ISTC

This class has been a great learning experience for me. I have learned all kinds of things that will help me not only with teacher but with any general task that i have that includes technology. I have learned about websites, blogs, wiki's and all kinds of other technology that can be used effectively in the classroom. When I started this class the only technology i ever thought was useful in the classroom was powerpoints. Now I know that there are many other kinds of technology that are more effective although less frequently used then power point.

Reflection on ISTC 301

In ISTC 301 I learned how to effectively integrate English into technology. When I first started the class I thought I was only going to be able to use PowerPoint in my classroom, but I was shown another perspective on educational technology. I appreciate that there are many forms of software available and that there are creative ways to use it and reach out to all types of learners.
I enjoyed making the digital story the most out of this semester. It taught me how to be creative and hands on, I think that if it is available I would love to use this program in my own classroom. Learning about the different type of learning styles and how it's integrated into teaching was informative. I hope to continue to learn more about technology in the future, there are still many different programs that I would like to know about and become more familiar with. To further my knowledge I will continue to work in a setting that has computer's available and use them to teach my students. I now know that I do need technology to be an effective educator, at first I took technology for granted and this class showed me otherwise.

end of semester

Well this semester has been a long tough one especially for me. In this class i feel like i learned alot but i also feel like i could have learned more. Some things in here were fun like the digital story telling, but i dont think we got enough time to actually play around with it and actually do a good job. I did like learning about the different google applications that can work well with group projects. Another problem I saw with this class is the fact it wasnt set up to help everyone no matter what major of education they had. This class was hard with being a special education teacher because it made everything twoce as hard. The "My Bookshef" was something interesting that i think should be used with special ed children and those who have trouble reading or who dont like it so they can possibly learn to like it. Otherwise i feel like i am pulling a good amount of information in this class, I jsut think there is alot of information fit into such a small amount of time and hopefully that will get better as time goes on..

Great Job though with this being your first semester here...and thanks for helping me!!

end of semster

The technology we used i liked best was windows movie maker. I feel like this application could be used to create very fun interesting lessons that as a history major I could use for my classes. I love how easy it was to use the program and make transitions and display the information oyu want while adding auditory and visual pieces.

The technology I disliked was the wiki I feel like it was just one more thing to use that was not necessary.

I hope to take away a better skills to use technology that would be applicable in my teaching. So I could use these skills to create more effective lessons hopeing to reach all different kinds of learners. Myself I feel having lessons that have more things going create higher levels of stimulation that will improve how much students will learn. I feel as technology has advanced the way take information has to. This is why I feel the way we teach needs to be updated for future generations to learn effectively.

end of the semester

There was so much information jammed into this class this semester! I did learn of some new applications, such as Google calendar and Delicious. I also learned about a neat assistive software (My Bookshelf) that I will definitely use in my classroom one day. This information I will more than likely keep with me. Other information, such as digital storytelling, I will more than likely forget by the start of next semester. It was just too much in such a short period of time. I don't think we got enough time to really learn and digest a lot of the information.
Something big I learned...this class is not well tailored for the special ed major. Many of the projects were twice as hard to work around my major.
There was so much to this class. It's disappointing that I know I'm not getting as much out of it as I should be. I hope that down the road students have a better opportunity to really apply their learning in class. I especially hope someone thinks about how to better incorporate special ed majors.

ISTC Reflection

I feel that I have gained knowledge in two different aspects of teaching through this class.  At first, I was a Secondary Ed. History major and learned about different ways to integrate technology into the high school or middle school classroom.  But just recently I changed my major to Elementary Ed. and Special Ed. so my technological focus had to change.  These two areas are worlds apart from each other.  With Elementary and Special Ed. you can do so much more with the kids and there are so many more resources that are available to use.  Plus the kids are still at that age where they think this stuff is cool.  With high school and middle school you really have to wow them with the technology you are using or you will lose them in the first 5 minutes.  This class has broadened my horizons as far as what I will use in my classroom and what I will be looking for in the classroom has I continue to pursue my degree and career choice.

reflections

I have enjoyed this course and it was very interesting. This an important class to take because we as future teachers must be able to intergrate technology wit out lesson plans to help or students learn better and prepare them the future. Dr. Lohnes helped us think of ways to incoporate our lessons into things such as power points, videos, or even web pages. I loved that class allowed us to be independent and construct our knowledge about our desired subjects. If I could learn more I would become more familiar with other forms of technology.
My view of technology integration did change as I became more interested.After completeting this class I learned many ways to incorporate technology without using the typical power point, but to take it a step further with movies and website design. The desired goal of this course was definietely fulfilled. we all know that ther is a strong need for technology and plenty of different ways to integrate it into the classrooms.

Reflection

I definitely learned alot in this class. Coming in I was nervous about technology because I felt as if I had only used it for communication, everyday things such as editing pictures, and to write papers. Not only did I learn how to use alot more technology through this course, but I learned that the technology I have been using for a long time has applications in the classroom as well. I think the technology become comfortable with will help me reach students of the Net Generation.
As an aspiring English teacher, I was afraid there would not be many applications appropriate for my subject. I now know that there are many programs that can enhance the English classroom, including Inspiration, Movie Maker, Visual Thesaurus, and Publisher.
Going forward, I am excited to integrate Web 2.0 technologies, such as Wiki, blogging, and new applications into my future teaching.

Semester's End Blog

First, I would like to say that I am sorry that this is late. I forgot to do it yesterday.
Anyway, I am going to take a lot away from this semester. This class has taught me a lot about how to use technology in the classroom. When I first started this class I was nervous because I do not have the best luck with technology, but as I am finishing the semester I feel more confident with using technology in the classroom. It was not something I would have thought about using, but now I think it really is a useful tool to use in the classroom. Technology is a way to keep students focused on learning, but it allows them to use the tools they know and love to do so.
In the future I would like to learn more about how to really use technology in my social sciences field. I am interested in how teachers of the subject use technology in their rooms. I feel like our class kept the technology on the simple side, but we could have went much deeper. Seeing how current teachers are using technology in their classrooms would be very helpful to me.
All in all, I think that this class was a good class to have to take. I am glad I took the class because I feel it contained a lot of useful information!

ISTC wrap up

I've learned a lot through this course. I feel even more comfortable the closer I am to my educating career. Now I know the different technologies that are out there I am going to be more capable of integrating it into my classroom.

I also know that it will be challenging to do it successfully but now I feel like I am up to the challenge.

There is really nothing more I want to see in the course because I think we were educated enough on topics. This is a challenging course to teach in one semester and for the topics needed to be covered in a certain time limit it was done well.

Class Reflection

I think that I am taking so much new knowledge away from this course. I went into the class this semester with no understanding of what was going to be expected. All I knew was that this was a class about integrating technology into the classroom. I thought I knew how to integrate technology because teachers had always made us, as students, use PowerPoint and Word to complete projects and work. I learned that there is a much bigger world outside of Word and PowerPoint that many teachers and students never explore. It never crossed my mind to consider iPods and cell phones as technology, but I have learned that there are so many different items that we use everyday that can be successfully integrated into the classroom. It is so amazing to see how technology, when used correctly, can completely transform the classroom experience. Through reflection, I have come to see that teachers did not always use technology in the most appropriate ways. PowerPoint and Word may have been the easy solution, but they were not always used in the best context. Looking back on my experiences with technology in the classroom, I have realized that I need to learn from the mistakes I think my teachers made when it comes to technology. I think that it is so rewarding to have the opportunity to go through school for almost fifteen years as a student and then turn around and take on the role of teacher. For me, it makes me remember what I did not like as a student and it makes me want to create a classroom that is enjoyable and productive for my students. I have learned that students need to be challenged and there are so many avenues of technology that can be used to bring out that creativity.

Even after learning so much, I still want to learn more about two things. The first thing that I want to learn about is incorporating technology into the special education classroom. I know that I will have a class once I enter the program in the fall that specifically deals with assistive technology, but I feel as though this class was geared more towards the regular education classroom. It was so difficult to really understand how to incorporate technology into my particular content area because there is always going to be such a variety of needs. I think that I picked up some ideas along the way but, for the most part, I feel as though I am walking away with no clear idea of how to incorporate technology (such as iPods and computers) into my classroom without relying heavily or completely on assistive devices (i.e. switches, adapted keyboards). I also want to learn more about designing web pages. I have had such a great time putting together my portfolio, but I feel like I only have the basic of how to design a website. I want to spend more time learning how to put together something that has a little more substance.

Reflection on the Semester

I really got so much out of this semester that I did not expect that I would have learned at all. There are so ways to integrate technology into the classroom, and I have definitely experienced it in this class. The creativity of the use of technology is simply amazing in order to bring the students attention. Of course, we use the computer for everything nowadays to help us communicate with other people and to help us with useful information, even with its flaws from the internet. Even before coming to this class, I already knew that power point was beneficial for teachers to use when they lecture. However, after going through this class, it isn't effective all the time; some teachers don't even know to use it to draw students into understanding what the teacher is talking about visually.

I have learned that there are many ways for teachers to use. Having short clips of videos can help students visually learn in the classroom. However, I have come to the point where students should get interactive in the classroom, more of a constructivist approach. Providing online tutorials and practice problems could really help students gain so much knowledge out of what's being taught instead of just hearing the teacher lecture the whole time. Also, to make things more "fun", students should play some online games related to class. For teachers, they should promote blogs for students to write their opinions and thoughts, just like what I am doing right now. Software programs like Inspiration is another good tool instead of Power Point to help students with their thinking processes, having a general outline of what is being discussed. Furthermore, I believe that the different Web 2.0 programs are useful tools in the classroom. Finally, as I leave this class, I really am looking forward to being exposed to more of a variety of programs to use to will have students learn best as technology is integrating and being more advanced. I am more excited to teach students to the best of my ability for their own future endeavors.