Final class reflection

Now that ED 5700 has come to an end, I want to take a moment a d reflect on this course as a whole. I started out the semester very wary about taking an online course. I didn't know what to expect and was instantly overwhelmed. Having all of the assignments at once is scary and only having 5 weeks to finish everything is worse. After taking a deep breath and planning out my weeks one step at a time, it didn't seem all that bad. As the weeks progressed, I found that I was managing my time much better than I originally was and I felt more confident in my ability to pass the class. Now, in hindsight, it all didn't seem too bad.
Forgetting the stress of finishing the work, the knowledge that I gained from this class is widespread. I learned a lot about technology, technology based lessons, integrating technology, and the usefulness of technology in the classroom. There is numerous articles and research that supports the integration of technology in classrooms to support student learning. We not only got a chance to learn about all these strategies to use in the class, we also had the opportunity to try out some technology to potentially use in a classroom. These activities that had us learn about new programs were some of the most helpful in the class. Gaining the hands on experience and practice explaining the program prepared us to use them in the classroom.
Although I had several difficulties with internet access during the final meeting, I thought it was a good experience. I never had the opportunity to participate in an online class that allowed the participants to present and discuss in a chat room. I think it is a very good method to integrate online classes with an in person component. It was much easier to comment on presentations verbally or through a chat for more instantaneous feedback on the presentations.
Overall, I think that I learned a lot from this class and found many tools to use in a classroom. I hope to be able to continue building my knowledge of technology and finding new ways to integrate technology into lessons to support student learning.

e folio reflection

For my class, ED 5700 Teaching with Technology,  we were required to compile all of our work into an e folio on the livebinders site. This process was very long, but in the end, I felt very proud of my work. We compiled majority of our work from the past 5 weeks by taking screen shots, creating google docs, and creating projects that all showed our growth during our time in the class.

This binder started with our teaching philosophy. Creating that statement was a very enlightening experience. I had to think a lot about the course, my own ideas of teaching, and how I would like to structure my future classroom. I have written these pieces in the past, but they are all tailored to the class. This class was the first that really made me think about what I want my students' learning experience to be. Children know and work with technology all the time. It is a very important aspect to consider in a classroom environment.

The e folio also consisted of all our work throughout the five weeks, When I spent time compiling all of my work, it was very apparent that my understanding of technology and integration methods has increased. Re reading my written explanations and looking at my work over time has shown growth and understanding of the material. I also had a chance to look at my reflections in the compilation of information. I realized that I began looking more deeply into my work and future ideas for my classroom as my pedagogical knowledge increased.

Overall, the e folio was a great resource for me to look through my progress in the class and easily compile my work for future use. If you would like to check out my e folio, you can view it here!

Web of Wonders Reflection

Through the process of creating the Web of Wonders (WoW) project, I learned a lot about technology and teaching technology. This project was all about our overall learning and a culminating project for our five week semester.  We were given the opportunity to create our own multimedia project about a topic of our choice. This choice may have been the hardest decision to make in the process of creating the WoW project. There are so many topics, integration strategies, and tools we learned about in the semester that it was hard to pick just one.

I decided to think about what I thought was the most informative and important piece to me as a future educator. What did I take away from this class that I could use in my classroom? For me, thinking of what tools and programs I would want to use always comes with the same question: “ What research supports this method?” Research based teaching strategies are very important to me. With all of the studies and data taken in the field of education, it is important to look for teaching methods that are proven to work.  

When looking at the text book and thinking about this question, I found a lot of information about classroom models that integrate online and in class components together to create a more informative experience for students. This idea of virtual learning can encompass many different classroom models. There is no set ratio of online and in class component that needs to be met, but blended classroom can support higher levels of learning. Blended environments allow learners to learn more and teachers to teach more. The students receive more individualized attention from teachers and also gain support through practice in the online component of the lessons.

One of the most common models of a blended environment is a flipped classroom. Students learn chosen components of lessons online provide more quality time with the teacher by avoiding re teaching the lesson several times to make sure everyone has the same amount of base knowledge to move into practice and discussion. With this time that is saved by online learning, the teacher can provide more quality, hands on instruction to support a constructivist model of learning. These online components of learning are usually provided to students as a homework assignment or in a center during the day before teacher instruction.

There are several studies that were provided in the textbook that supported these blended learning environments. Each environment can be changed to support the philosophy of the teacher and the needs of the class. Reading through all of the information in the book forced me to think about what strategy I would want to use in my classroom.I think that the flipped classroom is a very interesting model that I would like to try. Starting out as a new teacher,  I think it would be tough using this model for all lessons, but it would be good to try and have the opportunity to review and reflect on the lessons to improve for future attempts.

After choosing my topic and researching outside the information provided in the text, I moved to putting it all together in a multimedia presentation. Keeping with the theme of using new technology, I decided to create a Prezi for the first time. I could never figure out how people created these intricate presentations with so many dimensions. The actual creation of the presentation was very simple. I used a pre loaded template for the sake of saving time and got to work. I took time to explore the features of Prezi and learned that I could control the order of slides with a drag tool but couldn’t add a hyperlink, unfortunately.

Prezi is a fantastic tool to use as an alternative to the traditional powerpoint. With a prezi, your board is essentially infinite. You are provided with a board and all the tools and images you need to create an dimensional presentation. The movement across the board consists of zooms in and out, slides, turns, and many other transitions that keep you fascinated with just the presentation tool. I also learned, during the process of creating the prezi, that voice overs could be recorded and instantly played when the section of the prezi is called to the front. This feature makes the presentation more engaging and allows the viewer to move to hear the selected audio rather than a running audio that would need to be tracked forward or back to hear specific information pertinent to the slide.

Overall, I liked how the presentation came together after personalizing the template, adding all of the information, and incorporating the audio files to support the text. I think that each of the aspects of the lesson blended well together and  where I felt that my text was lacking, I added voice to support the point I was trying to get across. In my toolkit of presentation programs, I think that prezi was definitely the best choice. I would not have felt that a glog from glogster.com would not have been able to support the information I thought was important to share. After using prezi, a powerpoint seems like an outdated tool. There are features in powerpoint that a prezi can not accommodate, so given the proper circumstances, powerpoint still serves a purpose.

Through this experience, I learned more about the topic of flipped classrooms and other blended learning environments. There are two web pages that are linked at the end of the presentation. These two pages are links to descriptions and tips for a flipped classroom environment. Both pages are extremely helpful for teachers that are looking to try a flipped classroom. They are full of videos, tools, resources, and tips to successfully flip your classroom. I also found a video that is embedded into the presentation. In the video, a teacher is explaining how he uses flipped classroom strategies in his room and how they compare to traditional classrooms and classrooms that use in class video lectures to teach the class. These resources gave me first hand insight to the process of creating a flipped classroom.

When working towards a classroom flip, the teacher needs to understand the technology and use it well. Technology is becoming more and more important to classrooms every day. Students respond well to the tools that are used effectively and their levels of understanding show their educational growth. Through this project, I have learned many things that I will most certainly use in the future, but the most important take away that I got from this project is to try new things. Trying a new presentation, trying a new classroom model, or a new piece of technology can be a great experience. It is important to remember to try and reflect on what you did. This method is something that we need to follow and teach to our students to support their learning and our own learning.

Chapter 11 Glog

Check out the Glog created by Kait and I for Chapter 11.

Glogster.com

For my multimedia project, I did a video tutorial of the website glogster.com.

You can check out the screencast here.

Glogster.com is a virtual poster making website. The website provides teachers and students with a way to connect through the app or e mail to create and view posters where ever there is access to internet. The website can really launch a classroom into technology that is beyond a powerpoint.

Creating the video was fairly easy, but took a few takes to get it right. Trying to keep the video engaging, accurate, and not overwhelming was key for this project. I enjoyed the practice of making these videos. There is a good chance I will be using this skill in a classroom to explain how to use a website or program and not use valuable class time. Thinking about my education process, having access to a video tutorial from some teachers could have been extremely helpful, especially in some of my science classes.

I'm very excited to watch some of my classmates video tutorials. There were a lot of programs that I was interested in learning about. Being able to watch a video that explains the process of the website will be very helpful in my future endeavors as a teacher.

Socializing in a Virtual Environment

For class, we discussed if virtual classrooms are causing students to have low socialization skills. Here is what we thought

The members of group D  seemed to all agree on the fact that socialization is difficult to develop in online schools. It is important for students to have face to face conversations with teachers and peers. There are many benefits to online schools, but students miss out on some of the benefits from being in a classroom with students their own age. Students miss out on learning how to interact with people outside of their parents. This development can be supplemented through clubs, sport, and other activities that involve similar aged peers. This supplemental time would be very difficult to make up for the time spent in a traditional classroom.

Transformational Teaching

After viewing the webinar on the pedagogy wheel, I have mixed feelings. The presentation itself was not what I expected. I felt that I was missing a lot of the information because it was not in the form of a video that would have explained each slide and its relevance to the overall presentation. That being said, did find some good take aways from the presentation. The pedagogy wheel that Allan Carrington was talking about throughout the slides is a good way to support tech integration in the classroom.
The wheel focuses on 5 midset grids which can help students to understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. These grids on the wheel provides teachers with a combination of verbs, activities and apps that support each learning grid. Each mindset supports and develops another. These skills are ones that are used everyday. At the center of the wheel is immersive learning. Students need to be hands on and develop these skills properly to use them effectively.
Carrington describes  how to use the wheel most effectively in the webinar. He describes the process as a series of moving gears. There is the attributes gear that helps the teacher think about revisiting their methods and design to support the individual attributes of students. The motivation gear works towards autonomy, mastery, and purpose in student work. The teacher has to guide the students into independent work that is meaningful and understood in the process. The blooms gear focuses on Bloom's taxonomy that incorporates the levels of blooms taxonomy into the lesson to promote higher level thinking. The technology gear focuses on finding apps with a purpose rather than wasting time with apps that don't support student growth. Finally, The SAMR model develops the thinking behind the choice of an app. This forces teachers to think of the possibilities for the use of apps in the classroom in a functional and developmental manner.
Overall, this wheel, when used correctly, can support a lot of teachers that are struggling to find ways to integrate technology into the classroom. The wheel supports all of the tasks and learning that teachers need to cover throughout the year and supports those goals with app suggestions. The teachers are also provided with rating rubric for the apps that can be shared or used to determine what apps should be used in the classroom. Adding technology into the classroom, using flipped classrooms and effectively using apps can transform teaching in learning in the classroom.