I feel as though this course has helped me by teaching me many skills and enlightening me to many ideas. It taught me about various methods of instruction like Constructivism and the direct method. Because of this I feel as though I better understand many articles I read on educational issues. I picked up many different skills in technology I can incorporate in a classrooms. Things like Microsoft Front Page and Inspiration were technologies I never tried using before and now I feel as though I have a much more solid base in these technologies. I also learned things about technologies I already used that I didn't know. I am much more adept at Microsoft Movie Maker due to the Digital Media project. I also feel as though the course got me thinking about various ways to apply technology to my teaching. When I play games of any sort I consider how can this be applied to teaching? I also learned how to better cite my sources on papers.

Going forward into teaching I would like to see if I can find more technologies that are known for their effective application in the classroom so that I can incorporate them into my own teaching.

End of class reflection

Overall I enjoyed this class. It was fun to work with different pieces of technology and get some ideas on how to use them in a classroom setting. One of my favorite was the digital stories. I had worked with movie maker before, but it had never occured to me to use it in an educational way. I think this could be used in many ways in the classroom and I think students would enjoy it.

I think this class could have gone much longer though. I would have liked more time to use different technologies and explore all the ways that you could use them in the classroom. I think there were quite a few things that we could have spent more time on though. I would have liked to do more with the websites, as well as look some more at some of the google applications and the inspiration software.

I think this class will leave me thinking more about how I can use technology in the classroom as well as looking more into using some of the technologies that we looked at in this class.

Overall, I really liked this class a lot. Coming into this class, I really didn't know much about technology and I wasn't very familiar about how to incorprate technology into the classroom. This class has really helped me learn how to use technolgy to help students' learn and how effective it could be. I really enjoyed learning how to do digital stories and learning how to make an online portfolio. I feel as if I could use these things to incorporate in my classroom. Up until this point I have never been introduced to these things. I feel as if these things are very important to know about, in becoming a future teacher. I am really learning alot by doing this final project and thinking of more creative ways of teaching students. Before this class, I would of just done a powerpoint, but being in this class and hearing other students talk about previous experiences with technologies, I realize you have to be more creative if you want the students' to pay attention. 

I would like to move forward from this class by looking at more technologies that I could use in the classroom. Also, I want to learn more about the technologies we were taught in class. 

last blog

I enjoyed this class very much. Learning new technologies is definatly something I needed to do in order to better myself as a teacher. Coming into the class I knew how to use word, PP, and excel, but other than those applications I didn't really know much. Now I have learned how to be profeicent in frontpage, movie maker, as well as learning the art of digital storytelling. I would recommend this class for every upcoming teacher because it prepares you to use technology in the classroom. I can't remember many of my highschool teachers using much technology in their everyday lessons. I can't wait to use the technology I've learned to help better my students.

Something I would have liked to learn more about is web pages. We did our portfolio's using frontpage and I gained a lot of valuable experience from that. However, I would have liked to learn more about creating and designing web pages. Overall, I loved the class and really feel more prepared as a future teacher. Thank you for all your help this semester professor I really enjoyed this class.

Course Reflection

In spite of the reservations I held coming into this course, I have learned and hope to apply this information more than anything I have studied this semester.  

From tangible resources to theoretical frameworks, this course has easily blended informational technology into the classroom I will teach.  The final project should be a satisfying endcap in which to spring forth into the future.

Each class was well organized, although more time should have been considered for potentially elaborate day projects.

Time was enjoyable and well-spent with instructor and collegues showing breadth, then depth.  

The application to real world scenerios will be detrimental.  The course even showed me there are endless posibilities in technology-based teaching and assistive technology.  

Greg 

  

Yellow Group -Everyday Technologies in the Classroom

I can't really think of any ways to use cell phones inside the classroom, and it seems to me that the distraction would outweigh the benefit. I do believe students should be able to keep phones on them in case of emergency but do not think texting in class should be allowed. I think cell phones can be valuable tools on field trips. You can now go to the Baltimore Museum of Art and have a narrated tour via cell phone.
I think video games definitely have a place in the classroom, since computer games have been used in class for a long time. Some video games can be just as educational as computer games.
You Tube could be used to introduce students to different cultures or performances. My son's 7th grade language arts teacher shows them Shakespeare performances on You Tube to help them comprehend the plays they read. He also let his students videotape him doing a silly dance and put it on You Tube as a reward for completing a big project in time.
I don't know about using social networking sites in school. They are all blocked from access at my son's middle school. I can imagine students communicating with or learning about students from another culture on a social networking site, but I think it would be hard to ensure the other students are who they say they are. I think it would be safer if only the students enrolled in a certain school were networked on a certain site, with access to outside members blocked. There could possibly be some academic applications in that case.
Blogs should definitely have a place in the classroom. Group projects could be collaborated on via blog, students could log observations, and books could be discussed.

Yellow Group

I do not tend to incorporate those forms of technology when we are asked to because I am not sure how it would work. I, like most people, have never experienced the use of those technologies in the classroom. I do not necessarily think that I am scared to use them in the classroom setting, but I am nervous as to how things would turn out.
I do not think that they would be useful in the classroom setting because I believe the cons outway the pros. It would be extremely difficult to monitor the uses, but I also think that education should be seperate from personal things as well.
Allowing students to use these in the classroom could pose some problems. One I can think of relates to the use of cell phones. Most schools have policies that prohibate the use of phones in schools, so I would not want to go against the policy. Also the social networking sites pose a problem because the students use that for their own personal use, we shouldn't expect them to have to worry about other classmates or teachers looking at their sites.

Yellow Group- green group

I feel as avid user to technology for entertainment it is hard to incorporate gaming technology and other personal technology into a teaching setting. Many of the games I have played in the past and present have close to no elements that could be applied to a class room setting to teach elements we have discussed.
However, these games and the technologies they use have not gone without making an impact in all training aspects. The gaming engines and graphics that most the games I have played have been adapted by the military for their simulation purposes.
In school learning though I believe it best to keep personal technology separate from class technology. I have A.D.D. and I I have a hard time keeping focus when things are incorporated that can loosely be used for other purposes. If we used youtube or social networks in class feel like 80% of the time I would spend wondering off doing things that have nothing to do with the class room. To incorporate these technologies in the class I feel with younger students would not end well. Eventually, leading to more of a distraction then a benefit in the classroom.

Green group

The technologies that we as students use in everday life should not be incorporated into the classroom. Such things like facebook, myspace, and cellphones are more entertainment techologies in nature. I'm not saying it would be impossible to use these in the classroom; in fact I think it would be pretty easy. I feel that using these would have a negative impact on learning and technology use. These coud provide distractions for students who have them and also for the students who don't. As for the negative impact on technology use, I know that I do not like using a technology outside of class that has been used for class purposes. Maybe if powerpoint had not been introduced into the classroom; some kids would use it for entertainment purposes.

green group

Well as i am a sophmore here at towson university and only 19 years old bringing in facebook, cell phones, etc would be very distracting. I know i text some people now during class and if i was allowed to have a cell phone out i would do it then as well. Items that students use on a daily basis as a form of fun entertainment shouldnt be introduced to the classroom for a regular activity. It is more of a distraction rather then a learning tool. You also have to look at the fact of the underpriveledged students, the one'e whose parents cannot afford the internet, a phone, unlimited texting, etc. how are those students suppose to complete a project without the needed supplies to do so.
Another thing, students use these tools like cell phone, video games, facebook, etc to get their mind away from school alittle, to relieve some stress if we were to incoorperate these items then i think more students may just turn away from school completely because then they will be using these items in a way that doesnt coinside with school.
Also in addition sites like facebook and myspace and some other social networking sites are a place for students to be themselves, a personal space for them; yes they shouldnt have extremely vulgar information on there but who would want a teacher let alone other students and parents that they dont really know invading in their privacy?

So basically i do not think these things should be intergrated into the classroom. I mean teachertube could be because that is something we dont use everyday and making a video with classmates will probably be fun but you have to have it as a inclass assignment as again there are underprivalged students out there who may not have the ability to use video recording material. So watch what you use in the classroom and make sure what you chose doesnt invade someones personal life and that every student, even the underprivagled, have access to the tools needed.

green group

I find it hard to think of technology that is used primarily for entertainment as having a place in the classroom. I think students have a lot of trouble focusing on the task at hand as it is. If, as a teacher, I were to incorporate, say a cell phone in my curriculum. Who is to say the student is doing what they are supposed to do with that phone? I have no way of knowing if they are doing the task provided, or taking that time to text friends. Also, not all students are privy to technology. Some may not have certain things, such as cell phones or PCs at home. This could be due to their families economic status. Or maybe their parents don't want them to have these things. I know a lot of parents that don't allow their children on social networking sites. Or parents that just can't afford text messaging on their phone plans, if cell phones at all. Is that fair to incorporate these things into your lesson plan if it will single out certain students?
I know I sound like a broken record. I bring up the same things in class. But I bring them up because these situations are there. I think there is a place for technology in the classroom for sure. Maybe every classroom is different. But I think there is such thing as too much technology in the classroom as well. I guess it's up to each teacher's discretion. But I play Devil's Advocate for a reason. As a teacher, you will have parents and administration that will throw these same things at you.

Nov. 9th

Technologies that we use everyday can be more useful then most people think when it comes to educational technologies. Cell phones can be a great use to communication between teachers and students as well as between students. Video games could also play a big role in educational technology if video games are used in a way that enhances the learning experience. Youtube and social network sites can also become very useful for teachers because they can both be used to better serve their students.
I don't think these technologies have been considered educational in the past because educational technologies were not as big as they are today. With the advances in technology we are experiencing today, we are able to use softwares such as these mentioned to enhance learning for students. I would love to incorporate these technologies into my teaching and will probably do so if given the right oppurtunity. I think they are an untapped resource and could prove to be very beneficial.