EDUC 422 Blog #5

This week we learned about PowerPoint and how it is a successful tool to use within the classroom. A few important aspects that were vital to this weeks discussion were the do's and don'ts of PowerPoint. I hate to admit it but I am guilty of a few of the don'ts, and from now on nobody else needs to know that information. For and example, using too many words on one slide, or even using too many slides altogether. As we already know, PowerPoint holds an important part within the classroom. As a teacher PowerPoint may act as a guide to both the material that will be discussed at that time, but also to keep the students engaged in the material. As discussed in class, teachers have the opportunity to use PowerPoint in multiple ways. A mode for active learning was revealed through the Jeopardy game. Also teachers can use it as a slide show in a science class for an example, in order to show animals who live in certain environments. Therefore the students are able to keep interest during instruction. That I believe is a great example of the benefits of PowerPoint for students. Therefore my use of PowerPoint would be to keep the teacher and student together (on the same page) during instruction.

Blooms taxonomy links were very interesting in the sense that they broke down learning into so many different parts. Included are knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Each new part (as I had listed above), goes into a deeper relationship between learner and the material learned. A statistic that caught my attention was regarding testing. "Bloom found that over 95 % of the test questions students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level...the recall of information" (Taxonomy 2). WOW! Though this statistic is surprisingly high, as I think back into my memories of test taking just recalling information seems to be the basis of testing. Memorize it for the test...move on to the next subject and never visit that topic again. With that being so common as well as the combination of constant testing for"No Child Left Behind" it seems that students have too much pressure and not enough time to do anything deeper than just recalling information. With more time spent on instruction, I feel that there is a greater chance that students will reach higher levels in Bloom's Taxonomy.

EDUC 422 Blog #4

The article that we read this week was interesting because to me technology was used throughout the entire learning process. It was first used in order to collect data during the field trip which allowed for the data to be more precise and organized as compared to recording data by hand. Then it was interesting to read after the data was collected that technology was used in order to stimulate greater growth within the subject and how it is related to the data. Through what the article called "Casual Mapping" the students were to first develop possible hypothesises as to why the data turned out the way it did. To do this they used both the learned classroom knowledge along with the process of casual mapping for better organization. Casual mapping reminded me of the program that we were introduced to in class this week called "Inspiration." After reading about a similar learning method and having the opportunity to try it out first hand I really believe that this program is ideal for the classroom. It gives the students an opportunity to be creative (even when it comes to boring science data), but also allows for them to be able to go back and change their mistakes as many times as they would like. As a student I would have enjoyed this program in the classroom, especially being a visual learner. Therefore I would most likely even benefit if I used the mapping today in college in order to organize and brainstorm thoughts for a research paper for an example. It would be much more efficient than wasting all those sheets of paper!

EDUC Blog 3

The assigned reading for this week was very interesting. I agree with the importance of including technology within the classroom as an additional method of making both the learning and the teaching process much more successful. Until this article I had really only considered technology as a greater advantage for students, (with them growing up using technology and expecting to be using it in school). Though it is also a major advantage for teachers. The article referred to the use of technology in a "multi-aged" classroom. I am currently working in a classroom with a fifth grade teacher who has had her students now for the second time. (She had taught a fourth/fifith combination class last year and now is teaching those fourth graders who are now fifth graders.) I was unsure if I agreed with the use of combination classes until speaking with her. The students in her class have a better relationship with both the teacher and their fellow peers in the sense that they have had the opportunity to spend more time together. Therefore a stronger relationship is developed as well as creating a more comfortable environment where the student feels more at ease to ask questions or speak with the teacher with more personal issues.

EDUC 422 Blog #2

This week's class was very interesting because I was able to learn more about useful tools in order to use for both my future teaching career, but also today to assist in my preparation for my career. I had not even realized, (even though I primarily use Yahoo as my choice of search engine), that these resources were right at my fingertips! The Yahoo Groups was an essential tool in which we learned for an example can assist in finding lesson plans in the future that have worked for other teachers and are willing to share their successful findings, (especially during the first and most chaotic years of teaching). Another tool that we learned about was the Yahoo Briefcase which will also assist in "making life a little easier" as a teacher. Not only did I learn that this tool creates for better organization, but also a way for the parents of my future students to be able to feel like they have a greater involvement in their child's educational journey throughout my class. Though it was interesting learning about these tools that I will be excited to use in the near future, the most helpful piece of information learned this week was regarding successful web searches. Currently a college student, it was no surprise that I felt this was the most informative piece of information learned this week. (I'm sure it is because I can use this information immediately, as I am in the process of preparing research for a paper in one of my other courses.) Lastly, the Netiquette article that we read and discussed during class brought to my attention that there are many things that I should know when using e-mail. I now know that understanding appropriate conversation within e-mail is just as important as within face-to-face conversation! I had never considered Netiquette, but with everything becoming more technology-based it is necessary.

The article assigned for homework was very interesting. I think that it is a common understanding that technology is important to include within the curriculum because it acts as another resource to further the learning process. The article also mentions the importance of technology as a way of learning through experience. The example mentioned was very interesting because as I recall back to my own childhood my parents were firm believers in my sisters and I spending the majority of our "playtime" outside and very rare were we allowed to watch television. Therefore as young children, (before we were old enough to begin school), we learned from experience and that was through our "outside playtime." Though I have noticed that the children I have babysat spend their "playtime" on the computers in their home. The computer acts as a mode of their own experience through educational games and interaction on the computer. In the end, with technology already playing a major role in their lives, children will most likely expect to use technology within their classroom experience.