ILP #2

For the second Independent Learning Project I decided to sign up and complete a Lynda tutorial. First, I looked at a tutorial that had anything to do with Education and found an interesting video that discussed how to develop and improve learning objectives. At the end of the video, the instructor suggested extra resources that had to do with career development and talked about how you don't have to necessarily be a teacher to apply learning objectives. ATD provides people with connections to other people that are maybe in the same field and ATD also organizes conferences for career development. As a teacher, the instructor says that you can't just watch one video and call it quits. Instead, you have to keep yourself updated and keep on going. The instructor says that learning objectives have two purposes. The first is they dictate to the learner what they should expect and what is expected of them. The second is if they don't have learning objectives, they wonder why they should even be there. Also, in the Lynda tutorial, I found it interesting that the instructor states that you should consider your end goal and then work backwards from there.

Some notes that I took while watching the tutorial:

- keep parents and administrators updated on what is going on in the class

- theories behind learning objectives= Bloom's Taxonomy & Kirkpatrick's levels of education

- *make sure assignments are aligned with course objectives*

- mental road map
- valuable
- basically for anyone

products/evidence=

Blog Post #10

When I become an elementary school teacher I will definitely be using Data Collection tools as a teacher. I plan to be teaching any grade ranging from Kindergarten-Fourth grade students. I will use the Data Collection tool to keep track of my student's grades and work during the school year. As an elementary school teacher, you don't just teach one subject- you teach a little bit of all subjects. The Data Collection tool can be helpful in order for the teacher to have an idea of which subjects the students perform their best or worst in and I could use the Data Collection to see any changes in grades that my students are making. For example, if I have a student that is 

making all A's on all of their assignments and then all of a sudden they fail a test, then I will have the Data Collection Tool to keep me updated on their sudden change. 

Topics that I found most interesting from reviewing my classmates' blogs is that I found the blog posts to be helpful for getting different opinions on different technologies and resources so that this can help me in the future for when I am an elementary school teacher. I liked looking at other people's projects at the end of their blogs and seeing how they did their assignments and how everyones was different from one another. 

The technology-related skill that I would most like to learn next is how to make flyers and brochures for class assignments and projects. I haven't had a project where I've been obligated to do one of those yet, but it has been optional in the past.. I've just never known how to do it. I think brochures and flyers would be cute and easy to incorporate in an elementary school classroom. 

Some ways in which I might achieve my future educational technology-related goals is to just keep practicing and learning about different technologies that are created and advanced. I'm not really the best with using technology but once I know how to use a specific form of it I become better with it. I think that it is important to consider which technologies would be the best to use in the classroom with students. There are different technologies to use for different age groups and that is something I need to figure out and decide for when I am finally a teacher. I know that in the future technology is going to be even more advanced and used in the classrooms than it is now. 

Blog Post #9

Ever since hearing about what a flipped classroom is and how it works I have always been interested. After reading about it in Chapter 10, I would describe the flipped classroom to be a creative way to mix up the way students learn. The Flipped Classroom gives the teacher more time in class to show example problems and/or have the students work in groups while also giving the students a way to go back and re-watch lectures from previous days. In a flipped classroom there is a lot of technology that is required because the teacher has to be able to set it up and the students have to be able to view all of the online material. I like the idea of a flipped classroom but I can also see how it can be challenging because it is up to the students to take part in participating with all of the work. I think that a flipped classroom can definitely work well! http://flippedlearning.org/domain/36 

An interesting web-based resource that I might use for professional development is WatchKnowLearn. WatchKnowLearn has multiple videos and descriptions of lesson plans that other teachers have made for students and whoever needs. I know that when I become a teacher I am going to need guides/videos to help me set up my lesson plans and get the school year going. This can benefit my students and me in a positive way. http://www.watchknowlearn.org/

I acquired many skills from the PowerPoint Interaction assignment. I now know how to add sound to my PowerPoints and use shapes for navigation buttons. I am also now familiar with Hyperlink. I like how many things you are able to do with PowerPoint and I feel like everyday there is something else to learn about it. I find it fascinating with all it has to offer. I dislike some features that I don't think are necessary and hard to work with. Everything that I did for this assignment can help me with my future teaching career and I can't wait to explore more!

Blog Post #8

The technology advancement in chapter 12 that I believe holds the biggest promise for education are the Personal Learning Environments. I found this technology to be very easy to use and simple. A Personal Learning Environment is kind of like a virtual classroom and I think that this could benefit children that aren't able to be a part of a regular classroom setting or even just as an extra source to use. A benefit of the PLE is that it is specifically for the student and designed for the student. Through this source a student can make goals and achieve them.

I would define the digital divide as the technological separation between people of different financial access. For the digital divide there is one group who can't afford accessing the internet or any other kinds of technology, and then you have the second group that come from higher socioeconomic standings and will probably have a higher chance in a greater access to technology. For me personally, I think that I have been given a greater amount of access to technology than a lot of other kids my age. I think that other kids my age have been given a great amount like me, and others haven't been given that much. In my future classroom I think that this will still be an issue as long as there is a financial divide between students. When I am a teacher, I need to remember that not all students have been given access to a lot of technology as other students may have. Also, I need to keep that in mind when giving out work to the students. I need to make sure that it doesn't involve advanced technology that not all the students may have access to.

When doing the PowerPoint assignment I was mostly frustrated. I knew how to do everything that was asked except for when it came to recording the audio I started getting confused. It was a lot of work and I didn't realize how much time it would take to do all of it. After I finished though I felt accomplished and found the voice recording to be interesting. I plan to use PowerPoint in my future career but maybe not with the voiceover. I think that posting PowerPoints to a class website after they are presented, can be incredibly helpful to the students.

Blog Post #7

I might use PowerPoint to support student learning at each level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Bloom's Taxonomy is based on six different domains of learning. The six domains are creating, evaluating, analyzing, applying, understanding, and remembering. With using Bloom's Taxonomy, I would probably incorporate it in a Powerpoint. The basic purpose of the PowerPoint would be to help the students remember information that they had just read. On each slide I will have important dates, pictures, and events to help them remember all of the information thoroughly. I will provide each level and explain what each level means. I think that Bloom's Taxonomy would really help the students learn in a positive way. 

In the podcast and the book, they said that adaptive technologies could be useful to help students with different disabilities such as: visual/hearing impairment and dyslexia. Some examples include a student who is visually impaired or even blind they can use a computer screen that is magnified or the text2speech website that can read anything that they're typing back to them. A child that has trouble spelling/writing can use a voice recognition software that can help them with their note taking, and a child who has trouble with their motor skills can use something else other than a mouse as a controller. I don't have any learning disabilities so I have never had to use any of these helping devices nor have I seen anyone else using them either. Even though I haven't personally come in contact with any of this, I know that it exists and can be incredibly helpful but also distracting towards the other students. As a teacher, it is our duty to help students with disabilities and provide what we can for them the best we can, so that the other students aren't distracted. 

A few things that I learned from the web page design assignment was being able to set up a website for me to use in the classroom as a teacher. A class website is a great resource to use in the classroom and I am thankful to now know how to use it and create one. I can improve my website next time by putting more time into it and really working on it more diligently. 

link to website: http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php

ILP Participation- FSU Tech Sandbox

During class a few weeks ago we took a tour to see the FSU Tech Sandbox which was located in the education building. I didn't realize how much technology was available so close to where I take my education classes. I found all of the technology to be super interesting and didn't know that all of it even existed. I thought it was cool to be able to use different forms of technology such as Smartboards, 3D printers, audio games for the children, and Google glasses. I hope in my future teaching career that this will all be provided for me to use in the classroom. 

The one thing that I thought was really cool was the Smartboard. I am very familiar with Smartboards but after the Sandbox Tour I learned a lot more than I already knew. I really like how hands on it allows students to be, and I also like how interactive it allows the students to be. I like how you can use a Smartboard to paste 3D images, and how you're able to use your finger while working with it, but also a pen. I think that 3D pictures can be really helpful for specific classes. 

I also found the Google Glasses to be awesome as well. It really shocks me with what our world is coming to and instead of writing and taking down notes, you can record them with these glasses. These glasses could be incredibly useful for students with disabilities especially who aren't able to copy down notes as fast or write properly. 

One of the technologies that I don't see being as useful for my future teaching career would probably be the Google glasses. Even though I found them to be really cool, I think that there still needs to be a lot of work done with the device to make it better. The guy giving us the tour and showing us all the different kinds of devices told us that they weren't really that liable and that they run out of charge easily. I also remember playing with the glasses and not really knowing how to get them working. 

Overall, I didn't know what to expect before the Sandbox Tour. I didn't know that all of these different technologies existed and I am still in awe with how our world is advancing day by day. I really enjoyed the tour, and I can't wait to see what other forms of technology are to come!

Here is a picture of a 3D printer, like the one they showed us on the tour. 

Blog Post #6

    Most schools require teachers to maintain a set of class pages on the school website. The school website that I visited was Elms Elementary School. I visited this blog and looked at a few class pages. The information that I see publicly is that school resources and the Elms Directory. I like the way that this class page was set up and how they organized their information for the students and the adults to view. On this website they have a class pages section that you can click on and read information about arts, computer science, english, literacy, mathematics and etc. 
This is Elms Elementary School and it is filled with ages ranging from kindergarten-fifth grade.
    I envision myself using technology to accomplish my professional responsibilities more efficiently and effectively. I will want to use a school website similar to the this one and the ones that I found online. I think that these websites really help students and adults to view and find out information they need to know. I like that this is used for communication for teachers and parents. I think that using a website like Blackboard and Pinnacle to upload grades for the students to see is also useful.
    Some new skills that I acquired from working on the last assignment is how to make a Web Evaluation Form and how to find information from the websites I am looking at. I definitely learned some critical skills but found the assignment to be incredibly difficult. From now on, I will make sure check websites and make sure that all the information is correct, as well as grammar and everything else.

Web Evaluation Form 

Authority	Yes:	No:
Can you see what authors contribute to the website?		X
Are there links to other forms of media they can found in on the internet?	X
If an author is not found, is there a publisher?	X
Is the author or publisher qualified?	X
Purpose
Does this website end with a professional URL or non-professional? (.org, .edu or .com)	Professional:	Non-professional:  X
Is this website trying to sell something?		X
Does the website provide relevant information?	X
Objectivity
Does this website promote advertisements?	X
Is the objectivity of this website clear?	X
Does this website provide trustworthy and reliable information?	X
Accuracy
Does this website provide actual resources?	X
Does this information seem factual?	X
Are there grammar mistakes?		X