Introduction Video
This
assignment required being paired with another student in class. We were told to
go outdoors and record a thirty second presentational video of one another
through a cellphone. After recording, come indoors and upload the video onto
our blog site. I was very nervous about doing this assignment. Mainly, because
I’m not sure how to describe myself and secondly because I am camera shy. I
will integrate this assignment into my future teaching for the reasons I was
first intimidated about this assignment. I believe if students begin early in
life describing their strengths then it will come natural introducing
themselves. I feel this assignment met the NETS-T standard 1 because the
standard clearly says facilitate and inspire students learning and creativity
in face-to-face and virtual environments. This assignment clearly challenge my
thoughts and thinking process. I had to determine how to extend my speech so it
met the required time limit and get over my fear of public speaking. But I did
not have to do this alone, I had a partner who helped with the brainstorming of
ideas. In my opinion, using digital tools to present is much better than
standing in front of a crowd. It eases the tension of nervousness and provide a
lot of room for do over. This was my first time uploading a video from a
cellphone onto a desktop. It was challenging in the beginning but as I stated
earlier I was paired with another student from class. Where I fell short, she
surely picked up the slack. I feel learning from one another is motivational
and will create long-lasting results.
Concept Mapping
This
was a very interesting assignment. Before beginning this assignment, I have
never heard of concept maps. So when the instructor introduce the assignment, I
felt lost. We used the Inspiration 8 software to create the concept map. Thank
goodness this software provided tutorials and templates for referencing. The
assignment entail thinking of a subject I can teach upon graduation. I chose
sign language, only because I figured no one else will and because I’m a little
familiar with the subject. I had to create a visual map of the subject by
providing topics and subtopics, graphics, and hyperlinks. The formatting was
the same as in MS Word but I encountered a problem changing the hyperlink color
from the default color. I also ran into a problem locating my concept map after
closing the program, I did not pay attention to where I saved the file. After
completion of the map, I had to make a presentation incorporating the concept
map created with the Inspiration software. This assignment was engaging and fun
and it equipped me with another presentational tool I can use to engage the
class I plan to teach. I feel this assignment meets the NETS-T standards 1, 2,
and 3. Mainly because, it inspire students learning and creativity, incorporate
digital tools to maximize content learning, and used as a collaboration tool
for students and peers to facilitate learning.
Creating a Teacher’s Web Page
I
have had previous experiences creating web pages in other IT classes. So this
was a very relaxed and pleasurable project. In all of the IT classes, the Web
site project came from a different source. So I am fully equipped with an
abundance of experience in a number of Web-authoring programs. This assignment
involved creating a Web page for a future classroom using Google Site Creator.
The only difference in this project versus the others is that I had to include
a calendar from the Google calendar app and include a YouTube video. I do not
recall any weaknesses preparing and completing this project. The Web site
included four Web pages at the least, a home page, course information page,
personal page, and Web resource page. This project required me to do a lot of
brainstorming, researching, and being creative. My topic for this project was
Computer Discovery. I had to think of a unique way to create a website for
students about the course, NETS –T standard 1. I was able to research the
required course materials and class rules on the Internet. And as for my
personal page, it was set up in a resume format, very creatively. I do believe
I will use this resource in my future teaching career, as a way for students
and parents to keep track of what is going on in class. Also, as a way students
and parents to receive additional help on a particular topic, NETS-T standard
3. I feel this assignment met the NETS-T standards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. NETS-T
standard 2 states incorporate digital tool and resources to promote students
learning and develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all
students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants
in setting their own educational goals. As a result, this will inspire
professional growth, a NETS-T 5 standard. The Computer Discovery resource page
should satisfy NETS-T 4 standards.
My Movie Story
This
is another assignment I have had previous experience with. In this class, we
had to use Windows Movie Maker to create a movie using no less than ten personal
images. From the beginning I was distraught about what my movie was going to be
about. I have a lot of family pictures and I did not want to make a movie of my
life. So I looked over my photos and decided to make a movie of my Bahamas
trip. I did encounter a problem when attempting to upload this project on my
blog. The problem was simple but it took a day to figure out. I saved the
project with the wrong settings so when I attempted to upload, I kept getting a
message saying the file was too large. To fix this problem, I deleted a few
pictures and shorten the length of each slide numerous of times until I ended
with a movie that did not fully tell a story. The next day when I came back to
the project, I realized that my saving settings were wrong. So I added all the
slides back to my movie to successfully tell my story. Since I am majoring in
technology education, I feel I will come across this program in my future
lesson plan as a teacher. If not, this will be a great resource to utilize for
Black History month. I feel this assignment met the NETS-T
standard 2a because this digital tool promote student learning and creativity.
Turnitin (Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues)
This was a two part assignment,
where I had to upload a copied and revised version to Turnitin.com. I was first
told to copy text from articles about a particular subject and paste onto my
document. Once the document is complete, submit it to Turnitin.com and view the
results. My score on the copied version was ninety two percent plagiarism. After
receiving my score, I was told to revise the document in my own words and
resubmit to Turnitin for an originality score. This time my report reported
zero percent plagiarism. Turnitin is a digital application for evaluating
student work and providing feedback. It is a good tool to teach students about
copying and pasting. This application show the student the results of copying
information directly from other open sources and pasting directly into your
document. I am sure I will share this experience with my future class so they
will know the results of copying and pasting. I feel this assignment met the
NETS-T standard three and four. Mainly, because teachers transfer the knowledge
of plagiarism in a digital society by using digital tools and resources. In
addition, Turnitin combined with teaching instructions will reinforce a student’s
respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation
of sources
WebTools
I
believe this was my favorite assignment of all because I feel I learned so
much. This assignment was entertaining, educational, and enlightening. This assignment
required me to create an online rubric, quiz, and bookmarks. To create the online
rubric, we visited RubiStar. RubiStar is a tool to
help the teacher create rubrics from existing rubrics in a short amount of
time. This will be a great asset for me as a future educator because of the ease
and freedom to customize an existing rubric very quickly. I also will like to
allow the students in class to participate in making a rubric as a class
assignment to evaluate their own work. The BigBus Testmaker is a great
educational tool used to reinforce the knowledge learned in class. This part of
the assignment required me to create a ten question online quiz for future
students. TrackStar.com required a little more of my time because of the
researching process. First, the TrackStar tool is new to me, so I had to read a
tutorial to find out how to use this site. Next, I had to research the
resources I was going to place in the Track. I found five fun educational
related sites, provided annotations and hyperlinks, so as to connect my
students to additional online help. I do feel as a future educator I will
integrate this tool in the studying environment. I feel the WebTools assignment
meet both the NETS-T standards two and three. Mainly, because we designed and
developed digital-age learning experiences and assessments and modeled
digital-age work and learning.
Google Groups
This assignment was a nice one. It forced me to
become aware of and get familiar with most of the features in my Google account.
This assignment required me to use the group functions in Google to stimulate
dialog between members of the group. My group consisted of three other students
from class. We had to create documents, share ideas, and post and answer each
other questions. I enjoyed participating in this assignment and I was unaware
of this particular feature in Google which allows one to collaborate and edit another’s
work from anywhere. I am pretty sure this is a valuable tool to integrate into
classroom projects. This assignment united students to come together to construct
ideas. I feel this assignment met the NETS-T standard 1a because we were able
to promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and
inventiveness. I also feel this assignment met the 2b standard as well because
we developed a technology-enriched learning environment in Google that enabled
all members to pursue their individual curiosities and become active
participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own
learning, and assessing their own progress. In addition, this assignment met
the 3b standard because we collaborated with one another using digital tools
and resources.
Course
Reflection
Overall I have learned that technology is a
valuable tool to stimulate learning. I was exposed to and used a lot of digital
tools and resources in this class. We listen to a number of educational
speakers via YouTube and read numerous educational articles relating to
technology. In these speeches and readings, I learned that students have different
learning abilities and respond better to encouragement rather than criticism. I
learned a lot of digital acronyms with “BYOD,” bring your own device sticking
with me the most. This class has had a huge impact on my education and how I interact
with technology. I respond more positive to digital tools because of this class
and now I feel empowered. I feel confident about going into a technology classroom
to educate today’s learners because I am equipped with an array of digital
knowledge and can operate a lot of devices. I am now aware of all the free
educational tools available to teachers, parents, and students. I can say that I
can and will create a classroom website and if possible Skype with other
classes or educators to promote student learning. My area of strength will be
all the technology knowledge I have gained in class. I know how to create and
manage a blog and a website. I used Google Drive for file sharing, cloud
storage, and collaborative editing. Dropbox was another cloud storage device I used
and feel comfortable with. My area of weakness in my opinion will be public
speaking and communication skills. I felt like I stumbled with my words when
speaking in front of class. I plan on reading a lot of books and watching more public
speaking videos for the do’s and don’ts of public speaking over summer break. On
the other hand, I will more than likely be teaching a technology class since I am
majoring in technology education. I do feel as if I can incorporate cellphones
in the lesson plan somewhere since children carry them all the time. One thing
the cellphone will be useful for is to connect to the classroom website or blog
that I plan on creating. I feel blogs in education is beneficial to both the
student and teacher based on convenience and accessibility. They can be viewed
and worked on from anywhere with an Internet-enabled device. Blogs are easy to
use and motivational. It is an excellent opportunity for students to show off
their work and writings.
