Final Digital Blog Post

A Course to Reflect

Whether I was sitting in the coffee shop or relaxing at home, writing this blog on EME 2040 has truly enhanced my capability of teaching. The IGeneration of students continually increases and so does improvements in technology. Chapter 1 of the textbook "Transforming Learning with New Technologies", informed me that computer time using technology-based teaching tools can be beneficial to students and teachers as well (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). To recognize the IGeneration in my future classroom, I will do a "computer center" in which students can participate in interactive online activities. Here is ABC Mouse, one of my favorite online activity websites that I have mentioned throughout the semester.

Behaviorism, a term mentioned in Chapter 3 of the textbook, was a term I was familiar with and I found interesting to be acknowledged in a technological way. Improvements and updates in technology in the classroom serve as part of the environment for the students. Behaviorism, as defined by the textbook, "maintains that learning is a set of changes in human behavior created as a response to events in the environment" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). Here is one of my favorite comics I created over the course of the semester regarding Chapter 3.

Over the course of the semester, collaborative lesson plans and teacher web pages taught me learning objectives such as "analyze and evaluate a selection of technological tools for assisting students who are English Language Learners, and link the technology to strategies for teaching these students." I was able to assist and evaluate on how to incorporate diverse technological needs in the classroom for students. Whether it be through learning styles or developmental delays, technology can be used to positively improve teaching students. One tool I found very successful and will be helpful for presentations in the classroom is Prezi. It is a presentation website designed for a different appeal. I believe it takes a creative approach on lecture time. Here is one I made on Chapter 11, "Engaging Students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning".



My favorite discussion post throughout the course was Discussion Post #3: Assistive/Adaptive Technologies. With having experience of volunteering at a special education school, I found this discussion topic interesting to see the perspectives of my classmates and how they would help their physically/mentally disabled students adapt to the classroom. I think it is extremely important for a classroom to feel like family; every child should feel like a friend. Even as a teacher for voluntary pre-kindergarten, I call each one of my students (and encourage them to do so) my "friends." I wrote in this discussion post, "As a teacher, I would provide my student with a hearing disability plenty of resources so he/she feels respected and treated equally as other students" and I still believe that very thing.

Along with some of my favorite chapters such as Chapter 11 and Chapter 7, this class served as an eye-opener to using technology in the classroom. I always found it important to have one-on-one basic instruction with students but I had not realized how important it was for students to also have computer time with engaging activities. The course also explained to me how it does not have to be just computers, but there is a large abundance of technological teaching tools and opportunities for the classroom. I hope to gather the information I learned this semester and to incorporate it into future classrooms!

References
Hunt, Alaina. (2015, September 20). "Technology for Students" Bitstrip. Retrieved December, 10, 2015, from https://www.bitstrips.com/user/JJ784S/read.php?comic_id=QQVM3&subsection=1.

Hunt, Alaina. (2015, November 2). Chapter 11:. Retrieved December 10, 2015.

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Blog Post #L

Three Concepts to Reflect

After a relaxing Thanksgiving break, reading Chapter 12, "Integrating Technology and Creating Change as Teacher Leaders" explained significantly the importance of technology integration in the classroom to me as a future teacher. With technology integration and educational change, new concepts and ideas are thought of to improve technology in the classroom. The first term that caught my attention, inclusion, "means that computers and information technologies are used mainly for transferring information and practicing skills" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). It is minimal use such as scheduling and classes. I personally believe technology should be more included in everyday class to enhance learning.

Marc Warschauer's social infomatics was the second term that caught my eye. It is an analysis "where technology's impacts are considered within the context of larger social, economic, and political realities, as well as social and racial differences" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). It is supposed to allow more technological opportunities to less fortunate families in order to improve educational experience. I believe that having such places like libraries with modern technology is a great way to have open resources to students.

One-to-one laptop computing, the last term I am mentioning, "means every student in a grade, school, or district has her or his own computing device to use in school" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). This is supposed to prevent digital inequality between students. When I went to high school, every student had access to laptops to take notes and work on homework with. I found it extremely useful and convenient.

Overall, I found this chapter very informative. There was an abundance of theories that would seem helpful in the classroom. I would like to see how one-to-one laptop computing would work in an elementary or middle school setting.

Here is a bitstrip explaining the importance of teaching the teachers about improvements in technology for the classroom.
http://bitstrips.com/r/GKS7K

References
Hunt, A. (2015, November 29). Chapter 12. Retrieved November 29, 2015, from http://bitstrips.com/r/GKS7K

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Blog Post #K

Three Concepts to Reflect

Chapter 6, "Fostering Online Learning with Educational Websites and Apps", explains how informational websites and bookmarking can be used to improved educational experiences for students. Information management, the first term that caught my eye, "is a business term generally used to describe how organizations and systems keep track of data for making decisions and setting policies" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). Teachers can use online organizes to effectively improve the educational experience for students. I found this term interesting but I do not use any sort of online organizer and it is definitely something I would want to learn to use for my VPK class.

The second term I found interesting is e-newsletters. E-newsletters "appear for free in your email on a regular basis once you sign up to receive them" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). Quite often I have signed up for newsletters from clothing stores or organizations and never found them useful until now. I recently started creating a newsletter for my class and asked the parents of my students to write down their emails so I can send out the newsletter. I found email a better use of communication to reach the parents.

The third term I found interesting was WebQuests which "are online inquiries for students that are designed and guided by teachers" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). The term caught my eye because of the WebQuest I just created for this class. I tried to visualize as WebQuest as a visual map so my students feel guided from one activity to the next.

Overall, I thought chapter 6 was very inventive and eye-opening. I would like to include online organizers into my class and see how it effectively helps my students. I am curious to see how a WebQuest would work for preschool students but I think it is a great idea!

Below is a short quiz about the chapter.
http://flipquiz.me/u/amhunt15/eme-2040-blog

References
Hunt, A. (2015, November 16). EME 2040 Blog:. Retrieved November 16, 2015.

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Blog Post #I

Three Concepts to Reflect

As a new Pre-Kindergarten teacher, lesson planning has been something I am slowly learning to do. It is a very important aspect of VPK teaching. Chapter 4, "Designing Lessons and Developing Curriculum with Technology", discusses of how teachers plan and and teach lessons to keep students engaged. Lesson planning was the first term I found significant. Lesson planning organizes the three elements such as teachers' goals, methods, and procedures. It is broken up into two groups; student learning objectives and Understanding by Design (UBD) (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). This includes the "who, what, when, how much/often, and how it will be measured" that some students are taught in school. I thought this was interesting because I remember being taught in school that statement when the teacher made us evaluate situations on the topic.

Assessing and evaluating students by personal experiences is the second term that caught my eye. I found this interesting because after I was remembering how I was taught as a child, there was a term to explain that. "Teachers tend to teach the way they were taught and assess the way they were assessed" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). I have had a few significant teachers in my history of schooling and I hope to incorporate the way they taught into the way I teach.

Last but not least, electronic grading software, a virtual recordkeeping system, "is a computer program enabling teachers to quickly calculate and record student grades on a computer" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). Although I do not do much grading in VPK, I think this would be an extremely helpful tool in the future. Older students like high and middle school students would be able to electronically check their grades throughout the semester. There can also be assigned values of assessments, just like FSW's online classes.

Chapter 4 was an eye-opener chapter for me as it explained the importance of lesson planning. I hope to look back and reflect on the chapter during my lesson planning days.

Here is a more creative approach to this chapter: https://tackk.com/vre9l6

References
Hunt, A. (2015, November 8). Chapter 4 - Tackk. Retrieved November 8, 2015.

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Blog Post #J

Three Concepts to Reflect

This time finding myself in the school library, Chapter 11 "Engaging Students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning" reflects how both teachers and students use technology to assess and evaluate learning. Student assessment, which is the first term that caught my eye, is how a teacher would assess students' learning and teacher effectiveness" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). There are several evaluations to perform such as report cards, meetings with families, and oral/written feedback to students. As a VPK teacher, some of the student assessments that I perform are observation reports and parent-teacher conferences. I found this term interesting because I just conducted several parent-teacher conferences earlier this week.

The second term I found interesting is a digital teaching portfolio. A digital teaching portfolio "is a collection of educational and professional materials stored in an electronic format"  (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). I found this term very useful and I honestly want to start on creating my own soon so I can reflect on what I did as a VPK teacher and carry it with me to Kindergarten. I would like to see what I should improve upon for the betterment of my class.

Prior knowledge-based learning, which was the third term that caught my attention, is "the idea that when teaching new concepts, teachers need to connect their lessons to what students already know or have been taught"  (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). I feel that prior knowledge-based learning is extremely relevant to VPK because it helps the students remember more fluently what they were just taught. When I lesson plan, I try to keep certain topic transition into the next theme.

Chapter 11 had me think of how important it is to not only keep track of how your students are doing, but how you, as the teacher, is doing as well. I will definitely be putting together a digital teaching portfolio to keep track of my progress as I apply prior-knowledge based learning to my lesson plans!




References
Hunt, A. (2015, November 2). Chapter 11:. Retrieved November 2, 2015.

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Blog Post #H

Three Concepts to Reflect

Chapter 10, "Promoting Success for All Students through Technology", explains the significance incorporating the individual needs of every student in a classroom. Being that this is a  very important aspect to me as a teacher, I found this chapter informative and insightful. To began the chapter, the term multicultural education is "used to describe how teachers go about 'affirming' the expansive diversity of student interests, needs, and talents present in every school classroom" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). It is a term of equal opportunity, along with modernizing itself to the diversity of society today. Multicultural education caught my attention because I feel that a child's acceptance and comfort in a classroom is a priority. I believe in creative curriculum that allows students to identify themselves and express themselves, regardless of different prejudice.

The term "differentiated instruction (DI)" also reminds me of creative curriculum. It is "an instructional approach in which teachers create different educational experiences as ways to meet the learning needs of individual students"  (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). An example of DI in my VPK classroom would be in science center, students use magnifying glasses, scales, magnets, and more to include diverse learning styles and enhance their learning. Some are visual enhancers while others are hands-on.

The third term this week that caught me eye was "speech recognition software" which "displays a person's spoken words as written text on a computer screen" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). As being a witness of students who struggle with fine motor disabilities, I find software like this extremely helpful in the development of four and five year olds. As a teacher, I find it useful to decipher my students' work when they write certain letters or phrases.

Chapter 10 brought a lot of insightful information to me in which I learned how diversity is a term that keeps expanding. It is important to target diverse learning styles in the classroom so every students feels welcome to grasp the information. I hope to include multicultural education by expanding on my student's interests in the classroom and always being a welcoming teacher.

And for some creative expression of this chapter!

<iframe width="800" height="1979" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="overflow-y:hidden;" src="https://magic.piktochart.com/embed/8853998-untitled-infographic"></iframe>

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/8853998-untitled-infographic




References
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Digital Blog Post #G

Three Concepts to Reflect

Chapter nine, "Expressing Creativity with Multimedia Technologies" explains how useful multimedia can present educational information. Being a new preschool (VPK) teacher, multimedia is a very useful way to teach in my classroom. Multimedia means "the presentation of material using both words and pictures" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). Examples of multimedia that I use in my classroom is music (to dance and for learning how to follow instruction), visual word wall, circle time reading, and voice-over books. I find multimedia very beneficial, especially working with four year-olds so they have a stimulating classroom experience.

The second term I found interesting, and was not far behind "multimedia", is multimodal learning. Multimodal learning "happens when teachers combine spoken words with visuals or written text with audio or utilize simulations and models" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). I found this interesting because I think this term targets all learning styles. Whether a child is a visual or audio learner, multimodal learning allows for all kinds of styles. This makes it a better experience for the student. An example of when I use multimodal learning in my classroom is when we do our calendar during circle time. Not only do I have a visual calendar with days of the week and months, but we also repeat our days of the week/months out loud. This way students can see it and hear it.

After looking through the rest of the chapter, the third term I found interesting was information presentation design which is "the arrangement of written and pictorial information so that its intended audiences can easily and clearly understand it" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards, & Woolf, 2014). Even though the other two terms were ones I apply in my classroom, this term stood out to me because it is not something I use. Although it may be hard to use PowerPoint in a VPK classroom, I think it is a useful tool for older students. It is visually stimulating for students and helps the teacher stay organized.

Chapter nine has to be one of my favorite chapters to read. Over the course of the school year, I have gone from working with one year olds to working with VPK and I have learned so many teaching strategies. This chapter I easily related to with techniques.

To go along with the chapter, he is a visual to accompany the blog post:
http://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/9220367

References
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.