will be so helpful for me to be part of a bigger community of teachers and to get advice from people that are in the same situation. I will absolutely use Twitter in the future!

The digital divide affects the success of students in school immensely. For some students, their success is higher in schools because they have more access to technology as a result of more funding in their school. However, for other students, there is a great disadvantage to their schooling because of the lack of access to relevant technology. When students have more access to technology, such as computers, Ipads, and educational games, they tend to do better on tests and exams because of the all-around education and focus that technology can give them. However, this becomes the opposite for lower socio-economic groups that don't have the privilege of using sufficient technology in their classes. These students are hindered because they are forced to use outdated educational practices, rather than modern practices that utilize new technology. One of the biggest causes of the digital divide is a lack of funding for certain schools. Schools that are in lower economic areas are insufficiently funded, while schools in higher economic areas receive more funds. Rather than distributing these funds equally, the digital divide is just increased, and kids become unfairly disadvantaged. One other cause of the digital divide is the fact that some schools don't have administration that enforces the use of technology. This problem could lead to laziness on the educator's side, which causes children to use technology less in their schooling, even if they do have access to it. As a classroom teacher, I will likely experience this digital divide. If I end up working at a school with insufficient funding, I will definitely have to face the fact that my students will not have access to much technology. I will have to adapt to the circumstances, and I will come up with ways to help students learn without technology, such as using in-class examples, helping students to visualize what they are learning, and giving them a creative outlet. While the digital divide is a huge problem, we must band together to create a change in the education system.

Academic software is a very helpful tool in education. There are many software tools that I would love to utilize in my classroom when I become a teacher. Two software tools that I will likely use in my elementary classroom are starfall.com and sheppardsoftware.com. Starfall.com is an educational website for students in grades K through 3rd grade. Kids can log on and press their grade level, which will bring them to games that they will resonate with. There is a variety of subjects that the games cover, such as science, math, and geography. I would like to use this website because the games truly are fun, so students will enjoy playing the games while not even realizing they are learning! I think this website would be a good tool to allow kids to have a break from lecture and learn independently. The other software tool I will use is sheppardsoftware.com. This website's slogan is, "we make learning fun". Truly, this statement reflects the website. Just like Starfall, sheppardsoftware also uses educational games to teach important lessons. These lessons span across multiple subjects including history, chemistry, and math, and they are focused on elementary students. I would like to use this website with my future students, because again, it provides a break from group work and lectures and allows the kids to have fun while learning. These websites are just two ways that software can be beneficial to a student's education, and I plan on utilizing as many of these websites as possible.

ILP "Design" - Infographic

In my first Independent Learning Project, I chose to complete the design element. I had to use a strategy to create educational content, and I actually really enjoyed the creative process! I decided to make an infographic as my educational content, and I used a site called piktochart.com. This website helped me easily design my content, even though I didn't even use one of their templates! There were many different graphics I could use (even though I had to upload a few from google images to use as well). I decided to create an infographic for a second grade science class. I used content based on our solar system, so I utilized graphics for each of the eight planets and placed them in order on my infographic. I then placed arrows to the other side of the infographic, which led to information and fun facts about each of the planets or sun. I then had to make a voice thread, consisting of five PowerPoint slides as a presentation. I talked about each of the aspects of an infographic, how an infographic can be used for educational purposes, and how I created my infographic. Overall, I really enjoyed the process of this Independent Learning Project, and I am excited for others to see what I have designed!

Link to my voice thread presentation: https://voicethread.com/share/13065607/

Link to my infographic: https://create.piktochart.com/output/41265134-eme-2040-ilp-design