(1) ILP "Participation" - Lynda.com

For my first Independent Learning Project I completed a Lynda tutorial on incorporating educational technology into the classroom. Before this assignment I had never heard of Lynda Online Training or that it is free for FSU students! I learned a lot from this tutorial and I highly recommend that any FSU students take advantage of this resource while it is readily available to us!

The tutorial I completed was called "Educational Technology for Student Success". It covered a few main points that one should consider when incorporating educational technology into their classroom as well as overviews of different resources that one could use. The main points it covered overlapped with a lot of the material we have talked about in class, including copyright and fair use, so that part was more of a review for me. However, including tutorials on how to use different resource, such as google forms, was extremely helpful. The tutorial not only showed me how to properly use a lot of popular tools, but it gave numerous alternatives so you could decide which site would best meet your purpose and needs.

By completing this tutorial I learned how to use a lot of really cool tools that will be extremely helpful in the classroom. For example, teachers often assign quizzes to assess their students knowledge. Google forms will allow me to create quizzes and see my students responses quickly and easily if we have access to computers in my future classroom. Here is an example of a vocabulary quiz I created using google forms!

Blog #6

For this assignment I looked at the St. Clare Schools class pages. Many of the pages were set up the similarly to the one pictured below and contained information that was directed towards parents. The page I selected was for a kindergarten class. Its home page contained all of their upcoming events and homework for quick access. I was also able to see announcements from the teacher, all of the homework assignments given throughout the year, and documents that needed to be filled out by parents. I thought it was very clever to upload permission slips and other important forms under the "documents" tab so parents can easily access another copy incase the original form is misplaced. 

https://sites.google.com/a/stclaresi.com/class-k-1-2016/

As a teacher I believe I will be using many types of technology to accomplish my professional responsibilities efficiently and effectively. I will use things such as word processing programs, electronic spreadsheets, presentation software and much more. These technologies will help me create classroom materials, stay organized, and present information. 

I found the smart board to be the most useful piece of technology we worked with in the technology sandbox. While all of the other tools we got to work with were fun and useful, I think the smart board would be most helpful in a classroom. I feel this way because it was versatile. one piece of technology can be used as a whiteboard, projector, interactive game center and much more. All of these things would be great to have in a classroom!

Blog #5

I think the use of web 2.0 tools is extremely important in the classroom as a means for teachers and students to interact and share with each other. In my opinion, using youtube and blogs would be very useful as a teacher. By using youtube, a teacher could easily access videos that could supplement their lessons and clarify any questions students may have. Blogs are a great way to get all students involved in discussion.

I had never heard of library thing until this discussion board so I decided to look it up. Library thing is a social cataloging app for storing and sharing books and catalogs. It makes it incredibly easy to interact with groups of people who share common interests in reading material. This could be useful for a teacher because they could access numerous reviews on books when deciding what to assign their students. If you're interested in this tool i suggest learning more about it at https://www.librarything.com

When reading chapter 12, I found myself really interested in some of the technological advances it addressed. I thought electronic paper was a really great idea that would not only be extremely useful in a classroom but make a big impact on the environment as well. Electronic paper would make it extremely easy to distribute worksheets and other materials in class without wasting a large amount of paper.

Blog #4

Although I did not have a twitter account before this class, this site has proven to be very easy to maneuver and I have enjoy using it so far. I have mostly been interacting with a few students in class and some education pages. By checking twitter I am reminded of upcoming assignments which I find to be the most beneficial aspect! I could use twitter for my future career by using it the way we do for EME2040. If I created a twitter account for my students to follow I could tweet reminders about assignments and share resources that would be beneficial to them.

The digital divide can have a tremendous impact on a students success in school. Having little or no access to computers and other technology outside of school and lacking the knowledge of how to use it can create disparity between students in similar situations compared to those who have these resources readily available. As a future teacher I must be aware of the fact that I will have students from different backgrounds. The podcast spoke about how different SES can impact the digital divide so I cannot assume that each student has access to the latest technologies once they go home.  With this being said, I will give a lesson on how to properly use the technology my students will have access to before I give any assignments. I will also provide my students an ample amount of time to get their assignments done in class if they require the use of technology from our classroom.

Since I plan on working with elementary aged children, I think I will be using educational games and tutorial software the most in my classes. I like educational games and tutorials because they are interactive and incorporate graphics, animation, and audio or video clips. I think this would be a great way to capture my students attention and keep their focus until they complete the lesson. I do not think I will be using academic databases with this age group. Research projects that require scholarly articles would not be an appropriate assignment for K-5th grade students. 

Blog #3

The ELA standard I feel most prepared to teach with using my existing knowledge is SL.5 "Use of Digital Media". For this standard, one is expected to use digital media and visual displays to express information in a way that enhances the students understanding. I have used textual, graphical, audio, visual and interactive elements when creating presentations in the past. I incorporated digital media into my presentations in order to clarify information, emphasize main points, and add interest. I would feel confident teaching to this standard without further learning. I feel comfortable with the other standards as well!

I really like the idea of using weblogs in the classroom as a way for students to express their ideas and share them with their classmates. Since I hope to work with 3rd-5th graders, a blog would also serve as an organizational tool since all of their work could be saved in one place. I could implement the use of a web blog in my classroom by having weekly discussion questions where they post their own thoughts and answers directly to their blog. However, I would not introduce this technology into my classroom until my students know and understand the importance of good digital citizenship. I would teach them how to participate responsibly and appropriately.

By completing the Newsletter Design assignment I've acquired new skills that proved to be extremely helpful when creating a newsletter or using Microsoft Word in general. These skills include creating a hyperlink and formatting the text of your document into columns! Although I've learned a lot, I did have some trouble completing this assignment on a Mac. Some on the skills we learned in class did not work on my laptop. Overall, I felt like my Mac was more difficult to use so I will use a PC for future assignments in order to eliminate the problems I ran into! I will be able to use these skills for my future career in a variety of ways. As a teacher, I will need to send out emails, newsletters, permission slips and much more to parents on a regular basis. I have attached a picture of my newsletter for your viewing! The background color is light blue on the original document but it did not transfer for some reason. Enjoy!