April C
http://april-carpenter.blogspot.com/
Roger W
http://rogeronblog-roger.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Module 6: Learning in a Digital World
Technology has become part of most learning environments whether it be with the teacher using the SmartBoard to present PowerPoints or more extensive where the students are using IPads to access their text book. As an educator, I try to utilize technology on a daily basis, allowing my students to use the technology they already know while introducing them to new technology. This makes the learning environment interactive for the learners and in my opinion, makes my job easier because the learners are so much more involved in the lessons.
In an online environment I am able to work at my own pace and when the times are convenient for me and my schedule. If I were part of a face-to-face learning environment I would have to work around the scheduled times the class meets. This makes it difficult when I have a full time job, a four-year old son that is active. Online learning allows me to comment, voice my opinions and feel more freely to "speak" where as if I was in a face-to-face learning environment, I am typically the student that sits back and takes in what every one else says without ever voicing my opinion or sharing my knowledge.
With all of this said, I believe online learning isn't for everyone due to the discipline it takes to get the work completed and turned in by the due dates. I have seen a lot of learners that aren't successful with this type of environment because of the freedom it allows.
As a student of online learning, I believe this is the best setting for me. Sure I miss the face-to-face interaction of my instructor but I love the freedom I am allowed more than anything else. As a middle school teacher, I don't think online learning would work for many of my students. In my opinion, they aren't mature enough to take on the responsibility of that freedom. However, I do manage my classroom using a lot of technology--my students don't raise their hands when they have a question, they instead send me a IM message asking me the question. If it is one I am able to address from my IPad while walking around the classroom, then that's how that student receives their answer. If I need to address it by going to their work station then I do that. This helps eliminate a lot of "hand popping" as I call it........this has made my teaching experience so much easier and less demanding. Plus it allows my students to utilize a tool they all love!!
Brandy
In an online environment I am able to work at my own pace and when the times are convenient for me and my schedule. If I were part of a face-to-face learning environment I would have to work around the scheduled times the class meets. This makes it difficult when I have a full time job, a four-year old son that is active. Online learning allows me to comment, voice my opinions and feel more freely to "speak" where as if I was in a face-to-face learning environment, I am typically the student that sits back and takes in what every one else says without ever voicing my opinion or sharing my knowledge.
With all of this said, I believe online learning isn't for everyone due to the discipline it takes to get the work completed and turned in by the due dates. I have seen a lot of learners that aren't successful with this type of environment because of the freedom it allows.
As a student of online learning, I believe this is the best setting for me. Sure I miss the face-to-face interaction of my instructor but I love the freedom I am allowed more than anything else. As a middle school teacher, I don't think online learning would work for many of my students. In my opinion, they aren't mature enough to take on the responsibility of that freedom. However, I do manage my classroom using a lot of technology--my students don't raise their hands when they have a question, they instead send me a IM message asking me the question. If it is one I am able to address from my IPad while walking around the classroom, then that's how that student receives their answer. If I need to address it by going to their work station then I do that. This helps eliminate a lot of "hand popping" as I call it........this has made my teaching experience so much easier and less demanding. Plus it allows my students to utilize a tool they all love!!
Brandy
Monday, November 7, 2011
Module 5 Blog Comments:
Here are the blogs I commented on for this module:
April Carpenter
http://april-carpenter.blogspot.com/
Roger
http://rogeronblog-roger.blogspot.com/
April Carpenter
http://april-carpenter.blogspot.com/
Roger
http://rogeronblog-roger.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Module 5: New Technologies
When it comes to introducing new technologies in the workplace--you will experience one of two outcomes. The first outcome would be the one you would hope for which is a positive, everyone is on board and eager to integrate this new technology. The next outcome, is not so favorable, the majority of people are resisting this change and are not on board nor supportive of this new technology. There are times when the negativeness comes from the individuals not wanting change nor wanting to try new things--especially when it comes to technology.
As a business teacher and the technology coordinator of my school, I am often trained with the latest technology that the district is wanting to integrate into the classrooms. More times than not, I am faced with, "Not more work!" or "This isn't going to work in my classroom with X amount of students!" As you can see these comments are not very welcoming and typically start the in-service out on a bad foot. As a firm believer in technology, I always try to start my training off on a positive note, showing the teachers how easy it is to integrate the new technology, how it can make their work load less and how much the students will enjoy and benefit from the integration process. My teachers all know that I am only an email or phone call away if they ever encounter a problem or need help coming up with an effective integration project.
One particular piece of technology that I was to asked to train my teachers on was the use of gaggle. It is a website that allows our students to have a safe, secure, monitored email account, blog site, and social networking page. After I attended the in-service, I was hooked and I knew all of our students would be too. It was going to be the challenge of convincing our teachers to utilize this new tool. When I introduced this tool to our teachers, many of them saw it as too much work and taking away from their curriculum. Once I showed them how they could integrate the blogging into their daily curriculum instead of having the students use the traditional paper/pencil method--many of them loved the idea. I also went on to explain to them how much more work they should get from their students when the students know they are going to be able to use technology to complete the typical paper/pencil assignments. After a month of the students having access to their gaggle account and the teachers coming back together, I questioned how many of them were using this learning tool and to my surprise the majority of them are using it in some form within their classroom!
Dr. John Keller presents the "Motivational ARCS Design Process" which stands for: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. After reading his website, I was able to come to an understanding that everyone is motivated but in different ways. Everyone can be motivated, I just have to find the means that motivates each individual. I was able to motivate my fellow teachers by showing them how easy and how rewarding it would be for them to integrate gaggle into their daily lessons. Once the staff came together again, I had some of the fellow teachers that were having success with the learning tool to share some of the positive things they had experienced. Once some of the "resisting" teachers were able to hear more success stories than just mine, I found that more came aboard on the integration of this tool.
Resources:
www.arcsmodel.com
As a business teacher and the technology coordinator of my school, I am often trained with the latest technology that the district is wanting to integrate into the classrooms. More times than not, I am faced with, "Not more work!" or "This isn't going to work in my classroom with X amount of students!" As you can see these comments are not very welcoming and typically start the in-service out on a bad foot. As a firm believer in technology, I always try to start my training off on a positive note, showing the teachers how easy it is to integrate the new technology, how it can make their work load less and how much the students will enjoy and benefit from the integration process. My teachers all know that I am only an email or phone call away if they ever encounter a problem or need help coming up with an effective integration project.
One particular piece of technology that I was to asked to train my teachers on was the use of gaggle. It is a website that allows our students to have a safe, secure, monitored email account, blog site, and social networking page. After I attended the in-service, I was hooked and I knew all of our students would be too. It was going to be the challenge of convincing our teachers to utilize this new tool. When I introduced this tool to our teachers, many of them saw it as too much work and taking away from their curriculum. Once I showed them how they could integrate the blogging into their daily curriculum instead of having the students use the traditional paper/pencil method--many of them loved the idea. I also went on to explain to them how much more work they should get from their students when the students know they are going to be able to use technology to complete the typical paper/pencil assignments. After a month of the students having access to their gaggle account and the teachers coming back together, I questioned how many of them were using this learning tool and to my surprise the majority of them are using it in some form within their classroom!
Dr. John Keller presents the "Motivational ARCS Design Process" which stands for: Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction. After reading his website, I was able to come to an understanding that everyone is motivated but in different ways. Everyone can be motivated, I just have to find the means that motivates each individual. I was able to motivate my fellow teachers by showing them how easy and how rewarding it would be for them to integrate gaggle into their daily lessons. Once the staff came together again, I had some of the fellow teachers that were having success with the learning tool to share some of the positive things they had experienced. Once some of the "resisting" teachers were able to hear more success stories than just mine, I found that more came aboard on the integration of this tool.
Resources:
www.arcsmodel.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)