Digital Blog Post #B

Three Concepts to Reflect

This time around I'm not sitting in a coffee shop but rather in the comfort of my own home. Being that Chapter 2 is labeled "Understanding Educational Technology Issues and Trends", the words "A Career that Matters" on page twenty three instantly caught my attention. The book states, that as a teacher, you are expected to: 1) "Convey essential academic material to students in ways they will understand, remember, and use" . 2) Appeal and teach to student's individual and unique needs. 3) Create a balance between students' outside-of-school influences such as social class and race, with inside-classroom dynamics such as academics and daily routines (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards,  & Woolf, 2014). I found this interesting and encouraging for being a new teacher myself. The points serve as a reminder to me what the some of the main purposes of being a teacher are.

Before I move on to other interesting topics, here is a Prezi presentation based on main points that you can follow along with. Included are Youtube videos and images.

https://prezi.com/6qrldz3lpke6/edit/#4_95982358

The second interesting thing I read was The Rogers Innovation Curve. Defined by the textbook, the curve "depicts how individuals in business and management respond to change" ((Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards,  & Woolf, 2014). Along with new ideas, comes a percentage of innovators, early adopters, followers, and individuals that will resist the idea. This topic stood out to me in the chapter because it supposedly establishes where a teacher is in relation to their familiarity with technology. I am always constantly looking to improve in learning technology that I think it is unique to have a Innovation Curve relating to it.

Although I found many other topics interesting, the last one I am writing about is how technology enhances learning. There are many different technology improvements so that is why I found this interesting to explain how digital tools can be used by teachers. 1) Instructional practices "are methods of teaching during which the teacher is interacting directly with students". 2) Administrative/professional activities "are the planning, organizing, and recordkeeping activities teachers need to perform to support the direct instruction of students" (Maloy, Verock-O'Laoghlin, Edwards,  & Woolf, 2014). An example of this is keeping hold of academic records using certain software. Although it may seem difficult to learn a new software or program, I feel like adopting new technology enhances learning for not only the student but teacher as well.

Chapter 2 opened up my mind to more advances in technology and the importance of student and teaching interaction with technology. It also made me realize how much technology I actually do use at the daycare I work at. For example, there are certain programs that serve as "social networks" for students in which parents can check up and see how their student is doing. Teachers can post crafts and updates on the student. I will continue to learn how important programs like this are, and incorporate them more in every day work!

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