1. Introduction Video
Standards Linked to this Assignment:
2a - Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
This standard fits this assignment because we were taught to incorporate a digital tool, video recording, to something simple like an introduction and turn it into a creative opportunity for learning.
Assignment Reflection:
During this assignment I learned that posting a video recording of myself wasn't quite as scary as I thought it would be. When I first started this assignment I wasn't looking forward to it at all. I've never been one to that outgoing or like people looking at me, but I knew I needed to work on that if I'm going to be a teacher. So, I sucked it up and found out that it wasn't quite so bad. I think an assignment like this is good for students who may be shy in front of a classroom, but feel more comfortable with technology. I would integrate this into my class by possibly having them give oral presentations using video instead of doing a presentation at the front of the class, then the class could watch the presentations on the smart board projectors.
2. Concept Map
1b - Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
3c - communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.
These standards fit this assignment because I used real world issues, Natural Disasters, and taught it in a new, digitally fun format. The second standard fits because I was able to communicate the information about Natural Disasters to the students using digital aged formats.
Assignment Reflection: In this assignment I learned how to make a concept map in the program Inspiration. It was a little confusing at first, but after a while of practicing it became easier. The main problem I had with this assignment was how detailed my topic was and how hard it was to lay out the topics in a clean and organized manner. It took a while to organize and to look decent, but I finally got it down. The other problem I had was in posting the graphic organizer part to the blog. It wouldn't format correctly, but I fixed it by typing out most of the layout myself. In order to integrate this into my own classroom I would use it to teach topics in a fun and participatory way, but I think I would go with the Prezi program instead. It is more crisp and easier to organize for me.
3. Website
Standards Linked to this Assignment:
3c - communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.
4c - promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information.
These standards go well with this assignment because it provides information for both the students and the parents on what is going on in the classroom that month.
Assignment Reflection:
I liked this assignment overall. I had never made a website before and thought this would be a good thing to learn so that one day I'd be able to make one of my own for my classroom. I wasn't sure where to start so I had to Google examples of things to say as a teacher to parents. I had only a few problems choosing a layout and finding appropriate wordings of things, but I fixed the layout by playing around with the website and the examples I found on other teacher websites helped out a lot. In order to integrate this into my classroom, I would make sure the website was updated regularly and I kept the classroom calender filled with details for the parents. I would also make sure to add extra copies of the homework assignments or any other assignments that the parents might need.
4. Window's Movie Maker
Standards Linked to this Assignment:
1a - promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
2a - design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
This assignment goes with the mentioned standards because it was all about creativity in the story telling process. We were given a goal, but were also given free range on what we could do our stories on. This process allowed us to learn about digital tools and technology but in a way that still allowed us to play with our creativity.
Assignment Reflection:
I really enjoyed this assignment. I've always liked being able to use creativity with free range and making a story movie was a lot of fun. I knew my laptop had Window's Movie Maker, but I never knew how to use it. It was a pretty easy project, but I did have difficulty getting the pictures to show up after saving the movie as a project and trying to reopen it in the Lab. It was easily fixed though when I figured out how to resubmit them to the projects. This assignment could be integrated into the classroom easily. Students can make a book trailer about a book they've read in the classroom, or they could make their own story books using a camera and putting them into the movie maker. I think students would really enjoy this.
1b - engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.
4a - 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.
These standards fit this assignment because this assignment was all about plagiarism. Plagiarism is a real issue and Turn-it in addresses this problem using digital resources. This assignment also addresses the ethical use of information and technology. It also addresses the appropriate use of sources.
Assignment Reflection:
I was familiar with TurnItIn before this assignment. I had to use this program at my community college for both Comp 1 and Comp 2. However, I had not purposefully plagiarized before and I felt really awkward and guilty being assigned a project that required me to plagiarize. I had a few issues with the TurnItIn. The first was I copied and pasted from 5 different sources but couldn't get above 86% on the similarity, even after resubmitting it with another plagiarized source. My revised submission was no problem at all. I always got 2% or lower in Comp 1 and Comp 2 so I wasn't really worried about that part at all. I think in order to incorporate this into my classroom, I'd need to use it on older students. Maybe 5th or 6th grade because they have grasped a better concept on ways to not plagiarize and the moral compass of the situation. You could show this to younger children but I'm not sure if the program would address a 3rd graders attempt on avoiding plagiarism.
4a - 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.
These standards fit this assignment because this assignment was all about plagiarism. Plagiarism is a real issue and Turn-it in addresses this problem using digital resources. This assignment also addresses the ethical use of information and technology. It also addresses the appropriate use of sources.
Assignment Reflection:
I was familiar with TurnItIn before this assignment. I had to use this program at my community college for both Comp 1 and Comp 2. However, I had not purposefully plagiarized before and I felt really awkward and guilty being assigned a project that required me to plagiarize. I had a few issues with the TurnItIn. The first was I copied and pasted from 5 different sources but couldn't get above 86% on the similarity, even after resubmitting it with another plagiarized source. My revised submission was no problem at all. I always got 2% or lower in Comp 1 and Comp 2 so I wasn't really worried about that part at all. I think in order to incorporate this into my classroom, I'd need to use it on older students. Maybe 5th or 6th grade because they have grasped a better concept on ways to not plagiarize and the moral compass of the situation. You could show this to younger children but I'm not sure if the program would address a 3rd graders attempt on avoiding plagiarism.
6. Webtools
Standards Linked to this Assignment:
2b - develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own education goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.
2c - customize and personalize learning activities to address student's diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources.
3a - demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.
These standards fit this assignment because this assignment was all about finding new and fun/informative ways to teach and assess students. Trackstar allowed the students to use different technological resources to learn and assess, Big Bus Testmaker gives a digital form of a small test, and Rubistar allows the teacher to make a rubric easy in no time using technology.
Assignment Reflection:
During this assignment I learned a handful of things about how easy things can be thanks to technology. I especially liked the rubric maker. I had to make my own rubric recently in another class, using word. I wish I had known about Rubistar before I used Word because Rubistar was about 100x easier. The only issues I had with this assignment was with the links. I forgot the 4 in the Rubistar and Trackstar links and I got sent to 2 random websites that had nothing to do with teaching. Putting the 4 in the link fixed that though. Incorporating this into my own classroom would be easy. I'm not so sure I'd use the testmaker because I didn't really like it too much, but rubistar would be helpful for assessing students and trackstar is extremely useful for the computer area and giving the students a fun way to learn without them going to random websites.
7. Google Groups & Google Docs
Standards Linked with this Assignment:
1a - promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
1c - promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students' conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
1d - model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleaugues and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.
3c - communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats
5b - exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others.
These standards fit because all the different things we did with Google (questions, story, and slide show) have everything to do with creative thinking and inventiveness. The questions promoted reflection and assessment purposes, the story allowed us to be creative while using a new technology and the slide show allowed us to use a new technology while assessing our knowledge and research.
Assignment Reflection:
This assignment was a little confusing at times. The questions were easy to figure out how to do in Google groups and the story was easy to figure out in Google Docs, but I was a little confused on the Slide Show portion. I had to ask a group-mate for more detail on the assignment but we figured it out together. I actually ended up using the Google Docs at another time during the same week because it came in so handy after I figured out how to use it. I think I would incorporate this into my class for group assignments at the computer zone. Students could easily work on the same paper at the same time for group research projects or use the slideshow option to work together too.
OVERALL COURSE REFLECTION:
To be honest, at first, I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to learn in this class because I considered myself pretty tech-savvy. However, after going through the whole semester, I can honestly say that I learned quite a bit that I didn't know how to do, brand new technologies I didn't know you could use in your classroom, new rules and standards to incorporate in the classroom and things that children need to be aware of when growing up in a technological generation.
One of my favorite assignments was the Movie Maker one. I really enjoyed adding pictures to music and making a movie story to go with it. It may have been because I could use it to tell a cute, cheesy and sappy love story, but I never knew how to do that before. Now, I can make movies with pictures for all the people I care about. I could even make one to go with my classroom for projects, parties, etc and share it on the classroom website.
Overall, I had fun in this class. I can honestly say that I have things to take away from this class and the experience. I know have many different skills and abilities, I didn't have before, that I can take with me to my career and pass down to my students. I'm looking forward to incorporating all I've learned into my future.