Tag: A7-Reflection

I had a great time being in this course. Looking back at my first post, I notice that I mention “closing the digital divide” as one of the main things that I’d like to see done. I think after taking this class, I will be a lot more comfortable in how I approach that divide. Learning about the myriads of different platforms we can use in the classroom not only helped me grow as a teacher, but as a technology user. I now feel confident when using apps or different types of programming that I initially did not feel comfortable with using.

I think the class overall was great. I really enjoyed the structure of each class: come in and talk for a little, then hear a lecture about a specific useful app, program, or piece of technology that can be utilized, until finally we go to our respected computers and get to work. I would definitely recommend going about future classes in this format. Also, I think the 3 hour time slot worked perfectly for a class like this.

All in all, I learned so much in this class. I feel much more comfortable using iBook Author now, as well as using screen casting to further my education career. The biggest thing I’ve learned, though, is using this blog posting website. I can definitely see myself in the future wanting to use something like this again and, because of this class, I will know how to blog correctly (and make it look so clean, with the featured picture and all).

Thanks Peter for a great class! I look forward to running into you either on campus or downtown. Take it easy, everyone!

Photo by  abdullah.khan2012, entitled “Technology”

Going into this class, I was super enthused to learn methods for using  technology in the classroom.  For me, being tech savvy used to mean being able to operate a document camera and to use Google Docs.  Ok, well it was a little bit better than that, but this class has really opened my eyes to new tools that I did not know existed.  It has also provided me with practical tips on the logistics of how I would actually use tech tools to enhance a class.

After trying out and experimenting with a bunch of tech tools, I would like to make a list to catalog some of my favorites as well as my brief reflections about them:

• WordPress – Starting from a basic blog post to including video and site embeds, seeking creative commons license photos to accompany, and more, practicing using WordPress made me appreciate its friendly user-face and simplicity.  Surely this will come in handy for blogging in the future.
• Adobe Spark – While working on the class E book, we were introduced to this tool.  I had too much fun testing the endless possibilities of creative design on this and can see many uses for its professional-quality images with words.
• Google NGram Viewer – This tool for visualizing the rate of use of certain terms could be used in many classrooms and could connect topics therein to the real world.
• Screencasting – Making screencasts was not as easy as it appeared and might take some practice to become proficient, yet it was a great way to present material on a screen and another option for how to explain material to students or give them resources to use outside of class.

Overall, this class was valuable because it tied theory to practice, a feat difficult to accomplish in an ed class.  Again, I look forward to the future, curious about where ed tech will advance and how it will change the very nature of education.  I trust that we will be good stewards of it and carefully implement it in prudent and effective ways.

Featured Image created on Adobe Spark

We are finally at the finish line.  I got to say, this race was the longest one yet.

Looking back on my first post,  I only talked about how I used technology, or the current technology I had, in education, but not anything pertaining to what I wanted to get out of the class.  I am kind of glad I did that because it feels like I was telling myself that I wanted to keep things a mystery with no expectations so I can see every lesson with interest and not be disappointed if something I wanted to learn never came up.

Have I made progress?  Hell yeah I did!  This class unlocked so many new ways to teach that I can now use.  I know they were always there in some way or form, but I just needed some kind of force to show me that they existed.  I will most likely use everything I have learned in the future, but I believe I would find myself using the “Find, Curate, Store” and “Screencast” lessons the most.

Suggestions?  In terms of improving the class, there is nothing I can think of.  I’ve enjoyed the project-based learning, meaning that it was up to us how invested we wanted to be in the lesson and the work.  Every lesson was detailed enough that we were able to learn on our own, allowing you to walk around the class to see our progress/struggles and lending your assistance to us.  In terms of new things to teach, I’m sorry, but I can’t think of anything.  Everything in this class was new to me and found them useful and fun.

Thanks, Peter!

Featured Image: Adobe Spark Creation

Going into this class, I didn’t really have expectations. I knew that I wanted to get a little more comfortable with the technology available to me, and to gain an understanding of the possibilities of a higher tech placement. This course was helpful to me on both counts. I really appreciated the focus on easy to access online tools, because even in my placement those were useful to me, and I feel like I know that cool things are out there, and that many of them are pretty easy to work with and access.

I especially liked the focus on Google tools, because literally every school in the vicinity will have those available. I gained a better working understanding in the tools I’m already familiar with, which was super helpful. I especially like the my maps and google notes possibilities, which I wouldn’t have considered using or exploring before this course.

I was really interested in everything about this course, but the way our schedules work forced me to spend  less time on it than I wanted. I would love for it to be a required course for juniors, who still have hope and energy for things other than their student teaching placement. I feel that if I had taken the class earlier, I could have engaged more with everything and been more creative and interested in embracing the project based learning model.

Featured Image: “Psychedelic Jellyfish” by Paul Tomin on Flickr

In my first post I talked a lot about how I did not feel like I was technology literate. I know I am still not 100% there but I have gained one important thing. I now have a spark of curiosity about the technology that is in the world. I have more wonder and motivation to learn about new technology and apps that I could integrate into the classroom. I think that curiosity is the main piece of the puzzle that I was missing, now that I have been exposed to a small slice of technology that is available I have more interest in discovering what is out there.

I feel more comfortable navigating different apps and formats such as Apple products or Google Drive elements. I still get frustrated occasionally when I encounter something that is not made or set up with what I view as common sense. However I have learned to push past my frustration and un-comfortability for the benefit of my students. I want them to also have new experiences with technology so I could fall flat on my face but the students would probably be able to teach me about whatever technology thing-y I don’t understand.

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Personally in the beginning of the course I was not a fan of how “loose” the structure of the class was, if you haven’t figured it out I’m a bit of a Type A person. However I realized that we were the first group of students shaping the course so both the instructor and the students were figuring it out as they went along. And honestly, some flexibility is good for me to learn as a teacher.

The only other suggestion I would have is maybe one or two class periods where we could possibly get different devices like iPads or chromebooks and actually physically play around with different apps like nearpod, kahoot or keynote. I just think a bit more hands on practice with what your classroom would actually look like could be benefical!

Thanks for everything!

 

Attribution: Bryan McDonald

Looking back at my first blog post, I am amazed that the semester is already over and how much more exposure I’ve been getting to technology that can be used in the classroom as well as how I can use it to make learning spicy.

Throughout my time student teaching at my placement and since beginning this class, I have definitely experimented more and done more with the available technology in the classroom. With the recent addition of a cart of chrome books, I have taken advantage of online platforms such as MobyMax, Geogebra, Khan Academy, and Desmos in order to enhance learning….or just keep the kids busy if I was a little behind on grading *cough*. The kids enjoyed my experiments more than I did, I think, just because it was different from me just lecturing at them.

I feel like taking this class has allowed me to really branch out and experiment with things that I didn’t think I would want to experiment with. I have been so much more confident and I am so grateful that my CT has been so flexible with me and has given me free reign to perform all of these experiments and use the kids as guinea pigs. I have definitely discovered more of what my ideal style of teaching is through using the resources that were presented through this class, and I will definitely carry everything that I have learned from this class with me throughout my entire career.

One thing that I will have to do before graduation is to bookmark this blog post and all the resources that everyone has blogged about and use it if (and hopefully when) I get a classroom of my own. I feel like I have also learned how to adapt to an environment without easy access to technology just based on the implications of what you CAN do with technology and how to get around that should the technology not be available to you.

I have also become more adept at looking for more than one way to present certain material, and I think that this will definitely help me a lot when I actually get a teaching job (again….fingers crossed).

I don’t have anything to suggest for this class. It was extremely flexible, which I appreciated immensely, and the course was really just like a living thing. I am reminded of the Constitution of the United States in the sense that it is a living document and is always capable of changing, and that was the sort of feeling I got from this course. I also appreciated the fact that we were able to choose the way we presented our findings when playing with the various materials that were available to us. It was a lot of fun to play with the different things that were introduced to us; especially when we had already had a bit of experience with the resource, such as Google.

Thanks, Peter, for opening the horizons a bit more and making these resources available to me and the rest of the class. We will definitely benefit greatly from the things you have taught us. It was also super fun to run a blog (sort of) that might one day help future teachers! And let’s not forget the fact that we are now published authors with Apple, even though it was just with one book.

 

For the last time, thanks for reading! 😀

 

Featured image courtesy of Adobe Spark.

I feel like I have learned how to better use several tools that will help students visualize the mathematics that they are learning.  I practiced using Desmos graphing calculator and thought of multiple ways that I could use it in a lesson.  I also learned about new tools that I have never heard of before, such as GapMinder World.  Overall, I feel like the teaching with data visualization was the most valuable lesson for me.  I could see myself using several of the tools in future math lessons.

The thing that was the most frustrating for me was creating a screencast.  I didn’t like that if I made a mistake while screencasting, I had to go back and re-do the entire video.  I understand that creating screencasts can be valuable – it makes it unnecessary for a teacher to explain the same thing multiple times and allows for time to focus on other tasks during class time. However, I do not think it is a teaching strategy that I will ever use because I found it to be very time-consuming and frustrating to create one short video.

Image credit Moyan Brenn