Technology to Educate

Technology to Educate: Book Reviews ~ A Third Grade Literacy Project

Oregon Technology Standards and Requirements in the Classroom

Considering the fact that many of today’s students are termed digital natives (people whose culture is deeply embedded in a variety of emerging technologies) it’s more important than ever that educators stay up to date with all of the latest technologies and incorporate them into their classroom curriculum. As a teacher, it’s vital to keep this in mind in order to plan an education that best suits the needs of all students and to provide them with the skills necessary to be fully functioning productive citizens in the future.

In order to meet technology requirements for both students and teachers, I plan to incorporate technology into my classroom as often as possible, while also taking into consideration the developmental level of my particular students. Because I plan to teach K-3, I will not be using many valuable forms of technology, such as social networking, simply because they are geared towards older ages. However, I do realize that as the years pass more complicated technology will be commonplace in the hands of younger and younger citizens, and as that occurs I will make adjustments.

According to the Oregon Department of Education it’s now a requirement of all teachers to instruct students to be technologically literate. In order to teach others to be technologically literate, I too must possess these skills. To do this, it’s key that I provide students with opportunities to work with a variety of technologies and train them in how they can be utilized.

Web2.0 Tools, such as Yodio, Blogging, Dabbleboard, Podcasting, Screen Toaster, Tokbox, and Skype are great technologies to incorporate into early elementary classrooms. I personally prefer these programs because they are all easy to use and easy to learn. It’s my goal as a teacher to create a classroom blog and incorporate into it student videos, work and presentations through Podcasts, Yodio, Dabbleboard and Tokbox. I plan to also use Skype because it is a great resource that allows my students to communicate in real time with others far away, sharing ideas and customs. Each one of these programs has great potential to motivate and showcase students in a way that can be shared with their families and others in the school community.

According to Oregon Educational Technology Standards, teachers need to guide children through technology to improve:

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
   
3. Research and Information Fluency
   
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making
   
5. Digital Citizenship
   
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

The National Education Technology Standards for Teachers, state that teachers must:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessment
3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Many of these objectives can be met through the Web2.0 Tools I mentioned earlier. However, other tools, such as digital cameras, camcorders, recorders, webcams, and access to the internet can be useful tools in addressing all standards that students are expected to meet in this day and age. Teaching children how easy it is to access information and to express themselves through a variety of modes is an exciting notion that I can’t wait to embark upon.

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

Original Data
Data Averages (Test 6-10)

Students with Above Average Test Scores

Students with Below Average Test Scores

After completing the data analysis on an excel worksheet, I quickly discovered that the excel format needs to be specifically formatted to each specific destination. While this is of course possible, it makes the task of embedding, while maintaining function and formatting time prohibitive. As a result, though this is a useful tool individually, I feel that spreadsheets need to be created in their final destination. While excel is a very useful program when installed on a computer, the many versions make it a compatibility nightmare. Looking back I wish that I would have used google spreadsheet for this particular assignment. Live and learn.

The results of the data collection were clear upon graphing the information. Students who scored below average on tests 6-10 showed the same upward trend in grade improvement when compare to the rest of the class. This shows that although they fall below the class average, they are improving at roughly the same rate as the rest of the class.

The student's cumulative average and the total class test average both equated to the same value. This of course makes sense because they are ultimately measuring the same value sets, averaged from different ends.

The hide function is especially useful in analyzing specific portions of the test year, while maintaining the ability to quickly access the cumulative data for each student. It is also important to note that averages can be calculated with specific data set to either zero or null. Since these will give you much different results, it is therefore important to mindfully enter data, so as to not over or underscore the student.

Screen Toaster

For the multimedia project assignment, I worked with Kyle, Katrina, and Radhika to explore the web2.0 tool known as Screen Toaster. While I can see where it's applications would come in handy, it was, in my opinion, not very user friendly. The recording itself was not tricky to figure out, however the final steps to download and embed from the program were a real pain. The biggest difficulty we had with the program was that it did not notify us that we would have only one opportunity to download our recording. If we missed that opportunity, which took place during our save options, then we were no longer able to access our recording and make changes that would allow us to download or embed. We even tried to take the embedding code and input it into our blogs (as we have many other times), but discovered that this code only acted as a link to our recording rather than an embedded video. Having discovered this, we were forced to attempt more recordings (as well as give up more precious time) to complete the required task in order to download the video and upload it to our individual blogs and teachertube.com. Another percieved flaw I discovered in the program had to do with the voice-over application. We found that the recording would cut us off at both the beginning and the end even though we gave it adequate time to capture the entire recording.

Having manipulated this tool and discovered it's strengths and weaknesses, I feel more comfortable putting it into use, however I am not a huge fan and feel that there must be better programs out there that serve to meet the same function.

Scribblar/Dabbleboard

Skype

As I said earlier, Skype is an internet tool I use often. It allows me to make calls anywhere in the world for free or, in my case, a small fee for the added benefit of a designated Oregon phone number.

Skype can be used in my classroom as a tool that brings the outside world within our isolated four walls. It would provide a great opportunity to communicate with others in distant parts of the world. For example, the video chat feature could allow my students to not only speak to others abroad, but also see and experience their cultures and ideas.

This is a tool I am very familiar with and I love how easy it is to use.

OTEN Conference

I attended the OTEN conference. The two lectures I heard were Podcasting in the Elementary Classroom and Visual Learning with Concept Maps.

Yodio - OTEN

My Favorite Web2.0 Tools

Web2.0 refers to software, files, and services that can be accessed online from any location or computer at all times. The potential impact web2.0 tools can have on my influence as an educator is vast. It opens a world of possibilities for creative avenues of teaching within the classroom, which make incorporating students interests and increasing motivation easier. Children love working with technology and amazing programs like these, which provide kids with a plethora of ideas and resources. Some web2.0 tools that I would use in my classroom include, TokBox, UStream, Voice Thread, and podcasting. Each of these programs offer opportunities for my students to create their own short videos while using pictures and voice to display their knowledge and ideas. It’s a very useful tool to engage and motivate kids in their learning by making them a star.

My favorite web2.0 tools are blogger.com, google docs, and Skype. I never truly realized just how dependant I was on web2.0 tools until now. Blogging is a useful tool that I have grown to love as a form of journaling my life and communicating with loved ones back home when I’m off chasing my various passions around the world. Although I have not spent much time personally using google docs, I’m highly interested in becoming acquainted with it as a way of keeping my documents current, easily accessible from anywhere, and eliminating the element of multiple copies or drafts on my hard drive. Skype is another highly used favorite of mine because it makes international calling affordable and also allows me to save money when calling locally. I LOVE THEM ALL!!!

Blogs and Internet Technology in the Classroom

As a teacher, I plan to create a classroom blog through programs such as, classpress.com, that allow me to create a private resource for parent’s/guardian’s and student use at any time. It will serve as a great way to communicate and share with families what children are doing at school through regular posts, pictures, videos, and polls. Best of all, it will be completely private, with access granted only to those I approve. Classroom blogs can also be a great way to post links to interactive educational games and activities for children to access as supplemental resources to build on concepts covered in class and solidify understanding.

A plethora of other blogs and sites on the internet, such as those listed below, may be used as great references for myself and other teachers to locate and/or share ideas when creating curriculum and addressing issues within the classroom.

• www.qtlcenters.org/qtl/blog/
• teacherscount.wordpress.com
  
• teachertube.com
• www2.scholastic.com
• teachers.net

Educational Equity Book & Website Critique

Chapter 6: Planning Curriculum That Is Multicultural

Doing Multicultural Education for Achievement and Equity

Reflection 6.3

Textbook or document tally

Summary of Tally Results

The textbook that I focused on for my tally chart was geared towards concepts second graders need to learn. I was not too surprised to find that as I flipped through the pages, White Americans were mentioned far more often then every other race/ethnic group. And, not only were White Americans mentioned more often, but the number of references toward men in comparison to women was about 2:1. The least represented group in the text was the Latino American population, a true shock to myself particularly because there is such a large Latino influence in America. Also, out of the five instances where Latinos were mentioned, only one had to do with a female. Arab Americans were the second least mentioned population with American Indian coverage not too far ahead. African Americans and Asian Americans were referenced more often than others, but certainly not to the extent of White Americans. It must also be mentioned that throughout the entire text there was not one reference to disabled Americans, a true disservice to our nations youth.

Reflection 6.13

Analyzing a website

Who produced the website?

The website, http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/edmulticult.htm, was produced by the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.

How is this website intended to be used?

The website is a collection of curricula that focuses on multicultural education. It was created with the purpose of providing a plethora of resources to empower teachers to easily incorporate multicultural learning into the classroom. Within the website are distinct sections focusing on multicultural lesson plans, teaching tolerance, art, literature, math, music, science, social studies, women, Hispanics, African Americans, civil rights, gay/lesbian/sexual preference, Asian Americans, Native Americans, immigration, homelessness/refugees, Jewish Americans, Russian Americans, and Arab Americans/Moslems. Each section is from a distinct source and carries its own characteristics.

What biases might it’s developers have? Remember, everyone has biases; biases aren’t necessarily good or bad, and identifying them doesn’t mean that the website is unusable.

The website is a collection of various resources that the site creators have found to be useful. One would expect a certain amount of religious bias coming from a site founded by a Christian university. While there are references to gay and lesbian tolerance, there is little, though some, mention for religious tolerance.

Whose view of the world does it tend to support?

Each of the individual curricula have a specific focus. The creators of the site do little to try and steer you one direction or the other and leave the information to be presented from the respective institutions. Each organization presenting ideas, such as PBS, Yale, tolerance.org, and discovery.com, to name a few, while reputable in their own rights, are all representing a specific demographic.

Whose view does it undermine or ignore?

The creators of the site seem to leave their own opinions out of the material. For example, where one might expect a conservative approach to the gay and lesbian issue, they don’t make any comment at all. The curriculum ideas from the various authors for each individual curriculum vary in approach and design.

Welcome

As an undergraduate, I majored in Human Development and Family Science's with a focus on Early Childhood Development at Oregon State University (OSU). After graduating from OSU, I spent two years exploring different avenues of teaching, including a year as an Instructional Assistant in a high school special needs classroom, as well as a year teaching English in South Korea. Currently I'm enrolled in Willamette University's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, where I hope to gain valuable knowledge in the field of education that prepares me for a strong career as a k-3rd grade teacher.

This blog will serve as a chronological account of the progress I make throughout this 10 month intensive program and allow you, the reader, to comment or give insight and ideas into the challenges and experiences I face.