Digital Blog Post I

Video Credit to synaurasuccessteam on Youtube

In Chapter 6 I learned about different educational websites and apps that help teach children. Different things such as bookmarking, social bookmarking, and information alerts were discussed. 

Bookmarking refers to the capacity of computers, through a web browser, to remember websites that you visit frequently. With using bookmarks, students are able to electronically log different access pages into a list. This makes it easier for them to go back and access them later on. I believe that bookmarking is a great idea for students to go back and remember what website they found certain information from. 

Social bookmarking is similar to bookmarking. Social bookmarking expands the idea of bookmarking from one person to a community of people using computers. Instead of the websites being logged in privately, this allows for a public list to be displayed so that public readers can see and add to it. I think this is a great idea so that students are able to receive resource ideas they didn't have before. Students can all come together to help give one another sources to view for their same topic of research. Some great Social bookmarking resources are; Delicious, Diigo, netTrekker Search, and Goodreads. 

I also learned about information alerts in this chapter. It is an electronic notice that new information about a topic has become available in some electronic publication format. These alerts are helpful when busy teachers need updates about new online information that is available. This a great idea for teachers because they will be up to date with all of the online teaching information available. 

Photo credit to Katie Conroy using WordCloud

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Blog Post H

Video Credit to SMARTClassrooms on Youtube

This chapter mainly focused on students being able to present and share their research through different digital technologies. Some different computer based technologies discussed were interactive whiteboards, digital voice recorders, and even digital projectors.

With digital projectors, both teachers and students are able to display information through this projector so that the entire classroom is able to view it at once. These will definitely come in handy if students have projects to present to their classmates. It'll allow them to pull up videos, pictures, or even something they created online for the classroom to see. A presentation tool called Powerpoint is a great tool to use when using these digital projectors. Students will have an easier time paying attention in class with being able to view the cool animations and colorful graphics that Powerpoint provides. This idea of presenting information to students through a projector is easier for both teachers and students. Teachers will no longer have to write loads of information on the board!

I think that interactive whiteboards are a great way to keep students excited about their learning! These boards allow students to interact with others in class by simply sitting at their desktop. They also allow students to come up and write on the board virtually! I think it's an awesome way to get students excited about what they would normally do on a chalk board; but on a interactive whiteboard! These boards are also great when it comes to working together as a class and making sure students all get to see the same step by step problems at the same time. I remember having one of these in my classroom a couple years back, and even with an older age group students still get excited about using them in class.

Digital voice recorders are an amazing device for students. With being so easy to use, students can easily listen to these recording and re-cap what happened in class that day. Teachers are able to put recordings of the main ideas they covered in class that day, so that students can go back and listen through it while they are studying or completing their homework. These recordings will be helpful for every student in class, and I think it's a great way for students who need extra assistance in class to get the assistance they need. I know for a fact if my professors put up recordings of what they discussed in class, I would take advantage and use them all the time!

Credit to Katie Conroy using Word Cloud

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Blog Post G

This chapter was very interesting and discussed much information about cool and useful technologies. Some key topics that really caught my eye were Universal Design for Learning, Interactive Whiteboards, and Electronic Spellers and Dictionaries.

While reading about Universal Design, I learned that it's a field of architecture and that it's a new approach to how schools can serve all students well. (UDL) applies recent advances in understanding how the brain processes information to the design of a curriculum that can accommodate broad student needs. (Hall, Meyer, & Rose, 2012; Metcalf, 2010) The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) defined UDL.

• Multiple means of representation, to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge
• Multiple means of expression, to provide learners' alternatives for demonstrating what they know
• Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners' interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation

An example was given in this chapter, "A teacher might use PowerPoint to display vocabulary words and definitions on a screen in front of the room so a hearing-impaired child can read the information while the class discusses the terms." I think that UDL is a great way to help out not only hearing-impaired students, but also students who have trouble following along or paying attention. UDL will give students endless ways to be able to follow along with information, even if they are a tiny bit behind. 

Interactive Whiteboards were also discussed in this chapter. This whiteboard is simply mounted on a classroom wall and connected to both a computer and a projector. With these boards, both teachers and students are able to access their computer monitors on this with just the touch of a finger. So basically anything that you would normally see on a computer screen can be shown blown up on this board. These white boards are useful in helping visual, auditory, and hands-on learners. I think that these Interactive White boards should be on the wall of every classroom. It's such a great way to present information to students so that they are able to easily see and view it. 

Electronic spellers and dictionaries should be used in every classroom. This device would be very useful for beginning readers. They help with correcting spelling, listening to words aloud, and checking the accuracy of spelling. This device would be very useful to students who are learning English for the first time. Headphones can be plugged in so students are able to listen to words they need help understanding or spelling. I remember having one of these devices in elementary school. I was never a good speller, and these little devices would always prepare me for my spelling tests every week! They are such a great idea for students!!

Video Credit to FranklinElectronics on Youtube

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post F

Video credit to Jason B. Lucas on Youtube

Chapter 8 discussed the different strategies of communicating and collaborating with social media. This chapter focused on many helpful electronic communication tips, creating blogs for students and teachers, and even twitter for teachers!

Social media allows students and teachers to easily communicate with one another after school hours. Some key ways of communication are email, teacher or classroom websites, blogs, online discussions, and wikis. Teachers are able to create websites that their students can view daily to check information about a certain class. I think that's a great idea because teachers can make it easy for students to remember what the given assignments were for each day of the week. Another great way to communicate is by blog. I think it's a great idea for teachers to assign students these "online journals" to reflect their learning in the classroom.

Blogging is a fun and easy way to help get students interested in their learning. It's a free and inexpensive way to get students communicating through technology. One way of blogging can be considered creating a class website. This type of website is devoted to the educational activities of teacher and a classroom. Class websites focus on students and their work. Students are able to publish their work and become interested in certain subjects and topics being taught in class. I think this is a very great way to get students thinking and to help them begin to create more of a creative and proactive mindset. These websites are very helpful when it comes to homework assignments, dates for exams, schedules, and school events being posted for students to view! More teachers should allow their students to get creative and be apart of online blogging in and out of the classroom!

A cool topic discussed in Chapter 8 was Twitter for Teachers. Some may not know, but Twitter is a microblogging site where individuals share information with friends and colleagues also known as their followers. Each post made it only allowed 140 characters, this is why it's considered microblogging. Twitter allows teachers from all over to follow one another and share their classroom information using hashtags. These hashtags organize information around similar topics being discussed by each post. Hashtags such as #engchat and #engtalk for language arts or english classes were discussed. These hashtags allow students from all over to actively post about different topics regarding their english or language art classes. I think Twitter may be a little bit too advanced for the classroom right about now. I think there should definitely be an age requirement for the use of Twitter so that teachers won't have to be so worried about their students using it as much. Other than the safety factors of Twitter, I think it's a great way to get interactive feedback about different subjects in the classroom!

Photo Attribution to Katie Conroy on Canva

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Blog Post E

In Chapter 7, computer games considered learning resources were introduced. I learned about many digital learning games and simulations games, intelligent tutoring systems (ITS), and virtual worlds. These types of games believe it or not can be used very effectively in the classroom.

While reading this chapter I came across many different examples of great digital learning games. Websites such as iCivics, Energyville, Edheads, Free Rice, and GeoGames were introduced briefly. These websites were each given a description and a recommended grade level for use of each of them. I thought that it was super cool to check out these sites and look through the different games that can be used in class. Some of them like Free Rice were awesome because you are able to click on the exact subject you want to answer questions to. I think certain digital learning games should be used in the classroom. It's a great way to spice up the dull and boring way of introducing new curriculum!

Another thing I learned about in this chapter was ITS, also known as Intelligent Tutoring Systems. ITS are powerful new software programs that promote inquiry learning through computer responses to student actions. This system works by having students answer questions so that the computer can record their responses and make predictions about what users know and do not know. I think ITS is absolutely amazing. Students are able to practice their reading skills by simply just speaking into the computer. Once they do that, they are then corrected by what mistakes they made virtually. These tutoring systems keep both parents and students up to date with the latest and most updated curriculum. I think that every classroom should give their students the option of being able to use ITS at home or in the classroom when they are struggling.

Virtual worlds also really caught my eye in this chapter. Virtual worlds are online computer based environments in which users adopt different online identities and then interact with those characters using those identifies. Different examples such as Sesame Workshop to teach about global citizenship and cultural knowledge were given in reference to different types of virtual worlds that help teach students. Zula Patrol is another virtual website that involves students in learning about math, science, and technology.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.