In ITEC 7470, Educational Research, I have learned the differences in the types of educational research including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. I have learned key characteristics of each type as well as sub-types. This has enabled me to be more confident in my seeking out, reading, understanding, and interpreting data for educational technology purposes. It is important for a technology leader to be able to seek out research for new technologies and strategies as well as interpret that research for their colleagues. One of the major frustrations that a technology leader faces is getting other teachers to buy into the new technology. Research can help persuade them by showing them they are not the first ones to try this and it worked this way for these teachers and here is what we can do to improve it. I have always enjoyed research and this course has helped me understand research in a new way.
Wow! This semester is over. I have learned so much and so quickly. I have explored 22 different internet tools that can be used to enhance learning in any classroom. This experience has taught me many things. However, the most profound new knowledge I have is that there are a plethora of tools out there. The Internet is only going to grow. As teachers, we must adapt to new technologies. So this class not only taught me about the tools that are currently out there, but it taught me to keep exploring. Find new tools, try them out, do not be afraid to fail or of being confused by a new tool. Student love trying new things and it helps keep them engaged if you are not doing the same thing every day. In future practice, I will continue to seek out quality Internet and technology tools for my classroom. I will encourage my students to do the same. They have an opportunity that no generation had before them. They have the power to create in a read/write web that can be shared and edited and re-shared continuously. They have the ability and tools to reach out across the globe and learn from other cultures as well as contribute to other's learning. These are powerful tools and they need to be shared not only with our students but also with other teachers. I will continue to share and train and teach other teachers around me all of the amazing tools at our disposal on the world wide web.
The digital divide is a huge issue facing technology use in education today. Lower income families are not able to afford home internet access and therefore their children are less familiar with technology and associated skills (Hohlfeld, Ritzhaupt & Barron, 2010). Children of parents who make less than $30,000 a year have significantly less access to smart phones, tablets, and computers (Rideout, 2011). Although we have frequently heard of digital natives, it is somewhat of a myth because students come to us with great variance in their technology backgrounds. As an educator, our job is to prepare students not only in our subject area, but also for the world outside of high school. This world includes and relies on technology. We need to ensure that students from Low socio economic status (SES) homes or home that do not have computer access, have equitable access to quality education through technology. Many schools are adopting 1 to 1 programs that ensure all students have 24/7 access to computers. This is only part of the battle. We also need to educate students in how to use the technology productively. For many schools, 1 to 1 is not financially possible. My school opens computer labs and the media center early for students to come in and work on assignments requiring internet and computer access. We also encourage students who qualify for free and reduced lunch to explore Comcast Internet Essentials, a program that provides cheap internet and computers for low SES students.
Hohlfeld, T. N., Ritzhaupt, A. D., & Barron, A. E. (2010). Connecting schools, community, and family with ict: Four-year trends related to school level and ses of public schools in florida. Computers & Education, 55, 391-405. Retrieved from https://kennesaw.view.usg.edu/content/enforced/170692-CO.430.ITEC7430.10106.20134/7430_Resources/Hohlfeld2010.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=BdLtoDM8e9UylecBSTexa09Nv Rideout, V. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/zerotoeightfinal2011.pdf The Internet has changed how people interact. People have a much larger circle of influence. Read through the comments section of almost any YouTube video and you will get a sense of how diverse the Internet is. You might also read quite a few things you wish you had not. By integrating the Internet into the classroom, we are encouraging students to take part in that global community in academically appropriate ways. Students can post videos, blogs, photos, or projects and have them viewed by peers across the globe. Students can also seek out assignments done in foreign countries and evaluate them. This will help students recognize and appreciate the diversity in the world. Students will likely find out not only about the subject they are researching, but also discover cultural differences. Students will gain a sense of another culture without having to leave the school.
Blogging in particular can be a great way to collaborate locally and globally. A student can post a blog post which can be read and commented on by their parents, peers, and anyone on the internet. One way in which to do this is through ePals. ePals is “an online community developed to connect students and educators from across the world, provides a host of ways for teachers to set up international interactions for their classes" (ISTE, 2010). The collaborate menu is a favorite feature within ePals. "This section offers myriad opportunities to find classrooms looking for writing partners and classes searching for global partners to collaborate on projects” (ISTE, 2010). Other sites that offer student to student interaction are International Pen Friends, Student Letter Exchange, and Students of the World (ISTE, 2010). ISTE. (2010, December 07). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.iste.org/online-pen-pal-sites-for-students-offer-resources-for-global-learning/ Internet Safety is a huge issue facing online education and students', especially teenagers', personal lives. Teenagers have a reputation on thinking they are 10 feet tall and bulletproof. They tend to drive more recklessly, be more prone to take risks, and generally not think through the consequences of their actions. These tendencies of adolescence can have devastating effects if published for the entire world to see. Students need to be educated about Internet safety whether or not they are using the Internet at school, but it is brought to mind more vividly for teachers who are integrating the Internet into their classrooms. Some strategies for teachers to make sure their students understand Internet safety are:
1. Have students complete an online module regarding Internet safety. You can create your own or use one already made. 2. Assign students topics and have them do short presentations on each Internet safety topic. Some great topics and information can be found through the Washington State Office Attorney General's site. 3. Have students watch some of these Real Life Stories about Internet safety and have them write a reflection on them. 4. Have students and parents sign an Acceptable Use Policy and Internet agreement. 5. Talk with students frequently about the consequences of not using common sense and good judgment on the Internet. The three sites I listed above have a lot of great information. The first link, Jo Cool or Jo Fool has students look at various websites and decide if they are safe to use. It encourages students to answer these five questions about every site they visit
The next link, Washington State Office of the Attorney General, offers great information in text form about the dangers of revealing too much information and how free sites make money off their users. I learned that students need to be concerned with what information they reveal because it is often sold to advertisers and because identity theft is common for teenagers because they are not likely to be using their credit for themselves. I also learned that students need to be careful about what information they reveal about their friends and what information their friends reveal about them. Finally, the Real Life Stories link comes from a site called Net Smartz that offers a whole host of information about Internet safety and related concerns. I learned from this site that almost all of Internet safety issues can be divided into one of four categories:
Fool cybertour. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/game/jo-cool-or-jo-fool/kidsNetsmartz. (2011). Netsmartz. Retrieved from http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents Safety for teens. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.atg.wa.gov/InternetSafety/Teens.aspx What I love about Slide Share is its simplicity. Teachers have been using slide shows for a very long time. Veteran teachers are used to this and some have hundreds of saved files that could easily be uploaded for student viewing outside of class with very little additional work for the teacher. Once posted, students can respond to them through comments so that the teacher can see if there was anything unclear in the presentation. Absent students could also view notes for the day.
In addition to creating your own slide shares, there are a multitude of slide shares already out there waiting to teach teachers and students new technologies and skills. Here is one I found with a ton of great resources for math teachers. Another interesting one I found is more of professional development for teachers in general. You can also learn about specific topics like The Pythagorean Theorem or The Civil War. These topical slide shares could be teacher created or student created. Jing was by far the most frustrating tool we have learned about this semester. I love the idea of screen casting especially for professional learning and teaching technology skills, but I do not believe I will ever use Jing again. It severely slowed down my computer so that a task that took me less than 2 minutes to do when Jing was not running kept taking over the 5 minute limit when Jing was running. Finally, I could not get the saved video to upload to either my site or to Youtube. I have used QuickTime's built in screen casting for Macs before and that worked perfectly to record and then upload to Youtube. That being said, screen casting is a very powerful tool that could be used to teach student in an online class how to navigate a course. It could also be used in a face to face classroom to teach how to use a new software. In a math classroom, with a graphing calculator emulator installed, it could be used to show students how to preform operations with their graphing calculators. In my Jing, I show how to create and embed a dynamic GeoGebra worksheet. Enjoy!
I really enjoyed looking at both Edmodo and Classroom 2.0. I see the use for both of them in two very different ways. I really like the classroom discussions, assignments, and paperless aspects of Edmodo to use with a class either for a particular unit or for an entire year. The problem with this is that my students do not all have access to technology at school or at home. It would essentially serve the same purpose as a class website unless I created a unit where we frequently went to the computer labs. Classroom 2.0 seems like it focused more on teacher collaboration and getting teachers to share their ideas of web 2.0 tools in their classrooms. I found one great resource in a discussion board called Show The Math. This is great for students who are doing online math work because typing math is so difficult. I have not used Edmodo before, but it seems similar to a resource my county recently purchased, My Big Campus. The county is planning on giving all students and teachers logins to My Big Campus, so I will most likely use that over Edmodo since the problem of creating student accounts will be solved. I imagine using it as a combination of class website and learning management system where I can post assignments, resources, and discussion topics as well as videos or helpful websites. Students can use it to get help, submit assignments, or discuss classroom topics. To use this tool with students, my first step would be to decide exactly what aspects I want to incorporate and begin to set them up for student use.
I have used podcasts for entertainment and personal use for quite some time. I mainly use my iPhone and the built in podcasts app. I subscribe to a number of personal shows, but do not listen to every episode. I find that many podcasts are simply too long to listen to as often as they are updated. Many people say they listen to them on their way into or home from work, but I have a short commute and a carpool buddy so this system does not work for me.
I looked through a number of math podcasts but the one that I subscribed to was AP Calculus AB by Ms. Roshan. These are video podcasts that are divided into topics and are very clear and well explained. I think for a math class, a video podcast is a must. Simply talking about math just is not the same as seeing it. I could definitely see myself creating a similar podcast for my class or upon further exploration of Ms. Roshan's, directing my students to appropriate episodes of her podcast. Oh Youtube! Countless hours of my life have been lost to you. The first two videos I found on Youtube relate to Unit 1 in Coordinate Algebra which focuses on unit conversions and the importance of understanding units. These support instruction by emphasizing the real world, everyday applications of the task at hand. In the first, a college student struggles to answer the question "If we are going 80 miles per hour, how long will it take to go 80 miles?" The second is a customer disputing charges against Verizon where although they repeatedly tell him the cost is in 0.002 cents per kilobyte, they continue to charge him 0.002 dollars per kilobyte. The third shows how to calculate a definite integral using the TI-84 And in true internet fashion, my last video is an adorable cat video. As far as Teacher Tube goes, I did not find anything that I thought was significantly better than youtube. Youtube is not blocked at my school for teachers so it is not an issue for me to use it. I will always watch videos first even if they are from a trusted source because I want to make sure they explain the content well and in a fashion that will be helpful to my students. It seems that Youtube has a larger base to select from.
I would love to produce tutorials for my students for each major topic in my curriculum or even videos of me working difficult homework problems. I could see it being very useful to students to have that at their disposal regardless of day or time. |