Throughout the course of Curriculum and Instruction 335 I have learned a variety of technology and related skills that can be used to increase my use of technology in the classroom. Through the course of this class I was able to develop a good sense of several forms of technology and software. In addition to learning the skills necessary to incorporate technology into the classroom, we were able to get insight into problems and issues concerning the increased use of technology as a teaching supplement. The course basically covered five areas all related to the use of technology in the classroom.
The first area the course covered was the development of basic computer skills. During the course of this class we covered several technology tools that can be used access and generate data. These tools include the use of the Internet to upload information onto a server. Although this process seemed to be a rather slow and tedious project I began to feel very comfortable as I continued to work through the glitches. Through the process of uploading information onto a server I became rather familiar with two programs. One program is ClarisHome Page 3.0. I found Claris HomePage to be a more efficient method to upload because of its ability to consolidate graphics while continuing the upload process. This mostly eliminated the problems of graphics not being found once uploaded to the server. I also preferred Claris HomePage because of the option to upload directly from the program itself. The second program we learned was Fetch. Fetch also allowed the user to upload information to a sever. However, I found this method to be confusing for several reasons. With the use of Fetch it was necessary to upload all the graphics individually so that the graphic would be included into the page. I found this process confusing. Therefore, I feel that I would use Claris Homepage with my students because I feel the most comfortable with its use.
I definitely want to begin to include the use of HomePage creation to display samples of what my students are creating. I feel quite comfortable using this with my students. Through this class I was able to learn the basics of Web page creation and gain experience with creating links and uploading information to a server. I feel that I could teach my students what I learned and allow my classroom to create a web page. In the future, I would like to become more comfortable and learn more about the additional features available in web page creation. For example, ways to improve the appearance of the page or add graphics or special features such as Applets.
I also was able to gain more experience with using Internet as a way to research information. I was able to get a first hand understanding of what students will go through when they begin to find information on the web. Some of the information we were asked to research became a very long and involved search. I also felt frustrated at times because of the vast amount of information available. It was very difficult to decide what sites are most beneficial. I learned the importance of always giving the students a staring point like bookmarking a site or giving the location of a search engine. I discovered both of these methods helped me find information in a much more efficient manner. Therefore, I will continue my use of the Internet, but will modify how the students research information. I hope to develop more skills that will allow me to evaluate sites for there usefulness in student research projects.
The second area the class addressed was the use of communication tools. Throughout the course of the class it became necessary for students to develop ways to communicate not only with each other, but with the instructor. In order to effectively communicate it was necessary to learn several different methods of communication through the use of technology. One way to communicate came with the use of E-mail to directly communicate with an individual on a one to one basis. I have had access to Email for several years and felt very comfortable with its use as a communication tool.
However, it also became apparent that a majority of the learning would come from reading and discussing the experiences of fellow classmates. In order to accomplish this task, it was necessary to learn the use of WebBoard. WebBoard allowed students to post assignments and then receive valuable feedback from others members of the class. It also gave us the opportunity to comment on the work and experiences of other students. WebBoard also allowed us the option of joining into a class discussion during daily office hours. This method of communication was hard for me to get used to in the early stages of the course. However, after the initial adjustment period I found it a helpful way to receive answers to questions.
The final method of communication I became familiar with was the use of listserves. Listserves allow people from all areas of the world to post ideas and questions, and receive feedback on a much larger scale. I was able to learn more about listserves as a possible method to collaborate ideas with others teachers in different schools.
I currently use E-mail for several classrooms projects and hope to increase its use throughout the course of the next school year. My biggest interest is with discovering ways to use listserves to the benefit of the students. I would like to discover a listserve that caters to students not teachers. This would allow students to post questions and ideas about different topics and receive feedback. I think students would receive many benefits from a listserve devoted to topics that are of interest to their age and grade level.
The third area of focus for the course was the use of multimedia tools. This portion of the class materials focused on the use of multimedia software and technology to generate information. This seems to be the vaguest portion of the class as far as I am concerned. I was able to learn some additional information regarding the uses of power point, however, I would need much more experience to be able to use this effectively in my classroom. Another tool I feel that I gained some knowledge about was HyperStudio. I was not at all intimidated by the use of this tool and I will certainty plan to implement it into several classroom presentations. I feel that multimedia tools are excellent benefits to students with disabilities and I would like to do further research into different tools that are available.
The fourth area of focus came in the area of special concerns and issues surrounding the use of technology in the classroom. This included taking into consideration students with disabilities, to the awareness of legal issues surrounding the use of the Internet. The course developed an awareness to issues like verifying information found on the Web, and the necessity of the creation of an acceptable use policy to ensure that students are using the Internet for proper educational purposes. We also were introduces to the BOBBY program that addresses the issue of web accessibility for all users. Through BOBBY I was able to learn ways to design web pages so that all users will benefit from the information. This knowledge will be passed along to my students as we begin to create classroom web pages.
The fifth area of focus of this class was actual classroom uses for the technology and ways to evaluate these uses. I feel that there are many issues to address as the use of technology in the classroom begins to increase. I feel that there will be a large necessity for teachers to develop the standards and knowledge necessary to evaluate students on projects that are technology based. There are many difficult issues in my mind as I think ahead to the development of more technology based projects. How will we develop standards that are consistent with the use of technology? How will we develop a model for technology use that will include accommodations for students with disabilities? These questions fall along the premise of how teachers and school districts will begin to assess the skills and abilities of students without the use of pen and paper tests and tasks. How will we demonstrate that students have the skills that educators have deemed appropriate for each grade level? And finally how will we address the issue of assessment in relationship to statewide assessment? I am hopeful that the next series of classes will address some of these concerns, and give suggestions on how teachers can develop ways to assess students without the use of traditional tests.