Hello and welcome to my Blogfolio. Here you will find the projects I have created for ITD645. My blog posts also reflect on what I have learned throughout the course and how I will be utilizing what I have learned in the future.
Chapter 1, Q3: The number of technology tools available to teachers is already daunting, and more are emerging every day. Given the value of these tools to enliven and support 21st century learning, what will you do to keep yourself informed about the options available to you? How will you manage your discoveries and work toward integrating them into your classroom? Because of the large amount of technology that can be used in the classroom today, it can be hard to keep up with it and decide what suits your class while maintaining time management. The focus of the class cannot be on the technology itself. As educators, we cannot get weighed down with trying to keep up with the technology 100% of the time or we will lose the purpose of our job, and we will lose the interest of our students. We need to remember to that teaching our students should be our main focus. Too much technology can be a bad thing. Technology should be a way to bring our lessons to life. I am fortunate enough to work for a university that has recently been implementing new technologies in our classrooms. Nothing is forced on us to use, but we are heavily encouraged. In order to keep up-to-date on new technology, I will be attending the free seminars and training provided by my university. Also, when attending yearly conferences, there are always sessions on technology; I will be making it a priority to attend those and make connections with other professionals who can help direct me toward useful tech for my classroom. I also want to encourage my students to let me know what they do and don’t like. They are my ultimate concern, and if something is not helpful to them, then I will find something that is. I have found that my students can be the best source of information for new technology integration! Chapter 2, Q2: Different students have different learning styles and their learning styles influence their learning. As a teacher, you should understand your students learning styles when preparing for the classes. Discuss your understanding on different learning styles and its influence on learning. Each fall, I get a class of all new students. The first week of school I assign them an online quiz from VARK to determine their learning styles. This activity not only helps me get to know them a little better, but also helps me understand how they learn. I can see how the majority of the class learns and the vast differences between them. This quiz breaks their learning styles down into the four major categories: visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic. Because I teach medical laboratory science courses, my students overwhelmingly lean toward visual and kinesthetic learning, but I make note of those who are aural or read/write learners so that I can help there, or maybe even mold their assignments a bit differently to encourage their learning. According to the textbook, there are three major styles of learning: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory learners typically learn best by hearing the information presented to them. They may enjoy lecture and PowerPoint style classes. Technologically, they may like videos with explanations of what they are learning. Visual learners want to see what they are learning. In science, this can be done easily in labs. Technologically, videos and pictures may help these students best. Kinesthetic learners are going to learn best by doing something to help the information stick. Again, most of my students are kinesthetic learners so we often do laboratory exercises to help engrain the knowledge. We are not always capable of performing some things that the students must learn. Technology comes in handy for these instances because there are so many online laboratories built. Even though the student is not technically “hands-on,” they can understand what they would be doing if they were dealing with it directly. Chapter 3, Q1: Instructional planning is a skill every educator at every grade level must master. To integrate technology into instruction, a logical, sequential approach is needed to help teachers to clarify which technologies are most useful and at what points they should be included in the process. Discuss Design-Plan-Act (DPA) system – what it is, how do the three distinct planning components of DPA differ, and why it is helpful to use a system approach to integrate technology? The DPA system is an organizational system to help teachers prepare their lessons. One of the great things about this system is it helps clarify the goals and objectives of lessons. It also helps teachers easily identify places they can integrate technology into their lessons. Step one is Design the overall content and sequence in the instructional unit. Step two is Plan by making specific daily lesson plans that will help complete the unit. Step three is Act by developing an instructional action plan for each day. This will help guide the teacher through the exact steps she will take during their lesson. The Design phase gives an overall view of the unit. Here, you will decide how the individual components of the unit will fit together and start forming ideas of how the unit will be taught. The Plan phase is used to break the unit down into daily lesson plans. This phase is very detailed. Teachers will decide and state exactly what they will be teaching each day, state how objectives for the unit will be met, examine which teaching styles they will use to achieve their goal, and finally how to measure the success of their plan. The Act phase gives specific details of each daily lesson to ensure the instructor is able to teach without interruption or confusion. This is often viewed as a checklist for the lessons. Using the DPA system ensure that you have a clear-cut execution plan for your lesson. Technology is a great addition to many lessons, but should not be the center of lesson planning. All lessons should be planned before-hand and then evaluated to find useful technology that can be integrated to enhance the lesson. Technology should be thought of as a way to improve a lesson and should not be used for the sake of using it. Having a plan already in place can help an instructor determine the best technology to use for enhancement of an already great lesson!
2 Comments
Courtney O'Brien
6/13/2019 12:48:35 pm
Margaret, I really liked your responses! I think that they were well-thought out and well-written. Your first answer about not getting bogged down by technology is so true. We're constantly pushing for more technology. We're constantly pushing to have it in classrooms, but we also hate being forced to use it. One part of me wants a new smart board. One part of me hates using a smart board now, because it's too advanced. I like your use of graphics, making it easier to follow your trains of thought and read the answers to each question. The blog looks great!
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Jonathan Morris
6/15/2019 11:04:52 am
Margaret,
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AuthorMy name is Margaret Patrick. I am in my final semester of grad school at USM. I will graduate with a Master's in Medical Laboratory Science. |