Week 5 Reflection

I had a few Aha moments this semester. One of these moments was working with Wiki Space. I have worked with Wiki Space before in one of my undergraduate courses. The project was to be completed as a group project. I usually take the lead in group projects, but not this particular time. I was so confused. I felt terrible that I didn’t understand this assignment that everyone else seemed to understand. I was so happy to get a chance to work with wiki again so that i could have a better understanding of this application. I caught on quickly and it wasn't very difficult at all. Creating a Wiki Space was fun and I see myself using this site again in the future.

Secondly, creating my philosophy has been sort of like a guide for me. I will continue to update my philosophy as I discover more information of Educational Technology Leadership. I am delighted that I was able to create my philosophy as the beginning of the program, so that I can see the difference in my philosophy toward the end. My philosophy hasn’t changed on paper much, but in my brain the meaning of technology has expand. I’ve always knew I wanted to teach using technology, but until this course I didn’t know of the different kinds of technologies that I could use to teach my students. Wiki Space, Blogger, Delicious, “Google Sites,” etc are great and I am anxious to see how I will use them in the future.

Another Aha moment was creating and customizing my blog spot. This was a very modern & fun way to write reflections. When i visit my page I am extremely proud of the turn out and using this site was a great experience. The blog spot is what I would use to check for understanding with my students. I think that it would be enjoyable and something that they would really get into .

The articles were also aha moments for me. I was able to understand more of where we are today and where our generation is going. These articles re assured me that I definitely chose the right major. I say this because I have learned so much already and this is only my first class in the ETEC masters program. I know that I have way more to learn and I am happy that I will be more knowledgeable of what is so popular today.

My goal is to take what I have learned and teach the information to my students in the future. I’m sure that the students will find these technologies as exciting as I am. I believe if you can make learning more enjoyable while using technology then that is wonderful. I would like to say that I am so happy about this summer session. Dr. Wickersham did a fantastic job with explaining the assignments and the layout of the course and also my classmates were very helpful and I’ve learned a lot from all. I enjoyed viewing everyone’s pages for more ideas and creativity. I really enjoyed the course.

Week 4 Reflection

What generational category do you fall in or are you a mixture of a few?

After reading the article, Is it Age or IT: First Steps Towards Understanding the Net Generation, I once again have learned a lot. The article was very interesting and taught me things that I didn’t know. The generational category that I fall under is, Net Generation. I was in college when I really started using the net because I grew up in a house without the internet. Yes, we had many computers; but no internet. The only problem that I see with my generation is, relying on technology. I wasn’t raised to rely on anything especially on something that may not be what it seems. For Ex: Internet Information, Newest Technology –does not mean better, Social Networking- could cause many problems, etc..


Are you more comfortable composing documents online than longhand?

I am more comfortable composing documents online than longhand. Composing documents online takes less time than longhand in my opinion. I have many things that I have to do through the day and I always try to go the quicker route.


Have you turned your "remembering" (phone numbers, meetings, and so on) over to a technology device?

My phone numbers are all saved in my phone, so that I can remember important numbers. As far as meetings, appointments, etc. I usually write them down on sticky notes. I have always written things down; I’m a lot like my mother when it comes to this. It’s hard for me to rely on my cell because it may not sound, I may not here it, battery life, etc.

Do you go to meetings with your laptop or PDA?

I always bring my notebook pad to meetings. Again I’m better at writing things down. I’m usually very organized which helps me keep up with my notes and also writing things down things help me to remember.

Are you constantly connected? Is the Internet always on whether you are at home or work? Is your cell phone always with you?

I am connected when I’m near my computer. I think it has a lot to do with becoming more knowledgeable of things and living in commerce, tx. There is nothing else to do here. I’m not as connected as most people my age because I’m not a fan of MySpace, Face book, etc. Yes, my cell phone is always with me because I do not want to miss an important call from my family members.

How many different activities can you effectively engage in at one time?

Usually I can only engage in one activity at a time. When I do two things at a time I feel that my full attention isn’t there and that I’m not focused like I should or could be. I guess you would say that I have a one track mind.

Do you play video or computer games?

Yes, I play video games! I have always been a Mario bro’s fan since I was little. I got the new Wii that came out on Mother’s day and I have played it almost every day.

Week 3 Reflection

E-Portfolios and Deep Learning

The article Electronic Portfolios as Digital Stories of Deep Learning had relevant information that will help later on in my career. In the article there were 10 research based principles related to AFL, and the principle that stood out the most would be that “AFL should focus on students learning.” This is important because the students learning should always be the main focus. Educators are here to make sure that their students are learning.

Portfolio assessment potential in the future could be used for important information that was taught in their high school classes that may help them in college. I had a spiral in high school that I would keep important notes in because I knew the notes would come in handy for college. I somehow misplaced the spiral and wasn’t able to go over the information the summer before starting college and I forgot most of the things I learned in high school. Keeping up with a Website would be much easier than a spiral.

The portfolio will be a reminder of all the things that I’ve done in previous courses. Creating the portfolio helped with understanding the whole process and I will definitely be able to teach my students how to create the portfolio because of having the opportunity to create one for myself.

MaPping Activity

I chose to look into the All about the Explores site. This site looks very professional which makes you believe that all the information is accurate. The site was created by a group of teachers who wanted to show their students that everything on the internet wasn’t exactly all reliable information even if it appeared to be a trusted site. I will definitely go by what I’ve learned this week to assure that my searching is relevant. I’ve never been the one to rely on my search findings for homework use, so I’m confident about the small amount of information that I did find.

Implications

If we fail to teach our students the skill that they need, then the implications could hurt them in their future. If we teach that all sites aren’t accurate and the ways of knowing an accurate site then that would help tremendously. I think that students should not be allowed to browse any site if not taught first how to find accurate information. The internet could truly corrupt a student’s mind if they believe that all of their findings are true, so as an educator I will be sure to give the information that they need before teaching a lesson that involves browsing.

Delicious & Google Reader

Delicious is another way of helping with organizing. I like to stay organized, but I didn’t know I could organize the information & sites that I find on the internet. We all know that you can use bookmarks, but that information is good for one computer. Delicious allows you to take the information with you to other computers. I will definitely use Delicious in the future for organizing educational sites that could help educate my students. Also, I would like to introduce Delicious to my students. This will help students get organized for educational purposes and their personal purposes. Google Reader is also a great organizing tool to use. Organization is very important and if there is a program that will help me with that, then I will use it!

Wikis + the Pros & Cons

I created my wiki for class purposes, but if I was a teacher I would have used it to store class information. I would have information like our class syllabus, office hours, contact information, etc. That way parents and students will always have accessed to important information. Wiki pros are that I can post information quickly for all students and don’t have to make 150 copies. Some cons are that I’m not big on social networks and I’m sure that all students wont be big on them as well. Also, if settings are on allow others to edit information then you will have to worry about important things being erased. Digital natives would be pleased with wiki because it would cut down on emailing. Instead of sending new emails they could just edit information on the wiki space, but they wont be pleased with erased information.

ELearning Tools Wiki

I am pleased that i was introduced to wiki this week. I have explored other web 2.0 technologies and one that i want to use in the future is Flickr. Flickr will allow me to share pictures with relatives and college friends. They will be able to print the pictures that I share with them and it will help with the long distance that will be between us once I graduate.

November Learning

November Learning, Creating a new culture of teaching & learning article was very interesting. I had know idea of most of the things in the article. The one thing that really stood out to me was the Live video cameras in every classroom. Teachers have control over how the technology is being used so its not to make the teachers feel uncomfortable it seems. I feel the parents have the rite to know what is going on in the classrooms that their students attend. It will cut down on misbehaving because the students know that mom or dad could be watching that very moment.:) I also think its another way to get the parents involved and that is something that need to be done.

The Potentials for blogging

At this point, I have noticed that many teachers are using blogging in their classrooms. The students really enjoy blogging; therefore i think its great. If students can learn and have a good time while doing it then i say job well done. I wish it could be more private, maybe between the teacher and student only. I say this because i have trouble with being comfortable with public social networks. I think it would be great to have it open to the entire class when their are group assignments. Im not sure if all kids & parents feel comfortable with everyone being able to view their comments and personal information.

Week 1 Blog Reflection

Creating a philosophy could help in many ways. One way writing an Educational Technology philosophy has helped me was by getting my view of education out on paper. This is important because it could help with job interviews. Secondly this has helped by allowing me to add to my Education portfolio. I think it is very important to keep a portfolio so that you can remember things in detail that can help you later in your future. It’s easy to forget things after a while when doing new things and learning new information. I would also have to say that writing your philosophy could help you by having your goals, inspirations, & definitions written down so you’re able to reflect on things later; to see if your feelings have grown deeper about a particular topic. Personally it has always helped me to get things down on paper. It’s like having records of my life on my college journey.

Educational Technology Philosophy

Every since I was a little girl I’ve wanted to be in charge. I remember when I was 12 I would play school with my 2 cousins Saria and Courtney. They were both younger than me so I was able to be in charge and be their teacher. I had two student desk and a dry erase board in my room that went with my teacher theme that my parents had created for my room. I also had a 3^rd grade teacher’s math book that I had got from my aunt who is a teacher. With these 3 things I felt I had all I needed to play school with Saria and Courtney. I would make math worksheet for them and lay them on the desk and once they were finished, I would even grade their papers. This was one of my most favorite & memorable past times as a child. With that said I guess I have always wanted to do something where I was teaching something that I was knowledgeable of. My cousins were very different, one would catch on very quickly and she always did great on the worksheets and the other wouldn’t do so well. The challenge for me was to get the one who didn’t do so well to do just as good if not better than the other. I wanted to show her that she could understand and do just as good as anyone. I explained the problems over and over again and she started to understand. I was so happy and excited for her at that moment I wanted to continue to teach things rather it was vacation bible school or just the 2 of them in my room. Now that I am older I have learned that all students are different but regardless of their differences they all deserve a secure, caring, and stimulating environment that allows growth and maturity: emotionally and socially. It’s my responsibility to ensure that each student that I encounter will reach his or her full potential in the stated areas.

If he or she does not reach their full potential I want to make sure that they go past their breaking point. When I use the term “go past his/her breaking point”, I am talking about that little voice in your head that tells you, “Ok “self” you have reached a point physically, mentally or emotionally that you cannot surpass!” Everyone has heard this voice in their head at some point or another. I take it as my personal responsibility to make sure you have the will power in your mind to say, “Yes I Can” and then you will gain the ability to tell your body to “shut up” and persevere through whatever you thought was not attainable. Once we get here the student will see that as long as he/she puts their mind to it, they will be able to accomplish anything. If we can get our students to that point we have won!

People do not realize that a lot of things can be taken from you in this lifetime; however, education, knowledge and understanding are not one of them. I want to instill this in my students, which in return I can help them to develop the drive and hunger for knowledge and understanding. Education is more than a piece of paper you receive for graduating high school or college. A lot of people don’t seem to understand that. There are people who have graduated college and can’t tell you one thing they learned their sophomore and junior year. Simply because they crammed for their test came out with an A, and forgot all of the information the second they wrote the last answer. This is because they did not learn the material; they memorized it for the test. Some people would say that they are educated, looking from an educators point of view, are they?

My goal for my students is to have them prepared in my content area as well as for life. As an educator we have to get people ready for the real world. When I say the real world, what do I mean? When we say that word, “the real world” many people immediately think a career or a 9-5 Last time I checked their was 24hours in a day. So how is just obtaining a career having students prepared for the real world? Being smart is the ability to adapt. Someone who is smart can be thrown into an unfamiliar environment and adapt to it accordingly and come out successful. As an example, if I am teaching a student addition facts and they know 2 + 2 = 4. Then on a test I should be able to write a word problem and make to where they must use an application of what we have learned in class to figure out the answer. If one can do that without a review letting them know it will be all word problems on the test, even though we only practiced with numerals. That is what you would call being smart. Therefore, if one can acquire those traits and apply them to their everyday life as well as their educational content area, we as educators I believe have done our job successfully.

Another goal as an educator is to encourage students to think for themselves and not always depend on a help aid or guide to direct their train of thought. We have to get students back relying on their internal instinct and going off of their gut feeling. It is kind of like trial and error, except this will allow the student to learn from their mistakes and help them to trust their selves even more when they get things right. For example, some students cannot study for a test without a study guide; this is not good, last time I checked there was no study guide to life. There are some who are so dependent on technology that it has almost crippled students from thinking for their selves. I believe that it is my job as an educator to let the students know that technology is not the most powerful thing, but your mind is the most powerful thing. We have people salivating over what we can do with technology these days, and forgetting that people’s minds are what has created technology and are constantly researching and discovering new things which keep our technology so advanced. With me being a Instructional training & design major, I want to show my students that if you apply the knowledge you already have and technology that you can take things to a new level.

Digital Concept Map

My creative definition of Educational Technology using a Wordle Concept Map.