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Friday, August 31, 2007

Technology

I am amazed at how much I have learned already through this class in just two times of meeting. I havent really had to look up articles on my own before and learning how to use that and then get them into a folder to use really helped me out. Had I known some of these things before, some of my classes would have been much easier. I would have never guessed there were this many articles on the subject area that I want to go into, especially because most people have never heard of the profession I am working towards. I have found more information and help than I ever knew existed through the past week in the class. I am looking forward to learning even more and getting the chance to apply it in an area that I want to and not just doing it because I have to for a class and it is required. I am really interested in looking at more research and info in my area since many teachers havent even had any ideas of what to do and anything for me to look at. I am excited for the rest of this class and think it will really benefit me in years to come.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Technology with Friends

Since this is a space for free writing, I am going to talk about how I used technology to have fun with friends. My closest friends are all in different locations. I have one friend who is at home (suburbs of Chicago), a friend at ISU, and a friend at Purdue. Through a computer program called Hamachi, we are able to all connect on an invisible network which allows us to play games with each other. At home, we used to just go to a friend's house and all connect to that network and play hours of games. Now, since we are all in different places, it is a little more difficult. So now, we all connect to each other using Hamachi and Skype (a program that lets us talk to each other through blue tooth or headphones) and this lets us play like we did at home. It is one of our ways we try to keep in touch even though we are all busy at our own places.

I think technology has come so far. I remember before we had cell phones and aim and even before wireless internet. We all had to use the house phone, walk down the street, or even use dial-up internet to get ahold of each other. Sometimes I am a little worried that as a society we depend too much on technology. I mean, I know that when we are without a cell phone or internet for a few days we all begin to panic. I guess I am just worried what will happen if one day we don't have these technologies for awhile. I definitely think technology is important and should be used as a tool for our generation and generations to come, however, I think we also need to take it in strides and not completely forget about life without technology.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Post 1


What Do You Want To Learn From This Course?
I want to learn the latest tecnologies that are being used in the classroom. I also want to be more familiar with olden technologies so that I can use them more thoroughly and be knowledgeable with questions that my student may ask. I want fun, practical ways of using technology to conduct and English literature discussion. I want to be able to relate everything I learn in this class to my future classroom while gaining more tech skills.
posted by LP619 @
9:41 AM 0 comments

The Benefits of Using Technology in Teaching are...
There are many benefits of using technology in teaching. Previously, I mentioned boring lectures. With the use of media or music, classes can become more interactive and creative. This helps to engage students and hopefully connect with them on various levels. Students learn in different ways, such as listening, seeing, or actually doing. With technology, students can have more access to whatever type of learning style they prefer. If a lesson is played through a projector, students are able to see and hear it. They can also use a pointer to interact with the lesson or site. The students also learn valuable skills that they can take with them into high education and job experience.
posted by LP619 @
9:37 AM 0 comments

What Do You Think is the Biggest Challenge of Teaching with Technology?
I think the biggest challenge of teaching with technology is being completely knowledgeable and familiar with the technologies so that if students have any sort of problem, we can help them fix it. Many teachers are intimidated by technology and refuse to utilize them at all. Helping teachers to understand the importance and the ease of learning how to fully utilize technologies in the classroom will greatly benefit their own teaching experiences as well as the students' learning experiences. I feel that teachers my age enjoy working with technology, but it may prove to be a greater challenge with veteran teachers who are not accustomed to using so much technology in their daily lessons.
posted by LP619 @
9:31 AM 0 comments

Teaching with Technology Means...
Being up to date with the latest techologies
Being able to relate to our students
Having a fun, interactive, and creative classroom
Understanding how to properly use technologies
Engaging students
Providing students with valuable life skills that they can use for the rest of their lives
posted by LP619 @
9:28 AM 0 comments

o0o0o0o Technology
Hello! My name is Lauren. I like to pretend that I am extremely knowledeable about technology, and I guess I was...5 years ago. It seems that I may have been computer savy when I was in junior high, but my skills have not greatly developed since then. I know the basics: powerpoint, word, some excel, but my main source of technology comes from Instant Messenger and browsing the internet. I can crop and simply edit photos, and if I have 3 hours to spare, make my powerpoints have sound and really exciting add-ons. I have only taught using powerpoint, and most of the time is just get repetitive. No one enjoys lectures, even if they do have fun sounds. In this class, I hope to become fully capable of quickly and easily using more technology both inside and outside of the classroom.

My Thoughts on Technology

I am pretty comfortable with technology. I enjoy technology but it does scare me because I don't always understand why or how it works. When it comes to using the Internet or creating a word document or a PowerPoint, I feel that I am very capable. However if I need to do more, say create a web page or use java, I am lost. I am very willing to learn because I know that technology is the way of the future, which is why I'm interested in this courses content. I want to be more competent with technology, so I will be able to incorporate it into my classroom eventually.

To me, teaching with technology means the ability to use technology resourcefully and communicating critical information to your students. I think technology should be used for creative teaching, like creating games or websites in order to aid your students with the course material. I also think that teaching with technology means the ability to do every day technological tasks, such as creating PowerPoints and the ability to email. Technology is becoming more and more crucial to every day tasks, such as using the Internet as a reliable source for research and information. The ability to tell the difference between reliable and unreliable sources, and being able to help your students with their technological needs.

I believe the biggest challenge teaching with technology produces is the fact that technology upgrades and becomes outdated so quickly. Students always seem to be more savvy with new technology and it will be a challange to stay ahead of the game in order to keep up with technological needs. Another problem that arises while teaching with technology is the fact that technology doesn't always work. Today's class proves this fact, the overhead projector didn't work. This has happened in a few of my courses here at IWU, and it proves that you can't rely solely on technology, because problems may arise and the technology may not behave as you had hoped or anticipated.

I believe teaching with technology offers many benefits. For starters it allows a teacher to communicate with students out side of school, via a course website for example. It makes a teacher available to his or her students when they wouldn't be otherwise. I think it is a good learning tool because the use of technology in a classroom will help prepare students for their future by developing skills that they will need. The ability to type and use the Internet are crucial for student development today.

From this course I hope to learn critical skills that will be valuable in a classroom in the future. I hope to become more comfortable and competent with computers and technology. I know there is a lot to learn about technology and I feel the more I apply myself now, I will be better equipped to teach and work with students in a technological world. I think this course will also give me new great ideas that will only benefit me and my students in the future.

Tech Questions

Teaching with technology means teaching with an enhanced efficiency. For example, the use of power points helps students become more visually stimulated, keeping them interested in the material, while being taught the same information that a standard lecture teaches. Also, video clips, song bites, and pictures either downloaded from the Internet or provided through mp3s allows students to understand topics on levels unattainable by one dimensional lectures or discussions.

I think the biggest challenge of teaching with technology is overcoming minor setbacks and incositencies common with many websites and out of date materials (computers, operating systems, etc). Most of the time these setbacks are minor and easy to overcome but sometimes they can result in loss of teaching time or loss of lessons. Coping with these setbacks by either backing up resources or having numerous lesson plans are useful in the case of a computer crash or technological difficulties

The benefits using technology in teaching are teaching with an increased efficiency that allows for more learning/passage of knowledge and reaching levels of learning that are unattainable by the lecture format. By encorporating power points, music, video clips, and photographs, one is able to teach students a much more vivid lesson.

By taking this class I hope to gain a better understanding of technology as well as update my knowedge of technology. This class, I hope, will show me ways of incorporating technology in the classroom that I have not yet learned and allow me to reach students on multiple levels.

Skills

I am a junior who is an education interdiscinplanary, and so I am not going to be in a classroom teaching children, however I will be working in a hospital setting with young children who are going through some kind of treatment or are going to have an operation.

Throughout my different experiences, I have been able to work with a variety of programs in the Microsoft office. I have used word and power point throughout my high school experience for different assignments and projects. With my work study job, I have also gotten the chance to work with excel on a daily basis. I am also a head coach for a softball team and have designed a web site for the team which I continually update so I have worked with front page quite a bit lately to keep that going.

To me, teaching with technology means involving a variety of programs into the classrooms and using it as a way to help kids. Since children all learn in a different way, using technology in a power point form can help for them to see the material they are talking about and use it as a guide. I also think technology in the classroom can be using things like a movie or playing music or letting the students themselves get on the computer and do some different activities. Another new part of technology in the classroom is the Smart board where everything can be put on a screen in the room and the teacher and student is able to do the work on the screen.

I think the biggest challenge of teaching with technology is making sure that it is not the same kind of things over and over and making sure there is a little change here and there. If the same type of lesson is done again and again, students may start to get bored and lose interest in the subject matter because everything is the same. Also, there are times when I feel that teachers rely on the technology too much and begin to stop being active in their classrooms and let the computers and other things do it for them.

I believe the benefits of technology can be really good for the students if done in the correct way. I think that if power point is used to give lessons now and then and students watch a movie or get on a computer to see what they are learning about done in a physical way, it can really help them. The hands on experience of things can help the material to sink in more than hearing a lecture. This will also help for those students who learn in a different way and are not always hearing what the teacher is saying but needs to see it written down.

From this course, I am hoping to learn how I can use technology in my office and in my job as a child life specialist. This would help me to get to use the computer to work with both the children and their families as they prepare for their operations or treatments, or whatever they are going through.

First Tech Blog

I am a Junior planning on being a High School Math teacher. Technology is important in all subjects and math is no exception. Math technology goes beyond the calculator. I worked in the math computer labs here at IWU and in doing so learned a lot about the different types of software available. Software like Mathematica, Java, Latex and more are very helpful. However, at the high school level the Texas Instrument calculators are the most common form of technology. The TI-83, TI-84 and the TI-86 are very popular and useful for high school students.

Teaching with technology means using technological resources to improve and enhance your teaching style, making it better for your students.

One of the biggest challenges regarding teaching with technology is to make sure your students do not completely rely on the technology. For example, in math you do not want your students to HAVE to use a calculator for everything. They need to have skills of their own, while still knowing when to tap their technological resources.

There are several benefits to teaching with technology. One is that most students are interested in technology and it makes the material more interesting to them. Also, it can help speed up the processes used in your classroom with presenting material.

From this course I hope to learn how to use technology in an efficient and effective manner for my future classroom. I want to learn about technology specific to math and also in a general teaching setting.

Skills with Technology

As far as my skills with technology goes, I have been learning a lot lately. I know a decent amount about powerpoint but lately my friends at home have been teaching me about computers. I have learned how to build a computer by hand, install windows, go in the bios and change things in there to make your computer run smoother, and how to fix a few basic problems. I am pretty proficient with Excel because my job last year in the Financial Aid office had me dealing with Excel consistently. I am starting to become more comfortable with technology as I learn more.

Teaching with Technology means being able to take your subject matter and figure out new and inventive ways to incorportate technology into your lessons. Back in high school, I had a math teacher senior year who tried to incorporate technology as much as he could. He was able to use his computer and a projector to show us riemann integrals and how to find the area and volumes of curves. By seeing it on the screen, it made a lot more sense to me and my classmates. I hope to be able to take the skills I learn in this class and apply them to my classroom in the future.

The biggest challenge of teaching with technology would be to make sure I understand everything I am about to show the class. I know I have the knowledge when dealing with certain aspects of technology but I have a dendency to doubt myself. My biggest challenge is going to trust my knowledge and believe in myself that I do know what I'm doing.

The benefits of technology is that technology gives another way for students to learn and understand material. It can be especially helpful to visual learners who are having a difficult time understand a specific concept. It also gives a chance to demonstrate things that can not be done with a pencil and a piece of paper or chalk and a chalkboard. For example, it can show things in 3D such as planes or cubes or other concepts that may be difficult to picture in your own mind. Technology can help demonstrate these points. Technology can also give a new way to involve the students. Each new generation is becoming more proficient with technology because they are growing up with it. By incorporating something that the students may already be familiar with, the students can become more active in the classroom.

From this course, I want to learn more about specific ways of incorportating technology into the classroom as well as becoming proficient with them. I know a lot about powerpoint, excel, and word but I think it would be interesting to know the newer technologies such as the SmartBoard or more ways to connect a computer and projector up so that I can show things from my computer to the rest of the class.

Technology in the Classroom

I'm a junior Spanish Secondary Education major. I am from Des Plaines, IL. I studied abroad in the Dominican Republic last semester but I am excited to be back at IWU. I really enjoy my education classes because I feel they are very applicable to the future and I am looking forward to learning how to use technology in the classroom. I feel pretty comfortable with technology. I work here in the Buck Computer Lab. I do a lot with digital photography, the internet, installing software, virus protection, and scanning.

Teaching with technology means expanding the resources available to the teacher and the students. There are many documents, sound and film clips, worksheets, drills, and other programs to allow student to approach their subject from many different angles.

I think the biggest challenge to teaching with technology is keeping students focused and on task. Whether the challenge be in keeping students on task while they are at computers in class, or keeping students focused when researching/practicing/writing on the computer there are always distractions and a wealth of other things to look at and explore. I think it is also difficult for student to remember all of the intricate steps in some technological processes. They may practice something once but when trying to do it on their own, they may forget exactly how they get to the end result.

There are many benefits to teaching with technology. As technology grows there are more and more ways to teach certain skills and concepts. Using new techniques and technologies keeps the classroom fresh and up to date. It also allows students to practice using new technologies in a formal and supervised way.

I would like to learn how to use software specific to language learning. In addition, I am interested in understanding how to appropriately and efficiently incorporate techology into a language classroom in terms of how much time to devote to such activities and the types of activities that are actually done. I would like to perfect my Power Point, Excel and Word skills to use less traditional features that can add depth to a project.
My name is Tim Boylan and I am a senior at Illinois Wesleyan. I am an English Language Arts major and I have an above average knowledge of technology. I have taken many technology tutorials required by the Illinois Wesleyan Educational Studies department. I am not afraid of technology but sometimes I become frustrated with it as sometimes I find it tedious and time consuming. I do, however, acknowledge the use of technology in the classroom and would encourage its use throughout my teaching career.
A Brief View of My Concept of Technology

I am semi-competent with the concepts of technology. I enjoy learning new programs and learn them quickly. I am more familiar with personal computers as opposed to Mac but am willing to explore more of both. I have been to one power-point tutorial at school, but my first year I did a research project dealing with technology in the classroom of seventh grade students; this included the introduction of the Smart Board. Technology has been a growing resource in our classrooms as students, teachers, and administrators are using forms of technology for personal and professional growth. I feel that it is very important for teachers to be competent in the region of most forms of technology because of its place in our society. The internet has truly opened a door for the sharing and learning of information.

For me, teaching with technology is pretty important. I think it opens another way of approaching education and reaching students. It gives more opportunities for students to learn, research, share, and process information. By using technology in the classroom, one is able to have more variety in approaching curriculum. I feel it is important to learn the benefits of technology and also be aware of the "crutches" it may have in the classroom. The fact that technology is constantly changing, one has to be aware of the changes to know whether information is always up to date or a trustworthy source. In order for a teacher to help their students, it is important for them to be updated with new approaches to the technological world.

There are many benefits from the use of technology. It amazes me still how much information can be passed from person to person in minutes and even seconds. I also believe that the student/teacher communication is more attainable with the use the internet. Questions can be answered more quickly and students can seek more help when they are not in the classroom. I feel that technology has increased the ability to learn on one's own as well as explore information that one is more interested in.

I wish to learn to be more competent with all the different programs and areas of technology. Growing up in a rural school, PowerPoint on an old projector that only showed black and white was the only change from the basic chalk board. I wish to be able to integrate more technology in the classroom to benefit more students and refresh the every-day curriculum.
Hi everyone! My name is Jenna. I am a senior Spanish Secondary Education major. I want to become an ESL or ELL teacher in the future. Last spring I was fortunate enough to study in Granada, Spain. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I would highly encourage everyone to travel abroad at some point in their college career. I am a member of the varsity volleyball team here at IWU. I would not call myself technology savy, however, I would also not describe myself as technologically incompetent. I have taken computer classes on how to use Microsoft office and am quite familiar with how to use Power Point. I recognize that technology is becoming more and more important and vital in our everday lives. I am excited to learn more about how to incorporate technology into the classroom in order to teach new concepts and help the student's understand the importance of technology in our world today.

Teaching with technology means relying on the many forms of technology such as computers, video, recordings, etc. to teach students new concepts. When a teacher uses technology to implement new ideas or reinforce old concepts in the classroom, the students are required to use different types of thinking and other thought processing.

I think the biggest challenge of teaching with technology is to be sure that each student is processing the information to the best of their ability. For example, one student may prefer to listen to the teacher lecture and read from a power point, where another student will be totally unengaged by such a teaching approach. It is challenging for teachers to find a teaching approach that will be beneficial to the majority of the students in the classroom and I think that is one risk you take when teaching with technology.

The benefits of teaching with technolgy are endless. As I said earlier, today's society is very reliant on technology for proper functioning. It is so important that we, as future teachers, recognize the need to teach the younger population of the importance of technology and the proper skills in order to function in a technology based society. One benefit of teaching with technology is that it allows students to interact and incorporate different types of skills into one teaching approach. For example, while completing an online activity for math, a student can practice their motor skills in addition to practicing their logical thinking skills in math at the same time. Another benefit of teaching with technology is that it is FUN for students to work with computers, cameras, etc.

From this course, I hope to learn how to properly incorporate technology into my classroom in a manner that engages the majority of my students.

first post

I am studying to be a high school math teacher. Specifically, I would like to teach geometry and algebra, but I wouldn't mind teaching the upper level math courses either. I also plan on becoming a soccer coach and maybe even a basketball coach. I'd like to think that I am fairly competent in technology. I use computers on a daily basis, and I am pretty comfortable using a variety of different programs. I also took a technology class last term. As far as my disposition to technology is concerned, I am usually a little nervous when trying to learn how to use a new program, but I am a fast learner and I like expanding my technology repertoire.

Teaching with technology means using newer and more efficient means to help students learn in the best way possible. Teaching with technology also means relating to the students and staying with the times.

I think that the biggest challenge of teaching with technology is dealing with the setbacks and problems that sometimes occur, such as a server failure or machine difficulties.

The benefits of using technology in teaching include presenting information in a fun and appealing manner, explaining concepts in multiple fashions, and being able to accommodate to a variety of different learning styles and preferences in an efficient way.

From this course, I want to learn more about the programs I already know how to use and also learn how to use programs with which I am currently unfamiliar. I believe that this added knowledge of technological uses will greatly benefit my teaching abilities and help me relate course material to my students.

Welcome!

Welcome to a new semester!

For this course (E370-2), you will be posting a blog (weekly) about your experiences in learning how to teach using technology. The style is free writing, however, on some occasions you will be asked to respond to some questions or prompts.

Your task is post weekly and response to at least one posting made by your classmates.

Let's have a great semester!