ILP “Participation” – Technology Sandbox

On Tuesday, February 21st our EME 2040 class visited the Technology Sandbox in the College of Education. The Technology Sandbox had an array of devices that students and educators could use to enhance learning. I was amazed at the technology they had inside the room and learned so much in the 45 minutes we were in there. In the Technology Sandbox, I learned more about 3D printers and Google Glass, but the found out about the item that interested me the most, the Smart Board. Before our visit, I had no clue what a Smart Board or Promethean Board were and I was in awe watching the demonstrations take place.

When we first came in Martin introduced us to the 3D printer they had in the Technology Sandbox and showed us several gadgets it had engineered. I found it very interesting when he told us how long and how challenging it actually took to create the cube with the gears. However, the 3D printer could be a great source of learning for students by giving them an opportunity to feel and see what they are learning about. i.e. a cube and its six sides. We then saw the Smart Board and Promethean board which sparked a great deal of interest. I could not believe how advanced the boards were. The boards reminded me of projectors many classrooms have, except these boards gave students and teachers a hands on opportunity. It made it seem that the possibilities with the boards were endless. The Google Glass was also very intriguing. Although I found the glasses interesting, it seemed that there was not much need or use the public would have for them, which is why Google did not mass produce them. The last technology we saw was the Oculus Rift. The Rift was mind-blowing in that it allows people to be immersed into another world. The Oculus Rift technology could give many students an opportunity to see places and do experiments that would seem near-impossible from a classroom and that was truly amazing.

An image of the Google Glass.

This is the Oculus Rift.

This is the Promethean board.

This is the 3D printer. It is printing a tiny shark in this image. 

This is the Smart Board.

Blog Post #6

I went to Leon County High School's website and looked at several teachers' pages. All of the teachers I looked at had a side bar that included tabs such as "Meet the Teacher," where the teacher introduced his or herself and discussed what the class was going to encompass. Other tabs that I saw on all pages were "Assignments" and "Class Calendar." I believe that it was mandatory for all teachers to have certain tabs listed on their sites for students to utilize. Besides what I believe to be the mandatory tabs, teachers had other options that were course related. I clicked on a Law Studies teacher and he had tabs such as "Law Studies" and "American Government" and when I clicked on a culinary teacher's website, she had tabs such as "Culinary Arts 1" and  "Culinary Arts 2" for different grade levels. I believe the culinary arts teacher teaches all grade levels, but has classes ranging in difficulty. Here is a link to the Law Studies teacher http://www.leonschools.net/Domain/4907

The main product I would use to ensure efficiency as a teacher is Microsoft Office. Office is a simple way to create notes, tests, rubrics, and many others. As a teacher in the beginning of his career I feel that Office would be the best and most simple item to use. The podcast also mentioned using spreadsheets to help calculate student's grades and I could not agree more. I recall asking my teachers in high school, "What would my grade be if I got this on this project?" or something along the lines of that. My teacher would simply open up his or her spreadsheet software, type in the grade and within a matter of moments my grade would be calculated. The last thing mentioned was setting up a website to  help connect teachers and parents/students. A website would be an excellent way of communicating and help to limit the amount of miscommunication between home and school. It seems that younger students lose so much information that must get to parents and it causes much confusion between the parents and the school, so a website could be a possible solution.

At the Technology Sandbox, we saw many different pieces of technology; from Google Glass, 3D printers, and Smart Boards and Promethean boards. I was very interested in the Smart and Promethean board because of how simple they could be integrated into a classroom. The boards were an excellent source because they make class such a hands-on experience. At one point one Martin brought up the example of having a teacher ask a student a simple question such as 2+2 and then answering it on the Promethean board. I feel that something as simple as that could help a lot of students get the hands-on opportunity many of them crave. Also the ability to show objects on screen in a 3 dimensional point of view was amazing. Science classes could be drastically changed if the boards were integrated into the classroom; no longer would students be analyzing a one sided picture in a textbook, wondering what the other half looks like. It seems that the possibilities with the Smart Board and Promethean board are endless and I cannot wait to seem them seamlessly integrated into schools all around. 

Blog Post #5

There are several Web 2.0 technologies available today. From Youtube, Twitter, Wikis, and many more, I feel a majority of them are a very useful tool in the classroom. In our class alone use two Web 2.0 tool, Twitter and blogs, and I believe they are very helpful. Twitter allows for the students in class to connect constantly and express themselves greatly. Twitter has created a type of unity inside of the classroom and has given students the opportunity to get their opinions across promptly and easily. Like Twitter, the blogs have been an excellent Web 2.0 tool inside the classroom. I believe the blogs are great for students, but more beneficial for teachers. The blog allows for teachers to see how students are understanding and communicating their ideas and gives an opportunity for teachers to give feedback easily.

As a teacher, a very interesting tool to use would be Prezi (https://prezi.com/). Prezi is a website that allows for individuals to create informational slides, but in a visually appealing way. Prezi can be used for any topic a teacher is teaching and, in my opinion, keeps students engaged better than a PowerPoint. Powerpoint's are a great teaching source, but do not have a look that is engaging as Prezi. Prezi's main idea is to map-out information by using its "story-telling" type of interface keeps students interested more than just a slideshow. I have used Prezi's to study in the past and they have helped me greatly because it is students and teachers that are creating the presentation.

In chapter 12, the authors write about augmented reality and I believe it could be a major source in the future of education. In my environmental class, we do our labs online in what I consider "augmented reality-lite." I consider the labs a lite version because we are not actually doing all the movements ourselves, just controlling an avatar. However, in the future augmented reality could give students and educators the ability to do experiments without actually being face-to-face with everything they need. Augmented reality could give students a first-hand experience of a world they cannot get near. Teachers in history classes could allow students to see different parts of the world, or science classes could have students get a better understanding of an experiment by doing it through augmented reality. I feel that augmented reality could enhance how students learn drastically if used properly and accordingly

Blog Post #4

At the beginning of EME 2040, I was a bit skeptical about a class Twitter page. I have had a few prior experiences when teachers have used the class-social media concept and it has not worked. Now that we have been in EME for 6 weeks now, I realize that the class Twitter was actually an excellent idea. I enjoy interacting with my classmates during our live-tweet class sessions and even outside of the classroom. It is very interesting to see what everyone is thinking about the subjects we are discussing inside of class. I feel that I have been interacting with several of my classmates, including Richard and Will, and also through direct message with Taehyeong. Twitter will be such a major advantage in my future career because so much occurs on the social media and it is so important now to be proficient in all the features. Twitter offers so many different ways to connect with other people and companies and can be an immense positive in the workplace if used properly. 

The digital divide affects student success in school because not every student has equal access to technology. The digital divide could come down to being a student in a school with a great amount of funding which leads to better and more technology and more technological opportunities or being a student in a not so affluent area with less access to technology or just not having the most up-to-date technology. Technology is such an asset in the society we live in today and not having access to it could actually be detrimental to one's learning ability. The society is quickly transitioning to a tech-based world and having as much knowledge as possible is what will lead to being successful later in life. Some causes of the digital divide are household income or even a student's location. As a teacher, some students may not have the same amount of access to technology as others so I will have to compensate by assigning work that fairly assesses students and that does not require a mass amount of technological input. 

There are several softwares I would consider using a teacher, including drill-and-practice, problem-solving, and tutorials. However, the software I would definitely use the most is the educational games. When I was younger, teachers would give us websites to visit that had games associated with the subject we were learning and it actually helped greatly to reenforce what we were going over. I feel that pairing teaching with some type of fun activity will allow students to connect to the subject much better, especially at such a young age. The software I do not expect to use is the concept-mapping software. I believe that students at the age I would like to teach at would not totally grasp the concept of "maps" and the entirety of the brainstorming process. All the softwares in the textbook will give students great advantages, just at different times in their school careers. 

Newsletter

Blogpost #3

I feel that there are more ELA technology standards that I need to learn and become proficient with, than there are that I am comfortable teaching. Surprisingly, I feel as if I could properly teach standard W/WHST.8, which integrates using multiple sources. In W/WHST.8, the student should be proficient in note taking off of a print and digital source and should have the ability to sift through credible and non-credible sources. Standard W/WHST.8 is something that I have been doing for a very long time and a standard I feel prepared to teach. One standard I am not sure I could teach comfortably is standard W/WHST.2, which entails writing to explain and inform. I know I can write to explain and inform but the subjects within the standard are what make me feel uneasy in my teaching ability at the moment. I do not feel one hundred percent confident in creating charts and table and utilizing figures to teach my students. I hope by the end of EME 2040 I will feel very confident in my ability to teach students about ELA technology standards.

The technology I would like to use with my students is the same technology we use in EME 2040: the blog. I believe that blogs allow for students to best connect with one another and their teacher very simply and efficiently. The textbook reminded me of Glogster and after reading it I actually remembered creating a Glogster when I was in elementary school. The blog allowed for kids to be personal in school, where it is sometimes a challenge to break out of the "private" bubble. I do not remember the specific class I created it for but I do know my classmates and I found it very interesting to be in control of our own website. Glogster leads me into my next point about the digital citizenship concepts. Digital citizenship is one of the most important online "rules;" a set of guidelines that people of all ages should follow. I will be sure my students at around the ages of seven or eight are fully aware of the digital citizenship guidelines because if they are not taught about being respectful online at a young age it will lead to issues when they are older.

The one skill that my newsletter taught me was two-column design. When we first began to practice two-column design I could not seem to grasp the concept of it, but now I feel very proficient in using two-column design. I also increased my abilities in utilizing Word Art and knowing where and when to use it. The most challenging part about the newsletter was creating the paragraphs to write inside the shapes. I believe that if I had students and an actual class the information would have come more natural to me and been a breeze to write. The newsletter was a major part of my elementary school career and I recall receiving a newsletter every week from my school. The next time I create a newsletter, I will make it more organized and with every newsletter after. my creativity will reach new heights.