Monday, February 22, 2016

powtoon for digital blog post c

Digital Blog post C

In association to Bloom's Taxonomy, there are two different types of thinking that has been discovered, ranging from basic recall to to interpretation of information. These are called "lower-order thinking" and "higher-order thinking". These levels can be described from lowest to highest by "remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.
I appreciated learning about this topic, as this rule can be used to determine the thinking strategy I will be allowing my students to take on. In an English classroom, simply asking my students to memorize the definitions of vocabulary words would only be requesting they use lower- order thinking. To me, I think higher- order thinking would be more valuable in showing comprehension in an English class. To do this, I would have to ask my students to create poems, read and analyze books. Games and apps would be helpful in my classroom to achieve higher-order thinking as well. As the teacher, however, I would have to personally make sure that the games help the students to motivate them to learn more, be able to balance this time with lectures to make sure my students receive the proper information and learn how to use these games and apps along with my students.

I have always been very interested in learning about the real ways teachers have used technology to deliver types of problem solving and inquiry- learning software. I would love to see how each grade level and subject has software that aids in the classroom, and to review how each one energizes the students in it's own way.
I learned from the text that there is composing and calculating software available for student's disposal. I remember being in high school and using these tools- ranging from Microsoft word and excel. This seemed to be beneficial to students in an English or Math class, as these subjects are core parts of every school curriculum and require the student's mastery. I also learned how Google Earth could be beneficial in an English class, as the text's example of guiding students around the world using this tool to discover the places where action in a novel occurs. This example hit home to me, and inspired me to think of many other ways I could use Google Earth in my class and expresses just how much technology helps to aid in student's comprehension.

Lastly, it was interesting for me to learn how there are now Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) available to students. This aid allows students to answer questions as the computer records their responses and then calculates the proper questions to ask in order to help the student in the areas they most need it. I liked this concept since it allows one- on- one learning and can give students a taste of the technology world if they incorporate this idea into elementary classes. With our growing world, we are mostly an education of computer- based testing, which the ITS can help students practice for as well. Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Digital Blog Post B

Reading throughout chapter 2, there are many concepts discussed to better help students understand educational technology issues and trends. As a potential English Literature teacher, I learned about a poetry app that would be perfect for my high school English classroom that would both engage my students and aid in my lessons. In today's era, apps help students and teachers be readily connected to sources on specific topics when questions or curiosities arise. If I were to request my students to find a poem that hits home to them on a variety of emotions, this app may make the difference on their search.
I also found interesting reading about how teachers are responding to innovation and change, I would describe myself as an early adopter in relation to other teachers on a technology innovation use scale. I think the difference between the teachers who readily embrace the new era of technology in their classrooms compared to those who are lagging and resisting change is solely due to how they were brought up and the way their foundation of their teaching was formed. Lastly, I enjoyed reading about the critics of technology in schools. With schools holding a strong reputation of not been using much technology and working just fine, there are many skeptics and those who do not believe it will impact much of the school day. I thought this was an interesting outlook as to how there are so many of us who push technology in the school system compared to those who do not. For example, with the critics who believe that the role technology places in student's lives has a negative effect as to them not having as much time reading and doing "school activities", I believe this idea can be challenged by working around the skeptical viewpoint and actually integrating technology into the student's readings. Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Coleman, M (2016, February 7) Responding to Innovation and Change, Rogers Innovation Curve. Created with https://bubbl.us/mindmap