At the beginning of this class in August, I wasn't quite
sure how the topics and assignments would lend themselves to my teacher/technology
coordinator role at St. Joseph Grade School. Well after completing the
assignments, audio chats, web board discussions, and collaborating on the
final project with a classmate I can safely say that this course has helped
me so much professionally.
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Technologies |
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I have learned so much this semester about different software
and hardware products to use in education. I evaluated such products as:
Hyperstudio, Ask Jeeves, the Sony Mavica digital camera, a Netscape Composer
tutorial, and Microsoft's Education tutorials. Each one of these items
that I investigated I have since used in teaching my Jr. High computer
classes. It was so nice that everyone in the class chose a wide variety
of technologies that way we all benefited from each other's research. I
was able to use the information other classmates found when suggesting
software, hardware, and web sites to the faculty at my school. I feel more
up to date on new technologies but this will only last a few months until
more software, hardware, and web tools are in the spotlight, and I will
need to start the process all over again.
That is why I feel this graduate program is important,
because we will constantly be reviewing and researching new technologies.
Also, this program is giving us the chance to see how technology is becoming
a big part of education used in all areas of education, not a separate
class with no integration into the rest of the curriculum.
I have been so impressed with Web board and the way it works that I have talked to a person at my Regional Office School Works center and they want to implement it for the technology coordinators in their districts to keep in contact and to post questions and information. I have also learned to use and participate in Chat groups this has been very helpful and is a great way to have class meetings. The use of real audio to be able to hear the instructor while typing back questions and responses was just like having an on campus class. We were able to discuss topics of interest, recent assignments and future assignments. I hope that in the future that the College of Education will be able to configure it so students can respond vocally instead of just typing.(two way audio chat)
Also, during this class I researched CU-See me software that allows video conferencing between people or classes and I am in the process of locating information for using this software with the 4th grade classes in my school.
I feel that I still need to work on and learn more about
using these different communication tools in my computer classes and integrating
them into lessons for other teachers in my building. Hopefully in
future classes at the U of I we will be addressing communication technology
in more detail.
My final project dealt with teaching students to critically
evaluate the web and to create web pages using Netscape Composer. I have
already completed teaching my unit to my first group of students for the
year and it was amazing how well the students did. Evaluating web pages
was easy for the students after we went through the criteria for informative
web pages; they were able to critique web pages for content, maneuverability,
and reliability. This project made me realize the importance of web
page evaluation. Also, it gave me new check lists to use with students
when evaluating web pages.
During this project it gave me a chance to review plagiarism
and copyright laws with my Jr. High students which they should be familiar
with. But at this age they are able to find information on the internet
easily for their projects and they need to be aware of the legal issues.
This project allowed me the chance to show how plagiarism and copyright
laws are present with information and pictures on the internet.
The projects completed by the other students in the class
were great and many of them I am able to adapt for use within my Jr. High
classes or in other grade levels in my school.
I have learned during this class the importance of Acceptable Use Policies for students’ use of technology, whether it be using the computer, the Internet, or building web pages. It is important for schools to have these policies in place long before the technology is in great use.
Even before this class I felt the importance of adaptation
of technology to serve every student's needs. This class just reinforced
my opinion and the great discussions we had on this topic were helpful
to hear what others are doing. Especially Marilyn’s expertise on the subject
and the great assignments she did on the special needs students that she
deals with were wonderful for those of us that are not in a situation where
we deal with such severe cases as she does. The way technology has helped
her students concentrate and has helped her to gain some help with teaching
her students was very informative.
This class has also been valuable in the area of evaluation, as I mentioned before. The subject of evaluating web pages was put into focus for me, and the comments and assignments from everyone in the class in this area were very helpful.
When I am now evaluating student projects in computer class I can now give feedback to them from the research I have done during this class. This class has given me great resources to use when evaluating student work from what other teachers have experienced and what others have tried and the results.
From the research I did during this class into the different hardware, software, and web sites I have been able to use this information in choosing new technologies for my computer classes. This is something that normally I do not have time to sit down and do. Also, it is nice to hear others that are experiencing the same problems or successes with technology. When it comes to teaching with technology or helping other teachers to use technology you feel that you are alone with the problems you experience. But this class gave us the opportunity to share and help each other. So I can say that this class has been invaluable to me from a professional and personal standpoint.
Items I hope we address in future classes in this program are:
National technology standards
State technology standards
School liability with technology
Adaptive technology
Continued evaluation of the Web
Continued research of new hardware
Continued research of new software
Continued research of new web sites