EDLD+5364+Reflections

Week 1

The information provided during this first week of “Teaching with Technology” has been fascinating, disturbing, and educational! It is fascinating because of all the advances being made with technology and education. I agree wholeheartedly that “Teachers who believe that learning should be interesting and meaningful for students need to move past their concern that constructivist instruction is ‘not teaching.’ They need to understand that their view of teaching is based on an educational model that has been around since the dawn of the industrial age (Reigeluth, 1992). We, as educators need to begin changing how we view education and teaching to fit in with the ways the students we teach view the world. If we don’t, we are doing them a severe disservice. I was a bit disturbed with the video Cyborg Life because of the advancements being made into incorporating technology INTO human bodies. No longer is that a work of science fiction, it is actually being investigated for future use! While interesting due to the extent it could help humans, it is also a bit scary when you think of how all of the advancements could make “typical” humans a thing of the past…if you do not have the enhancements then you are a subspecies…SCARY! I can’t wait to keep reading and viewing the many things this course has laid out for us. It will definitely be a class that holds my attention!

Reigeluth, C. (1992). The imperative for social change. Educational Technology, 32(6), 9-12.

Warwick, K. (nd). Cyborg Life. Youtube.com. Retrieved on Feb. 21, 2011 from []

Week 2

This week was not as exciting as last week. While I did learn a lot about the effect of technology on classrooms and different aspects of planning a lesson, these are things I already had a pretty solid base about. Nothing this week really set off an "AHA" moment for me. The videos were helpful in my planning of the UDL lesson but I have been planning lessons for 8 years so other than learning the new set up, I really didn't learn anything extra about it. I did enjoy doing the eBook and can see how helpful and exciting it could be for my students. (Yes, I am working ahead since we did most of week 2 during week 3!). We are meeting as a group today to discuss our plans for finalizing our plan and collaborating on our unit. My group is really great and I'm excited to get feedback on the week 3 stuff I have already completed. Hopefully I won't have to alter it too much after meeting with them. I'm ready to read next week's articles and watch the videos so that I can hopefully learn some more stuff. This week was definitely a let down from last week!

 Week 3

 The videos this week were much more educational and interesting than the ones we watched last week. It is amazing the different ways technology can be used to increase student learning and understanding. The ability of students to assist each other and even adults in understanding the technology and material within the classroom is amazing! The Tech Wizards program sounds like such a great idea. The way the students are able to stay AFTER school and work on projects...and they are doing it just for the experience, not for a grade! It was an incredible program that motivates the students and increases their abilities and leadership skills. I would love for our district to have a program like this for students, it seems like an amazing way to get the students interested in their education. The eBook and UDL Lesson were a lot of work, but very interesting! I enjoyed doing the eBook and seeing the different options available within the program. I especially like that the students can answer questions as they are reading the book without having to turn to a worksheet. I also love the fact that it will translate text from English to Spanish and allow explanations within the text if the student chooses to listen to them. The information about different modalities within a lesson is very interesting and educational. I think the text definitely supports its' theories and I am interested to see how it works with my students.

Week 4

This week was a very difficult week for me due to the topic of much of the week. I think project based learning is an amazing way to get students to buy in to their education and I think it is definitely a great thing for certain classes. The problem is, the students I teach and the subject I teach makes project based learning something that doesn’t really make sense. I wish I could incorporate it into teaching my students reading but since many of them are reading below a third grade level it makes having them do things on their own is very difficult. I do want to keep researching all of the different methods discussed during this course and others to try to develop my students skills so that they can be successful in this new world.

Week 5

This week was very interesting in regards to the possibilities education has before it. We watched a lot of interesting videos about games being used to not only educate but assess student's ability to analyze and solve problems. It makes me want to jump in and participate in this type of learning but the majority of the topics seemed to be geared toward higher level students and concepts. What about the students who are trying to learn the basics, such as reading and writing? These students are not able to participate in many of the educational games because they do not have the ability to explain themselves in a way others can readily understand. Now, if these same games were to incorporate the audio technology available, as used on PS3s and similar games, these students would stop being held back by their disabilities and start being able to participate in these tasks with the rest of the children their age. But, I think with these children, a basic education is still necessary to try to increase their basic literacy skills. These children would still benefit from being in a classroom and learning from a teacher that has experience assisting students with special needs. Too many of the current ideas seem to leave this children out and focus on the average to above average type of child.

Final Class Reflection

Teaching with technology was a very thought provoking and educational class. I truly enjoyed the collaboration and project based aspect of the class. This is the first time in this program that I have been the leader in a major project and I have to admit I was a bit nervous about being given this honor. The other individuals in my group can be very strong willed, as can I, and I wanted to make sure everyone’s opinions and thoughts were respected and valued in our group. My team did an excellent job, and everyone stepped up to the plate when a specific assignment was geared more to her specialty. I learned so much about my ability as a leader and that when I allow others to bring their abilities to the plate it can make amazing things happen.

This class actually practiced what it taught. The videos and readings included in the course were a stepping stone to what we were expected to do and learn during the week. While some of the videos were a little disturbing, they were all informative and based on what could be expected in the coming years. The majority of the lessons centered on what needs to change in education and I agree wholeheartedly that “teachers who believe that learning should be interesting and meaningful for students need to move past their concern that constructivist instruction is ‘not teaching.’ They need to understand that their view of teaching is based on an educational model that has been around since the dawn of the industrial age (Reigeluth, 1992). We, as educators need to begin changing how we view education and teaching to fit in with the ways the students we teach view the world. If we don’t, we are doing them a severe disservice.

It is amazing the different ways technology can be used to increase student learning and understanding. The ability of students to assist each other and even adults in understanding the technology and material within the classroom is amazing! The technology integration presented in the video Kansas Technology Rich Classrooms truly shows what could happen if the education system embraces this new way of learning. It really allowed the students to control their own education and focus on the aspects of projects that interested them.

The eBook was a lot of work, but very interesting! I enjoyed doing the eBook and seeing the different options available within the program. I especially like that the students can answer questions as they are reading the book without having to turn to a worksheet. I also love the fact that it will translate text from English to Spanish and allow explanations within the text if the student chooses to listen to them. This is an excellent tool for students of all abilities to share their learning and/or create books for new learning. The communication piece embedded in the book is meeting the needs of our 21st century learners and providing them with feedback and recognition. The comment and response areas that can be built into the design of the e-book will allow students authors to have numerous reviews on their work and enforces what Pilter tells us, that "technology … makes it easier to complete multiple reviewers' feedback on a student's work, and allows the feedback process to happen ubiquitously" (Pitler, 2007, p. 42).

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Project based learning and gaming as a tool are amazing ways to get students to buy in to their education and I think it is definitely a great thing for certain classes. The problem is, the students I teach and the subject I teach makes project based learning something that doesn’t really make sense. I wish I could incorporate it into teaching my students reading but since many of them are reading below a third grade level it makes having them do things on their own is very difficult. I do want to keep researching all of the different methods discussed during this course and others to try to develop my students skills so that they can be successful in this new world. Too many of the current ideas seem to leave this children out and focus on the average to above average type of child.

<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction that works//. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Chapter 1, 15-38.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Reigeluth, C. (1992). The imperative for social change. Educational Technology, 32(6), 9-12.

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Schooltube.com (nd). //Kansas Technology Rich Classrooms – Partnership for 21st Century Learning//. Retrieved on Oct. 5, 2009 from http://www.schooltube.com/video/36743/Kansas-Technology-Rich-Classrooms--Partnership-for-21st-Century-Learning-Summit-Video#

<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Warwick, K. (nd). Cyborg Life. Youtube.com. Retrieved on Feb. 21, 2011 from []