Chapters 8 and 9

When and how do teachers act as designers?

Teachers act as designers all the time. Whether it is designing a lesson plan that reaches the few struggling students in the class or designing a creative way to teach their students. Teacher act as designers also when creating any project that has to do with technology. Technology is great but does not always work so they have to design the activity or lesson so that even if technology fails the student can still learn the concept the full extent to which they would if the technology did work to their advantage.  

- Select one of the followings and explain what it is and how it can be used in classroom: SketchUp, Trebuchet Simulator, Model Car Design, Scratch, iStopMotion, Impromptu. 

SketchUp is a program that is designed to build a house or make floor plans from the ground up. With the program you can make a 3-D model of a house from the ground up. You could add trees and small details like a fence around the house to show how it will look when it is finished. This technology would be great to use in the classroom because it can show a process that has to be followed. It could be a great demonstration for following directions and also the steps to making something large like a house that without this technology would be very difficult. The students can go in and make their own house and it teaches them that they have to do it in a certain order to get the right results, because obviously you can’t have a roof before you have your walls in place.

- Explain "Digital Storytelling by Kate Kemker." What do you think it would work in your classroom?

Digital Storytelling is a tool used to create the actual story that the student wants to tell. What I understood from the book was that “Students will use their creative skills to create a storyboard on paper, use a camera to shoot their video, and finally edit their video on a computer using some type of software” I think this could work in a high school setting but it would be very hard to complete the activity. Not every school has the funds to have enough cameras to go around or the funds to purchase the editing software needed. It is a great idea and would definitely teach the students more about technology.

- Mathematics is one of the most abstract subject-matter domains. Helping students to visualize mathematical concepts is very useful in helping students make math real. What other methods suggested in the textbook will also help make math more real to students?

Also suggested in the book is Mathematica, Math Lab, and Statistical Analysis System. These systems give the students the hands on experience that they need to learn and help them remember and relate to what they are doing. It’s all about visualizing what you are doing and making the connection to how it can benefit you and your future.

- Is it possible to learn from TV alone?--that is, learn how to do something merely from watching TV instruction? 

I think it is possible to learn some from TV, but not everything. If a small skill is being taught where you can take notes and keep up with the show it is great but after you watch and learn how to do it you have to complete the task and I think that’s when you really learn. Watching and doing is two very different things, you can watch how to do something all day long but once you get involved in actually doing it you can learn what works best for you and that is when you really learn and also dip into problem solving.

Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Week 12

I liked the site voicethread.com, right as you got to the site it introduced voicethread to you and told you all about the neat features that can be used with it. There was a video to watch and also some text to introduce it to you. I think be able to leave comments in many different ways is a neat concept, if someone was to leave a voice comment you could hear the tone of their voice and maybe understand what they are trying to say better than with just text.

I would use this for my lesson plan because it would be a good way for students to be able to log on use the internet and tell leave question comments or tell me what they liked and disliked about the lesson or what they didn't understand. Also this gives other students in the class to help their classmate out by answering their questions that they see posted.

Technology is evolving so much and their is so much that is being introduced to the classroom. I think that it is great to have technology to help keep the students attention, but the cost might be the downfall of these great ideas. On this site however it did say that there was no software to purchase and I think that is a great advantage for teachers and schools.

Sources: www.voicethread.com

Week 11 Chapter 3

The three principles that I believe are important for education are Committed Learning Principle, Practice Principle, and Discovery Principle. These three principles would help the student be successful in their educational careers.
     If I was making a simulation for my classroom it would be helping Special Education students socialize in a classroom setting, community setting, and also a business setting. The variables that the students would be able to change could be the the setting to any of the three stated above, they could create the people that they are socializing with and change the type of conversation, also have the practice of socializing in the simulation would be great to have to teach them before actually placing them in the setting to see how well they handle the situation. Socialization is a very important skill that these students need to be taught while in school.
       Being able to allow students to work with any technology like simulation is a great learning experience for them. They are so engulfed in technology that is how they learn so using technology like this to help them learn is very beneficial.

     Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Week 7 Blog

     There are two types of writing activities I think would work well in my Special Education classroom and those are concept maps and presentation writing. The concept maps would help the students organize their thoughts and keep them on track with their ideas and also help them organize where their ideas fit in. Presentation writing would help my students have a clear outline to give them after the presentation to refer back to the material. Also when using presentation writing it not only gives them a chance to make a presentation of what they know but they also get to be creative and use technology all at the same time.

     PowerPoint presentation can easily distract an audience if there is too many pictures, animations or videos. Another way that it could be distracting is if the power point is too long and not interesting. You have to find a happy medium to accomplish your goal but also keep you audience's attention long enough to make sure you get your points across to them and that they learn the material. I think the potential pitfalls from the book are a great guide in helping you make a successful power point that will not only help you teach but also keep your audiences attention during the presentation, so yes I think I can follow them.
    
     These two writing activities are great ways to keep your students involved and also give them new ways of organizing information that they can not only use in the classroom but also in life. PowerPoint is a great way to effectively present information it gives the audience the information and some pictures and color to keep their interest. Whats so great about these activities is that they help the teacher connect with the student through technology since most of their out of school activities revolve around technology. 

     Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

week 6 blog

     Personal Digital Assistant is basically a small computer that can fit in your hand and can be used as an assistant for you. They can store events coming up in your life, store telephone numbers, email addresses, and you can also access the internet from the device. A PDA would be good to use in the classroom to hold all your students contact information in. Another feature is that you could use the calendar to make due dates for assignment so that you can easily keep up with what you have assigned and when it will be due. If students had PDA’s they could use them to record data, and mark when their assignments are due, they could use it as a journal, and there are many more uses of PDA’s for the students and teachers.

     Online surveys are a good way to give your students a way to express their opinion of your class and let you know how to improve your class to better serve your students. This could help us in our classrooms because we can reach more students better by knowing what they need, want, and expect out of the class. If they tell us where they are struggling then we have a better chance of helping them succeed. A good rule for writing a survey is ask the students opinions and how it makes them feel and also give them a place to give you ideas. A second rule would be to ask the students specific questions not vague questions that won’t help you find out what you need to know.

     Having technology like a PDA would be very beneficial not only for the teacher but also for the students. Student’s lives are very involved in technology and adding something like this to the classroom will only help better connect the teacher to her students. Having this type of technology in the classroom is only going to help teacher keep the students involved in their education.

Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Inspiration and Webspiration Blog #3

From the website I found the two programs can help teachers make their classrooms more efficient, and its also a good way for teachers to stay organized and connected with the students writing thnrough technology. One thing that interest me was how you can create visuals from outlines or outlines from visuals that you make using the program. The teacher could print the outline and that could be something the student could have in hand and the visuals are something for them to see and easier for them to commit it to memory. As an all level Special Education teacher this would help me keep the students assignments organized because they all will not be working on the same level. I could make a visual to show the students what we will be working on that day and it will help my students and myself stay on track with our daily goals. Webspiration looks to me like a great tool to have in the classroom to teach students effective writing. It will keep their thought and paper organized and result in a better constructed paper.

For special education every student is at a different level, but one activity I could incorporate would be to have every student write down their daily routine and how much time they spend at each activity, then use the information and show them how to make it a graph or pie chart for them to look at. This activity could help them stay organized through the day and help them remember everything they need to get done. One effective way of students helping each other is to allow them to proof read each others papers and give suggestions to the writer of the paper. If the assignment was to be posted to a blog then each student could go online and comment their thoughts on the paper. This would allow the student to have several fresh pairs of eyes look the paper over before turning in the final draft. My first time teaching new material I knew the material but after teaching it I had a better understand because the students asked several questions and answering each one helped me be more confident in knowing the material.

Technology is always changing and our students are becoming more and more involved with it, it is important that teachers are trying to use it in their classrooms because that how students are learning. These two programs will help teacher stay in the loop with their students and also give them a creative way to think, learn, and organize their writing skills.

Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

http://www.inspiration.com/videos/Inspiration

http://www.inspiration.com/webspirationclassroom

Blog Post #2

Technology changes everyday and as teachers we have to be able to change and adapt with it to benefit our students as well as ourselves. Technology now plays a large role in their life and effects how they learn. Now it is in our hands to use the technology to help our students.
Incorporating blogs into your style of teaching could effect students in many ways. I think they could be a useful tool in reaching students through technology but also teaching them the material they need to know. Using blogs for education can give students a chance to have the material presented to them and then given time to digest it and at home as homework blog about how they feel, think, or what don't understand about the material. The student can also see what everyone has posted and possibly see a new side of the material or understand it better coming from an understanding peer. As a teacher I would not think blogging was a waste of time, it gives each student a voice and a time to talk about the material. This might be where a shy student in class may excel, not everyone is comfortable with speaking in front of the class and blogging gives that student a chance to be heard and for everyone to see what they bring to the table as a student.
Giving each student the time and chance to voice their thoughts is very important. Using bloggs students can bounce ideas and thoughts off of the other and really learn and communicate. It is very important for students to know they have a voice and what they have to say is important and blogging is a way for them to accomplish both.

Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print

Blogs in Plain English [Video File]. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI