Tara’s Blog

I have made an effort to concentrate on the second part of my plan this week.  I am working on educating my school about digital citizenship and responsibility.  This week I discussed with the digital year book committee the importance of using copyright free music.  I showed them how to navigate the local AEA’s website and use Soundzabound.  This is a site the AEA subscribes to that offers copyright free music.  I also found a poster on the Iowa AEA Online website that I have made copies of and posted throughout the building.  I realize these are small steps but I still feel good about any progress I make in this area.

I am happy with the progress I have made with my GAME plan.  This week we installed the TEXTHELP software on all of the computers in our building.  I have tested and made sure it is up and working in my lab.  On Tuesday I will be demonstrating this software to our staff.  I will be showing the teachers some of the features I think they will use most and then showing them how to access the tutorials for each segment.  So far I am very happy with the support this program offers.  I am still practicing to accomplish my goal of mastering this program so I can model it for the teachers and students at my school.

My plan for modeling and mastering new software is in full swing and progressing better than I expected.  My plan for teaching accountability has been a lot slower than  expected.  I need to modify my plan somewhat to allow more time for teaching accountability and evaluation of materials.  I have not quite figured out how I am going to do this.  This too will be part of my new modified plan.

Last week I attended a teacher training for TEXTHELP Read & Write 9 Gold.  This training came to me at a perfect time.  This software I will assist me in continuing my GAME plan.  Unfortunately,  it does add to the resources I need to gain confidence and knowledge in.

The resources I will need to carry out my plan are the actual software my district has purchased, computers, and the cooperation of my colleagues.   Additional information that will be helpful to me is the teacher resources and tool kit that I have downloaded in PDF format.  So far I have been able to attend an all day teacher training.

This program has features called Fact Finder,  Fact Mapper, and Fact Folder.  These options will make it easier for me to teach the importance of accountability to my students.  Hopefully I can achieve my first goal in a timely manner and that will facilitate my second goal.

The two technology standards I would like to strengthen my confidence in are Modeling Digital-Age Work and Learning and Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility.  When it comes to modeling use of digital tools, I feel I am moderately comfortable.  I am working towards feeling confident and comfortable 100% of the time I am working with these tools.  I feel as though I tend to stumble around and experiment with what works.  I am striving to gain knowledge and skills in these processes.

The next standard I would like to work on is Promoting and Modeling Digital Citizenship and Responsibility.  Being a teacher librarian, I feel I do a good job educating teachers and students about these responsibilities and legalities surrounding the use of technology.  However, with the rapidly growing resourses available at our fingertips, I am going to have to step it up a notch.  This is an area that cannot be given enough attention and yet it probably gets the least.  Being in charge of the computer lab in my building, I need to take this seriously and educate my entire school about this important issue.

Communication is the key to any great relationship.  Marriage, friendship, professional, educational, and political.  All of these require great communication skills.  For years classrooms have consisted of the teacher talking and the students listening or taking notes.  The lesson was followed up with some written artifact.  This artifact was then given a grade and recorded in the grade book.  This routine went on day after day.  The teacher gave the assignment and, the student completed it… or didn’t. 

The classroom of today is a much different place.  Take my library for example.  This is not the library of 20 years ago.  When you walk through the doors you will see collaboration, communication, and facilitating taking place.  Students are encouraged to ask questions and find answers in a variety of sources.  They will be creating artifacts both digitally and physically.

Throughout this course I have learned the importance of not just turning students loose with technology.  I have come to know the importance of assessing their creations, developing essential questions, checking the reliability of the sources, giving proper credit to the author, and the overall planning involved in an inquiry-based unit.  When these critical elements are aligned and well planned students’ learning will be maximized and the level of enjoyment will be huge for the students as well as the teacher.

My personal theory on learning did not change alot during this course. I have always used constructivisim and socialism a tremendous amount in my classrooms. Even if I didn’t have a name or title for the theory being expressed it was always present. Now have a deeper appreciation for the styles I use. I am also more aware of how important they are for the students long-term success.

Some immediate adjustments I will make to my instruction for this current school year include using technology for a learning tool rather than a teaching tool. I was surprised to find out how many times I used technology to present information to my students rather than allowing them to use it to learn from. I am going to introduce projects that use Voice Thread and Webspiriation for the students to create products they can learn with and present information to the rest of the class. My goal is to make using technology second nature. I want to be able to consider the technology element in my lessons as obvious as using a book.

The two technology tools I am going to incorporate into my teaching this year include Voice Thread and Virtual Field Trips. The Voice Thread activity is a wonderful way to incourage peer assessment and digital literacy. I will also increase enthusiasim for multi-media presentation. The Virtual Field Trip activity allows students to have an experience they would not be able to otherwise have. My district has have several budget cuts this year. We have been told that the possibility for field trips is very slim. The first thing that popped into my head was “Virtual Field Trips”! My students will definately benefit from this online opportunity.

The biggest goal I have is to learn as much about educational technology available to educators and students. My working towards my MS in Educational Technology I believe I have made a huge step towards achieving my goal. I also hope to be able to polish my skills enough to educate my co-workers about different technological teaching tools.

http://voicethread.com/share/573311/

Social learning theories tell us many things;  Students learn best when they are actively engaged in creating a finished product while socialising with other students, Context and culture are necessary for students to understand and make meaning out of what is going on around them, and Collaborative and cooperative learning is necessary for students’ academic success. 

There are a couple of instructional strategies outlined in chapter seven of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works in which I have had first had experience with.  I have used keypals and webquests in my teaching experience.  Both of these strategies demonstrate collaboration and cooperative learning.  Students worked together to create partnerships and solve problems together.  Because of the different areas students are communicating from, they need to be especially aware of the vocabulary they are using.  Students from different areas have different terminology for the same things.  This, in and of itself, is a learning experience. 

Two strategies I have not had the experience to use as teaching tools are wikis and blogs.  These tools I feel would be extremely beneficial for my students.  They would allow my students to communicate and work with other students on the same topic from several different areas.  This just seems like common sense.  Aren’t two minds better than one?  Just imagine more than two?

The idea that one learns best when they have an artifact or model they can share with others is not new.  Neither is the idea that everyone learns differently.  These are factors educators have been considering for years.  This is why we are constantly modifying our curriculum and lessons.  We want to do our best to reach every student in the most effective way possible.

This week we were exposed to several different learning tools.  Tools that will allow students to have massive amounts of control over how much they learn and how far they will go with their project.  If students are given the opportunity to complete learning projects they will increase their academic achievement, retention of information, critical thinking skills, communication skills, and collaboration skills.  These  are all vital skills for 21st century learners.  These are all necessary skills for today’s students to become functioning adults.  Educators need to get the big picture and realize this is the goal.  I think too many times we are concerned with the “grade” and not the purpose of the assignment.

The advantages of using these online cognitive tools far outweighs the disadvantages.  These tools allow students to connect new information with existing knowledge and revise their understanding of material.  This is proven to increase retention.  It also improves their questioning ability.  Students who have increased questioning ability perform at a higher educational level.  The third benefit of cognitive tools is motivation.  Students tend to perform better on assignments if they are the creator of the final project.

We are all too familiar with the disadvantages of these tools.  Cost, training, assessment, and curriculum boundaries are just a few obstacles we all face when it comes to technology.  Unfortunately there is not one easy answer for these.  Perseverance and dedication is the only thing I can come up with in my situation.  I have become proactive at my school and begun to write grants and request funds from the PTO.  My baby steps have been productive so far.  For now I’ll just keep plugging away.  

Dr. Orey outlined cognitive learning theory very well.  He explained the short term memory works best with 7+/-2 pieces of information.  Elaboration is the primary mechanism for storing information in long term memory.  Images are one of the most powerful tools for storing information.  It is crucial to provide experiences for our students to make educational connections. 

By using cues, questions, and organizers, teachers strengthen student’s ability to remember information.  Organizers help students stay on topic and organize their information.  Cues from the teacher help students pay attention to important information they are about to be exposed to.  Questions are used to help the students remember similar experiences they may have had.  After the teacher uses these strategies to evaluate what the students may or may not know about a certain subject,  it is then time to use various theories to fill in the gaps.  Where a student is lacking in experiences, we provide experience with virtual field trips, actual field trips, guest speakers, and other various resources.  If the student is lacking in vocabulary we will use images to enhance their learning.  Students could also use several varieties of graphic organizers to elaborate on a topic.  These are all ways student can gather connections to things they already know, thus, expanding on their knowledge.