Week 5 Reflections

Week five's assignment is broken up into two parts: one of which shifts in a different direction and focuses on editing pieces of media, most specifically photos. We also have to compile 10 photos into a Picasa video presentation. The other part of the assignment required us to complete a website evaluation. The standards that this assignment covers are as follows: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, Commitment to Ethics, Commitment to Social Justice, Commitment to Professional Competence, and Ongoing Professional Development. This assignment allowed us to break out of our comfort zones and be a little more creative. We could chose any pictures that represented our attitudes toward diversity in the classroom. Being able to understand and value diversity in the classroom is extremely important for future teachers to understand, for diversity is one of the keys to a healthy and successful classroom. I enjoyed using the Picasa program and have actually used it before: therefore, the project was not difficult, but it was entertaining. I think this free photo-editing program could be used in my future classrooms to allow students to put a creative spin on tedious work. For example, I could teach a lesson on themes and have students choose a specific theme from a novel and visually represent it through a Picasa movie. I think this would be an entertaining project for high school students, for it would allow them to both hone in on important points, but to also do so in a free and creative way.

The second part of the assignment, the Web Evaluation, is an excellent example of something I will do in my future classrooms. Because I am going to be teaching English, research papers are a huge aspect of my content: therefore, it is important for students to understand what sources are good and credible and which sources to avoid when writing a research paper. This web evaluation was set up in a simple and easy-to-understand way that could be applied to any website on the internet. It would allow students to delve deeper into websites and sort through the not-so-credible sources to find reliable and relevant ones. This is important for all subject areas, but it is most important in English, for it contains much research and writing. Overall, I enjoyed the two assignments and can see the benefit each would have in future classrooms.

Week 4 Reflections

Week four's assignment was to construct a Webquest. We were to create this website using Google Sites, a program with which we are becoming very comfortable and familiar with. This lesson covered the following standards: S3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, S1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, and S4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. Furthermore, it made use of the following professional dispositions: Commitment to Ethics, Commitment to Professional Competence, and Ongoing Professional Development.

The Webquest assignment is much lengthier and in-depth than the past assignments; however, the template made it very easy to construct, for I filled out the template and could copy and paste the majority of my information. The assignment is very time consuming, but the end product is very beneficial to both students and teachers in the classroom. Teachers can use Webquests to instruct lessons in a new and creative way. It is also an interactive style of learning that can be taught to all different types of learners, from visual to tactile. A Webquest also creates a way for students and teachers to interact with each other, which creates a closer relationship between the two. Despite the amount of time needed to create the assignment, it is one I would use in the future when I become a teacher. I can modify and edit the Webquest to fit the needs of my specific students. Furthermore, other teachers of the same subject area can make use of the Webquest if it pertains to the information they are teaching their students. Overall, I enjoyed the assignment.

Week 3 Reflections

During week 3, we dealt with Excel spreadsheets and creating surveys through GoogleDocs. We were to complete an in-class Excel activity that taught us how to use various formulas in Excel, as well as shortcuts to these formulas. We also had to create a survey asking questions about technology use amongst a certain population. I chose to address cell-phone usage amongst mainly college students. The assignment taught us to use the spreadsheet tool on GoogleDocs, different forms, and how to summarize results once they were obtained.

S3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, S1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, and S2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments. Furthermore, we covered the following Professional Dispositions: Commitment to Ethics Commitment to Professional Competence and Ongoing Professional Development.

As I have worked with Excel before, I did not find the assignment very interesting or challenging; however, I will most likely use Excel as a teacher to organize data, student attendance, grades, etc. It is definitely a good tool to continue to make use of. I had never created an online survey before this assignment, and I definitely found it useful and can see how it will be beneficial in my future classrooms. This assignment also strengthened my knowledge of PowerPoint, for we had to compile our found information into a presentation. I could potentially have my students create a survey about a specific novel or piece of writing, a specific grammar tool, or any other English/Language Arts-related subject. All students would benefit from this activity, for they could take each others' surveys and act as participants and audiences. This could also be a way for students to better get to know their classmates.

Overall, I found the Excel portion of this assignment to be redundant, but the GoogleDocs survey and presentation was very useful and will continue to be in the future.

Week 2 Reflections

During week two of EDCT 203, we each constructed a PowerPoint presentation that included a short mini-lesson and an interactive quiz-like game. This project covered the following standards: S3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, S1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, and S4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility. This project was extremely entertaining and I know I will be able to use the PowerPoint quiz feature in my future classrooms. I enjoyed constructing the interactive quiz game, for it allowed me to broaden my skills in PowerPoint, as well as to learn how to create simple questions concerning a presented lesson. I also enjoyed being able to work on a project that let me unleash creativity. I was able to insert pictures, use different editing tools, and create a PowerPoint that was very visually appealing. In the future, I plan on using this type of assignment with my students. I can have students create an interactive quiz game (individually or in groups) about the lesson/s that is/are being taught at the present time. I can then have students present these to the class, which creates a fun and lively review session. This will be beneficial to both the students making the presentations and the other students in the class. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the assignment and found it much more interesting than the assignments in week 1.

Week 1 Reflections

The first week of class, we learned how to create a GoogleSite and how to build a page of bookmarks. The GoogleSite is a very helpful tool that is relatively simple to use. We learned how to name our GoogleSite, how to change its layout, how to add images, and how to add/delete different pages to the site. We also learned how to create hyperlinks to outside webpages. This assignment met the following ISTE Standards: S1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, S2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, S3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, S4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, and S5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. Furthermore, the bookmarks helped us to learn how to create hyperlinks, insert/crop images using the PrtScn button, how to summarize the main points of a webpage, and how to use text-wrapping in a Word document.

In the future, I will definitely be able to use these skills as an educator in the classroom. The GoogleSite can be used as a tool for each student to create a personalized site that can be accessed by him or herself, his or her fellow peers, and me as a teacher. The site can be used to organize and post different assignments and lessons. The bookmarks assignment can definitely be integrated into the classroom, as well. For example, students can create a bookmark site while working on a research project to organize the resources they used to gather information. Just as the GoogleSite is used to organize information, the Blogger tool can be used, as well. Students could create their own Blogger sites to create posts pertaining to various classroom ideas. The students can read and comment on each others' reflections, and I as a teacher could give my input, as well. Overall, the tools and ideas learned in the first week of class are very helpful and will be used in the future as classroom tools.