Final Thoughts on Integrating Technology

Hello Readers,
 
Here are my most outstanding, memorable, take-forever moments from EME5050.  Perhaps some of you all can agree:

1. Online courses do not always equate to EASY, and easy is not always what makes us learn. 

I was forced into a challenge with this class, and I think it has paid off.  I have learned so many new techniques, technologies, and ideas to bring into the classroom...to better my classroom.  And I don't think I would have had to dive in as deep (and learn as much) if the class were easy.

2. Technology is here to stay, and here to evolve. 

 And it should be.  I've learned so many ways to enhance the classroom with it--not to mention make the teacher more efficient and effective.  So what's next?

3.  Reading other educators' blogs is much more enlivening, enriching, and inspiring than reading text about microprocessors and hypertext transfer protocol. 

 So let's take this lesson to heart, and to our classrooms.

4.  Creative Commons is still confusing.

Every time I use a picture I still feel the potential to be sued :) 

5.  Working and interacting with all of you was great. 

Thank you for helping me learn more than I could have on my own.   

Making learning a page-turner

 

As stated by Connie Yowell in the following video by Nic Askew,

 

"How do you create a need to know in a child?"

 

 

 

 Retrieved November 19, 2012 from http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/videos

 

 

 

The video "Engaged" presents so many questions about our purpose and effectiveness as educators.

 

In her interview, Connie Yowell says: 

 

"We don't make room for curiosity"

Are you able to kindle your students' curiosity for learning amidst the pressures to cover content?

 

Learning is..."decontextualized because we are focused on outcomes" and not the Experience.

Are you committed to providing authentic learning experiences to your students? 

Do you feel that your class' learning suffers because of demands to perform to "outcomes" such as standardized testing?  Do you provide experiences where students can "try, fail, and come back to the failures to do again?"

 

To paraphrase Connie Yowell, ulimately, we want our students to view their learning experience as a "page-turner."  Are your students engaged and anxiously anticipating what comes next in their learning experience?

 

***

 

 

 References

 

McCleod, Scott. (2012). Dangerously Irrelevent. Retrieved November 19, 2012 from

      http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/videos

Digital Storytelling Example: Dental Health

Teacher-Created Digital Storytelling Example: Dental Health on Prezi

What Criteria Makes Technology Educationally Useful?

These days, technology is most often educationally useful... and if not, there is probably a means to make it so!

However, I grapple with how useful certain technologies are for students in my arena of experience: the Early Childhood Classroom. 

I concluded that digital media authoring is not educationally appropriate for 4 year olds, and I jumped into a ficticious scenario for students a few years older than I am used to teaching.  I estimated that by the First Grade, students working in groups could benefit from researching a curriculum page about Dental Health and creating a simple Prezi to share with the class.

Please view the type of digital presentation I expect from my [fictitious] First Graders: 

Teacher-Created Digital Story Example

Are my expectations for First Graders to work together and author a digital presentation realistic?

Would this be educationally useful--and further--beneficial for students in the First gGrade?

Any other tips / feedback?

Thank you!

What are some of the best technologies to implement into the Early Childhood Education Classroom?
 

I've been thinking about how to best utilize appropriate technologies to benefit preschool students.  I don't want to use a technology simply to say that technologies are being incorporated into the preschool classroom.  Just like any teaching tool, I want technologies to be used because they are utterly beneficial, they enhance the learning, and because they are the best way to convey a message. 

So what have we talked about that is appropriate for the little ones?

Smartboards, certainly.  I know many Orange County Schools have received Smartboards and the proper training for all grades...and the results are exciting.

Photo Courtesy of Kathy Cassidy via Flickr Creative Commons







Games, Apps, etc.  Yes--there is something out there to enhance many subjects and age groups.

Photo Courtesy of Tim Lauer via Flickr Creative Commons



Digital Media Authoring?  For preschoolers, perhaps as a whole-class project to recount a well-known story...





Prezi

 



But most importantly of all, I think it is essential for Educators to have the proper technological training and to be able to decide what is helpful, essential, or best for their students' learning. 

I've come across several good blog postings about the importance of teachers continuing their professional education...to include current technologies, of course.  Here are some from Scott McCleod's blog, http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/

Struggling with educators' lack of technology fluency

 

Educators need learning advocacy, not technology advocacy

What are educators' professional obligations to learn from social media channels?

 

 

The more I learn, the more it seems that if educators have the right knowledge and training, technologies of all kinds will come to mind when planning lessons, even in the Early Childhood Classroom.

 

 



 References:

 

 

Flickr. 2012. Retrieved 25 October, 2012 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathycassidy/4484720788/

 

Flickr. 2012. Retrieved 25 October, 2012 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/timlauer/5407980960/

McLeod, Scott. (2012). Dangerously Irrelevant. Retrieved October 25, 2012 from
http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/

Prezi. 2012.  Retrieved 25 October, 2012 from http://prezi.com/8lnndalvrv7b/digital-storytelling-the-not-so-boring-story/?res_nr=3&sis=1940371338



Please view my Prezi about Digital Storytelling:

 

Digital Storytelling: the not so boring story!

 Photo courtesy of Michael Fitz via Flickr Creative Commons



Further Proof: the Power of Technology in Education

Browsing through blogs and other educators' websites this week I came across two powerful messages regarding--of all things--texting and video games. 


Yes, you read correctly:  Texting--wait, there's a moral here!

Wow, you think.  Is this another video about teenagers texting while driving?  Texting during class?

Nope.  It's called "Texting that Saves Lives" by social advocate Nancy Lublin

 

Retrieved Oct. 9, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiUClSItcy0

for more information, visit http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_lublin_texting_that_saves_lives.html

 



Texting is the method of communicating for the younger generation.  Texting has a 100% read rate (Lublin 2012).  As the video points out, every text sent to a young adult will be opened and read. 

Thus, Lublin describes an action plan to help children in all manners of crisis, brought to her attention via texts received to social campaigns within the organization http://www.dosomething.org/

Now major steps are being taken to help children succeed and be healthy in all areas of their lives.
The video really counterbalances some of the negatives heard about texting.

And now for another topic frequently dismissed as having any merit or worth:
Video Games--don't discredit anything yet!
 

Retrieved October 8, 2012 courtesy of Ben Harding and Flickr Creative Commons

 

 

Read this inspiring little "mention" about a boy who has successfully turned his passion into a career:

 

"Nurture Your Kids' Passions, Even if They're Making Pokemon Game Walkthrough Videos"

 

Aww, C'mon!  Tell me you can't support that!

 

 

 

  

References:

Do Something. (2012). Retrieved October 8, 2012 from http://www.dosomething.org/

 

Flickr. (2012). Retrieved October 8, 2012 from
     http://www.flickr.com/photos/38605609@N02/7832821594/
 

McLeod, Scott. (2012). Dangerously Irrelevant. Retrieved October 8, 2012 from
     http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/

 

Shelly, G., Gunter, G., Gunter, R. (2012). Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology in a Connected World (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Course Technology, Cengage Learning.


 

TED Ideas Worth Spreading. (2012). Retrieved October 8, 2012 from
     http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_lublin_texting_that_saves_lives.html

 

You Tube. (2012). Retrieved October 8, 2012 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiUClSItcy0