Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Oregon Technology Standards and Requirements
1. How would you explain the big picture of what these standards are trying to accomplish?
The big picture of what these standards are trying to accomplish, in my opinion, is preparing students for the real world in the context of technology. These standards are trying to help students become aware of their own digital citizenship, express themselves creatively through technology, research effectively, work with others, and use technology appropriately. I think the goal is to make students technology literate and critically aware of what this means.
2. Describe some strategies you could implement at your grade level(s) in order to accomplish this huge task. Please relate your strategies/activites to some specific Standards.
I think that at the middle school level there is a need to discuss citizenship and to get comfortable trying new things. I believe this is a good time for discussion on what kind of person an individual wants to be and how to approach that. Technology is a great platform for this type of self-expression. In art, specifically, I could post student projects to a blog and ask classmates to comment and reflect appropriately on their work. This relates to the digital citizenship standards:
Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:
a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
b. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
c. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
d. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship
These standards are age and project appropriate because students would be required to reach these standards to fulfill the class goals of digital citizenship.
At the high school level there are numerous possibilities for the use of technology. In the French classroom there are a lot of easy language strategies that involve communication through technology with those from other cultures and countries. A pen-pal project is one example of this project idea. This relates to the following standards:
Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
Students can interact, collaborate, and publish projects using digital media to communicate with those from other cultures and multiple audiences.
3. What are some challenges?
The biggest challenge that I see is a fluency gap. I have witnessed in my pre-student teaching observations numerous computer classes with varied student populations. I was surprised by how many students had never even used a computer before. They were very lost during a power-point art history presentation because even the directions were difficult to understand. It is important to reduce this technology gap. An enormous amount of differentiation is critical to avoid frustration for any group of students. I also fear that students who do not have resources at home to use computers are at a disadvantage because they cannot work outside of school hours and need much more help than their computer literate peers.
The big picture of what these standards are trying to accomplish, in my opinion, is preparing students for the real world in the context of technology. These standards are trying to help students become aware of their own digital citizenship, express themselves creatively through technology, research effectively, work with others, and use technology appropriately. I think the goal is to make students technology literate and critically aware of what this means.
2. Describe some strategies you could implement at your grade level(s) in order to accomplish this huge task. Please relate your strategies/activites to some specific Standards.
I think that at the middle school level there is a need to discuss citizenship and to get comfortable trying new things. I believe this is a good time for discussion on what kind of person an individual wants to be and how to approach that. Technology is a great platform for this type of self-expression. In art, specifically, I could post student projects to a blog and ask classmates to comment and reflect appropriately on their work. This relates to the digital citizenship standards:
Digital Citizenship
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students:
a. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
b. exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity.
c. demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning.
d. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship
These standards are age and project appropriate because students would be required to reach these standards to fulfill the class goals of digital citizenship.
At the high school level there are numerous possibilities for the use of technology. In the French classroom there are a lot of easy language strategies that involve communication through technology with those from other cultures and countries. A pen-pal project is one example of this project idea. This relates to the following standards:
Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures.
Students can interact, collaborate, and publish projects using digital media to communicate with those from other cultures and multiple audiences.
3. What are some challenges?
The biggest challenge that I see is a fluency gap. I have witnessed in my pre-student teaching observations numerous computer classes with varied student populations. I was surprised by how many students had never even used a computer before. They were very lost during a power-point art history presentation because even the directions were difficult to understand. It is important to reduce this technology gap. An enormous amount of differentiation is critical to avoid frustration for any group of students. I also fear that students who do not have resources at home to use computers are at a disadvantage because they cannot work outside of school hours and need much more help than their computer literate peers.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Self-Assessment
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AUiYnDVWYuDkZGdoazlxaGhfOWdxMjNiNWZr&hl=en
Please use the link above to view my self-assessment for this Education in Technology class.
Please use the link above to view my self-assessment for this Education in Technology class.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Multi-Media Project!
Check out our video above about i-photo!
This was a really fun experience because we got to learn about iphoto, and then used imovie to create the video. I-photo is really neat and I am super motivated to start using it. Some notable features are the ease with which you can make slide-shows (with music and transitions!) and share your photos (direct upload to Facebook!) . I also love the face-recognizing categorizing tool and the map tool. It was user-friendly and fun.
I-photo could be useful in the classroom in several ways. For the French classroom the map function could help students explore francophone cities and countries and examine photos taken. It would be great to create a collaboration for all of my students to see the photos of places I've been and my students have been as well.
For the art classroom it would be neat to take photos of student work and upload it immediately to a student web-site or blog so that each student can have an electronic portfolio!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=t9KMqpfHM-9keASYSjfkwGQ&output=html
The above spreadsheet is an examination of student scores. I took the average for each student, the average for each test, and the standard deviation for each test (numbers 6-10). The test average rose consistently between test 6 and 10. The standard deviation for each test stayed fairly consistent (between 25 and 26) despite the climb in averages, which suggests that the entire range of students remained the same, no one was getting too high above and no one was too far below. I then filtered out all of the student scores that were above the average and the scores that were below the average.
The graph represents the averages of the below the average test scores across tests 6-10. Consistent with the class average and standard deviation trends, this group of scores also consistently rose.
The above spreadsheet is an examination of student scores. I took the average for each student, the average for each test, and the standard deviation for each test (numbers 6-10). The test average rose consistently between test 6 and 10. The standard deviation for each test stayed fairly consistent (between 25 and 26) despite the climb in averages, which suggests that the entire range of students remained the same, no one was getting too high above and no one was too far below. I then filtered out all of the student scores that were above the average and the scores that were below the average.
The graph represents the averages of the below the average test scores across tests 6-10. Consistent with the class average and standard deviation trends, this group of scores also consistently rose.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Slide-show
Scribblar and Dabbleboard could be useful in the classroom for distance learning or group communication. For the French class, I think it could be fun to communicate and hold lessons with students from foreign countries included. In the art class, I think it would be great to examine historical works of art and allow students to type responses, circle details, and communicate visually on either Scribblar or Dabbleboard.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is the collection of web-based tools available to enrich the classroom experience with technology. An important component is that items stored may be accessed from any computer with an internet connection!
One example is google documents. These are great because they are stored online, can be accessed and edited simultaneously by multiple people.
Youtube.com is another example of web 2.0. It's great for schools because it gives students a platform to publish video-based projects and share work. Teachers can also share examples and current events in a student and community centered way.
One example is google documents. These are great because they are stored online, can be accessed and edited simultaneously by multiple people.
Youtube.com is another example of web 2.0. It's great for schools because it gives students a platform to publish video-based projects and share work. Teachers can also share examples and current events in a student and community centered way.
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