Classroom Theme: iPods

I enjoy having a classroom theme to bring the whole room together. This past year, I chose iPods. I found a lot of great ideas on Pinterest. Here's a look at some of the ideas I pulled together for my room. 

Final Grad Class Blog Post: Technology Integration

What is Technology Integration?

"Technology is not taught as a separate class, but integrated into the classroom. 

It also means that students use technology to learn content 

and show their understand of content, 

not just their expertise with a tool."

 -Mary Beth Hertz

          I agree with Mary Beth Hertz given her blog post about technology integration. I like how she includes that for students to be successful, they must understand the tool they are using or else the tool is what is being learned and shown, instead of the concept that the digital tool is trying to communicate. I thought about this after reading a peer review of my webquest. The editor asked if I had given any thought to the difficulty of the task. What I didn't portray in my webquest is that the digital story I was asking my students to complete had been done before. My goal is for students to be extremely familiar with the tool so that the learning is focused around the topic of addition and subtraction of fractions and not around the creation of a digital story. The digital story is just a way to express said knowledge. 

http://bit.ly/THe5Uk

Integration of Technology 

http://bit.ly/1hN9uuI

     In Angela Maiers post titled, "12 Most Genius Questions in the World", I was fixated on question number six. This question states, "What is possible?" The reason it is important for teachers to integrate technology into their lessons is that it raises the level of what students can learn and what they can produce. It gives new possibilities to what students can accomplish. Many say that some of our students will be doing jobs that are not even invented yet. We need to raise digital literate learners so they have the tools to be successful in those future jobs. I have also seen the personal benefits of using digital tools in the classroom with students as young as kindergarten. I have seen iPad apps assist students in learning their letters and sounds. I have also seen videos instill grammar concepts in fourth graders in ways they understand and retain. 

Barriers

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      When thinking about technology integration, two main barriers come to mind. The first being access. I think schools need to prioritize their funding so they get more digital tools into the classroom. This includes smartboards, ipads, laptops, etc. Although it isn't impossible, it is hard to use web 2.0 tools when you only have six computers and a class full of students. 

The second barrier is professional development. In Marc Prensky's post labeled, "Shaping Tech for the Classroom", he says that schools are famous for resisting change. I think in some sense this is very true. However, at the same time, there are many teachers who would love to learn new ways of teaching, but aren't given the appropriate professional development to follow through. I know personally, I had to be very proactive to learn the digital tools in my classroom. I had to ask fellow colleagues for help when my smartboard was giving me trouble and I met with the technology integration teacher over April vacation to learn how to use my smart clickers. I also had to seek out the IT guy in our building when I was having trouble troubleshooting a particular program that the entire fourth grade was using for a project.     

Web 2.0

     I have learned about some great Web 2.0 tools that I will use in my future instruction. I have made a bulleted list of them below. I believe using these tools and technology in all curriculum will allow me to engage my students more and allow for better retention of the information being taught. 

• Animoto Digital Stories
• Weebly Webquest
• Voki
• Tagxedo
• Easel.ly
• Google Drive

WebQuest: Addition & Subtraction of Fractions

I made a webquest to explore addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators. It also explores finding equivalent fractions. This webquest will be done only after the students have had time to explore digital stories. 

Fraction Webquest

Digital Story: Animoto

This week I did a digital story using Animoto. I enjoyed how easy it was to use, but the text restrictions became bothersome at times. I also would have enjoyed putting text over my images instead of just having captions. 

I picked the topic of frieze patterns because my fourth graders are currently discussing symmetry and different types of frieze patterns. Frieze patterns can be difficult for them to grasp at times due to the rotations and reflections of objects. We have been doing a lot of practice the past week. 

I hope you enjoy my video and learn something new! 

Please note: There is a lot of information out there on frieze patterns, but this video is for fourth graders using the Everyday Math program. The program focuses on the three main types of frieze patterns in simplistic terms. The quotes were also taken from my fourth graders during activities we did last week with frieze patterns.  

Web 2.0 Lesson Plan: Rock Cycle

Web2.0 LessonPlan- Rock Cycle

Examples of Comic Strip:

http://bit.ly/1mYEo2H

http://bit.ly/R9wlUd

Example of Digital Poster (Student Artifact): 

Rubric (I couldn't figure out how to make it transfer when embedding the lesson plan into my blog):

Digital Technology in the Field

http://bit.ly/1hTt9U0

 Frustrations 

       As I start this post, I can't help think about the negative side of technology. Since I was unable to set up a time to speak with the teacher I interviewed, I had to do it over e-mail. This led to having to wait for a response, while I stressed over the idea of sending or not sending gentle reminders. As I waited for my interview questions to be answered, I looked over the other posts done by my fellow classmates. I am now sympathizing with one specific teacher who had her internet connection end during the middle of her lesson. As I type, my internet connection keeps failing. I'm not sure why, since this has never happened so continuously before, but I'm hoping this has nothing to do with the fact that I'm moving next weekend (and my roommate pays our Comcast bill)...

 Confidentiality 

   I am a stickler about personal information out on the internet. I purposely chose not to use my name or a personal picture for my profile. I also have never posted my school's name when speaking about personal experiences. This has all been intentional. I feel like I can still express my thoughts/views without sharing specific places or people. Therefore, for this post, I will intentionally not be stating the school's name. I will also be calling the teacher I interviewed Ms. L. I hope this doesn't create any confusion. 

http://bit.ly/1o0yzkY

 Background 

      I observed Ms. L in early May 2014. She is the Media Specialist at the school I currently teach at. When working with the fourth grade this year, her job has been to teach digital citizenship, typing, and to collaborate with the three, fourth grade classroom teachers on how to visually present their current animal research project. I chose to interview Ms. L instead of another classroom teacher because I feel the collaborative aspect of her job is important to the overall growth of my students as they learn about the digital world, and I wanted to experience first hand how she interacts with them. When asking Ms. L about how she would describe her job this year, she stated, 

"I feel my role is to incorporate/collaborate with classroom teachers 

to make the media class an extension of the classroom. 

This is an opportunity for students to experience and complete 

digital activities that cannot be completed in the classroom 

due to equipment/time/tech skills limitations. 

I also believe that media class is where basic technology skills,

 such as typing, mouse use, and digital citizenship,

 need to be taught explicitly."      

 Pre-Observation Thoughts

     When I first thought about observing and interviewing Ms. L, the students were working on their animal research project. In the classroom they were using Kidspiration to input their notes and turn their outline into a research paper. In Media class, the students were making a visual representation of their animal project. Ms. L and I had spoke previously of having the students try to create a Voki to share their information or maybe making a short movie in iMovie. Due to the server difficulties and old technology, getting 15+ students to create a video on iMovie was too cumbersome and the students had already had a chance to use the Voki as a way to share information. Ms. L then suggested a comic strip. It was an easier way to share their animal information and she thought the kids would enjoy it. 

   As I learned a great deal about how I would change the research project next year, Ms. L also came to some conclusions after using Comic Life.

Comic Life <- Link

"In a sense these are scaled-down digital storytelling projects. This project provided an opportunity to discuss: image citing, image searching, Comic Life, visual appeal of a digital project, synthesizing/restating notes into appealing and short comments for a comic book, simple photo editing, etc. If I were to do this project again, I would make some changes and structure it a little more to ensure speedy completion. For example, I would locate and create a folder of pictures that many of the kids could use to limit their time spent searching for images." 

Observation

       By the time I was able to observe Ms. L, the students had finished their Comic Life project. During the time I observed, Ms. L had the students go back to working with the program Voki. Voki allows the digital user to manipulate a picture of a person or animal and provide text that can then be read by the person or animal the student created. An example of one student's Voki is below. 

The students felt very comfortable accessing this program. Even the students who usually need more step-by-step directions in the classroom, were able to access this program with ease. This was mostly due to the fact that Ms. L has one main blog that the students access and each weekly lesson plan could be found on the blog under the grade four tab. 

          This assignment was given in correlation to Stuart Little, the all school read. Ms. L assigned each grade a specific project to go along with the story. Here the students had to create a Voki that resembled them and had to tell (with two or more sentences) what they predict would have happen after Stuart drove off. As students were working on their project, Ms. L circled the room checking in with students and redirecting them as needed. She also used her Smart Board at the front of the room when she had a student question that she thought would be beneficial for the whole class to hear. She encouraged the students to play back what they wrote to make sure it sounded right. I specifically heard her working with one student who said she was done. Ms. L encouraged the student to play back what she wrote and the student then realized that something must have been spelled wrong because one of her words didn't sound right. I thought that, that was a nice way to have the students use auditory means  to check their spelling. Overall I noticed that students seemed at ease using the technology and were very comfortable asking for help when an issue arose. I also notice that Ms. L did a wonderful job circling the tight space and addressing individual and group concerns. 

     

 Field Experience Thoughts 

http://bit.ly/1gSvQVF

      I feel this field experience was very beneficial for me. It allowed me to see how the media teacher interacts with my students and connects current topics being discussed in class and school wide. In a previous post I discussed my thoughts on a Edutopic article and how the purpose of technology is to enhance the learning ("Successful technology", 2007). I feel that both the Comic Life project and the student's current Voki project allowed the students to be creative while still getting the learning objective across. I also enjoyed speaking with Ms. L about her experiences with technology and share many of the same views as her about technology integration. 

"I think integration is a must. 

Our students need to be able to 

comfortably and proficiently 

utilize the technology they will be 

using in future grades 

and 

the workforce. 

This means students should be 

regularly exposed 

to technology 

both through academic/practical projects,

 as well as, for fun. 

Regular practice will result 

in at least the students 

being comfortable with the technology

 if not proficient 

in its use."  

 Future of Technology 

When I think to the future of technology and how it is integrated into schools, I think of:

• Some form of digital citizenship being taught at all levels 

• Digital exploration: Students having the opportunity to explore and "figure" things out on their own in safe, collaborative setting with their peers. (I enjoyed the video on third world countries and technology and how it showed that student CAN learn on their own without direct instruction)

• Technology professional development for teachers to stay current with the times and accessing learning on a platform that their students enjoy and are familiar with. 

 Resources 

What is successful technology integration?. (2007, November). Edutopia. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-guide-description.

*All other resources mentioned or linked within the blog post. 

**If you would like additional information on my teacher interview or the other questions I asked Ms. L, please just ask. 

The Digital World

       This week I watched two different Frontline videos. They both discussed the digital world and the impact it has had on the current generation of digital adolescence, as well as, older generations. It's amazing how much technology has changed even since 2007 & 2010. 

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Your thoughts on multitasking.  Do you agree?  Can you multitask?  

Do you disagree?


“Technology keeps out-distancing the research”.

         In Frontline: Digital Nation, experts discuss how technology cannot keep up with the digital world. Researchers get approval and funds for an experiment, but by the time they start it, the information is old news. The reason I address this is because there is not a lot of data supporting or discrediting digital multitasking. One particular study addressed in this video said that although the younger generation of multi-taskers feel like they excel at it, current research states that virtual multi-taskers are actually worse at absorbing and retaining information.

         In Frontline: Growing up Online, teachers state that the constant immediate access to new material has caused students to struggle with their attention and focus. It has also caused students to become more easily frustrated and lack problem-solving skills when coming to an unknown. One teacher stated that she felt like she had to perform and be an entertainer because kids today are so plugged in and everything in their life is about immediate gratification.

http://bit.ly/1nmGF7e

         Personally, I feel like I’m pretty good at multi-tasking, but I’m also aware when it’s not working. An example of this is when I do homework or work for my classroom. Sometimes I enjoy watching tv, listening to music, or checking Facebook, while other times I need absolute silence to complete my work. However, I feel like the constant digital feedback has also affected my attention span. I used to be able to watch movie after movie. Now-a-days, it is rare to see me watch a full movie and if I do, it is usually done with my laptop in front of me so I can do ten other things during the movie.  

~~~

Is there an addiction happening in society today with technology or is it just 

a new way of living? Should we be concerned?

“The internet has gone from a thing one does to the way one lives”. –Doug Rushkoff

         I definitely think that there are addictive qualities when using technology today. If you look up addiction in the Merriam-Webster dictionary it states, “an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something”. 

http://bit.ly/RlSbEK

If I think about the Frontline videos I just watched, I think addiction would be a perfect description of those who can't "live" without the digital world. Examples of this are seen especially in the today's teenagers. A segment of the Digital Nation video discussed Asia and internet cafes and how people have actually died from lack of food and water during intense 50 hour gaming sessions. The video also stated that Korea has gone so far as to diagnose computer addiction as a psychiatric disorder. 

Disclaimer: I understand some of the images below are unsettling, but they give visual reference to how strongly some feel digital technology has taken over the life of today's youth.  

http://bit.ly/1ikhvFe

http://bit.ly/1kJT5lL

http://bit.ly/1s0WGQq

         Overall, I think technology is a great tool. However, with that said, I also believe that there is an addictive quality to it and that today's youth, those who have grown up with it from the start, have a hard time existing without it. 

I think of all the times growing up when my power went out and we drew pictures or played games as a family. I then think about the snow storm that happened a few years ago and how many of the students stated that they were bored and didn't know what to do when their electronics and internet connection no longer worked. As one expert stated in chapter one of Frontline's Growing up Online, the internet is "a continuation of their existence" and today's youth are, "unwilling to be out of the loop" for even an hour out of their day. I think that kind of devotion is unhealthy and definitely something to keep an eye on.  

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Do parents of today have any idea what their kids are doing online?  

Whose job is it to teach them the safety and digital responsibility?  Parents/Teachers/Community/Government??


http://bit.ly/1o4wN4G

I think even the most informed and knowledgeable parents still are missing pieces of their child's digital footprint. Children can access the internet from so many different sources that it is hard for parents to have all consuming control over the pieces of the internet their child is exposed to. 

As for internet safety and digital citizenship, as much as I would love for the responsibility to lie on the shoulders of parents, I feel like it needs to be taught in schools to make sure students get a proper introduction and education in what it means to be a good digital citizen. More and more in today's society you hear about cyberbullying and how tormentors are given a new level of anonymity through online sources. This allows kids to say horrible things over the internet that they would never dare say to someone's face. It also accelerates the pain of the victim because home is no longer a safe haven. The students are targeted and the words are out there as if they were published in a book where kids can read them over and over. One professional in one of the videos thought that the hurt and pain was amplified and accelerated because the words do not disappear, but are read over and over again.

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I took all of my notes that I typed about the two different videos and made a 

Tagxedo graphic. Enjoy! 

  

             

*Digit Hot List*

I'm learning how to use diigo which is a online bookmarking site. This allows you to access your bookmarks from any computer and share resources among other professionals. I think I will find this resource extremely helpful since I have my home computer and work computer, and sometimes I bookmark something on one and then forget and go to open it up on the other computer which just leads to frustration!

A few websites I've linked, also known as my *Digital Hot List*

1. Typing Practice

2. Reference Builder

3. Fact Fluency Practice

4. Scholastic

5. Spelling City

6. Hooda Math