Monday, October 6, 2014

Technology in the Classroom

In this weeks blog post I will be channeling my inner teacherella and her thoughts on technology in the classroom.

As far as technology is concerned, I consider myself to be a technology native. I have grown up from young age using technology, and feeling comfort in its use. Although I cannot say that I recognized about more than about half of the sites listed on the class link, I know that if given the opportunity I could learn to use them all. On a daily basis I text, email, browse social media sites, and use academic technology such as BlackBoard.

The three links that I liked best and think would be most useful in a classroom are as follows:
1) Screen-Cast-O-Matic found at www.screencast-o-matic.com
2) Voice Thread found at www.voicethread.com
3) Slideshare found at www.slideshare.net

The screen cast website is very useful to give step-by-step instructions to students for any kind of digital platform. If students need to learn how to use tools on a particular site or computer application, teachers can upload files that would assist students to do so. The voice thread site is very interesting. This would be a great way to upload online lectures, or supplemental material for students to look through for class. I would also like to use this instead of having to do online discussions, for students to be able to record their voices and their picture speaking about a certain topic, instead of using plain text would add a whole other element to assignments! Finally, slideshare, although a simple tool, would be very helpful. Students could upload their presentations for easy access and safe storage. Teachers would also be able to use this tool to upload any class files that students need for note taking or review. I think that this site would be particularly helpful for students who miss class, or are slower notetakers and make need to go back and add information to their notes.

To be quite honest, I have yet to start thinking about how I will keep learning after school, other than the far off thought of getting a masters degree; so I feel I have very little insight into virtual professional learning. However, after browsing the sites on our class list, I notice that there are basically unlimited opportunities for virtual professional learning. Although I am sure that some sites, or platforms are held in higher esteem than others, it seems that learning opportunities for educators is endless! It also seems that a lot of professional learning comes in the form of blogs, which would be a great way to get involved with student writing as well.

Virtual writing is quickly becoming the chosen platform for discussions, both personal and professional in nature. I think that it would be a great way to get students writing, however there are benefits and drawbacks to consider. For instance, students using a digital platform for writing will be able to reach a much wider audience than they would using traditional writing. However, teachers and guardians also need to monitor and guard students against any unprofessional and immodest interaction through the Internet while completing their digital writing.

After reviewing Jane Hart's slide show, Top Tech Tools for Educators 2014, found here...

http://www.slideshare.net/janehart/top-100-tools-for-learning-2014

I notice that teachers are increasingly using the dreaded....social media... in their classroom! Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest... all being used by educators. And I say about time! I think these are great platforms for students to be using in a classroom, as long as they are using them in an academically appropriate way during school hours! These platforms can lead students to research opportunities, networking opportunities, and all around great learning opportunities, which after all is what we want for our students!

Just as teachers should use the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy in an academic sense to challenge students, they should use the higher levels of Bloom's technology taxonomy as well! We want our students applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating with technology! As teachers, it is our job to foster our students, and to do this we must push them in the right direction, but always remembering to keep grade level in mind!



There is simply SO MUCH technology out there that it can become overwhelming for an educator to try and choose what to implement in their classroom. However, I will always remember that before I introduce new technology into my classroom that I will test it out, and try to master it before I share it with students. I will also remember that not every piece of technology will work as planned, teachers need to remain flexible and open minded, and that's when the magic happens!




3 comments:

  1. I like how you embedded the links and the images to help your reader explore. These are valuable text features in your post. The tech that is out there is overwhelming. I think that sometimes if you have a class that you can trust, you can just explore. Often there is a teen techie who can help out. You make a great point about social media and how it is invading classroom space. Good work exploring a small bit of the tech side of teaching.

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  2. I absolutely agree that, within reason, social media should be used in the classrooms. If students are competent users of a certain tech tool why not use it? We supervise our students anyway so it would not be any different to supervise them on social media sites. It is definitely something that I think teachers should shy away from less and explore more.

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  3. I also loved how you posted the links within your blog! I did not think to do this but it makes sense because they would be great sources for an outside reader. Also, I agree with you that all of the technology available for educators can be overwhelming however I think it is so important to use in classrooms, especially because the students we will have in class will definitely be technology natives!
    -Coral

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