Final Thoughts about technology in the classroom

Technology can be integrated in the classroom in a variety of ways. A few I have personally experienced and have enjoyed, such as discussion boards, blogging and several educational websites to name a few. I had not considered the safety aspects that come with integrating technology in the classroom. As a teacher you must be sure that your students follow the guidelines set forth by the school and the district. Planning and strategy come into play when incorporating technology into your lesson plans. You must research to assure that the technology you include enhances the lesson and can offer a method of success.
My little experience I have had in the classroom has shown me that technology can be very exciting for student learning. The Smartboard is a fun way to "include" students in participating in classroom learning. There are a variety of educational softwares that enable students to practice and gain a better perspective and understanding of the lesson being tought. As a future teacher I plan on continuing further technology education in this ever evolving field.

"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow."- John Dewey

Emerging Technology Issues

Today's classroom is filled with a variety of technology options, but with those can come some issues. Some of these would be technical difficulties with hardware or software, social issues such as cyber bullying or inappropriate behavior on blog sites, and acedemic dishonesty to name a few.
To overcome these issues a teacher must always have a strategic plan, for long term or short term objectives. Implementing filtering software and educating my students on the privacy, fair use and responsibilities that come with using technology is a key role. Students must know the expectations set by the school system, their teachers and their parents. With the help of technology support system and always have a "back up plan" if the technology fails, will help overcome any issues that may slow the learning in the classroom.



"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal"- Albert Einstein

Google Docs

I found this a great way to add to a shared activity. It was very easy to use and would be a great asset to do a collaborative project on. I have learned that middle school students do a lot of collaborative projects. This document will allow them to share and document their ideas as they evolve and keep everyone involved "in the loop". As a room mom and personal note, this is a great way to plan those parties and field day while keeping parents envolved but still contribute.

Education is...

One of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get.

William Lowe Bryan

Is social networking the future of our kids?

Browsing at some of the social networks I came accross a couple of "honorable mentions". Quite frankly, the social networks are lacking in the education department, unless the site was built specifically to support education. Among these networks, I discovered Ning.com. This website allows you to create your own website and publish it under headings they view to be "spotlight topics". For example, you can create a website supported by this network that allows one to have a "voice" to express to the social community their thought and ideas on a certain topic. Your site would then be found under the non-profit tab in their menu. The site also allows you to raise money or volunteers for your cause as well.
Another website I came accross is Kidsedwebsites.com. This is a very interactive educational website that posts many hyperlinks to other websites for educational lessons using technology. It also allows one to create a website on their link as well. Before you get escorted from their website, their is a brief description of the website you will be linked to along with the age approriateness of the content. There are no threads or blogs to follow, but gives you a way to connect with others through your own website.

As with all of these social network websites come guidelines and safety issues. As a teacher, you must be aware of the advertisers that are supporting these websites. They can cross the line and require users to divuldge personal information. You must also be aware of the topics that are typically blogged about and if they have an "on site" monitor. Pop-ups and software downloads can be another issue you may encounter. The intial site may be fine for your standards, but they may have links that could take a student to unmonitored websites and enable them to view inappropriate material.

With all this said, socail websites can be a fun way to interact and share ideas with students from other schools all around the world!

“If Facebook were a country, it would now be the 6th most populous in the world.” -- from InsideFacebook.com

Beam Me Up Scotty!

Or rather, beam me down. Very cool tool. Googleearth.com allows students to explore areas all over the world at any time of the day. They are able to view the climates and terrain of the area without leaving their desk. It is also helpful with geography. It enables the student to see how close or far a location is and can give you a bird's eye view or satellite view of a location. It offers "real-time" viewing along with archived views of historical events. A great tool for the student to grasp a better understanding of areas that they would not be able to visit. I found it very easy to learn and to use. It offers tutorials for more understanding and help tools on every page. You can zoom in or out with a click of the mouse. Great for that visual learner!

“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started... and know the place for the first time.” - T.S. Eliot

What a great concept!

Concept Mapping gives students and teachers a better way to connect the learner to visually understand the material. Kidspiration.com is a website that offers the tools to help teachers utilize concept mapping. The students can then learn visually, then click on the "writing" button and see their map turn into writing- where they see their ideas in a reading form. Below I have created a Table to see ways a teacher may utilize this website to create a concept map to use in the classrooms.

Grade	Content Area	Activity Description	How would I utilize this activity?
1st grade	Addition & Pairing	Math- Adding It Up	Seeing can help understand. My students would work alone in their computer time.
3rd grade	Learning Fractions	Math- Almost Halves	Viewing & filling in graphs can help understand numerator & denominator relations. Would demo as a class to understand the concept.
3rd or 4th grade	Animal Grouping & Writing	Science- Animal Classifications	Students would work together to explore & group animal. Would then work alone to write about their findings.
3rd or 4th grade	Character Descriptions	Reading/Writing- Character Analysis	Students would gather full description of character and relations to other characters. Would map broad relationships and descriptive traits and then write about them.
4th grade	Mapping	Geography- Puzzle Map	Students would work together to learn about state shapes & abrev. Would then write about each states individual findings.

"A good plan is like a road map; it shows the final destination and usually the best way to get there".
- H. Stanley Judd

"Survey Says......."

My Online Survey……………………by Jenifer Fitzgerald
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=0o9mhd07mtiguf4822190

This was a pretty easy task to create. The website is very user friendly and the layouts are very self-explanatory. The results are easily viewed and compiled into simple graphs for you to compare. Overall, I feel this is a great way to measure opinions and experiences with just a few simple questions. My survey was to uncover how our future teachers saw technology use in their classroom as of today.
My results thus far: Of the 6 people who took the survey, 33% saw technology use in the classroom a distraction for the teacher. This could possibly be attributed to the fact that 66% felt they had "somewhat" received enough technology education to utilize it effectively in the classroom. Our future teachers definitely plan to use technology in their classrooms mostly in communication to parents, recording performance and administrative classroom tasks, and to create visual presentations. 66% have received no prior technology training prior to this class.
Of the applications listed in the survey, 66% were very comfortable and experienced with word processing, 50% felt somewhat comfortable with presentation software, while spreadsheets and internet software left lots of room for learning improvement.
The technology reported most valuable in the classroom was the Smartboard. Most felt it had the most flexibility and student/teacher interaction. Although computers will be ongoing and evolving tool, there are many obstacles that may limit its use, such as not enough computers or out of date computers and software were among the concerns of 66% along with insufficient technology support.
 

"Everyone takes surveys. Whoever makes a statement about human behavior has engaged in a survey of some sort." - Andres Greeley