EDU352 Week Four Reflective Journal

This week's journal prompt for my Foundations of Educational Technology class, asks me to describe a time when I have used specific data to make an instructional decision.  Because I am not yet a classroom instructor, I am instead supposed to choose any time I have made a learning-related decision.  So I have been sitting here racking my brain trying to think of what I should write about.  Maybe it is a matter of good timing, but as luck would have it, I have recently began a new venture as a substitute teacher at my daughter's elementary school.  This past week, I was in the same first grade class three days in a row. Each day after lunch, the teacher had asked me to help administer the end-of-year math assessment to the students.

The children all had individual dividers they erected on their desks to prevent their eyes from wandering to their neighbors paper, and there was to be no talking.  The teacher also left specific instructions to read each question multiple times to the students to make sure they understood what was being asked of them, and to not let the students work ahead. Every student was to be working on the same problem at the same time.  The first day I administered the test went okay.  The students were all quiet enough, but the whole time I wondered if I was giving them enough time to complete each question... or on the other hand, too much time.  It seemed distracting to continually walk around the classroom checking each student's paper to see if they had written down an answer.  At some point during the second day, it hit me.... I remembered reading about a simple assessment tool in one of my previous classes and I decided to put it into practice.  "Thumbs up if you are done with this question, or thumbs down if you need more time," I told the class.  The students all looked at me and raised their hands, quietly displaying either a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down".  In a manner of seconds, I was able to take a quick glance around the room to see which students were still in need of more time.  No walking around the classroom, peering over students shoulders.  Just a simple hand signal.  That's it.  Assessment complete.

This particular journal prompt has stumped me a bit this week for a few different reasons.  The first reason being that unless you are or have been a classroom instructor, I am not sure every aspect of the prompt can be fully answered.  And the other big part of the prompt that has me flustered is this: 

How might technology have enhanced the gathering and use of that data? 

Well, if you take the experience and example that I have written about, what would you say?  How would you use technology to enhance the gathering and use of data, which in this instance is determining when students have completed a question and are ready to move on to the next.  Is technology even necessary in this instance?  Throughout this class, I have been learning the various ways to integrate technology into the classroom.  Yet, I (and the rest of my classmates) have been repeatedly told and referred to articles, blogs, and videos, where it is emphasized that technology should only be used if it can enhance the lesson or the learning experience. It should not be used as a replacement, and the lesson should not be built around technology, rather the standards and the lesson should be considered and developed first and then, if necessary AND applicable, technology can and should be integrated.

I recently came across this little picture on the website edudemic.com and thought it was a perfect fit for both my current class, as well as for this journal prompt.

While giving the students the end of year math assessment, I needed to find a way to quickly and efficiently assess whether the students needed more time to complete the current math problem before moving on to the next.  I suppose if some sort of "clickers" were available, I could have set that up somehow so that students could push a button to indicate they had completed the problem.  However,  not only do I see something like that being more of a distraction to the students than anything else (not even taking into consideration the pleas of "Oops!  I didn't mean to push the button! I need more time!), but I do not feel that by integrating that sort of technology, or any other type of technology into this particular circumstance would satisfy or "check the box" of any of the bullets depicted on the "Technology Should" graphic above.  With that being said, and with everything I have learned thus far in EDU352, I am going to have to take a stand then and say that technology would not enhance the gathering and use of data in this particular learning-related experience.  

EDU 352 Technology Integration Journal (Week 3)

It is undeniable that technology has become a part of our daily lives.  As educators, an ever-increasing array of technological tools has become available to utilize in the classroom with our students to help enhance their educational experience.   When I think of myself as an educator, I have always envisioned myself in an elementary school classroom, specifically with Kindergarten or first grade children.  Because of this, I feel that I look at and identify with a different level of the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) when compared with an educator at the middle or high school level.  Therefore, based on both my own capabilities and comfort levels with varying forms of technology in an educational setting, and my personal experience with technology in a classroom, I most identify with the Active Adaptation level of the TIM.

The Active Adaptation level of the TIM states that “students work independently with technology tools in conventional ways” and that “students are developing a conceptual understanding of technology tools and begin to engage with these tools” (Florida Center for Instructional Technology, n.d.).   Thus far, my experiences in a classroom have all taken place with first grade students, all of whom are still learning to utilize computers for an educational purpose.   While students may be completely familiar and confident in their ability to manipulate forms of technology such as mp3s, video games systems, computers, and personal tablets, navigating through Microsoft Word, typing on a computer keyboard and using a mouse, and even using a SmartBoard might all be foreign experiences for students. 

Therefore, as an educator in a lower grade classroom, I feel it will be my responsibility to direct and guide the students, specifically when it comes to integrating technology in the classroom.  I think it will be my job to choose the appropriate tools for each lesson and to monitor the students as they learn to use the tools and work towards completing their lessons, which is stated as a responsibility of the teacher in the description for the Active Adaptation level of the TIM (Florida Center for Instructional Technology, n.d.).   For example, I can have all of the links to the websites that I want my students to utilize already listed and bookmarked on our classroom computers.  Click on this link, Active Adaptation in a First Grade Classroom, to watch a short video that shows a great example of a first grade teacher utilizing technology at the Active Adaptation level. 

There are so many fun and educational websites available for teachers and students that I plan to take full advantage of, but I also plan to help my students become better prepared for education, as well as life, in the 21^st century by introducing and exposing them to things like word processing programs and using a computer to create simple bar or pie graphs. I would hope that I would be able to provide a variety of technological tools in my classroom, as well as multiple opportunities throughout the school year for my students to use the various forms of technology, to gain confidence in their capabilities using these tools, and to learn to use these tools in a way that engages them and gets them excited about learning. 

Reference

Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (n.d.). Technology Integration Matrix. Retrieved from http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/

A welcome message...

Hello and welcome to my new blog.  This was originally created as a requirement for one of my online classes, but as a former blogger who really enjoyed blogging, but just kinda "fell off the wagon" due to life in general, I hope to at least somewhat regularly update this blog.  The specific instructions for creating this blog for my assignment were to: "Give some thoughtful consideration to naming your blog due to the possibility that you may want to continue using it beyond the end of this course" which got me thinking.  I have so many passions in life and there is so much that I thought I would like to share.  After sitting and racking my brain for a good 15-20 minutes about this, I started coming up with a list of my passions and the first couple that I thought of both happened to start with the letter "e".  That was perfectly convenient, of course, because my last name begins with an "E".  So then, I decided to think of five words (signifying the five people in my family), all beginning with the letter "E" that I not only would want to share with you and continue to blog about, but that I could  also use for an appropriate title.  And that is how I came up with my title.

ENJOY.  My family is my life and my entire world.  I also feel extremely blessed due to the fact that I am living out one of my dreams by being able to live and travel (more on that later) in England and Europe!  I often have to stop and pinch myself, and say a special prayer of "thanks" to God for not only blessing me with an amazing husband and best friend, for three wonderful (most of the time!)  and for lastly for affording me the opportunity to live overseas.

Hanging out in Olympic Park, London 2012.

Enjoying some after-dinner Espresso in Rome.

EXIST.  This kind of goes along with "enjoy", because I feel that one of the key aspects to being happy is to enjoy life, and to be present.  Live in the moment, do not take things for granted, and most importantly live by the golden rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  There is so much negative in the world, be the positive!

EAT.  One of my most favorite things to do is to cook and bake.  Truly... I really do love cooking.  I always joke that I am a GREAT recipe-follower, so this blog will probably not have many (if any?) original creations, but instead I will gladly share some of my favorite recipes and food blogs that my family and I love, and I hope you will to.  I absolutely love the satisfaction that comes with cooking a delicious meal and/or desserts for my family and friends to enjoy!  And I love to EAT as well.  Although still maybe a little finicky, I am no longer the picky eater I was growing up, and I am now enjoying eating so many different foods.

Getting ready to enjoy a panini in a cafe in Lucca, Italy.

Belgian Waffles.  Enough said.

One of our favorite eateries in Bruges, Belgium.

EXPLORE. I believe there is so much to see and do in our amazing world... so much of it can be found right in your very own community, it just takes a little exploration!  Even I am guilty of thinking I need to hop in the car, a train, or on a plane in order to see something new, when really all I need to do is step outside and take a look around!  Of course, traveling to new destinations and checking off places on my "bucket list" is always exciting as well, and this is something I am trying to take full advantage of while living here in England!

Orford Castle, England

View of the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero in Paris

The Colosseum

EDUCATE. I guess you can call me a "geek" or a "nerd", but I have always had a passion for learning.  I loved school and it has always been a goal of mine to earn a college degree, and not even necessarily to start a career or to obtain a job, but purely for the sake of going to school and earning a higher education.  I am currently just over a year away from finally achieving that goal, and in early summer 2015 I will be graduating from Ashford University with a BA in Education Studies.  I believe we should never stop learning and look forward to hopefully instilling a love of learning in future generations as I work towards becoming an elementary school teacher!

Well, that is a little about me and some background info as to why this blog was started, why it is titled the way it is, and what you have to look forward to in posts to come!  Thanks for stopping by!

Week 1 Journal Entry for EDU352

Without a doubt, I think that the Internet has been the most significant development in our (recent) world regarding the changes we have experienced due to technology. Because of the Internet, our world has become increasingly flat and people from all over the world can interact and connect through classrooms, social media, and even the workplace. The Internet has even affected classrooms in a sense by bringing the ability to research current news and events in "real-time", and to even connect with the past in ways like never before.

However, while this is not a recent development, I would also have to consider both the invention of paper and the printing press to be among other key developments in the changes our world has experienced due to technology. With first the invention of paper, followed by the invention of the printing press, things were able to be not only written out and preserved indefinitely (or at least for as long as the paper was not lost or destroyed), but also the printing press allowed for writings to be mass-produced and distributed. This allowed for a larger quantity of people to be educated than ever before in everything from the arts, to religion, to mathematics, to current news events, to even the latest gossip.

I must admit that I smiled while watching the video "The History of Educational Technology" and the clip of the overhead projector came on because that was pretty much the extent of my experience with technology in the classroom for me while growing up. I do remember a basic computer class in High School, but my experience was so different than my own children's for example, who not only have computers in every classroom, but they are connected to the Internet, as well as being in classrooms with interactive SmartBoards. In fact, my daughter's High School just finished assigning each and every student a personal laptop to be used for school!

I would definitely have to say that technology has increased my learning due to the fact that information is so handily and readily available because of the Internet. Not that the information is always 100% accurate or reliable, I can at least Google, for example, as a starting point to find what I am looking for. Just last night, for instance, while watching a movie with my husband and son, I became a little lost in the plot so I searched for the movie on IMDB.com and read a brief plot description in order to help me make sense of a few of the details I was confused about. Another example is that it is because of technology that I am only a year away from attaining my BA from Ashford University in Education Studies. Technology has made it possible for me to still be a stay-at-home mother, first and foremost, to live in another country, yet still attend college and work towards my degree and my goal of becoming an elementary school teacher.