The Importance of Technology in the Classroom- Suzanne Martin

Incorporating technology in the classroom opens the door to newer, more advanced modes of teaching to engage students in the process of learning. By using technology, such as the SMART board, teachers are able to prepare an interactive lesson that helps students stay focused, engaged and excited about learning. SMARTboard technology can be used as independent learning centers in the classroom, enabling a teacher to work with small groups. This mode of teaching allows a teacher to reference & use  educational websites to provide background knowledge about a topic. Other forms of technology, such as the use of computer programs like Excel and Inspiration, allow the students to use graphs and charts to expand their knowledge of a lesson. Experience with these programs also prepares them for the working world. Incorporating the use of video into a lesson promotes teamwork and creativity among the students.

Some challenges to incorporating these forms of technology into schools would begin with finding the available funding from the administration. Another problem would include the need to train the  veteran teachers on these new devices and ensuring that they use them in their instruction.

All of the lessons from this class helped me to become a more qualified educator.  I feel that I am better prepared to incorporate technology into the classroom as an educational tool.

Questions about Glogster Poster

To answer questions that Lisa had about my poster and topic...
My article "Incorporating Animation Concepts and Principles in STEM Education" discusses using animation programs in the classroom to teach geometrical and scientific concepts. My Glogster poster illustrates some of the different programs that are used today, in addition to other ideas on how to incorporate these programs into your curriculum. (I know that using animation programs would have been helpful when I was learning Organic Chemistry...LOL) I hope this helps with any other questions about my poster on Technology in the Classroom... Thanks for viewing.   :-)

3 things that I learned from the Technology Projects...

I liked how Lisa used a video to talk about her technology article. "Video Modeling" for impulse control of behaviors for students in the classroom is an excellent way to utilize new forms of technology for old problems. I think the idea of using a cell phone to remind the student of the desired behavior really provides the student with a visually concrete support system that encourages the child to become more independent.  The sticker system after receiving the signal also provides the visual support without having the teacher constantly "calling attention" to the student's behaviors.

Maria's Glogster discussing how podcasts can provide stress reduction techniques was enlightening. I learned about Soundzabound.com royaltyfree music. (I started thinking how that could be used in the classroom to encourage the students to create presentations with sound/music to them. That might get them to be more inclined to actually want to DO their homework.) The podcasts for deep breathing, relaxation, and positive thinking classes is an ideal way to utilize time stuck in traffic or on lunch breaks.

Matt's iPhone video was a fun way to talk about his article on "Web-Based Labs". I found it enlightening that 75% of all the students in the study from his article would rather do a web-based
lab than a text book lab. It is obvious from those results that web-based lab lessons really make a difference for the visual, audio, and kinesthetic learners. It would be interesting to look at the State's test scores after using web-based labs in our schools today. 

copyright for teachers

Copyright for teachers includes anything that a teacher creates is copyrighted. But, if the document is not worth anything or will not be used to make money, it isn't really necessary to worry about the copyright. Some pieces of information from copyright law did surprise me. The information about the "fine line" regarding what the courts allow and not allow seems like it is a 50/50 shot whether the courts would be in your favor if you sued for copyright infringement. I enjoyed learning more from the Copyright Jeopardy game, especially about the videos about the music cases. It was easier to understand through playing the game.

Copyright laws are being violated in schools by copying materials needed for the students and their lessons. Pages are copied for instructional use all the time. Additionally, movies are shown to entertain the kids during certain "layover times" and are posted in flyers at times.

Out of schools, all I think of is the "Vanilla Ice" case and how that violation had ruined his career.
Other violations could be occurring, but have no knowledge of it because it is "behind the scenes". But, there are some songs that sound awfully alike.

I feel that it is the job of a teacher to enlighten their students to respect copyright laws. This can be done alittle at a time throughout the year. A little information at a time after each movie shown for educational purposes would begin to introduce students to the importance of copyright law. (Just as teachers talk to their students about plagiarism. They may not understand all of the legistics about it at first, but then they start to get the idea of it.) I think that students would understand the concept better in small bits of the information after using things to use for examples.

Value of Video in the classroom

I think that this project was very educational. It teaches students the steps to creating an idea and achieving the finished product. This video project could be used to film the science experiment of hatching baby chicks and viewing the chicks as they grow. This project will take more time since it take about three weeks for the chicks to hatch, so this would be a longer project. After a student and partner has collected the clips on film of the stages of the chicks hatching and then the days after as they grow, they would be able to proceed with the same steps to put together the life cycle of a baby chick to present to the class. This could even be separated into two or three parts, having one team film the incubation period, one film the hatching, and them one team film the days after they are hatched. This project is targeted for the 4,5,6,7 or 8 grade levels. The students could add the researched information about the chicks to their videos, along with music. In the end the teams' videos could be shown in order of the process to the class. Another idea could include having "club members" film events during the school year, as high school seniors do for their filmstrip at graduation ceremonies.They could compile an electronic elementary school yearbook. This project would introduce younger students to the editing process; which could encourage more students to become more involved in their high school activities and later, their college experience.

Video Project from Start to Finish

I had worked on researching some ideas and statistics at home before we set out to film footage. Then Maria and I worked on taping our project footage on Sunday, 10/30. We began by doing more research in the computer lab. Then moved on to begin filming once we had made some final decisions about the story map scenes. After filming the empty desks in the classroom and the shots of the logo lions, we moved outside to shoot the college sign and Jacob Albright, (that we edited out of final cut). Then, we moved into the library to capture the scene where Maria is studying. Our final shot was in front of the chapel with my cap and gown. Before finishing for the day, we made a final view of the shots of the day. Our filming was ready for editing in Wednesday. Coming into class we began to create our video. Maria had uploaded the shots on the computer. Together we made the decisions about what and where we wanted scenes edited. After selecting, viewing, and making the final decisions about our choices, it was time to add the statistics to the video. This part was fun deciding how to add them, what color, font, etc. The problem that arose began when it was time to add the music. Just deciding on what music fit the mood desired for the video was difficult. Then uploading it and adding it to the video created some problems. I think that I would make all of the edits to the music beforehand, then add it to the scene to make it a little easier for editing. I found the selection from the Royaltyfreemusic site to be limited to select from for the piece. Also, always have to  remember to SAVE the work as you go, just in case!...I was surprised to find out how long it takes the YouTube process to complete. I was also surprised and proud to see the video play on YouTube. This was a fun project.

Interactive Whiteboards

I think that Interactive Whiteboards would enhance teaching and learning in the classroom. I feel that by using the SMART board, you will engage the whole class in your lesson. This technology allows for more class participation and targets all styles of learning. The activities/lessons that can be taught using the SMART board are fun for the students. I felt that this program was alittle much at first to learn, but I quickly got the hang of it. I think that it is easy to create a lesson and would want to use it for my future lesson plans. Using the board during my lesson gets easier with use, (like any other program). I think that the Whiteboard is pretty easy to understand if you get the hang of it...especially once you've practiced and found where you made your mistakes before. I think that creating a lesson plan will come easier and not take as long the more your create them. My lesson seemed to take a long time to create while I was making it, but it only took the one class time to finish.

The pros are what I mentioned above regarding all of the possibilities for lessons and activities.
The cons to having this technology in the classroom would be that not every teacher is trained on this program and/or is comfortable using it. Also, something that is happening with the teachers at my school, the Boards are having technological problems with the wires which then do not display ANY images, or the may offline and need to be adjusted again. The expense is costly and not all schools have the funding for Interactive Whiteboards creating an inconvenience for those that do not have them in their rooms.

I would revamp my lesson plans to incorporate activities just as we did for our lesson that we taught in class. I worked with a two teachers that used the Interactive Whiteboard often in the lessons. I was taken by all that they could do on their boards and how they had the attention of their class, even those students that had trouble staying focused before the lesson. I liked setting up the lesson from Introduction to Review on the SMART board. I feel that this technology can reach more students and prove to be a highly effective instructional tool.

Chapter 8

...I agree with the point that we need to make the curriculum more engaging for the students to keep them connected to learning by making the curriculum more relevant to their experiences. It is so true that the students lose interest by the time they reach high school. However, I do believe that there is more to it than just them "becoming disconnected". It is more than just an issue of having to do with students not having the opportunity because of "disadvantaged situations". It is also an issue of the attitudes of the students by the time they reach high school grade levels and the overall "attitude" of the society of the younger generation of today that contributes to the disconnectedness of interest in the curriculum today.

Regarding other content of the chapter, I agree that emails open a window of communication for students and faculty. But, I have experienced how emails can be misinterpreted as wrong messages taken by the other party. So often people take the wrong message sent in an email because there isn't a face to face to use as a visual.

I did like the ideas of the Molecular Workbench and the AskNSDL for curriculum. Just think about how that would interest the students to learn more. I do agree, though, that the Bugscope would eliminate the Tactile Learning Experience for the students; which is just as important as the learning itself.

Graphic Organizers

Why is it important for students to use graphic organizers for school projects??
Students should use graphic organizers for every type of project they do in school and for
homework. They help to organize a student's thoughts before they begin to even think about writing a paragraph or paper. The two work hand and hand to assure that the student has included all of the elements in their writing. More times than not, when a student sits down to begin to write a paragraph or summary, they are overwhelmed with details that do not pertain to the writing prompt and begin their writing in a sloppy manner. A graphic organizer provides a visual of the main topic in question and points that add details to the main topic. The student is able to return to the story or context to find more details to support their main idea and apply it to the graphic organizer. I have seen students who were so overwhelmed by the task given to write a summary, that they shut down and do not write a word. We use graphic organizers with whole groups on the smart board. Graphic organizers provide structure to the piece for a student to begin the writing prompt. With this in mind, graphic organizers can be used to summarize details about a story within whole group discussion, create a list of characteristics about a main character, or even be used to compare/contrast details about characters in two stories. Graphic organizers are almost like the tabs for social bookmarking; organizing one's thoughts about a subject to come back to use for another purpose.

Microsoft Word & Excel vs. Google Docs for Word processing/Spreadsheets

I would present the argument to stay with Microsoft Word & Excel because both programs are user friendly, are dependable programs, and are continually being updated with new features all the time. The newer programs of Excel are easy to navigate through and have so many features to use for different data needs. I found using Excel 2007 so much more user friendly than the Excel 2000 program (my program on my home computer). Although Google Docs for word processing may be an alternative program, it is not as advanced as Microsoft Word and not as compatible with some of the other programs. After hearing many opinions from others regarding their experiences using Google Docs Spreadsheets, I would stress how this program is difficult to use & understand and often loses information while one is  working on the program. So, to conclude the argument in favor of Microsoft Word and Excel, I would state how it would be cost effective for the district to to stay with Excel Spreadsheets and Microsoft Word.

Excel in the Classroom

Five ideas to incorporate Excel into the classroom includes: 1. Using Excel Spreadsheet to record the data for the science project in the classroom for the Egg Project. The students would record the data of the eggs as they grow and hatch; recording their growth progress, temps, and % of unhatched chicks, and graphing into pie charts and line marker graphs.
2. The classroom could keep track of the "Boxtops for Education" that are collected from the students in their own classroom for the school year. They could create a marker line graph to view when their highest/lowest months were for the year. The class could then compare the previous year to their own progress.
3. The 5th graders could conduct a poll of favorite lunch foods among their entire fifth grade class students. This could extend throughout the year to include the other grade levels. Fifth graders would be responsible to collect and record this data using Excel Spreadsheets. The results could be used to have students then draft a written document to the Food Director to petition for more of their favorite foods for lunches.
4. Students could keep track and graph their own progress of DIBELS scoring/Progress Monitoring (month to month) scores to encourage them to improve their scores and to view their progress from test to test.
5. For Grades 1,2, &3- Students could record data of absences in their classroom, similar to the temp. of the day project. This activity introduces them to this program and familiarizes them with the steps for the many different features of Excel.

Excel could be used by Administration in the building to record and compare many things: Reading & Math scores from beginning of year to end, monies collected from different fundraisers, amount of parent participation for activities throughout the year, etc.

"Language" Week 2 Discussion

After reading chapters 5-7 in Educause and from my own experience with students, it is the technology that has become better for our current and future learning styles. I feel that I have the same perspective as the students, whereas I cannot be without technology in my day. I wake up to check my email messages and facebook before going to work in the morning. I find myself "having" to do this, even if I am running a few minutes late. I live my days, just as the Net Geners do with my cell phone with me at all times, checking and texting over the use of home phones. (In fact, I removed our phone from our house because it wasn't being used at all.) And, if I could afford the cost of more technology and/or a better cell, I'm sure I'd have that as well. I agree with a statement from Chapter 6, " A blended learning provides a unique opportunity to bridge generations, providing the face-to-face contact requested by Baby Boomers, the independence preferred by Gen-Xers, and the interaction & sense of community desired by NetGeners". Although I "look" like I am a Baby Boomer, I feel like I live in the "practical, matter-of-fact" world of technology. (and learning more uses of technology all the time.)
...Just a note, I asked an older customer (at my other job) whether she's like to add her email address to our list, and she responded that she didn't have any/or a computer. I responded politely, but found myself wondering,...Wow, how could that be? How could you function in your day?

Lesson Plans Project

Hi Michele,
I found this project to be very helpful. The websites were very informative and great resources for plans to incoporate technology into the classroom. The plans that I picked for my project included a variety of different sources of technology for my students to learn and use in the classroom. I really loved how many of the plans could be tailored to accompany any story or topic. I felt that thet Creating a Classroom Newspaper lesson plan & the Multimedia Responses to Fact/Fiction introduced the students to creating PowerPoint programs and graphic design for the paper. I liked how the plans included step by step instruction to introduce the students to the technology used for that lesson. These plans were interesting and fun for the students.  I will keep this site bookmarked as favorites for my future use in my classroom.