2010 Michigan Educational Technology Plan

It took a minute for me to get around to being able to read this and focus and fully understand what I was reading which is why it took me so long to comment on this.  I thought that this plan was very well developed and one thing that really caught my attention is the professional learning goals. I know that when I went to Western we were required to take an Educational Technology class that consisted of us creating a webpage, powerpoint presentations, Inspiration software presentations, and many other things. I feel that this education prepared me to function in a classroom where technology is present but at the same time I wish I had learned about other things. The Technology plan talks about implementing a rubric based assessment plan that will test the competencies of teachers which I feel is a great idea because it ensures that our teachers are ready to work in a world of technology.  Another thing that I really liked was where it talked about getting the community involved and educating them on the benefits as well as the cautions that should be taken concerning educational technology. This plan has more good points than I am able to comment on and I really feel that it will be very helpful in ensuring that our students, teachers, and community will understand and appreciate technology with all of these goals implemented into our education programs.

Lesson Outcome

I am a preschool teacher at a daycare center and I taught a lesson on patterns.  To get my lessons started each day I chose to read a book and have the students point out patterns that they noticed in the books.  This is really good for them because it gives them an opportunity to ‘read’ the book and follow along.  The students really enjoyed hearing the stories and practicing making patterns but I believe that their most favorite activity by far was using the computer to play games.  When I first initially questioned them about what they knew about computers, most of them could tell me that they were for playing games while a few students said it was for their mom to do homework! Cute! Well overall I think that the lesson went well I just hated that I had a limited supply of technology for them to use and learn about this topic.  I only had one computer so the kids were only able to use it for about 3 minutes because we only have so much time in the morning to do lessons before lunch begins. I really enjoyed introducing this topic to them and I enjoyed the excitement they showed when they were able to use the computer. Mostly I really think that they learned a lot from this because in the end the majority of the class was able to make their own patterns even if they were only using legos and didn’t move on to other objects like I had originally hoped. I would gladly do this again using another topic if possible because I feel as though I had great results.

Google Wave

After reading the article about Google Wave, I have to say that I think that it is really interesting because it opens new doors in the realm on online classes. I honestly feel that every time something is technological is created I am in awe because it amazes me what types of things people create. The spell check feature is what really gets me. I do have to admit when I use Microsoft Word to complete my work and it does spell check and grammar check sometimes I feel that it is not necessarily always right. I would like to see what types of spell check Google Wave is capable of and from what Lars Rasmussen says about it I think that it must be a highly advanced spell check because he automatically trusts what suggestions or corrections it tells him are necessary. I haven’t necessarily always been able to fully trust in technology to correct me and this seems like something that I may be wary of in the beginning but after seeing it in action I may change my mind. The idea of being able to see what has transpired between other group members so that everyone is able to stay up to date is pretty amazing too because even if you couldn’t be there when they did their part or discussed the project you’ll be able to see what they talked about and you’ll be able to comment about what decisions they made. I think that this will be a really good tool once it gets out there and if it stays free or at least low-cost.

Employer reaction to EDU 590

When I talked to my employer about taking EDU 590, he asked me what the class was all about and what types of things I would be learning.  After a lengthly explanation of the expectations for the class and the assignments that we were required to complete, he asked me what I could do with the information that I had learned from the class. I explained that I can find new ways to implement technology so that I have some extra tools to use to help the students learn better. I honestly feel that our discussion motivated him to try to find ways to add new technology to the students’ learning process and I believe that he is going to try to find inexpensive ways to do it.  It is difficult not having much to work with but I do the best that I can with what I have.  Since our discussion he had informed me that he has been talking to his wife about possibly writing grants to see if we can get some new technology brought into our preschool program. Ultimately, while we cannot afford it, the most important thing is that my students learn anyway and they benefit from the processess that I use to teach them.

Biggest technology “hic-up” in my plan

The biggest technology ‘hic-up’ for me was having only one computer to implement the lesson.  This made the lesson more tedious than I had hoped and the children began to lose interest while they were waiting for their turn on the computer. I only had the one computer to use because we don’t have other computers set up with internet access that are available for the children.  Our funding comes primarily from tuition and we don’t get grants to run the center. I really struggled with this issue in the beginning because I knew that it would be difficult to find technology based activities for the preschoolers to do because the only technology that we have are a vcr, dvd player, and some leapster pads that were donated but only have programs for older children.  I knew that in order to complete this project I would have to use my own resources and that it would have to be done inexpensively since I would be using my own money.  Ultimately the students enjoyed using the computer although some still had some issues understanding how to operate the mouse even though we went over it and even practiced multiple times. Overall this was a learning experience for me and it helped me to see that there may always be limitations but it is still possible to make it all turn out well in the end.

At-risk students at Detroit Cyber School

This article was very interesting because it talks about the ability of high school aged students, that have dropped out, to obtain their diploma in a new and exciting way. We live in a time where the computer and other electronics dominate pretty much everything that we do and for these school districts to offer an alternative way for these students to learn and obtain their diplomas is amazing.  When I was in high school I didn’t have a computer at home and I only recall having one class where we did a lot of MS-DOS stuff so computers weren’t that big of a deal to me. Now kids can complete all the tasks that they need to because a different method was presented to them and it makes obtaining their diplomas possible.  It is hard that a few school districts are suffering monetarily but hopefully with this new opportunity things will change for them because more people will want to get involved.  This program also makes ‘going to school’ fun for the students and involves using something that they know how to utilize already.  The schools that provide the opportunity to take the computers home as opposed to going to a computer lab make the experience even that much easier because students are able to get what they need to get done on their own time which allows the students the freedom of having a hand in making their own education a reality.  Every day something new in technology comes about and this one was truly surprising.

Ed Tech Video

The gist that I get from this video is that this person is not used to using regular textbooks because he has had more technology in his educational career than textbooks. I thought it was really funny and also helpful because it helps me to see what I am expected to do minus the humor, or maybe there will be a little humor because things won’t go as planned. :-)! Technology is taking over education and it has very positive aspects but I guess at the same time students are losing that experience that is acheived with a regular textbook. I don’t think that this is necessarily all that bad considering that technology is everywhere in our society and it’s not likely that it is going anywhere anytime soon so we might as well get used to it. Creating a video for You Tube should be pretty simple but I do expect obstacles if I have screenshots. I plan on looking into video editing software to make the process easier because I know that I am not as savvy with it as I would like. I took a class at Western where we created movies using Quicktime but I have to say that this was done  a while ago. Overall I hope to learn from this project and be very successful with it as well. I’m actually looking forward to figuring this whole process out.

Make it Stick

After reading make it stick, I realized that this pertains to what I do at work and at home. I am always trying to find ways to teach my school children as well as my own children lessons that I want them to remember. The trouble is, though, that most things go in one ear and out the other. I found it really amusing that I knew what to expect when reading about the kidney being stolen because I had actually heard it before. Trying to make my lesson plans ‘stick’ in the heads of my students seems hard so I try to do a lot of repetition using the same topic but a different method. I have learned over time that to continuously go on and on about a topic doesn’t help the students to learn it because after a while they actually stop listening. I looked at the principles to making ideas stick but the idea of making preschoolers emotionally involved in learning their letters and sounds seems to be something that will be very challenging. The chapter of ‘Make it Stick’ leads me to feel that repetition is not the answer because this shows that the method may be flawed and therefore I need to find a different method that will make the information stay with them for years to come.