Blog 6

In today's school, students of different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences need varied teaching approaches and multiple instructional methods to be successful learners in school and later in their careers. The Internet offers teachers and students unique resources for exploring multiple languages within the school curriculum.

Online Language Translation Services

- Translations of words, sentences, and webpages happen easily and quickly.

- Notes, assignments, and other materials can be provided in English but also in other language. (Malay, ch. 10, p. 247)

I would have to say "lucky" to today's classroom students. As an English language learner, all I could think about using technology in class was an electronic dictionary. It helped me find the meaning of a vocabulary pretty fast that speed up my understanding of class teaching. However, I remember in some classes, teachers didn't let me use it because they thought that it would distract their learning, like cellphone in today's classroom. A lot of teachers didn't recognized the importance of technology use back then. For now, it's a totally different story. Technology is a big part of teaching. I would say "lucky" to students now because of this reason. They have so many options of different technology tools, softwares to choose from that will enhance their learning. Especially for English language learners, it would be much easier to understand the class content and easier to communicate with teachers now using technology where getting translation from a friend who speak English was the only option for me to understand what was going on in class and to ask questions to teachers back then when I came here.

Assistive technologies apply the concept of technological convergence to the ways that information technologies enable teachers to differentiate instruction and pursue universal design. These tools enable individuals with disabilities to do thing they might otherwise not be able to do. 

Assistive technologies make it possible for individuals with hearing, sight, mobility, or cognitive challenges to translate text and understand spoken words and data with the aid of a supportive tool.

- Speech Recognition Software- Displays a person's spoken words as written text on a computer screen.

- Text reading software (text-to-speech software)- lets computer users hear written text read aloud by a computer.

   Different types of text-to-speech software

    - Screen reading software

    - Optical character recognition and reading software (OCR)

    - Word prediction software

From the video clip that we watched in class, I was surprised to see all different assistive technology is being used in classroom. One thing that I remember is that the machine that specks for the child. He probably couldn't express himself before using that technology and had a lot of limits when learning. Now he can express himself, ask questions and have more opportunities. Assistive  technology not especially to student with severe disabilities but to any students struggling, could be a very helpful tool for their learning.

Assessment is central to the work of teaching. Every teacher, in planning lessons and delivering instruction, evaluates student learning. If learning is to be successful, assessment must be practiced not only by teachers but also by students. Failure to give students a voice in educational decision-making is an opportunity lost. Individuals are more likely to become and remain invested in activities and procedures that they have a role in creating and maintaining. One way is to use Clickers.

Student participation systems with clickers have numerous instructional advantages.

 - Active learning- students are alive participants who must express their opinions electronically.

 - Student involvement- Because students make selections anonymously, individuals worry less about the embarrassment of giving a wrong answer.

 - Real-time feedback- The teacher has immediate feedback about students' content knowledge and test performance.

 - Question-centered instruction- Students are given a challenging question and ask individually, in pairs, or in small groups to consider possible answers.

Questions:

1. How does technology promote learning success for English language learners?

2. How all different assistive technologies help student with disabilities?

3. How can teachers use different technologies to differentiate instructions in multicultural classroom? 

Today's class we talked about assistive technology. Something that we didn't realize that those were actually assistive technology such as eye glasses and from the video we watched wheelchair, phones and basically everything that she used was assistive technology that helped her learn, move and do things. Also, Dr. Chen said that we, teachers should be the one who should advocate students. Even though you might not obtain everything that they need, we should at least start something. I was interested in special education and today's class was very interesting that I got to know different technologies that help students with disability.

Today's class we talked about assistive technology. Something that we didn't realize that those were actually assistive technology such as eye glasses and from the video we watched wheelchair, phones and basically everything that she used was assistive technology that helped her learn, move and do things. Also, Dr. Chen said that we, teachers should be the one who should advocate students. Even though you might not obtain everything that they need, we should at least start something. I was interested in special education and today's class was very interesting that I got to know different technologies that help students with disability.

Today's class we talked about assistive technology. Something that we didn't realize that those were actually assistive technology such as eye glasses and from the video we watched wheelchair, phones and basically everything that she used was assistive technology that helped her learn, move and do things. Also, Dr. Chen said that we, teachers should be the one who should advocate students. Even though you might not obtain everything that they need, we should at least start something. I was interested in special education and today's class was very interesting that I got to know different technologies that help students with disability.

Blog 5

Computers are wonderful tools for teaching problem solving to students. Using software programs and apps, students may consider different possible solutions and then receive immediate feedback about their answers.
Problem solving and inquiry learning use real-world situations and issues to actively engage students. According to the textbook, problem solving and inquiry learning require students to follow a classic approach proposed by  George Polya for solving problems. The essential steps in Polya's framework include:
1. Understanding the problem
2. Using problem-solving strategies
3. Checking results
In chapter 7, text mentioned about a simulation game such as River City, in which math and science problems are tied to economic and social outcomes, provides an in-depth problem-solving experience. I think using simulation games as teaching tool would be a great idea. Depends on what game it is, it can be used as a tool to differentiate instructions to students with different levels of learning. Also, using game as teaching tool would motivate students. It would make learning interesting and fun. Using technology tool such as computer game wasn't an option when I was in school but for children now days, it seems pretty natural when a lot of people has smartphones and tablet PCs that they can play with.
Strategies can help teachers use games and gaming more effectively in the classroom.
1. Minimize the use of Games that teach isolated skills.
2. Scrutinize Games that function solely on points won or lost.
3. Discuss Games and their content.
4. Play Games together.
Among those strategies that mentioned, I think discussing and monitoring what games would be very important. As we discussed and read in previous reading, it is always important to review what websites or software games before children play. Examine what they are using and will learn from those games.
Compute-based social media technologies are changing how teachers and students communicate with one another. Chapter 8 talks about communicating and collaborating with social media.
Communication and social networking technologies provide ways for teachers to connect with students, promote meaningful learning, and extend academic learning beyond the confines of regular school days.
The chapter discuss multiple social media technologies to use in teaching.
1. Email and text messaging
2. Teacher or classroom websites
3. Blogs
4. Online discussions
5. Wikis
Paper handouts were only communicating method that was used during my early school years. One of my friend who is a teacher was communicating through email with one student's mom. At first, it was surprising to me that they actually communicate through emails about students progress and concerns. This was never happened when I was in school. However, I think using social media to communicate with students and parents would be a good method. They can get feedbacks right away. If a student is struggling with something, teachers and parents can cooperate together and help students without delay.

Questions:
1. Any recommendation of good software games to use for first time teachers?
2. What would be pros and cons of using social media technologies as communicating tool with students and parents?
3. What would be some strategies to prevent children from heavily rely on using computer games as only learning tool?

Fist of all, my number was 3 and just went up to 4 even after I saw the webquest example. However, I learned how it should be done and what should be in for each steps of the webquest. My thoughts are still everywhere but the class discussion today about the webquest making helped me a lot. From "I don't know what a Webquest is" to "I think I know at least what should be in for each components of  a webquest". I'm curious myself as how my webquest will come out to, what new technology that I'll learn by doing it and like my lesson trailer project, I'll probably be surprised how much I can be done and another technology tool that will motivate my students.

Blog 4

The meaning of technological literacy relates to an intense debate among educators and policymakers about the state of reading in today's computer-based society. In Chapter 5, the textbook discuss about e-Books and e-readers found interesting to me. The growth of e-books and e-reader technology shows how the Internet is dramatically affecting the reading activities of many youngsters. The potential for e-books and e-readers seems great. One survey found that 40% of 1,200 e-reader buyers were spending more time reading now than they had before with print books. Parents, on the other hand, tended to assume that electronic or digital books have a negative impact on children's desire to read. Despite a lot of researches of increasing percentage of e-books and e-readers, I'm still familiar with using hard copy of the books and still need to print out and read. Starting of this semester, I was debating myself whether I should by e-book version of textbooks for my classes. First, it was cheaper than regular textbook. Second, I didn't have time to stop by the bookstore and it would take longer for me to get it by mail. However, put all that reasons behind, I ended up purchasing a regular textbooks for my classes. At some point in the future, I'll probably start using e-books but until I become fluent in technology, I'll probably enjoy flipping pages, take notes and highlighting on the book.

Cyberbullying is "willful and repeated harm through the use of computers, cell phones and other electronic equipment." Cyberbullying is another thing that caught my attention from Chapter 5. So far, mostly we talked about technology in good ways. It motivates students' learning and important tools for teachers to teach. However, bullying and cyberbulling have a negative and lasting impact on academic performance. Between one in three and one in five students have been victims of cyberbullies and consequences for victims of bullying and cyberbulling can include depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, poor school performance, and suicidal tendencies. I've heard about cyberbulling in the past but never realized how serious it was until I read from the textbooks and especially it's happening in schools and young kids were engaging. As a future teacher, it is important to develop good materials and activities using technology but for me, it would be more important to know what's happening in my classroom and to my students and to figure out the solutions if such activities going around and anybody suffering from it. I know it would be all different in a real life and it will probably be a lot different than what I expect, however, I think one of the most important role other than teaching knowledge, in my opinion, it is also important to teach ethics and how to become a good citizens would be another most important role for teachers.

Webquest and virtual field trips are the technological teaching tools that I would probably use in the future classroom and Chapter 6, explains more about the two. The thing that I like about webquest activity, many webquest use a cooperative learning model in which different students do different tasks. Giving different roles to members of a webquest team provides teachers with a way to use everyone's learning strengths. Within the same activity, teachers can differentiate instructions for students with different needs. 

Virtual field trips is another activity that I really like. Virtual field trips take students to places all over the world without ever reading their classroom or school computer lab. It would attract students' attention for any age group. For me, as my concentration is in Social Studies, it would be a great tool to show students different places of the world rather than just showing pictures or explain about it. We all remember excitement night before the field trip, like going on a field trip, even though it's through a screen, students would be excited to see all different places that they never been before.

Questions:

1. Would there be a fun ways or ways to teach bullying and cyberbulling to students effective way?

2. As a teacher, how would you control students' web searching and teach which websites to rely on for their work?

3. Any cons for virtual field trips activity?

The three web sites that Dr. Chen told us would be very helpful for me that I don't have any teaching experience nor any background on teaching. For starter like me those web sites would be helpful to read articles and issues that's going around today's classroom and standards that I should follow when teaching in the future. Also companies charging students and teachers to use programs that they use in classroom was very surprising to me. Of course companies follow profits but I didn't know it was really happening in classroom. Today's class was class that made me think about many issues in today's classroom that are really happening and person like me who doesn't have enough background in education would not know it exists.

Lessons Learned

Today's class, we talked about theories of learning and whether you are using technology in class or not your teaching should be backed up with theories. For assessing constructivism, students shouldn't be assessed with their exam score. This was something that I always had in my mind that once I teach, of course you need exams but I shouldn't be just judge my students or their knowledge only with their exam grades. I'm not a good test taker neither so even though I know, I wasn't getting good grades on exams. I believe every students have their own pace of learning a material so this was very brief sentence that Dr. Chen said but it made me think what I should do and shouldn't do when I start to teach.

Blog 1

Technology became one of the most important part of 21st century teachers and schools. Teachers who are more informed about technology, teachers will be able to better understand student, their backgrounds, their learning needs, and the types of educational approaches teachers can implement to successfully teach them. In chapter1, it explains ways and strategies for teaching and learning new technologies.

 

Teachers use technology in three primary ways.

- Inside-the-classroom instructional tools.

- Outside-the-classroom professional resources.

- Inside-and-outside-the classroom learning resources.

 

There are seven categories of "must have" teaching-with-technology.

1. Internet technologies teach students how to access and assess online information and act as digital citizens.

2. Information management technologies use web-based educational materials and digital content in teaching.

3. Problem-solving/inquiry-learning technologies use educational software and web-based tools to promote problem solving and inquiry learning.

4. Social media technologies enhance learning through online interaction and networking.

5. Multimedia technologies use presentation tools and multimedia to develop creative self-expression among students.

6. Differentiation learning technologies are assistive tools that differentiate instruction and promote learning success for all students.

7. Assessment technologies use digital portfolios and other performance assessment tools to promote student self-evaluation of their learning.

 

Strategies for learning new technologies.

Learn technologies while teaching academic content.

Expand our technology categories.

Create small technology groups.

Focus on learning for students and yourself.

 

In a old classroom setting, they utilize whole-group instruction with desks arranged in rows, while students mostly listen, take notes, complete worksheets, and receive grades reflecting test scores. However technology changes teaching and learning in enriching and productive ways by differentiating instruction, motivate disengaged students, create cooperative learning, allowing access to academic information from multiple resources. In chanpter 2, the chapter address some issues of using technology.

 

Despite benefits of technology use in classroom and teaching, there are barriers to technology  use.

- Lack of access- the need for expanded technological capabilities and declining educational budgets has forced schools to curtail their technology goals.

- Digital devides and participation gaps affect mainly low-income, nonwhite, urban and rural youngsters, and occur when students do not have access to the latest technologies at school or  home.

- Digital disconnect- the differences that students receive between themselves.

 

Questions:

1. How can teachers create activities that serve students with different technological support?

2. How can teachers resolve digital disconnect with students who are technology savvy?

3. What would be the most effective technology that help students' motivation to do outside school activities?

Lessons Learned 9/16/15

The picture slide of "Classroom in 100 Years" was interesting that it showed changes in education in the country and probably in any other cultures and countries. The classroom teaching involve so much technologies now then the first picture we saw, way of teaching where 100 years ago it was teacher centered teaching to student centered learning. Teachers help students, not students just seat there and listen from the first few pictures. Also I learned from the class discussion was parents' perspectives on education. Like Dr. chen said, it is important how parents' view on their children's education. I also agree that parents involvement of their children's education makes huge difference.

Personal Learning Goals.

"Just turn it off and turn back again" is what I usually say to myself and to people when a machine is not responding. I have to say I am not a tech person at all. Technology is a very important part of school curriculum these days. I remember I took a typing class in high school and learned a basic typing as a main curriculum of the class. Probably that was the only class that was involved a computer as a part of a class. However, technology is used in most of classes in schools now days. Even after class hours, assignments are given using a websites and some teachers require assignments post on a websites, blogs and etc. Technology an important part of being a 21st century teachers. As a future teacher, I need to acquire as many information I can to use in class and being an effective 21st century teacher.


Personal Learning Goals

1. Learn how to use social media and social networking (using the web for interactive communication) to connect with students and parents to figure out how to assist each individual students better.
2. Learn to use problem-solving/inquiry-learning technologies for different topics and curriculums for students with different needs. Create different levels of excises for students with various learning levels.
3. Learn how to use assessment technologies (student participation, student response systems) to promote student self-evaluation of their learning.
4. Learn how to use Internet technologies such as webquest, interactive educational websites, and webcasts to teach students how to access and assess online information.
5. Learn how different technologies in general could help students and teachers, and to teach effectively and get most out of students' learning abilities using different technologies.