One reads about how administrators themselves are utilizing new technological tools into the school systems. For example, the Lemon Grove School District of California has been able to launch a project called, LemonLINK, which delivers high-speed internet connectivity between the district and students homes. Students are able to access the internet from school or home; it also saves those dreaded phone calls because teachers can easily be accessed via web. Other educators are including Digital Storytelling which combines photographs with voice to tell a story. I did one last semester from the perspective of an inanimate object (a cable modem in my case). Digital stories can also be used to give the story of a vacation or event that recently happened. Podcasting can be used by some to generate collaboration. In my school, we use Moodle to reflect on each other’s work. I love the tool of podcasting, however, my college has not utilized this tool yet, which is unfortunate because it’s so much fun! Cellular phones and other portable gadgets have also become a part of the educational experience of today’s youth. In history classes a student can interview older family members to get perspectives on life in America during their time, using an iPod or a voice recorder. Cellular phones, notably smartphones have education applications that help students with mathematics and spelling.
While I enjoyed reading the breakdown of each subject matter and how technology can be integrated into the learning experience with each, I cannot say that they relate to my life because one, I am not a teacher, and also when I was in school, technology was limited to a projector and mild computer usage. I feel that the blogging passage is what I would relate to the most because I used to blog quite often, though I have not been doing it as much, and it’s this class that has be really starting to do it again. According to the text, “blogs are a natural form for writing instruction” (Solomon & Schrum, 2007). History teachers and other social studies teachers may use blogging for current events. For example, a social studies teacher may have students create YouTube accounts for video blogging. The teacher may vlog (video blog) about an event to invoke though such as when New York legalized same sex marriage, and ask students to either respond w/ a comment or a response video. An English teacher may have students create a blogger account or MySpace account for blogging and blog about a movie such as “For Colored Girls” (based on the 1975 play) and ask for student’s opinions and which character they related to the most. Blogging can include a broad audience, depending on the subject matter that one discusses and often bloggers will discuss a certain category of topics more than others, thus attracting certain subscribers. While outside of this course we don’t really blog to collaborate, we often will have a teacher post something like a blog in blackboard or Moodle and we will respond with a reflective log of some sort. I’ve used blogging in the past primarily to rant or talk about my trips, however I’m really getting more into news stories and current events and trying to branch out into that and cater to an audience who is more alert on world occurrences. A blogger may very detail in what they like to discuss or they may discuss a variety of things each week, which is why I enjoy this tool so much. It often gives one a glimpse of a person w/o having to read a personal journal or diary.
NETS (T)
2. Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences
Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.
Teachers:
1. Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
2. Apply current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experiences.
3. Identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.
4. Plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.
5. Plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.
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