Carli's Blog

Technology in the classroom reflection

carlicmu12 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:24:53 +0000

As my first semester in Grad school comes to an end I begin to reflect on all the things I have learned especially related to technology in the classroom. I learned about so many things that are going to be helpful when I someday have my own classroom, such as wiki space and podcasts. I learned how to use non-linear powerpoints as lessons and learning tools for my students. I learned about new tools such as Google docs to help students work together on class projects from any computer and a way to see how all of the students participate. I have learned about excellent educational websites through my education in technology class as well. Overall I just cannot wait to have the chance to use technology to expand my students education, to show the world what we can accomplish as a classroom and also to be able to show my students the world around them from a whole new perspective.

I hope to also make more time to learn all I can about the technology around me. Throughout the semester writing this blog has been kind of difficult between finding the time to put into it and sometimes figuring out a topic to discuss but I think blogging is a great idea for students. Possibly a great way for them to journal, to communicate to me the teacher or even a way for them to communicate with their family or the rest of the world. I can’t wait to use technology to expand my classroom and also the minds of my students! I look forward to keeping up with my blog even after my class is over this semester. I just hope the rest of the world keeps responding!

Blogs in the Classroom

carlicmu12 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:21:31 +0000

After writing blogs for a few weeks and sometimes straining for ideas on what to say I have been trying to think of a beneficial ways to implement them into my classroom. It may be a great way for classmates to share ideas with one another or may be a great way to do journal writing to the teacher so kids can practice their typing skills. But seeing as I am going to be working with elementary students how should I balance the time between writing and typing so they can also developing their handwriting skills at a young age. Maybe we can do journal writing both ways one week could be hand written and the next could be written on the computer. Maybe students can share ideas on topics they want to learn about in school related to math, science, social studies or english or even possible books they want to read. Do you think this would be a useful tool for such young students? I think they may take more pride in their writing if they knew they had an audience besides just the teacher; maybe parents, friends or other classrooms. When searching I found a great site Education World that talks about what blogging can do for the elementary classroom and the software you can use to make it safe and easy for kids of all ages to use. Let me know what you think if this would be a good idea for elementary students or not and why, I am intrigued to hear others opinions.

Computers in School

carlicmu12 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:02:47 +0000

Recently in my 4th grade classroom we had the students write a book critique. For the first time we had them go straight to the computer lab to write the assignment without first writing a rough draft which I thought would be easier for most students. Even thought it went better then we thought it would I was very caught off guard by the number of students that didn’t know the basics of computers besides the little bit they get to use in the classroom. Many of them expressed that their parents don’t let them use the computer very often at home because of the bad things they can access on the internet….are they serious? Do parents know what computers can help their children do? There were a few kids that didn’t know what the shift key and enter key did because they couldn’t remember from their last typing lesson in the computer lab with the class. This blew me away! I can’t believe that some 4th graders wouldn’t be able to use the computer better then me…and don’t get my wrong there were a few that knew everything but how can parents and even schools let students not know how to use all the benefits of computers to help expand their education…

Non-linear Power Point

carlicmu12 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:40:01 +0000

Recently in my educational technology class I learned how to make and use non-linear power points which I think would be a great tool for the classroom. The only drawback I see to them is all the time and effort that needs to go into creating one. There are many benefits to them either for fun games, introducing a course, giving the students a review quiz before a test and many more. And you could reuse them year after year but there is just so much time that needs to be put into it that I wonder if it is worth it? Everyone presented theirs in the classroom and had so many great and different ideas but I know it must have taken everyone hours. With the hours we are supposed to spend learning everything we can about our students do we really have time for this? I am hoping if I keep using power point in this way it will get easier because it will be a great tool for me as a grad student and also as a teacher to make learning fun and interesting for my students. Do you think it gets easier? Do you think maybe someday all teachers will be using power point in this way so we can share our ideas across the grade level?

Laptops in the Classroom

carlicmu12 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:48:49 +0000

I read this great article from Philly.com about schools in Pennsylvania and the recent leaps they have taken with technology in the classroom. This is great for the students is talks about two sister one just graduated 3 years ago and didn’t have anything her sister currently has available to her. This is great for the schools that can have access to these resources but what about schools that don’t? If certain schools cannot afford laptops for all of their students is their education suffering from not have all of the opportunities that other kids are offered? What is going to be done to fill this gap? There is another great article which is a conference that middle school students attended to see the “classroom of the future” I just hope after we expose them to this type of classroom that the schools can deliver on the promise to update their classrooms and technology. I hope you will read these two articles and take time to comment on what you think. Are we just making the gap bigger between schools that have these resources and schools that don’t, is there a realistic chance that we can one day make every classroom a “classroom of the future”?

The Enrichment of Technology in the Classroom

carlicmu12 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:48:29 +0000

I think most of us that don’t have a lot of experience with technology in the classroom have spent a lot of time focusing on the negatives and challenges we will face by trying to incorporate technology into our own classrooms but why not look at all the positive influences it will have. With all of the recent budget cuts in schools they have cut out some of the fun and important things such as field trips but think what technology can do for field trips when you don’t have the money to actually leave the school. And now you don’t have to worry about just local field trips with a bus you can take a virtual field trip to china to see the Great Wall and talk with students in China and have them share things with you about the great wall…can you imagine your students going home to their parents to tell them they took a field trip to the Great Wall of China and learned all about it from Chinese students.

Not only that but also the amount of information your students have access to. There is no more worrying if the information they are finding it out dated now it is more about teaching them on how to find truthful and authentic information on the internet. Technology can only improve their education and also the ways we can teach them. I am so excited to find new ways to incorporate technology into my classroom and help my students learn the most they can while utilizing the technology around them.

Benefits and Drawbacks to Distance Learning

carlicmu12 — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:46:25 +0000

Distance learning is the process of transferring knowledge to students separated from the instructor and other students through the use of technology. It is designed to serve students off campus that cannot attend traditional courses due to employment, distance, expenses or family responsibilities and give them the opportunity for higher education. This is a great opportunity for people that do not have the time to attend traditional classes. They save time by being able to do their work whenever it fits into their schedule and save time by not having to commute back and forth to a university. There is also frequent and quick feedback from professors and the ability to communicate with other students in the class through blogs and discussion boards which I think it a great feature. If you are having trouble with an assignment you can post a question or a comment and other students from the class and the professor give you feedback to help you. I think it actually creates more interaction between students then in a traditional classroom. Having personal experience taking some online courses the other students make everything easier to understand with the discussions created and the professor can see the education happening right before their eyes.

Even though there are many great things about distance learning there are also a few drawbacks. With working out of your home sometimes it isn’t the most ideal work environment and you may be easily distracted by things around you. You also need to have unlimited access to a computer and the internet which may cause issues for some people if you share your computer with other people in your house or can’t afford the best internet service available.

As a student you need to be self motivated, disciplined, organized and have strong computer skills. I believe this is the most important part of the distance learning process. If you are not motivated you will have a hard time begin successful in this process. The student needs to examine their life style before making decisions about online education to make sure it is the right fit for them.

Personally I think it is great to be able to take a class or two online but I can’t imagine getting my degree online. Meeting the students in the classroom, have the “college experience” have just been such an important part of my college adventure and have helped shape be into the student I am today and teacher I will be one day. It is a great option for people who may not have the opportunity to afford to go to college or don’t have the time due to things happening in their personal life. I think it is a great way higher education can reach a bigger population. I just hope that students would choose it for the right reasons and not because they think it is easier or a short cut to getting a degree. Overall I think distance learning is great for the people who do not have time to fit traditional classes into their schedule, students just need to make sure it is right for them before making the decision.

Need4Feed will it help Twitter?

carlicmu12 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:19:28 +0000

This article I read this morning really caught my eye for a few reasons and thought it would be great to share with all of you. Click Here This is an article about a new tool they are hoping will make twitter easier to use and navigate for professors and students. It is called Need4Feed it will help sift through all of the posts to find the ones grabbing the most attention. It was used at the beginning of this month for the first time at the HigherEdWeb Conference. I am eager to see if the attendees of the conference found it useful and see if it will be something that may help twitter become more of an educational source and less of the social networking the media makes it out to be. I also found this article interesting and relating to me personally because in 2007 the HigherEdWeb conference was here in Rochester, NY at the convention center, the clarion (now the Radisson) and the Hyatt because I worked with them to plan it all while I was working at the hotel. I wonder how many teachers took advantage of such a great conference actually coming to Rochester. I wish I had been able to attend even though I did learn a few great things just from helping them plan it. I hope now I am pursuing a job in the education field that they bring this convention back to the Rochester area so our local teachers and faculty can attend to learn new and exciting things!

Is Technology ruining handwriting??

carlicmu12 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:47:40 +0000

We discuss all of the wonderful things technology can do for our children and for our students but are they losing something in the process. I think cursive is a skill that has been dying for years since people have been able to word process papers but at least when I was in elementary school I was forced to write both in and out of the classroom. But are our students using their writing skills outside of the classroom or just their typing skills? Technology is great for all types of learners having any resources at the click of a button, being able to find any information they need but do they use their handwriting and cursive skills enough? As teachers we need to emphasize the important or writing both in and out of the classroom so our students don’t lose this very important skills and quality.

When does Technology in the classroom become easy?

carlicmu12 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:24:56 +0000

I know that technology is a great resource to all classrooms but when does it become easy for the teacher and the student and not just extra work for the teacher? I was observing in a 4th grade classroom this week and they were using SMART Response (formally called Senteo) and the teacher created a math quiz so the kids could use what they just learned while learning to use SMART Response. So first the teacher besides writing the normal lesson plan had to create the quiz on SMART Board instead of just using one of the quizzes in a text book. I see that this is much better for the learning process because she can adapted the lesson to her students and what they know and what they need to work on. But then the teacher had to spend an additional 1/2 hour answering the hundreds of questions to the kids about how the SMART Response works, what happens is they push a different button, what happens if they push a button twice etc. Hopefully these questions will only have to be answered the first time they use the technology, but is it worth the amount of time taken by her and in the classroom? I’m sure the answer is yes because it makes the grading easier and teachers can really create their own lessons and not just what a text book provides, but sometimes seems like it wastes more time then it helps….I will keep everyone updated if things go smoother next time they use SMART Response.