reflection

This semester I learned a lot about unique technologies that can help teach a classroom. I was very interested to work with a SmartBoard for the first time because I had seen them in classrooms and wondered how they work. Learning about Smartboard gave me another way to engage a class of children. I enjoyed making a webquest because it is an interactive way for the children to learn about the content. I imagine growing up when these things were in a classroom and I really couldn't imagine how much more enjoyable class would be. I'm really happy I was assigned Wolfram Alpha for my final projec because not only did it give me a simple way to engage a class and uncountable ways to do it, but it gave me a better understanding of the application so that I can use it with my studies. I am more confident and excited about teaching knowing that technology is growing and new ways to implement it in the classroom are being created every single day.

Reflection

Over the course of this semester I have learned a lot about how technology can be used in a strong and effective way in the classroom. The project on SmartBoard greatly strengthened my skills and since I had never had experience with SmartBoards while teaching it was nice to become accustom to the technology, and it's strengths and limitations, while working outside of the field. The technologies of the week were always interesting to hear about and could easily to be worked into existing lesson plans to spice up an old lesson. I thought it was interesting to hear about all of the options that are out there! I really enjoyed the WebQuest Project. This project is great way of letting students explore the possibilities the internet has to offer while restricting their access to certain sites at the same time. I enjoyed being able to use multimedia to make the webquest more interesting, and it was fun to put personal creativity into the project as well. I hope to use the knowledge and skills I have gained from this class in the future as I teach. Assuming the technology is present in the schools, I would love to use iPad apps to engage the students and show iMovies to differentiate the presentation of the lesson. One challenge for me will be integrating my knowledge on technology into the classroom when I student teach in Chicago. It is likely that there will not be much technology available, so using even the smallest bit of technology could be difficult. I anticipate that I will have to be creative and flexible when it comes to integrating technology into these types of classrooms, but I believe that this class has given me the skills to do just that.

Tara D. wrote:

Over the past semester I have learned how to properly use technology and how to integrate it into the curriculum. In my schooling experience (elementary and high school), I was not exposed to a lot of technology in the classroom. It was not until I got to college that I worked with a Smartboard. This technology courses has introduced me to several resources that can be utilized in the classroom. I have enjoyed working with Smartboard, Google Earth, Wiki Pages (for web quests), iMovie, Mindomo, and Inspiration. Although challenging at times, I now feel comfortable using any and all of these applications in the classroom. I think they are great resources for students. In class, we have discussed that students are living a virtual life; a lot of what they do is through technology. By bringing technology into the classroom students will feel comfortable learning the content and they will be able to further make connections with the material. 

The projects I have done for this course have also allowed me think creatively. I would have never thought of using Google Earth in the classroom using a tour. I really enjoyed making the Smartboard interactive activities. Most classrooms now have Smartboards and before this course I was not familiar with them at all. I now feel confident in my abilities to utilize the Smartboard. I also enjoyed making the iMovie and I can see that application being used in the classroom in several different ways. Overall, I have had a great experience with technology this semester. I have learned a lot about the various forms of technology and how to apply them in school curriculum.

Reflection

 Over this semester I learned about differentiating lessons and how to incorporate different technologies for learning and assessment purposes. Through this class I have learned how to use smart board technology, Google earth, and photo story. I have also learned how to create a Web quest using Wiki, and about flipping the classroom. In the future, I would like to learn more about flipping the classroom. I find the concept really interesting and I would definitely like in incorporate it in a lesson in the future.

I never actually realized how many tools are available for educational purposes. I would not have even thought about using Google earth as a learning tool. I found this class really interesting and I learned a lot over the semester.

Final Reflections

From this course, I have learned that technology is accessible to all teachers of varying technology skill levels. I have also discovered that technology can be a vital tool for meeting the needs and learning styles of all learners.   Technology lets students truly interact with the content being taught, such as by exploring on their own through a Webquest, or navigating through GoogleEarth.  Technology  makes the subject come alive for the students, rather than a teacher just lecturing the material. Within my future lessons, I want to continue to implement the use of videos, images, and audio in my lessons. I would also like to learn more about the use of webcam in regards to the content areas.

What I learned in Edu 271

I think I will use the information I learned in this class often while student teaching and while teaching in the future. I love the Smartboard application, and even if I cannot use smart board during my student teaching at BHS, learning how to use Smartboard has improved my ability to use Promethean Board which is a very similar technology. In a way, I have learned how to use multiple technologies in one project. I really enjoyed the Planet Earth project. I do not believe I will be using it in the future, but I know how to do so if it coincides with a lesson extremely well. The photostory was very fun to create. I will probably use the exact story I created in my classrooms in the future. The webquest was very interesting as well. I have never tried anything like that before. I was concerned about the project because it was so foreign to me and I felt out of my comfort zone. After the project was completed though, I felt extremely happy with my work and learned a lot from the process. I learned many new technologies during technology of the week presentations and will probably use many of those in the future as well.

Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha is an online calculator that works somewhat as a search engine. However, the program only uses its own files to return you an answer. They have a giant knowledge database that grows everyday and answers your question by using the data it has rather than referring to to millions of websites that have the answer's key words.