Monday, November 12, 2007
Impact of Technology
EQ #3 asked, "What technologies have the potential to have an impact on the way I teach and that my students learn?" From the time of writing the syllabus to the end of this class my own eyes have been opened and I've been focusing on the potentially transformative power of Web 2.0. How can you answer this EQ after 14 weeks of having a technology focus?
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Wikies and blogs seem to be potential future recourses for my classroom. Next semester when my pre- engineering students are coving the transportation unit that I teach, I will be using these technology tools. While researching the physics behind dragsters, a class wiki will be used to share the information. Also, when they build their cars, each child could create a blog that outlines the steps and their progress. They will be able to include graphics and pictures along with their text. These tools will enhance the entire process. Student will be able to give each other feedback from home, the library, or wherever they have Internet accesses.
The Promethean board, wikis, and blogs have the potential to have an impact on the way I teach and that my students learn. When this class started, I had no idea what these words meant, and now I can honestly say that I cannot wait until I can use the wikis and blogs in my class. I am trying to come up with ways to use these technologies in future units. Our students are limited to using these resources at school, but with our computer labs, it should not be too hard to have all students blogging before Christmas.
The Promethean whiteboard and United Streaming have already impacted my teaching over the past year. However, I feel that I will continue to develop the use of these within my instruction.
The technologies that I think have the potential to impact my teaching and student learning in the future are the various uses of wikis and blogs. I will probably start with the use of blogs and see what type of reaction/response I receive first. I have noticed that students are very receptive to any type of communication and/or learning that involves technology. I believe some students would enter a "blog" discussion and ask questions that they may would not ask in class. Using a brief (raising of hands) survey, I found that the majority of my students are interested in a science class blog. I currently have a teacher website that provides information but no interaction. I think the "science blog" would give students in my class to ask questions, discuss topics, and interact on science related concepts. It will be exciting to see what will develop.
One technology that I want to get started in my elementary inclusion classroom is student/teacher emailing (or maybe wikis or blogs) instead of using journals only. We have journals for every subject, so why not make at least one with hypermedia? The students would enjoy the change and so would I. I've changed my thinking from technology as a fun thing to do to .... a fun way to get where I want to go. I'll be so happy when our county gets the promised Smartboards and training on how to use them. I'd like to incorporate its use into daily lessons. Another technology that I've discovered this semester is United Streaming. It has a wealth of information about so many subjects. Now that I know about it I plan to use it often.
I think the answer is that any and all technologies have the potential to have an impact on the way we teach and the way our students learn. Whether our students are K-12 or college level, they are generally very much plugged in to technology. Using technology is as common as eating pizza and sleeping in on the weekends. Texting and talking on cell phones, instant messaging online, and Facebook accounts are a natural part of our students' everyday experiences. They understand and use technology better than most people just one generation removed.
While my interest in this area is more about influencing, supporting, and helping students, I strongly believe that we must go to students where they are rather than ask them to come to us. Using technology is an ideal way to meet them in a world they are familiar with. We just have to do our part and jump into the world of technology ourselves.
I have enjoyed using various websites this semester to add to my chemistry classes what I cannot show them in our lab setting. There are so many neat demos that are too dangerous or expensive for me to be able to replicate that the students will gather around my computer and watch. It sort of feels like a "spend-the-night" party around the TV that my kids used to have for a few minutes. They also have begun searching out other websites on their own time and bringing me suggestions to class. I am interested in setting up a SCHS science wiki within the next year. Hopefully the one I have started in this class can be the base for that idea.
I really like the wikis. I can see myself posting various information for those savvy "web"sters. Unfortunately, I have a majority of students whose parents don't own a computer at home and are unlikely to go to a public library. So, I know that I will continue to experiment with websites such as united streaming and sparkthemind. I am asking for "Interwrite" for my classroom next year. I've used it in my collboration class and love it. I can see myself moving forward, definitely.
Before this course, my view of using technology for instruction was very limited. Computers were used for word processing, research, and games or activities. Smartboards, Activboards, and scan converters were used to display a computer screen to an entire class for various activities. I really had no idea about all the Web 2.0 technologies that are available, much less the way they are impacting education. My first grade students are really young for some of the technologies we have learned about in this class such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, etc. However, these are exciting tools that I definitely implement if I taught older children. Many of the tools are great ways for teachers to communicate with students. Students could access the site from home or school to view assignments, post comments, read additional material, research topics, etc. I believe that young students need to be exposed to as much technology as possible. Topics such as plagiarism and citing sources correctly should also be addressed early in school.
Wikis and Podcasts really caught my eye as having the potential to increase learning in my classroom. Wikis can help organize my information so students do not spend so much time surfing the web and not finding what they need. Podcasts in foreign language can help with everything from pronunciation to providing cultural experiences that my students might not otherwise encounter.
I really loved the wiki and blogs. I am already planning on implementing blogs into my classroom this semester. Although most of my students will have to use the computers at school and I will have to allow them time to use the computers (because they do not have them at home), it is well worth the time. I really like the fact that they can use technology and see how other students have responded.
I have really enjoyed becoming familiar and, dare I say, camfortable with the Web 2.0 technologies introduced this semester. I can see how wikis, and possibly blogs, can easily be used to enhance my curriculum with second graders. Now that I know how to create a wiki, I am eager to create wikis related to content/topics we are focusing on. I believe this is a wonderful way to support student research and enrichment activities. Blogging may be a little bit more difficult for second graders; however I do have ideas, such as responding to book studies, that I'd like to try in my classroom. these Web 2.0 tools have introduced me to ways to meaningfully incorporate technology into my curriculum.
Having just finished teaching my UbD unit, I found great success using the Smart Board, wikis, Internet research projects, and virtual labs. I would have never incorporated a wiki/webpage design with my students if I would not have learned about it in this class.
Web 2.0 will have a definite impact on the way I teach, and the way that my students learn. My eyes have been opened to a whole new world since the beginning of this class that provided me with new knowledge of the many possibilities to include technology in lessons. My students love technology, so I plan to use wikis with my students to communicate and provide information in an interactive manner with and between students. Also, the many website resources will definitely be used in my classes. I have so many technology resources now that I never knew existed! I will enjoy learning more with Web 2.0, and so will my students.
I feel that all of these technologies can contribute to better classroom learning. It all depends on the training and enthusiasm of the teacher, and the availability of the technology to the students. I found out in teaching my UbD unit that the students really enjoyed using the web to research various topics. Though I wasn't completely satisfied with my results, by using some of the suggestions made by my classmates on our class discussion board I can make better use of this resource for future research projects.
I believe the impact that blogs, wikis and other web 2.0 tools will have on my teaching is profound. I have already set up several wikis and I'm working a inservice class for my teachers on how to use wikis in their classroom. I am having to talk our tech. spec. into allowing access to blogs from the school.I believe that because of this class- I am ready and armed with enough facts and information on how they can be used successfully in a classroom.
I think the technologies that I will use the most are wikies, blogs, and podcasts. I have already experimented with some of my classes this semester. The students were very excited to see what I was working on and we had a great time exploring my wiki which concentrated on virtual field trips.
I think that I will probably use wikis the most, and I think that my students will benefit the most from these because they will be able to access necessary content from home. Also, I am thrilled to report that I am getting a SmartBoard in my room. They started the installation process over the holidays!!!
I have learned soooo much technology is this class! We have Smart boards in our school and now I can add even more technology to it. I really enjoyed the aspect of wikis in my class. I worry about many of my students not having access to computers.
Many of my projects will now have new life because we can add so many technology views. Students can go wild with it and they will be informative and visually stimulating.
I also am now a firm believer in united streaming. What a wonderful resource. You can find anything there and there are usually questions to go along with the clip. My technology world has been opened.
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