Online Learning K-12

Part One:

http://screencast.com/t/ZjlkZTZkZjUt

Part Two:

/Users/terradavis/Desktop/video 2.swf

UDL/DI Reflection

Being able to incorporate elements of differentiated instruction and universal design for learning are great and necessary strategies for every teacher in today's classroom. After completing this course and looking back at what I have learned, I can say that in my three years of teaching I have been doing a decent job of using DI in my teaching. I have a diverse classroom with ELL, TAG, and IEP students all in the same room where it is impossible not to differentiate instruction. Universal Design for Learning was a new theory to me 8 weeks ago. I understand its principles and see the positives of it in the classroom, but had a difficult time fully grasping its context and applying it to my everyday teaching. As this course progressed, it became more clear to full effects of it and how to use UDL in the classroom, but I can honestly say it will be a challenge to see its everyday uses.

However, the ability to use technology can enhance a teacher's ability to reach and engage every student in a classroom. I like what Dr. Tomlinson mentions that a teacher, in order to differentiate instruction, does not have to create a lesson plan for each of their student. They can place their students in similar learning ability "zones" and differentiate their instruction. For teacher's to understand that DI does not have to be more work, they can start applying it to their daily lessons. Out of the nine courses that I have completed during this program, I would say that this has been my most difficult to grasp. I have had a great time completing most of the assignments in all other classes, but I found just about every application difficult to complete. I hope it is just because the program is winding down and I am getting burnt out and I think now that I am starting my final course, I will quickly regain that enthusiasm that I have had for such a long time during my time with Walden. We shall see!

Final Reflection

This course taught me many great ways to integrate technology into my classroom. As a teacher who is just starting out with the integration part, I feel as though the GAME plan idea really put things in perspective. Having goals set out in the beginning allowed me to go back and make sure that what I was doing was following the GAME plan. As most of us in this cohort, we are on summer break now and will not see our students until the fall. However, during the break, I can and will use this time to plan for how I will better implement my GAME plan into my classroom teachings next year.

Being a Social Studies teacher, there are numerous ways to integrate technology into the classroom. There are many historical events that have websites that are interactive for the classroom. A few that I have already have lined up for next year to use in my classroom are an "Attack on Pearl Harbor" website and a "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum" website that has many ways for students to become interactive with the material. These examples are just a fraction of what is available out there for teachers like me that understand the importance to get our students involved in using technology; and then also using it to help them learn is even better! I look forward to next school year and having the ability to use technology in my content area.

Week 7 GAME Plan Update

One of my main goals as a high school teacher is to educate my students on how to be most responsible when it comes to using computers, cell phones and the internet in a productive and responsible manner. Throughout the school year, even before taking this specific course, I felt it was my responsibility to inform my students of issues happening around the nation when it came to cyber-bullying, indecent exposure incidents with teenagers and the consequences that they can face if they decide to get involved in this stuff. When we had to create a GAME plan that allows us to look at technology and how we can show our students to use in a positive way, all of these areas that I have been working so hard to educate my students in became reinforced. 

Now that this school year is over, I will work over the summer to find ways for next year on how I can best model and implement digital citizenship onto my students. I think if I can first get them to realized that the internet is not just for social networking and YouTube that will be a good place to start. Then, I will work at having them see the consequences of stealing music, movies and television shows through the internet and that real people can get into real trouble with the law. I am also going to work a lot harder at using technology and all of these amazing teaching tools that we have learned throughout this program into my curriculum. I feel as though the students deserve to have a teacher who cares about their future and understands that technology and knowing how to use it will benefit them as they grow up. 

Update on GAME Plan

These past few weeks since we have established our GAME plan, I have been trying to work on my goals. It has been very difficult because we are winding down in the school year. So to try new things is not easy as we are taking our final tests and cleaning out our lockers. However, I have been able to model and promote digital citizenship to my students. One of the aspects of promoting and modeling digital citizenship is "develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools."

Me and a fellow colleague of mine are working to create a nation wide discussion forum much like what we saw in this weeks DVD resource where Vicki Davis invited other teachers to discuss certain topcis through the web. In my wildest dreams, I would imagine this process looking much like those CISCO commercials on television where the classroom is equipped with a 70 inch flat screen t.v. and the picture is crystal clear, but it probably will not end up looking like that. We have sent out some emails to teachers in the southern part of the United States (Lousianan, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida) in hopes of letting our students who are in a remote part of eastern Oregon learn how those students who are their same age are dealing with the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of my students do not get to experience life outside of our small town and I believe that opening up their eyes to fellow Americans across the country will allow them to become more aware of their lives. While we have began sending out invitations to other schools, I am not too hopeful that this will work. I will let you all know my progress as we move on throughout the Summer.

Evaluating my GAME plan progress....

It is getting a lot more difficult to practice my goals as the school year winds down. We only have a few more days to go and this last week I am not doing any new lessons where I could truly implement my GAME plan. My freshman and I are covering current issues that are occurring around the world right now. For example, The oil spill, The War in Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, Arizona Immigration Bill and North and South Korea. I teach Freshman World History and I purposely chose the last week of school to be designed to make these global issues aware to my students who live in a rural eastern Oregon town where they do not get to see much of the world.

I have been able to, however, use many different types of technology to show my students what is happening around the world. Normally, I will find some video clips and piece them together and show the students through the data projector. I will use Google earth to show them relative location of the event that we are discussing. So I am still able to practice my goal of demonstrating digital citizenship to my students. Many of them only use the internet for Facebook, MySpace or YouTube. They have no idea that there are thousands of uses for the internet besides these three sites. No kidding, I have had more than one student tell me they have to check out a textbook, instead of use our handy online textbook, because when they get online, they get too distracted by their social networking websites and cannot focus. Talk about getting your priorities straight!

So even though the school year is coming to an end and summer break (which sounds so nice right about now) is approaching it is not easy to practice some of technology goals in the classroom. However, with educating my students on current global issues, I am able to use many parts of the internet to research and find forms of media that can enhance their learning. Some of the things that I have learned in the past few weeks is that what we do as teachers is important. Our students look up to us no matter if they like you or hate. We have influence over our students with everything that we do. So for me, to model digital citizenship to my students and show them that this type of technology can have a great effect on their lives besides just downloading music and movies, IMing their friends and posting pictures on their pages is rewarding. Often times I think there is so much more I could be doing to assist my students, but I have to realize that even just simple conversations with students about their weekends or activities they are involved in are valuable moments with them.

I will continue to push for integrating technology into my classrooms. I have spoken with one of our administrators and mentioned to her that I am finishing up my Master's Degree in my current field. She was so excited that she has signed me up to teach a class to my fellow teachers in one of our teacher in-service days next year. I am very excited about this opportunity and hope that many of my colleagues will benefit from my experience here at Walden.

Monitoring My GAME Plan Progress

I believe that I have all of the tools necessary to implement my GAME plan into my classroom. I have nearly all of the technology tools that I want to instruct with. I have a classroom set of text-capable Clickers. I have the easy-to-use software where I can have the students demonstrate their knowledge of the content through many different forms. The only thing I am missing that I would love to have in my classroom would be a Smartboard. As of right now, I believe that I may be receiving one over the summer which would allow me the ability to put it to good use when school starts back up in the fall.

I have learned quite a few things over the course of this program and one of the main things is that technology should not be used as a novelty in the classroom. It should have a clear and precise purpose. Dr. John Ross mentions this and I truly believe that just because a school is equipped with the most up to date forms of technology does not mean that the teachers are using it correctly. I believe that I use technology in the correct way. I want to model to my students that technology is not only used for stealing music and movies or talking to your friends online. It can be a place of limit-less opportunities. For those students who do not have access to computers or the internet, I want to open their eyes to opportunities that can present themselves with the use of technology.

The questions I would ask to my fellow colleagues would be: How is your GAME plan coming along? Have you found it difficult to start implementing it into your daily lessons and classroom activities? Is it easier to reach your goals if you teach primary or secondary level students?

I typed in "technology" into the Google bar and then clicked "Images" and this was the first picture to show up. Thought I would share that with you all

Carrying Out My Personal GAME Plan

To review, my two goals that I chose are:

1. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

2. Promote and Modeling Digital Citizenship Responsibly

The resources that I will need in order to assist me carry out these goals are going to be information and data that shows just how crucial the ability to use technology as second nature is going to be for my students. I need to make sure they realize that their Basic Computer Skills is suppose to help them become more secure with computers and how they operate. The tools that I will need in order to "Model Digital-Age Work and Learning" are going to be access to the internet and a data projector which I already have in my classroom. I am in the process of taking a class that will allow me the option to have an interactive white board placed in my room. These white boards give teachers many more options to have the kids becoming interactive with the material than simple data projectors can. I am also able to use Clickers that allow for immediate responses from the students to check for understanding. These are not forms of technology that I wish to have...I currently can possess all of these different technologies and implement by the beginning of next year!

Promoting and modeling digital citizenship is important for teachers who deal with teenagers on a daily basis like myself. I just read a report done by the Pew Research Center on teenagers and cell phones ( http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teens-cell-phones-text-messages) that states nearly 3/4 teens own a cell phone. It is out responsibility as their educators to make sure they realize how important it is to use these devices in a safe manor. Texting and talking while driving is so dangerous that many states have passed laws to make it illegal to do so. Also, sending out illegal material through cell phones and computers is a recurring part of our everyday lives. To make available information on incidents that are happening around the nation of teenagers much like the ones I have in my classroom, I can make these illegal acts seem more real to them. I guess what I would need from my fellow colleagues in this program would be of information on what they are doing technology-wise in their classrooms and how they implement it with their students. Also, I would like to know if their schools teach digital citizenship to their students? If so, does it work and how do they go about portraying that information to their students?

Developing My Personal GAME Plan

While I still consider myself a "newer" teacher as I finish up my third year of teaching, there are still many parts of my teaching that I want to fix and make more engaging for the students. I pride myself on being a strong advocate for integrating technology into the classroom and making it available to my students, but I know that I could be doing a better job of actually implementing technology into my everyday classroom. The two indicators from the NETS-T standards that I would personally like to strengthen my confidence in are :
1. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

2. Promote and Modeling Digital Citizenship Responsibly.

In order for me to put these two standards into place I need to create a GAME plan that will give me the steps I need to take in order to make this a reality.

Goals

1. My goals for strengthening these two standards are to become more understanding of the different forms of technology available to educators and students in the classroom. There is a large market for technology tools that are designed specifically for the school setting. If I can model new forms of technology in my classroom to my students, than they will understand that this is a part of their future as a student and also as a working adult.

2. Most teenagers do not understand the dangers of capturing sensitive material on their cell phones or computers. Students take pictures and videos that are considered illegal in the United States everyday and do not know that what they are doing is considered a criminal act. Also, the ease at which forms of media (television shows, feature-length films and music) can be pirated off the internet and used for personal use or profit is a form of theft. People do these illegal acts all of the time and do not think they can get into trouble by doing it. I can teach my students the facts about these topics and move them to change their digital behaviors than I can hopefully prevent them from getting into trouble with the law.

Actions

1. By introducing new forms of educational technology into the classroom and making computers, internet, Clickers and different software programs a part of my classroom, students will begin to become very familiar with it. If I only choose to implement technology on a rare occasion than the students will not begin to have a strong understanding of computers the internet, etc.

2. By showing my students the consequences of using technology for illegal activities they will be able to see for themselves what could happen to them if they participate in unlawful acts through the use of technology. I believe that by showing them to faces of people just like them who have been caught doing illegal acts through the internet will make it a reality to them the stealing movies and music and sending illegal images or video of themselves through their cell phones or email can actually get them into some real trouble.

Monitor

1. By having my students create projects or presentations through the use of
2. Since I cannot actually monitor my students email, cell phone usage, Facebook or Myspace pages, I will have to count on their honesty when talking to them about their online behavior. I would have them create a blog or some other of online writing format where they can write about their actions online. Maybe keep a log entry of where they spend their time surfing the web and what type of activities they do online. I would trust that they are telling the truth and other students of my could help hold one another accountable.

Reflection on New Literacies

I have been teaching for almost three years now and feel that I have done an adequate job of integrating technology into my classroom. I expose my students to computers, the internet and software programs that allow them to produce projects for my class. However, this class has opened my eyes to a few things that I would like to share. Just because you have your students get on computers and research stuff that you are covering in class and then present their information in some way does not mean that they are getting the full effect of technology. Having the ability to come up with questions, search for answers, synthesize and communicate the information they have gathered is a great skill to have. I have not been asking my students to be doing this type of work so far. The other things that I have began to realize the importance of due to this class is how easy it is to find information online and not give credit to those people who created that information. I will need to model this type of behavior much better in the future for my students.

Professional development goals that I have for the future are to do a more in depth inquiry-based project at least one a year with my students. The skills that they use during these projects are the skills that they are going to need to possess for the 21st century workplace. If we as teachers do not stretch their minds and do not let them settle for complacency, than we can have them ready for whatever comes their way in the future. Not all teachers will follow these same guidelines and it will hurt the students in the long run, but if a few teachers at each school can take it upon themselves to integrate real life skills for their students than they will all be better off for it.



Aaron Davis

Integrating New Forms of Technology in My Instruction Has Modified My Teaching Methods

At the beginning of the course I was mainly using a combination of behaviorist and cognitive theory approach to my classroom instruction. I would make sure the students received the information (mainly through me) and we would build upon what they knew. Often time I would give this information through a Power Point presentation or we would read it from a textbook or other forms of text that I would find on the particular subject we were covering. At the end of the unit, I would have my students do a type of review and then we would take a test. I was not all happy with this approach to teaching, but it was in my comfort zone and “most” of the students were learning. I was using technology in a wide variety but I was not always using it effectively. Dr. Orey states that just because we are using computers or the Internet for learning doesn’t mean we are always teaching in different ways. As I proceeded through the course there were a myriad of ways in which teachers at all levels can implement technology into the classroom. I do mention at the end of the week one application that I do understand the importance of social learning and its effects in preparing our young adults for a real world workplace environment. I have since tried and been successful in using more of these types of lessons.

We are beginning our second semester here in a few weeks and I am going to take one of my classes and “experiment” with them in incorporating technology into most of my teaching. With my new knowledge of VoiceThread, blogs and wikis I am going to use these in my classroom. The reason I am only using one class is because it will be easier to get computer lab time with them. I have 180 students and if I taught every class like I plan on teaching this one class, then the logistics of getting them all computer time will be very difficult. I am going to have this class be more student-centered where they will be teaching most of the class with technology. I want them create a newscast and post it on YouTube or VoiceThread. This is going to be a perfect example of social learning where my students must work together to come up with the finished product.

There are two long-term goals that I would like to change about my instructional practices regarding technology. First, I want my room to be equipped with a Promethean Board and interactive “clickers”. I plan on getting this equipment installed in my room within the school year. I will be able to bring technology to my students instead of having to travel to use computers, internet or any other form of technology. Having the Promethean Board will allow me to get immediate feedback on comprehension where I can have quick informal assessment of my students through use of the clickers. Another long-term goal regarding technology and instruction would be to set up a website where my students can go to see information regarding my class. I want to set up a community message board where I can post questions to the class and have a running conversation with my students outside of the classroom. I would offer some type of participation credit for the class. The reason I have yet to make this a part of my class now is because I cannot expect all of my students to use the Internet when many of them do not have easy access to it. This class has taught my many ways in which to teach my students through the use of technology. I have also discovered ways in which they can learn through many different theories. I will do my best to incorporate what I have learned into my future teaching.

tech

Aaron

Voice Thread: "Teacher's Roaming Hallways Assist in Keeping Students in Class

voicethread.com/share/785637/

Please visit this website to listen to how our school deals with truant students!

Cooperative Learning and Social Learning

If you have not read Thomas Friedman's The World Is Flat than you are missing out on what are very near future is going to look like. He emphasizes that Americans must adapt to the fast-paced new global workforce. Jobs are being lost to outsourcing and we must find new innovative methods to keep up with other countries. Besides all of this great information on how to best prepare our future work force and what we need to look out for, he mentions that by incorporating cooperative learning in today's classroom will best prepare our students for their real life work environment. Classroom Instruction that Works states that teachers who use or plan on using some form of cooperative learning methods in their classes need to keep the groups small, do not base groups on student ability and there should be clear expectations on what the objective is for the group. If teachers cal follow these simple steps, using cooperative learning activities will greatly benefit your students.

It is obvious that our society today communicates in many forms. I mentioned this in this weeks discussion question that people of all ages communicate through emails, social networking sites, text messaging and Instant messaging services. Often times the communication is not based on anything of great importance such as keeping up with friends and family. However, there is great potential for our students to use this same technology in the classroom. If we want our students to best be prepared for the future workforce, it is important that we start now. You can easily assign a small group of students to create a wiki on a certain topic. This can be an ongoing assignment where each student is able to add some information over a period of time. When they finish, they can present their information to their class or classes across the nation. There is also the ability with today's technology for groups of students to complete a project together even when they are not in the same state. I feel as though this would be very interesting to gain the different opinions on topics from different regions of the United States.

It is without a doubt that social learning theories and cooperative learning are relatable in today's classroom. Our students need to possess these skills before we release them into adulthood. Thomas Friedman is correct in the fact that it does not state anywhere that the United States has to be world's leading economy. Recent signs are pointing that we are falling behind the likes of China, India and soon to be Brazil. We need to educate our youth to adapt and be able to compete with these foreign economies.

Constructivism in Practice

Being a social studies at the high school levels allows me to use many of the resources we discuss in these technology courses as Walden. I have learned so many great teaching skills that keep my students engaged in the material and really "buy in" to what we are doing in the classroom. They do this because how my students are learning in mainly through interaction and involvement in the class. Dr. Oley discribes constructionism as the process in which people are involved in the knowledge building process. Using technology can truly get the students involved and excited about learning if you are using constructionism theory.

Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works talks about working with spreadsheets and how even young elementary students can experience can learn by using technology and practicing constructionism theory. In the past, teachers who are education their students in testing hypothesis in different subjects would have to allocate a lot of time for the testing aspect of the lesson. By incorporating technology students can spend more time interpreting the data rather than gathering the data-a process that can be tedious and error prone. (2007) This is what technology has done for us. It makes things happen quicker, more effifient and more accurate. These are the type of activities our young students so desperately need. The ability the create something from nothing but your own knowledge is key for students. It allows them to see the progression of what they have learned over time.

Behaviorsim in the Classroom

I believe that the "drill and kill" method of teaching in the classroom is a great way to get the students to fully grasp the idea of the content that is being covered in your class. I think that too many times teachers are trying to be too detailed and do projects or assignments that are too difficult and too in depth for students. I know I have made this mistake in my few years of teaching. I assign too much for each student and sure they may complete the assignment, but did they fully understand what was happening. Another issue teachers face is trying to cover too much material in a short amount of time. The "inch deep and a mile wide" idea of teaching lends itself to favor because they students are not getting the full context of the material and just the basic ideas. I have the theory that you need to teach "an inch wide and a mile deep" in order for your students to fully understand. The issue with this is that there will not be enough time to cover areas you may like and also if some of your students are getting it and others are not, it may become repetitive for those students.

Behaviorism as a classroom management tool is very necessary for most teachers. The reason you are punishing a student is because of undesired behavior and the best way to fix it is to take away privileges and choices of that student. The "experts" who claim that the behaviorist theory of teaching is dead must not be teachers themselves. They are using scientific theories that state that children do not respond, yada yada yada... I agree with Dr. Oley that these behaviorist theories are alive and well in our classrooms today.

Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work and Society Reflection

As I complete my third Masters course, I am beginning to figure out more of how this program can affect my teaching throughout the rest of my career. It is giving me teaching tools and techniques that I can implement into everyday teaching. Today's students are very different from even when I was in high school ten years ago and we must adjust to meet their needs in the classroom. I feel as though this most recent course has provided the most in depth teaching so far in this program and has truly made me excited for this upcoming school year to begin so I can use these new tools that I have acquired.

This course has helped me develop my own technological skills that I can use in my teaching by showing up the effectiveness of blogs, wikis, podcasts and RSS feeds. All four of these technology teaching tools have allowed me to see how easy it would be for students to collaborate together and create their own information on a global scale. I have realized that as a leader of young adults in my classroom, I can pass on these skills and really let them understand that the internet is not only for social networking and other immoral activities.

Today's youth have grown up in a digital world since their birth. They are truly digital natives that have grown up to learn, speak and act in different ways than any other generation before them. We must be able to learn which ways are best to teach them and harness these teaching strategies and implement them into our 21st Century classroom. It seems as though students today learn quicker than in the past. Now the things they are learning are not always the "right" things to learn or what we would like them to learn, but nevertheless they are quick learners. If we can translate this into the classroom I believe we would really have something very special.

I have only been teaching for two years and have always followed a student-centered teaching philosophy. But as I have gone through this course, I realized that just because I put students in groups, had them read something then put together a presentation, does not mean that they are necessarily working collaboratively as I would like. I have learned that all students can have a voice in a group setting and that blogs, wikis and podcasts can give students a voice. I am really going to work on this student-centered philosophy as I go through this school year.

I have approached my Principal this Summer and mentioned to him that I would like to lead a professional development class during one of our teacher in-service work days. I feel as though many of our teachers have no knowledge of the effects computers and technology can have in our classrooms. This course have given me the knowledge and confidence to share what I have learned with others in order to have a school-wide 21st Century student.

Long-Term Goals

In the next two years I would like to get away from a textbook oriented curriculum. We are relying too much on these textbooks to determine student learning in the class. We base our entire assessment strategies on what information is in the book. This is not fair because some students have a tougher time reading and cannot comprehend the material. If we offer a more wide variety of options for students then we will be creating a more well rounded classroom.

I would also like to encourage my school district to continue to offer more technology courses for teachers. We have set aside large amounts of money for technology enhancements in the classroom for all teachers with Smart Boards, document cameras and data projectors, but just because has these machines in the classroom does not mean they know how to use them effectively. I want to be a leader for our staff in creating more funds for our teachers to not only possess this new teaching technology, but educating teachers on how to use it in the best way to reach our students.

21st Century Skills

MISSION STATEMENT

Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders.

This organization has teamed up with independent companies, state and national governments, K-12 school districts and communities nationwide to expand the opportunities given to our children. They want to make sure that they possess the skills necessary to compete on a global scale by the time they reach adulthood. 

Our world has changed in the past decade because Americans are not on an equal playing field as many other nations. With the introduction of technology into the workplace, anyone around the world can have the same opportunities as anyone else. 

One of the things I enjoyed most about the 21st Century Skills Organization was documented in a recent press release. They were integral in getting state and federal governments to put together a 21st Century Skills Incentive Fund Act where the federal government will match any funds given by state governments to enhance the skills of K12 students. 

The Route 21 link on the website offers teachers the opportunity to look at lesson plans, assessment strategies, professional development and standards. This organization is not only assisting in the growth of students but teachers as well. 

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/

How Can Blogs Benefit My Classroom?

I currently teach high school U.S. History in Hermiston, Oregon (Watermelon Capital of the World!). I can use blogs in my classroom for many purposes. Here is a list of the following uses that I have for my blogs in my classrooms for the upcoming school year:






1. To enrich student contact with classroom material. Homework assignments, articles and websites, etc.)

2. Have a classroom discussion board online. This can motivate students to communicate who are shy in the classroom.

3. Improving student use of technology

4. Excellent opportunities for students to read and write

Hi-Tech Cheating: Cell Phones and Cheating in Schools

Overview
Common Sense Media commissioned the Benenson Strategy Group to conduct a poll of teenagers and parents on the use of digital media for cheating in school. Two-thirds of teenagers today own cell phones*, and most 8- to 12-year-olds will own a cell phone in the next three years**. And those numbers are only a small representation of our kids’ 24/7 media world.
The results of the poll show the great dilemma our children face today. Personal technology has been a real game-changer for education. Information has never been easier to access, and the Internet provides powerful ways to collaborate, communicate, and create. Many believe the mobile phone also has potential as a learning tool. But as this poll shows, the unintended consequence of these versatile technologies is that they’ve made cheating easier. Digital life, by its nature, is distant, hard to track, and often anonymous, which can diminish the impact of action and consequences.
The call to action is clear: Parents and educators have to help our kids apply the same sense of responsibility and ethical behavior whether they’re online or off.

Article from Education Week