Mobile Learning - Discussion topic for November 2-15

This was a very interesting topic, especially since I teach elementary school. It was entertaining to see the various stances people took on this topic. I especially enjoyed the various uses and examples of cell phone usage in the classroom that people had suggested. I do agree strongly that the issue of "safety" is a huge concern among students. I agree boundaries and expectations are strongly needed in order for cell phones to be used appropriately in the classroom. While I feel strongly against the place of cell phones in the elementary classroom, I understand the benefits they can provide in the intemediate and high school classroom.

Who is Marc Prensky and what does he have to say? Discussion for Oct 12-25

The information I gained about Marc Prensky was very useful this semester. While I agree, Marc Prensky has a very different philosphy on "gaming" than that of a teacher, I still feel his article titled "Digital Immigrants, Digital Natives" is very important in the field of education. I feel strongly that the 30/35 year old and up age group, since I am a part of that group, are true
"digital immigrants" raising and teaching children who are "digital natives". While this isn't exactly true with every child in the classroom, the majority of students are very technology/gaming savvy. This does lead to an intense need to entertain as you teach. It was interesting to read the various views on this topic. I think gaming does have its time and place and should be monitored, however I see the vast technogoy that is available to students. It is only necessary to come to an understanding that this is their future, their lifelong learning skill to be taught.

I also found the piece on multi tasking versus multitask to be very interesting. Although I am a digital immigrant, I sometimes look at the various applications I have open at my desk top at one time very overwhelming in the broad scheme of things. I can be working on 5 things at once, from checking email, writing a lesson plane, working on a school project, to checking the weather and my checking account. Is this a learning or taught behavior to our students? Is this just simply because we can?

Overall, this discussion was very insightful and interesting. I was able to gain a better understanding and prospective of our students.

TPCK - Discussion topic for September 28-October 11

I feel strongly about the TPCK framework as being useful to use in teacher education programs, especially in professional development. I agree that time is a huge factor in gaining the necessary skills needed to be successful. Resources was also another main concern, especially since each school district and university have different amounts of resources available.

I thought it was interesting that pre-assessments and assessments were brought up as an issue. If taught in the content areas or through the content areas, I think it would be a bit more solid, in terms of usefulness and validity. I never could understand myself, why technology is at times not available or taught completely seperatly then a content area such as math, language art, science, and social studies. While I agree this needs to begin taking place in undergraduate teacher programs, I feel strongly something needs to happen in order to close the gap in the current classrooms.

I continue to agree with "Jodie's Main Points". While "TPCK is a form of knowelge that expert teachers bring to play anytime they teach", what about non-expert teachers? What could be done to close the gap? While technology is changing so drastically, how can the time be imbedded into the professional development for teachers. How can differention classes be available to teachers in the field in order to close the gap of understanding across and within grade levels? Once this takes place, perhaps the gaps in our students learning, in regards to technology, will begin to close. I am looking forward to making technology, for all, achievable especially across educators and throughout grade levels .

Pros and cons of presentation software - Discussion for Sept 14-27

I had alot of fun with the readings available for this discussion. I was able to share them also with my co-workers. I had no idea about the 10-20-30 rule for PowerPoint presentations until I was part of this discussion. I must admit, I have used PPt for several lessons and was forced to reflect on whether I used this technology appropriatley or not. The videos were very user friendly and provided a strong understanding of proper uses for PowerPoint producations.

It was refreshing to hear the various PowerPoint presentations, both positive and negative, that peers have attended and the reflections they added about their experience. This was one part of the discussion where I felt I was able to connect the most, especially since 1 month prior I was able to attend a professional development given my Marzano. He had a plethora of "best practice" materials to share in regards to assessments. His notes were very valuable in the understanding of all the information presented. While the rule is 10 slides, he just had so much awesome information to share. I know part of the discussion talked about when and if to give notes or printouts of the slides, but I don't know how I would have managed if I didn't have them available during his presentation.

I would have liked a little more discussion about the uses of Turning Point or other interactive technologies. I feel this is an area of technology that is newer to me. I even hear some websites can be used with the Turning Point clickers. As you can see, this area is still a little unclear to me, and I will be doing more indendenent readings on this subject in the future.

Overall, the topic was very entertaining and engaging. I was able to get alot out of rules provided for using PowerPoint, as well as the need and place for notetaking while using this technology.

Technology Integration - Discussion for Sept 7-13

Technololgy Integration is a discussion that I felt was very interesting. I especially enjoyed reading the various ways people are using technology in the classroom. By others sharing their ideas, I was able to gain a better understanding of the different ways I can use technology, differently than I already do. I was able to also get a better understanding of the benefits of integrating technology into daily lessons. Our district seems pretty ahead of things in regards to technology. At times the technology provided is somewhat overwhelming to learn and incorporate into lesson plans, because of the constant new programs and hardware. While I enjoy learning and using new technologies, I still feel a gap in understanding between myself and some co-workers. It was refreshing reading other posts, to share a common interest with others. I would have liked to see the discussion take a turn and discuss more on how to address the "technology gaps" we see across different districts, across various co-workers, and even within school districts. From the discussion, it appears not all school districts have the same technologies. In my building, not all teachers share the same common knowledge of how to use technology effectively. Within our school district, some grade levels have technologies available to them, that others do not. Overall, the discussion sparked some interest in future understanding of the integration on technology, especially how I will continue to use it in my classroom.