At the risk of getting off topic (that being education technology), it is interesting to me, much of the discussion about Common Core. The following article echoes that sentiment (from Matt Damon's mom, no less) and it does have relevance to me as an early childhood education major. While it doesn't mention Common Core specifically, there doesn't seem to be much doubt in my mind that it what is being referred to (though for all I know, she favors it):

How ‘twisted’ early childhood education has become — from a child development expert

(Full disclosure regarding Common Core: I am not a proponent of it. Having been adopted “sight-unseen”, I think it possible it started with good intentions, but I don't like the top-down, one-size-fits-all approach that focuses on forcing children to learn things they weren't developmentally ready for. No matter how it is taught, broken down, or scaffolded, I think it reeks of control, rather than education. No one learns the same way as the next. We all have differences in how we process information and how we learn. I've talked to many people about Common Core, including teachers, and so far the only ones that seem to like it are politicians. Your mileage may vary).

Okay, so maybe I won't get too off topic here, because I think technology can be one of those ways that can help a person learn. I think that is quite true in particular for visual learners (of which I am) as well as other types such as kinesthetic learning (which I also respond well too) and auditory learning (not as much for me). Check out this link for more details.

Technology is Helping Students to Adopt Their Own Learning Style

I guess my point here is that technology can be used properly or improperly. If I've learned nothing else in my education technology class, it is that there are so many different resources available to teachers to find ways of reaching their students and interacting with them. This requires individual initiative from the teacher based on direct experience from their experiences with their students, not what a bureaucracy mandates from a detached position with no knowledge of what is transpiring in individual classrooms. How could a top-down approach possibly address what it going on inside each an every classroom? The answer: they can't, nor should they. I think decisions made at the local level work best.

All that aside, there are numerous ways that technology can be used to reach many of the different types of learners that I, as a teacher, will no doubt encounter. I found the class to be quite informative and I learned some things that even one very familiar with technology was not previously familiar with. The web 2.0 wiki and WebQuest resources allow for a teacher to research and provide links to sources for that can be used to support specific topics. Glogster allows you to make an interactive poster and with Kidspiration one can create an interactive graphic organizer, both support visual learning. The social networking tools: blogging & Twitter can be used to maintain a level of connection to both students and parents, but it should be used cautiously and judiciously. The casual nature of Twitter can be easily misconstrued in my opinion and maintaining too much of a presence there can be a distraction. Spreadsheets and documents can help to maintain some the record keeping duties that a teacher needs to do, so should be utilized as necessary. Hypermedia like Powerpoint can be a really useful tool; I had used Powerpoint many time before, but I learned some new features that I was not aware of that put using it in a new light. There are many presentation tools available to teachers, each of them can be used to various degrees of success. Powerpoint, Prezi, Slideshare all have their pros and cons. Creating the desktop movie was what I enjoyed the most. I found the whole process to be entertaining and creative (but then I am a visual person); production was an involved process, however so one should not get too focused on that at the expense of content.

Finally, I'd like to add a link to my complete portfolio of all the tasks and assignments that made up my Principals of Instructional Technology course.

Education Technology Portfolio

The end of the semester is near; The time has flown by! As I look back on what has been involved in this first semester at Ashland, I can see just how much work has gone into exploring education technology that has been a requirement for my related class. I'm fairly comfortable with technology, so I had no fear about learning new applications and programs. There were some frustrations to be sure; broken and non-existent links that were supposed to help give me a better idea of assignment requirements; Also, time it seems, was the real adversary as many of the tasks necessary to pass this class required time to complete. With 3-year-old twins, time is a precious commodity. Regardless, I have completed all my assignments on time and I come away with a better idea of the vast array of technological resources available for education. I know that there are several of those resources that will definitely be using in my future career as a teacher. Glogster was one that I liked a lot. I thought it made a very useful and fun interactive poster.

 

 

Powerpoint surprised me a bit; I did not think that that there was anything new that could be done with it, but I found the animation tools can allow for quite a bit of customization. Plus, it allowed me to me to create a lesson using Spider-Man!

I enjoyed putting together the desktop movie using Movie Maker (see previous post). Perhaps because I am such a visual person is why many of these appealed to me so much. I look forward to incorporating these into my classroom in the future.

Next post will likely be a link to my final portfolio.

How does a rocket work?

So I put together a basic video about how rockets work as part of an assignment and post it to youtube. One of the requirements was that the video be roughly 1 minute in length... so my explanation is VERY basic. It does, however engage a younger viewer to consider the concept. If I was teaching the subject in my own classroom, I would make a longer introduction video to expand on a few parts to engage a viewer more deeply (hopefully). I was pleased with how it turned out and several family members were impressed with what they saw (but they're supposed to say nice things, so who knows?).

All of the educational stuff aside, I have a greater appreciation for how long it takes to edit and produce a movie. I think I spent more time: trying to get the scenes to mesh together appropriately, matching voice over to images in a logical way (as well as marveling at that sound of my own recorded voice... do I really sound like that?); picking a decent soundtrack song that would accentuate the mini-movie and not over power it: getting the credits to appear appropriately, etc.The nice thing is that the Movie Maker software has a lot of nice little tools that help you manage all of those things and more. I just wish it let you import youtube footage into your movie, but obviously there is a whole legal side to that with potential plagiarism issues and all. I'm sure there must be a way to do it and give credit, but that was beyond the scope of what I needed to do at the time.

Overall though, I am finding a lot of very useful technology tools for education that I know I am going to try to use. Of course, by the time I'm in my own classroom, much of the technology will have changed in some manner or another, but I'm confident that I can keep up and adapt to whatever changes occur.

 

So, I find myself buried in work. Between classes (both online and in person) and raising twin girls (almost 4 now!), it seems like free time is hard to come by. Regardless, I am getting things done though not without a few struggles. Not a complaint; just an observation. It feels like I have a pretty good grasp on the technology we are exploring for my Principles of Instructional Technology class. I enjoyed putting together the interactive Glogster poster as well as the Kidspiration program for visual learning. Being visually oriented person myself, they had a lot of appeal for me.

I do feel like I have enough background in technology that most of the work in this class does not feel like a daunting task. Time, it seems, is my main concern and managing it seems like the bigger challenge at times.

Having worked in the professional world working for various companies and organizations both as a manager and a "worker" (though I find that term distasteful, because it smacks of classism; everyone works, but I digress), those experiences have taught me how mange time and get tasks done by a deadline. All of this without the benefit of a college education.

You may be wondering where am I going with all this. In a roundabout way, all of this got me to thinking about how we view education. How much it actually matters (much depends on your point of view and situation). My experience in life after high school did not include going to college (until now of course). I graduated HS in 1985 (that makes me pretty old to some) and I spent about a semester in a community college majoring in advertising art and illustration. At the time, it wasn't for me. I went to work in retail (briefly) before getting into a data entry job that lead to learning how to do computer-aided drafting, which I continued to do for 20+ years. I did it well, I was successful and I learned a lot by doing. I felt I kept myself engaged with what was going on in the world and was well informed on many other subjects as well.

No one who knew me thought I was uneducated, in fact a had several friends admit to being shocked to learn I did not go to college. So, what does it mean to be an educated person? I read the preceding link a week ago and it got me thinking about all of this. Am I just really intelligent? (Not going to touch that one).Was the quality of my public school education so good that I was able to make it in the world for so long without a college degree? If one were to look at my grades one might conclude that I was nothing more that an average student (certainly during middle and high school). While my later grades might not reflect it I imagine that my early years in school actually did lay down a pretty good foundation for me. I guess my point here is that a strong foundation early in a person's education might make a bigger impact later in life. Learning a trade is just as important as getting a college education. Does college make one an educated person? Is it proficiency in current technology? Or is it something else; a combination of things?

Perhaps all these musings are just my attempt to further define my personal philosophy on education and how it will impact me as a teacher. Like most things, it will always be a work in progress.

 Welcome to my blog! I've never had a blog before. I guess I never really had a need to... until now. I will attempt to document my continuing journey to become a teacher. I have two years of education under my belt and an associates degree in Early Childhood Education to show for it, so far. Now I begin the next step on the path, starting at Ashland University to complete my bachelor's degree.

My exploration into technology in education will be documented here. I feel somewhat fortunate to have something of an understanding in technology from my previous career in Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) supporting various fields such as architecture, electrical, fire protection, mechanical, and security engineering. Now with education, I am taking steps in new directions regarding systems and software, as well as how they will be implemented. I realty think that I am going to be pushing the envelope of my experience and learning many new things. Stay tuned!