- Early Connections
- Zoodles
- Free Resources for teachers & parents
- Using Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom
- What Schools Are Really Blocking When They Block Social Media
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Digital Hot List
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Vision of Technology Integration
In today’s
day and age more and more people are realizing the many benefits of integrating
technology into the classroom. “Students
across the United States now enjoy an average student-computer ratio 4:1, with
98% of schools and 77% of classrooms connected to the Internet.” (Market Data
Retrieval, 2002) Teachers are slowly
feeling more comfortable with using technology in their classrooms. The more comfortable teachers feel with using
technology the more likely they are to use it.
My vision
for technology would be to be able to work in a school that has the ability to
provide either an IPad or laptop to each student. I think this is important for the students
that cannot afford the luxury of having their own. If this is not feasible for schools then they
should have a program, where students can sign them out for a certain amount of
time. This can help students review a
lesson or complete an assignment. “Kindergarten
students are learning to practice letter, number and reading skills through
interactive computer games as well as more traditional applications.” (Buban, Post University)
I
would like to use these different games and applications to help the students
reinforce the lesson. This is a great
advantage because students can learn at there own pace, and reach students with
different learning styles.
Currently
not being a teacher, I am learning more and more ways to implement
technology. I have learned there are
several methods that help save on time. Such
as practice tests that increase in difficulty as a student answers questions
correct. This will save time by
automatically scoring and assessing the students learning level. I would also use technology to create student portfolios
and create lesson plans. It is no secret
that young children have short attention spans and using technology would keep these
students involved. There are some games
that can help students with different activities like letter sounds. Activities like this would make learning fun
for the students. There are a wide variety of activities that a teacher or student can choose from.
Overall, I hope to be able to use
technology in a variety of ways to help kids learn, problem solve and be an
active participate in their education. I believe it is crucial to include interactive lesson plans to keep the children engaged. The technology makes it easy for teachers to try using different applications. Most of the applications are free, so if it is not successful, the school is not loosing any money. It is important to lay a strong technological foundation down now so every student can be
prepared to enter the work force in the future.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Week #3 - My Literature Review
Technology
is everywhere today. Whether you are
simply using your smartphone for directions or a student using an IPad to
research information for a school project.
It amazes me that still today there are classrooms not using any of the
wide variety of technology to help enhance their students learning. We need to continue to move away from
“powering down” once we enter the schools and use all of this technology to our
advantage.
The journal
article I read, Using Technology In The Classroom by Stephanie Reeve Boles discusses many different technological tools that can be implemented in the
classroom. Some may argue that using
technology will cost too much money but there are many ways to make this
affordable. Boles discusses some options
to reduce the cost. One idea was to use
old computers that are no longer in use and updating them, by adding memory and
newer software. This way there will be
more computers available to the students.
It is important for students to be able to access the Internet because
many textbooks are outdated. With access
to the Internet students get the most updated information at their fingertips.
There are
many different learning styles, and with the array of technological tools we
can accommodate those styles. Some students
are visual learners, and what better way to engage those students than with
using certain websites or apps that use animation? This not only reinforces the
lesson but they can view it at their own pace.
Boles mentions several different sites that include lessons, games, and
practice test, such as kidsknowit.com. I
think this is great and really engages the student and gets them excited about
learning. My daughter is young but she
gets very excited every time she gets to play with the IPad. There are many educational apps she cannot
only play with but also learn from. Students
can explore different sites and talk about what they learned with other
students. This turns students into
active participants in their own education.
Another great tool teachers can use
to their advantage are podcasts. This is
free because most students have IPods, IPads, or smartphones. Students can use podcast to listen to lesson
plans. This is especially useful to
students who miss class due to illness or vacations. I know this would of been helpful growing up because I missed a lot of classes due to vacations. Boles discovered that using different types
of technology motivates her students. “I
have them use presentation software.
They are much more motivated to do the investigating, because using the
software is more interesting, and the presentations is more entertaining.” Some fun websites Boles uses is the volcano explorer. Check it out volcano explorer. This allows you to watch a volcano erupt.
Stephanie
Boles discusses how she slowly overtime added more technological tools to
different lesson plans. If all teachers
could take this approach and slowly incorporate more and more technological
tools overtime it may be easier for everyone to adapt. I think the more teachers use these tools;
they will not only see how the students benefit from it, but also how they
do. I know when I was in school I always
enjoyed visual presentations like PowerPoint, but this was rarely used. I know I would have been more engaged in the
class if my teachers used more technological tools. I would definitely implement some of the methods discussed in my future lesson plans. Time and time again we hear that children are
our future. This begs the question, why
are we not preparing them by giving them every advantage to succeed in the
future?
References
1. Using Technology in the Classroom
2. Picture of toddler with IPad http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/toddlers-risk-tech-experts- study-shows-soars-article-1.1747694
3. Picture of Hand
4. Getting Schooled by a Third Grader https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNvDlqFLgxk
5. Volcano Explorer
http://kids.discovery.com/games/build-play/volcano-explorer
6. Telephone and Tube
7. No Child Left Behind
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Having fun with the Avatar
 |
| Hi my name is Terri. Welcome to my blog! |
I had fun being able to create my first avatar. I used bitstrips, which allows you to design your own avatar for free! "If it is free then, it is for me."
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