CED 525 Class Two Reflection

As I often do, I found the collaborative nature of this class to be most beneficial. I most enjoy hearing what others have implemented in their classes and the applications that can be done when students are older. As a teacher of young students, it is often difficult to visualize how these ideas could be used with older students. My classmates help to bring that to life.

I found several ideas that could be of use on AT&Ts "Knowledge Network." Some of the sites I found were new or ones I had forgotten about (such as PBSkids.org). Others were new to me. While A&T has many valuable resources, I found Thinkfinity to be much more extensive and better maintained than AT&Ts. Even so, it is a wonderful resource that I feel is less well-known than Thinkfinity.

The portion of the class dedicated to online quizzes was way beyond the scope of what my students are capable of doing. I could see creating a quiz for a review type game to be completed as a class on the SMARTBoard or overhead projector. Other than that, it's beyond my students' level. However, it is an interesting concept.

I'm very skeptical of the idea of using social networking sites for instruction. As I've talked to my friends who are "Facebook Junkies," they've been impressed that we use Facebook in class. However, they too are skeptical of how to use it for instruction. Ideas I've received include setting up group meetings, discussing educational topics on people's walls, and forming groups from which study teams could be developed. I see a site like ePals being much more educationally focused and more plausible for school districts to consider allowing. In short, I see possibilities with social networking; however, I think that it needs to be given more consideration before we dive into it.

Thinkfinity Reflection

Wednesday's class opened my eyes to a plethora of new resources to use in the classroom. In the past few months, I have become bored with my typical computer activity to be an exploration on www.starfall.com While the resources there are wonderful and my students love to use it, I was frustrated with my inability to find other decent sources. While I found all of the sources investigated to be rich with ideas, I found ReadWriteThink and Illuminations to be most applicable to the the special education resource room. I was most pleased with the interactive student "games" on ReadWriteThink. There were a number of good phonics and phonemic awareness sorts which would easily work in our curriculum, require minimal prep, and be easily accessible to my students. I also re-discovered the PBSKids website through ReadWriteThink and am looking forward to using their materials in my classroom.

Since Wednesday night, I've been telling everyone about Thinkfinity! It's truly a wonderful educational resource that fits well into teachers' budgets.

CED510 Reflection

This course has extended my knowledge of opportunities to use technology in the classroom. Conversations amongst fellow students and their successful use of technology in the classroom were most beneficial in extending my knowledge and challenging me to use the technology in the classroom. I particularly found the databases of teachers' compiled lessons (such as IDE@S, NetTrekker, etc) to be a useful springboard to extend my ideas of technology integration in the classroom. From one of these sites, I developed an interactive book that my students and I developed in the classroom. The application was enjoyable and educative for my students in learning literacy content and computer skills. For me, it was an extension of how to teach these skills in a resource room when basic skills are very minimal. In summary, the greatest gains from this class occurred from the opportunity to interact with professionals in the field to share ideas and extend student learning.

Issues and Implications

The use of technology in education and society creates many new issues. The use of technology is drastically changing the demographics of the workforce. With many manufacturing jobs being forced to third world countries in exchange for technologically advanced jobs, voids are being left within the US's economy. As a teacher of students with disabilities, the jobs that my colleagues and I often prepare our students for revolve around the manufacturing world. Without this vital niche in society, many people who were once capable of holding moderately paying jobs are now left with minimum wage jobs or no job at all. An unintended effect of the technological advancement of our society will likely be a greater divide between the rich and poor and a higher unemployment rate.

Paralleled with this, greater disparities in socioeconomic equity and access are likely to result. My experience has been that the wealthier and more educated families who are often better in supporting students in traditional learning tasks are also the families that have computers and web access at home. Additionally, these students are learning vital computer survival skills which will open additional job markets for these students. With limited budgets and an increasing network of excellent free web resources, I increasingly find myself referring families to web-based activities as reinforcement of skills taught in class. Clearly, my "haves" have a greater access to these activities than my "have nots." Many also have challenges with gender equity resources on the Internet. While inequitable sites do exist, with careful review and screening, it is possible to find many unbiased sites with equal or better academic content. One of my favorites is www.readinga-z.com. This group of web sites has a number of downloadable books which are representative of a number of cultures, genders, and diverse topics. It is truly an amazing site!

Issues with Technology Implementation

Teachers face a multitude of issues when implementing technology in the classroom. Some of these issues are within the average classroom teachers' control; others are not. A primary issue for many teachers is their personal competencies and comfort with available technologies. In the building that I teach in, the majority of teachers are willing to try new technologies but often look for guidance from teachers who are more experienced with the technology or our library media specialist. Additionally, many teachers comment that they would be more willing to experiment with technology if there was additional time to investigate these opportunities. With our district going to a weekly early release next year, I see a possibility of staff having more time to investigate new technologies. Teachers also have some input into resources and training available. While administrators and the budget often have a greater input on the resources and training available, teachers do have some input into their access to technology training and resources. Our building is currently in the middle of a 3 year SMARTBoard initiative. As a part of this initiative, teachers are gradually being trained in using the SMARTBoard. My experience has been that the greatest growth in our comfort with the SMARTBoards has come with the informal collaboration between teachers. As we discover something that works well, we share it with others. Similarly, when we are struggling with how to use the SMARTBoard, we go to our colleagues before calling tech support or our technology coordinator. While our initial training was very good, the informal training that has occurred among our staff has been much more beneficial! Another issue which teachers have some control of is the expectations of the technology coordinator and the classroom teacher. We do not have a dedicated technology person in our building. Our library media specialist incorporates technology into her classes but also supports classroom teachers in using technology to meet learning targets. My general observation has been that these lessons are handled as a team approach with the LMS modeling the technology aspects, the classroom teacher handling the content, and both troubleshooting to make sure students are achieving their learning targets. Another main issue of technology integration which is typically out of the reach of teachers' control is administrator support. My principal is a former "computer teacher" which means any effort to incorporate technology in an effective manner is readily embraced and supported through the budget. As a non-tenured teacher, I feel quite a bit of personal pressure to embrace my principal's initiatives. Luckily, we usually see eye-to-eye on most technology issues. Administration at the district level (technology coordinators, student learning, student services, etc) also impact our access to technology. My experience has been that if technology is researched-based to be effective, financial resources have been found to support teachers' desire to obtain a certain technology. Finally, budgeting often proves to be the bottom-line as to whether new technology is feasible for a school or district. As stated previously, our district seems to be able to find resources when student learning is at the heart of the proposed technology. Many issues surround the effective or ineffective implementation of technology. Those explained above merely touch the surface of the multitude of issues classroom teachers face when considering the use of technology in their classrooms.

Integration

Integrating computer applications has great application for older students and staff. At the younger grade, I see greater importance in teaching student how to use applications successfully one at a time before integrating multiple applications. At the higher levels; however, I see a need to teach students how to meaningfully integrate so that they are ready to compete in a globally competitive market. As a portfolio consultant at UW, I worked with pre-service teachers to integrate documents into Dreamweaver. Had many of these teachers been exposed to the concept of integration at an earlier age, my job would have been much easier as a consultant! Additionally, their level of frustration would have been much lower. If students are exposed to these concepts at an earlier age, they would become part of a known skill-set such as using Word. The more skills we can "automatize" at an early age, the more competent computer users they will become as adults!

InTime

I investigated several teachers' lessons on the InTime website. Lesson content varied in quality and feasibility. I was particularly impressed with the "Show Me" Missouri's Temperatures unit. This unit was a cross-curricular unit taught to fourth grade students in a resource room setting.
This lesson incorporated music appreciation, graphic organizers, data collection forms, writing forms, and computer-based applications. Through each step, she clearly modeled processes, particularly computer-based processes, on a SMARTBoard and then walked students through the process again so that they could engage in the process. One point that Ms. Camden made that resonated with me was in regards to assistive technology. She stated that no matter how interesting a piece of assistive techology is, it is crucial to keep the child's best interest at the center of activity and only use the assistive technology when it is appropriate to the situation. I see this as an important point to consider. Often times, as a special education team member, we are trained in how to use the "latest and the greatest" and then look for opportunities to use them. Sometimes we rush in just to practice our skills. Ms. Camden provided me with a crucial reminder. I can see using this resource to investigate possible activities in the future. While the content of this lesson was more difficult than what my students would be able to achieve, it was a wonderful demonstration of successful language to use as well as an opportunity to view instructional methods that I am familiar with in a new light.

databases

In class last week, we used the Internet application DabbleDB. We first imported data from WINNS to become familiar with the application and then created our own database. I organized my Christmas shopping and preparation. (Sometimes you have to take care of the personal issues!) I was very impressed with the amount of tasks you could accomplish with this program. It has been about 10 years since I have used a database program. I'm quite impressed with how far they have come! I see the application of database programs to be more teacher-centered for me than for student use. I am on the Response to Intervention (RtI) committee at school. I could see using a database program to keep documentation on students' interventions and their effectiveness. Trends could then be analyzed over-time. I could also see using databases to document classroom materials, reading records, or behavior records on students.

Reflection on Spreadsheets

In class, we developed three separate spreadsheet activities. The first was a theoretical gradebook; the second was a theoretical college budget. The final was a magic square in which a 3 by 3 grid needed to have the numbers one through nine with each row, column, and diagonal adding to 15. Because my students are very young, these activities would be beyond their ability level; however, spreadsheets are something that I use in my classroom. I use them to develop math graphing activities and keep a database of reading activities. After our experiences in class, I am encouraged to start using Excel to track students' reading fluency growth. I used spreadsheet in the past with older students and can see the potential in using them with my students. In the coming weeks I am going to do the pictograph idea explained in one of my previous entries as well as work on fluency records for one of my reading groups. My hope is that once I make using Excel a part of one of my groups, I can easily extend this process to my other groups. I am also interested in using pictographs to help one of my lower math groups to better develop their counting and graphing skills.

Website Evaluation

I looked at Kathy Schrock's Guide and New Mexico State University's Library webpage to review evaluation criteria for websites. The students that I work with are not at the academic level to be reviewing websites. However, I could use these forms to inform other teachers of criteria for "good websites" and for possible uses in the upper elementary levels. My observation has been that many teachers need more specific instruction or training in how to choose good Internet-based materials. Many seem to take all information on the web at face value and don't look deeply into biases presented, undertones to the site, etc. New Mexico's site would be very helpful for adults to review sites, particularly those adults who have little Internet experience. Each of the criteria have examples or non-examples for those needing greater clarification. I have found Kathy Schrock's evaluations to be very user-friendly for young students and also more scientific in that sites can be easily compared using discrete criteria. In summary, I would use New Mexico's site for use with adults and Kathy Schrock's site for student evaluation.

Spreadsheets

The idea presented in this link would provide a basic starting point for me to use with some of my higher level students. While the picture here is semi-complex, I could come up with a simpler message to convey to my students. I would use the SMARTBoard so that the picture could be developed in front of the entire group. This would probably be more of a lesson in using co-ordinates instead of using spreadsheet programs to enter data. I also saw an idea in the "Spreadsheet Magic" book to make pictographs which could be used with some of my lower level students to reinforce basic counting skills.

Word Processing Assignment

Although the basics of this assignment were very much a review for me, I found the Google Docs aspect of the assignment to be promising. I am amazed that Microsoft has a basically free version of their office suite on-line! A single site license of the full program is quite expensive. I do understand that not all of the features are available; however, I think the Docs version would be sufficient for most individuals. In the field of education, Google Docs would also offer a better monitoring process for group projects than Microsoft words. Teachers could be added as collaborators and have the ability to log on to students projects to view which elements each group members edited. While this would be beyond the scope of what my students are currently able to do, I could see using Google Docs or Notebook to keep a parent-teacher communication notebook. It would eliminate the hassle of desperately scrambling to write notebooks at the end of the day and allow me the flexibility to do so after the school day is over. So while I felt very confident with Word before this class, I have explored new options and alternatives to enhance student learning.

Using the Presentation Program

I used the coin activity that I designed using Empressr in my class yesterday (described in my last entry). While the students seemed to enjoy the activity, I could tell that they were wanting to be a more integral part of the presentation. They are definitely habituated to the interactive nature of most SMARTBoard activities, so while this activity met its objectives, I continue to feel as though there are better presentation programs to meet the needs of my students.

Presentation Programs

I used Empressr to create this presentation on coins. While the application looked practical and easy to use from the site description, I found it to be extremely frustrating to use and not very user-friendly. I would not use it again! (Note: The graphics occasionally do not show up even though they are visible in the editing mode.) Text size could only be changed one line at a time when in the bullet function. Additionally, it took extremely long to load images and then load the presentation on the web. I found Google Docs to be much more user-friendly and possibly accessible to my students. I use SMARTTech's SMARTNotebook in my classroom on a daily basis. This program is a free download, is rather easy to use, and is very accessible to my students. It's like Power Point with many more bells and whistles (and a lot easier to use!). I much prefer SMARTNotebook to any of the sites which we explored in class.

Graphics Assignment

I created this graphic using Mr. Picassohead. I used the resize, rotate, and color tools as well as the drag and drop features to portray the emotion of furious. As a K-2 special ed teacher, I could see using this graphics program to teach or reinforce social skills lessons on emotion recognition and identification. I like this particular program because it is accessible for my students. I explored ArtPad as well. ArtPad would not be accessible to my students unless we used it on the SMARTBoard or a touch screen due to the fine motor challenges that they possess. The playback feature would be a nice option for teaching drawing skills; however, it would need to be more of a demonstration mechanism than an option for allowing students to access technology.

Activities incorporating graphic design and visuals is usually a highly effective instructional strategy with my students as it taps into the visual-spatial intelligence, eliminates or reduces language demands, and is a highly motivating process for them.

Reflections on CED523

Coming into this class, I truly felt like I had a good basic understanding of the Internet and World Wide Web. I knew how to do advanced searches, find decent instructional resources, and even use some software to put together a web page. Really, how much more could there be to learn? Within the first hour of class, my (suddenly) naive understanding of the web was being pushed to new limits. I was completely amazed at the plethora of resources which were easy to use and available for free!

As a resource teacher with very young children, many of the applications explored in class posed little relevance for my students. However, I challenged myself to find other practical applications to be used in my interactions with colleagues and parents. The most powerful time-management strategies I saw were Google Calendar and Google Docs. Calendar could allow us to schedule IEPs, the computer lab, field trips, and conference rooms. Docs could be used to keep collaborative documentation on students' progress towards goals, exchange ideas, and even more without the hassle of e-mailing files back and forth. Additionally, a Wiki could be used to share much of the same information but in a more public way. For instance, a Wiki could be used for us to share our Professional Learning Community (PLC) data and goals with everyone in our building or district. In this way, PLCs could group together collaboratively over the Internet, thus breaking group or building barriers typically put upon us by the constraints of the school day and meeting arrangement.

I also challenged myself to see the idea of a blog in a new light. Blogging could provide a medium through which I could post exceptional educational websites, share successful reinforcement strategies, and discuss other pertinent topics to parents of children with disabilities. This medium could provide a method of sharing the somewhat random ideas that often pop into my head and may be relevant but do not typically belong in an e-mail or notebook.

While this course was relatively short in duration, I felt like my knowledge of practical applications for the Internet grew immensely, constantly challenging me to see the Internet in a new light and find new ways to use an existing resource to extend my abilities as a teacher and collaborator.