Chapters 5 and 6 (Reevaluating How We're Using Web Interfaces)

The chapter begins to discuss the unlimited potential of the internet.  There is so much information readily available in less time than it takes to make a cup of coffee.  There are four main questions that the chapter dives into, which are what does it mean to be someone who is digitally literate, what can be helpful for students to know pertain to online search engines, how can we evaluate credible online databases, and how can students learn about the weaknesses of the internet? There are many ways, to access information, maybe back in the day, the only source of information was a library.  Today, there are many convenient avenues to gather knowledge about anything.  Since the times are always changing, it is imperative for teachers to stay digitally literate.  Furthermore, students at young ages are always looking for the easiest source of information, meaning when they see something that can be remotely true, they see it as 100% valid.  Whether it is through laziness or ignorance, this can be proven costly.  Same goes with ignoring privacy policies on certain devices.  The chapter dives into search engines and how to effectively and efficiently find information.  As a student, my knowledge about how Google and other search engines grew substantially.  I was waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy too naive with these tools for research projects, as information was very basic and probably could've helped draw my points a bit clearer.  The chapter also mentions Wikipedia, and I do appreciate the way the issue is broken down inside of the chapter.  Again, as a young adolescent, I was told to never look at Wikipedia! However, now I realize that it can be a great starting point for any strange, unknown, obstacle in the way of one's learning.  According to the text, one should compare an article with another online encyclopedia source.  If there is something on Encyclopedia Brittanica, that doesn't parallel Wikipedia, then they can be notified to resolve the discrepancy.  Students can fast-check any entry and I do like the idea of having students create their own encyclopedia pages to see how much work is ACTUALLY put into them.

Chapter 5 also ends with digital citizenship inside of the classroom and schools.  In order to teach all the components to students, schools follow Acceptable-Use Policies (AUP), which are rules for technology use and some consequences.  I would describe it as ethics similar to those followed in reality, where you need to watch what you say and how you act, along with setting great examples for your community and your peers.

For Chapter 6, I'll promise to keep this blurb a bit shorter.  The main purpose for this chapter is to depict how students and teachers manage online information.  This is a part of information management, which is how companies keep track of data for decision making.  Furthermore, it is important for teachers to take advantage of the internet when storing lessons, notes, and materials.  Technology makes this a lot simpler and neater.  Cloud computing is something I use as a student, I'm not sure if any of you all have/had used this tech before.  Furthermore, I don't believe I've used WebQuests before, but I like the fact that not only do students learn the content, but they need to fulfill different roles to work with one another.  The chapter ends with different online learning tools, and I do have experience with one, NLVM (pictured), for mathematics.  I had used this as a kid and its an application that simulates virtual settings with scenarios tailored towards mathematical subjects.  It helped keep students engaged as they were seeing applications of the topics, along with hands-on activity as well. The digital citizenship can act as a prerequisite to helping teachers with having their material settled, which they can move on towards web-based activities.  No confusion from the teacher would occur, and everything should run smoothly.

To Discuss:
1. Do you believe it is easy or difficult to stay digitally literate? How can we all stay up-to-date with the latest technology without breaking the bank?
2. What other digital resources are accessible? In what ways does it deviate from the traditional idea of a classroom?

Take Away- 10/15

There are many tools that are useful in the classroom.  I will definitely look into those math tools in the future for my class.  Also, very interesting to see how organized the rest of the class was! Maybe they can pass this skill on to me!

Chapter 4

So this chapter was concerned with using technology as a side-by-side asset to go along with a lesson, along with the major principles involved with learning theories that should be used.  In turn, this can prove to be extremely beneficial towards students.

I want to discuss Instruction and Technology to Engage Students.  I've seen firsthand from my brother, who is still in school, with how important a gadget is nowadays.  All of his schoolwork is done on the iPads given at school, and I was very puzzled when he asked for help and I was like, "Where's the pen and packet?" Little did I know that it was previously downloaded onto the tablet and he was using a stylus to write out his answers on what looked to be a PDF.  Now, I want to relate this towards a diagram shown a couple of pages afterwards in the text.  This displays elements of Lesson Development and what I'm referencing could overlap with all three components.  Academic content are in the form of online databases and textbook PDFs, teaching goals can be seen through WebQuests and Visual Thinking softwares, and assessment and evaluation can be in the form online tests and quizzes, or even games that keep track of a student's progress.  Personally, I've used softwares like these throughout and I would remember a software in my school's computer lab that aided in perfecting grammar.  

I tend to agree with performance testing.  That being said, I want to focus intently on standard-based assessments, or standardized testing.  It is a great concept as it tries to improve the education system and measure the amount of knowledge a student has gained.  However, it has become an evaluation system for some states, which should not happen.  Furthermore, from state-to-state, there are different cultures and resources, so it would be very difficult to given similar exams to these children.  Therefore, while being worried about their own jobs, teachers find themselves teaching to the test, rather than have ideas come more fluidly.  Finally, I wanted to mention that only the teacher truly knows his or her students and can tailor lesson plans to their needs.  They can become engaged and the learning will follow.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is an example where the Lesson Development diagram on page 85 is seen using the technology of today?

2. Which types of test assessments do you agree/disagree with and why?

Today- Collaboration

The tools for collaboration was very cool and extremely fun to use.  I think it is a great concept to think about linking two students from different parts of the globe.  The video chat feature can make it more exciting as everyone inside of the group can help understand personalities as well.  Maybe on a tablet or something, but the Mac made it very hard to write on our own presentations.

Today- 10/1/2019

How I feel about what we've learned is that technology can do so much for the classroom.  It can make learning and connect students outside of the classroom.  Also, the audiobooks can help young students and be interactive for them to learn a complex language like English.  Especially with the Dr. Seuss book.  I just recalled the Cat in the Hat, where I remember being so intrigued by at a young age.  I think they had a video about it, which helped me capture more of the book's purpose and help continue my learning.  My mind only focused all of the attention on Dr. Seuss's main goal to help educate the youth.

Chapters 3 and 9

Chapter 3 begins with a parent-teacher conference that occurs where the parent is a bit old-fashioned in the sense that technology of today cannot really enhance the classroom experience they remember growing up.  This chapter's purpose is to describe how improved the classroom is with all these new forms of technology.  The book uses three terms to describe the effect this has on students and teachers inside of the classroom-- unique, powerful, and transformative.  It's a different world today as computer screens are replacing papers and students are typing their answers instead of writing on a sheet of looseleaf.  I just want to add more own experience with this as a student where, I had seen this transition take place.  In high school, there was a traditional feel to the class, however, it is different now where my same exact high school has students completing homework assignments on their iPads with a stylus.  Furthermore, as a math student, anytime I would struggle, I would either use online tools to help, or refer to tutorials in order to help explain the topic at any time.  I need to bring up the fact that there or so many tools to help mathematics students, such as Wolfram alpha, where it can serve as a online calculator, along with explanations.

The chapter also mentions interactive gaming sites.  This can be a fun and enjoyable way for children to interact with real-world problems and the notes given in class.  It's funny to note that the book mentions the Natural Library of Virtual Manipulatives.  I remember actually using this site inside of class in elementary school during a math lesson.  I had always looked forward to those problems and the feedback was important as it did display to us afterwards where we were at in terms of the content.  The fact that it was instant allowed us to recall the kind of problems used.  As a future educator, I could view how my students feel in a particular area.  Also, I want to relate the three basic characteristics mentioned in the textbook to this specific site, NLVM.  First, it uses computers and laptops at any time.  Second, there are a bunch of games, such as the Spinners one, to illustrate many mathematical concepts, in this case probability.  Third, the games are fun and are well-paced, such that students want to learn more concepts.

Information and Internet literacy go hand-in-hand.  Information literacy is a capstone term that incorporates reading and comprehension displayed in a paper format or digitally.  Groupwork is mentioned and can decrease the teacher's workload.  Students collaborate together to work on one simple task using technology and remaining engaged.  They assign tasks to one another such as note taker or artist, in order to formulate a final product.  These skills could prove beneficial, if they choose the business world some day down the line.

I also want to reflect on the term service-learning, as I had done programs such as those numerous times as an undergraduate at St. John's University.  We had used three of the four areas, as I recall, when assisting a local senior center.  Those were Personal Self Reflection, Project Documentation, and Service Projects.  It can be seen that technology can help creativity, problem solving, and assisting the community.

Chapter 7 begins with how online math learning, teacher, and student all connect to one another.  Problem-Based Learning is something that I've always believed to be essential.  Students would say, "Why does this matter?" or "Why do I need to know this for the real world?" Under computational thinking an coding, I couldn't help, but recall the fact that the way I was taught coding wasn't ideal.  However, I had always known that these jobs are on the rise the more technology advances.  I do agree that it should be somewhat emphasized throughout the high school grades.  Bloom's taxonomy, which was a term that I hear over and over again.  It involves remembering an interpretation of information to analyze different points of view and theories, or lower and higher-level thinking respectively.  Skills-Based Learning software can help students with mathematical operations, along with discovery-based software to help students problem solve.

Something that I can definitely take to my own math classroom would be the I've certainly used Mircrosoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.  To the point where I've mastered them.  I can create charts, tables, and graphs on Excel as needed.  Furthermore, gamification is a term to described applying gaming aspects to non-gaming scenarios.  This intrigues me because this is a step away from the traditntal classroom look.  It could prove to be engaging for students.  As I am typing this, I do remember playing Oregon Trail in elementary school, or even something as simple as Jeopardy!, in all levels of my individual education.  What I'm trying to say is, I definitely will use PowerPoint, and the Jeopardy! game together during lessons.  Maybe hide some math word problems and divide the classroom into separate teams.  Something of note, however, is that there are split opinions on the impact gaming has on educational procedures.  Some psychologists say that they are irrelevant, while researchers believe that students develop a wide range of skills and focus.

Thinking Based Questions

1. Since a lot of these students are into the virtual-reality aspect of gaming, how can we translate to the classroom? Can it be effective/engaging?

2. Are there any web-based tools that you use inside of your classroom?

3. How can we measure the effectiveness of our lessons as teachers with all of the resources available to each student online?

Chaps 1 and 2

After reading the text, it was interesting to see how technology had evolved the traditional classroom.  I thought that it would change my thoughts on how technology works with students.  Chapter 1 was about the teacher what advances technology can create for a class.  Chapter 2 discussed technology and the reasons towards why teachers need technology to get as much as they can from the student, along with the cons that it can have.

What stood out to me in Chapter 1 was TPACK and the 21st century Skills Diagram.  Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge can be best described as the way content can be taught through the paradigm of the world today.  There are three types of knowledge, which reminded me of my experiences back in school.  This can relate to the the Diagram of 21st Century Skills teachers use to "represent the knowledge and understandings that students will need to succeed in our highly technological, information-based-society, including the ability to think critically, make informed judgments, solve complex problems, think creatively, communicate and collaborate with others, use information in innovative ways, and take responsibility for one's personal and civic life (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards & Park Woolf (2016), p. 16)." The teacher acts as the sole catalyst that blends the technology, content, textbooks, and the individualism of the students all in one, during the class day.

This can connect with Chapter 2 of the reading with student-centered teaching.  It's geared more towards students learning at their own pace.  This is "constructivist, progressive, project or problem-based teaching (Maloy, Verock-O'Loughlin, Edwards & Park Woolf (2016), p. 40)."  It can engage students, while they think critically and process the new information being presented.  It mentions mathematics, where I can definitely see myself using technology with the way the textbook describes, even though it uses an elementary school of students as an example.  A system like 4MALITY would be useful with Visual Vicuna to reinforce new equations and formulas with graphs and animations to depict new word problem examples to work on. 

After reading this, if you all could discuss:

1. Which software is most useful for your classroom with regards to your subject?

2. What are the benefits to having a Flipped Classroom? What are the negatives, if any?

3. How can we as teachers, ensure that students in low-income homes don't lag behind the rest of the class when using technology that isn't readily accessible outside of the classroom?