Scenario

I am very much looking forward to being a teacher in the environment of 21^st Century Learning, and I feel well-equipped with the knowledge of various technological resources to help my students achieve success in the classroom.

Some of my strongest attributes are that I am extremely motivated, creative, and organized. In my future classroom, I hope to use tools that play off of these attributes to help my students in the most effect way possible. I am especially interested in helping them use their own creativity to demonstrate knowledge and to have fun with learning. Using programs such as Glogster EDU, Animoto, and Voicethread are just three ways in which this can be accomplished. Challenges that I might face as an educator are dealing with time management and ensuring that all necessary information is covered in a short period of time. However, there are technology resources for helping with this, too, and I will definitely choose to utilize them.

In 3 to 5 years, I see myself in the classroom; although I will still be considered a “new teacher,” I hope that others will come to me for advice related to technology. I have learned a great amount of information through my coursework, and I will continue learning about the latest trends in technology. Through podcasts like Tech Chick Tips and K12 Online Conference, I hope to stay up-to-date on all the latest tools and programs and inform others about the benefits. Our society is moving so quickly with technology – the virtual landscape in 3 to 5 years will be even more different than what we are currently experiencing, and it is important to stay on top of things in order to teach our students in a way that will be most valuable to them. To learn a new software application, I could use online tutorials or even attend related professional development seminars…whatever it takes to get it going in the schools!

Technology has such an enormous impact on student learning. Various apps or special programs can help enhance learning for students of all needs and really help students make connections. More than anything, students are learning technology at a very early age and it is almost second-nature to them; it has become a style of learning. Therefore, we must continue that in the schools and use technology whenever possible.

Technology has also had an impact on my own learning. It makes a lot of things much easier and I appreciate how it connects all citizens on a global scale. I would most certainly encourage my colleagues to implement technology in their own classrooms, as well, by discussing the benefits of iPads, interactive white boards, ELMO, and other online programs like Prezi that can positively assist them in their instruction. I would also show my colleagues various resources they can use with their students, like making podcasts in Garage Band or doing book reports in Voicethread. No doubt, they will understand just how wonderful these things can be!

My Wow Moment

Although I was highly impressed by the many wonderful resources and opportunities in education technology (and can’t wait to use the programs more!), there really is only one “wow” moment that I had all semester. As silly as it may sound, my “wow” moment was how wonderful the Mac computer is! It was the very first time that I used a Mac for a decent amount of time, as I have a Dell at home and typically use a PC elsewhere. However, I soon became quite familiar with the Mac and am pleased to say that I really like its features, its tools (like Garage Band!) and find that it is much easier to use. I also feel like the picture quality is much better on the Mac and that it made viewing a computer screen much easier on the eyes. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I am able to get a new computer any time soon. The good news, however, is that I believe most schools have Apple computers in their labs (and 1:1 laptops for teachers and students!). Perhaps I will be blessed with the opportunity to use one more fully in the future. For now, I am glad to have been able to learn its intricacies and to reduce any “Mac fear” that may have overwhelmed me in the past. I’ll take a bite out of the Apple any day!

Podcast Favorites

I thought that listening to the podcasts was really helpful and it aided in my ability to make connections in and outside of class. My very favorite podcast was the Tech Chick Tips. I liked this because I felt that I could relate to the Tech Chicks and I liked the way that they presented the information. The episodes were always very straightforward, in language that I could understand, and humor was often interjected. I also felt like the Tech Chicks gave sound advice and had really researched the resources that they spoke of.

The other podcast that I really enjoyed was the K12 Online Conference, specifically the programs entitled “Fireside Chats.” I really liked how they did a spotlight on a teacher who is using 21st Century Learning in his or her classroom, and offered examples of different activities that can be used with students. I always like features of different people – whether it is news, magazines, etc. – so receiving this same type piece in the format of a podcast really interested me. I hope to use some of the ideas that were mentioned…they were very good!

Semester Favorites

Over the course of the semester, I was introduced to a number of fun, useful and interesting tools that are related to education technology. Many of these tools and programs were ones that I had heard of before, but really did not know much about. Similarly, I had never really taken the opportunity to explore their features. By experimenting with many of them in class and understanding their value as a professional resource, I feel much more confident about using such tools and programs in my future classroom and look forward to participating in 21st Century Learning!
The two programs that really intrigued me the most and that I would consider to be my favorites are Glogster EDU and Animoto. Glogster EDU offers students the opportunity to express their knowledge in a creative way, all while being very user-friendly. I especially like the fact that there are different designs from which to choose and that Glogster allows the user to adjust the layout as need be. It’s like creating a poster without the mess of glue and scraps of paper! Additionally, it’s nice that Glogster can accommodate videos from YouTube as well as other images found online or on one’s computer. I think that Glogster would be something that would really appeal to kids – they get to make their own decisions and actually have fun demonstrating what they know. It also serves as a unique – yet effective -- way to assess students’ knowledge and is something that would be fun (for the teacher) to grade!


What I like most about Animoto is that is an excellent tool for teachers to use to engage students or to help piece together nonlinguistic representations in order for students to make connections within a unit. Using a program such as Animoto is quite beneficial for lesson planning; creating videos is an excellent way to help introduce a lesson to students. I also believe that Animoto would serve as a wonderful program for students to use when creating group projects. The process of creating the videos is quite simple and, like Glogster EDU, is a fun way to apply knowledge rather than taking a test or completing another kind of project. Any time a student is able to use their creativity though assessment, I feel that it is a good thing. Having taken DED 318, I have learned that through technology, this can be achieved. I am thankful for learning about a number of excellent tools and programs!

Classroom 2.0 Reflection

Living in the world of 21^st Century Learning is so exciting, especially as a future teacher. There are so many wonderful resources to take advantage of! I really enjoyed taking a look at what Classroom 2.0 has to offer. First of all, I like that it has its own podcasts and special programs that offer tips and advice to other professional educators. The entire site seems to be a kind of “meeting place” for teachers and is a way to share ideas, gain perspective, and become equipped with tools to take back to your own classroom. I liked how easy it is to navigate the site and how they offer so many wonderful links to search. When I have my own classroom, I hope to communicate with a number of professionals, both in my school and in other states! Classroom 2.0 allows for the ability to do so. It will definitely be something that I explore further in the future and use for my own professional development. How nice to work with others in this type of online forum!

EduTecher Reflection

The links available on EduTecher are vast and quite useful to teachers and students alike. When searching for the links and various resources, I like being able to narrow things down by subject, grade level, as well as content area. When exploring EduTecher, I chose to take a look at some the links that they have listed under ESL, as that is my area of concentration.

The first site that I visited was ABC Ya! ABC Ya! is a free site that offers flash activities for elementary school students to use to enhance their learning. Although the main content areas given attention in ABC Ya! are math and reading, I can understand why it is helpful for students who are acquiring a new language. They are able to use nonlinguistic representations to better understand the material and extended learning through games helps to lower their affective filters.

The second site that I visited was aMap. This site is quite unique, as it allows people to communicate various sides of an idea. I thought that this could be used in a classroom to have two students of various cultures take a subject and use the program to further understand their similarities and differences in a meaningful way. Understanding different viewpoints and perspectives is an integral part of appreciating diversity and living in a multicultural society. Perhaps this program can help aid in that very goal.

The final site that I explored was Babbel. I like this site because it helps students learn a new language in a fun and easy way. Whether it is English practice for our CLD students, or allowing the native English speakers to learn another language, I think that this program could be very useful and very enjoyable in the classroom. It also appears very straightforward and easy to use, which is always a plus.

Overall, I found several excellent resources and tools on EduTecher and am certain that I will refer back to the site on many occasions in the future.

Kan-ed Reflection

In exploring the Kan-Ed website, I was amazed by all of the wonderful resources it has available to teachers, both current and future. The first site that I visited was the Kansas Digital Library. Because language arts are extremely important to me, I am always interested in finding out more about various ways to obtain books and other sources of useful information. The KDL is a cooperative partnership among the state’s archives, museums, historical societies, and libraries; however, they all incorporate the use of digital technologies to expand awareness and availability of their collections (which include materials that relate to Kansas in some way). I was really impressed with this site and plan to use it quite often in the future. Another site that I visited was Connect Kansas Kids. What a fantastic and extremely special site -- I love how it offers a technological infrastructure to extend the work of Kathy Davis to help reach kids with chronic illness, their classmates, and their friends and families in Kansas. A site like this shows that everything is possible with technology…and that it really helps bring us all together. The third site that I visited was World Book Student. I immediately thought that this would be so handy to use in the classroom, especially for students to take its quizzes or research various subjects. Having Kan-ed at our fingertips is such a wonderful resource…I am pleased to have come in contact with this site and know that I will use it regularly!