EDLD 5397 Week 3 Web Conference Reflection

This weeks web conference was once again very informative. Dr. Borel really keeps us up to date with what is due and when. She mostly discussed the action research plan as well as the template. We went over the Lamar University Course schedule and how to read it and understand it. She went over APA format as well as showed us some examples. We talked about posting to TK20 and all that needs to be posted. There are seven documents for this class. We also talked about course embedded reflections on courses we have already completed and that there is also a form for this. All of the forms are located in the resource section as well as the Google Doc for this class https://sites.google.com/site/edld5397borel/web-conferences

Once again it was very informative and straight forward. 

EDLD 5364 Week 5 Personal Reflection

Week 5 project: Part 3

Our team worked together as a group to collaboratively create an action plan to solve the scenario. Each of us had different backgrounds and areas of expertise. Having this allowed us to share knowledge with each other and devise a plan that was technology driven and student centered. We used interactive sites, presentation tools, discussion boards, podcast and many other Web 2.0 tools. In Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools; the authors discuss the use of digital storytelling and podcast to help teachers integrate technology into lessons. Our activities allowed student assessment with the creation of the learning activities. Our lessons were based on UDL’s. We researched the activities to make sure we included teacher professional development and to ensure that the activities would meet the needs of the diverse group of learners. We provided accommodations for student supports.

Our group’s project was over third grade grammar I provided information on for pronouns. I chose interactive sites, discussion boards, and power points. "Games and simulation, for example, allow teachers and students to get near-instantaneous feedback during the learning process, allowing for immediate redirection or correction of misconceptions (Pitler)."  By having discussion boards and Podcasts this allowed students to visually have a feel for what others were thinking. It also allowed others to communicate with each other by collaborating.

Our group worked with Google sites, Google docs to insert our project action plan and samples of student works. The sites are https://sites.google.com/site/edld5364groupproject7/technology-based-learning-activities and https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vprzDpj_1PTsDALmVobEW8Qoyc5Epd8b-fvz36Qj7xU/edit?pli=1  What I gained from the class was that it is possible to work as a group to complete one common goal. You do not have to physically be with your group for this to become possible. With the use of online tools you can work cooperatively and collaboratively to solve problems and come up with solutions. I also learned that using Google Docs and Sites as a group you can create, edit, share. I had a great experience working with my team members. We accomplished our goal and put forth much effort to be successful with our grammar lesson. I learned the value of sharing information with individuals through the use of web 2.0 tools.

I also learned how to create eBooks and UDL’s through the CAST ebsite http://bookbuilder.cast.org/ and http://lessonbuilder.cast.org/. These sites were very informative as they provided tutorials on how to create eBooks and develop lesson plans, as well as provide several examples for the educator to reference. The strategies I learned from these sites will help me develop future lessons that will work with diverse learners and possible individualize those lessons.
Through this class I have gained knowledge and experience of various technology tools used for working cooperatively and collaboratively as a group. I watched many videos on how to create student centered learning environments and seeing them in action. The discussion boards taught were a great resource tool. I was able to communicate and share with my colleagues on various topics. I was able to grow more knowledgably from the readings and videos to integrate technology within my classroom. I shared my learning experiences with my co-workers and let informed them of various tools we can share with our students. I learned about many free tools and resources available to educators to help them accomplish student engagement and achievement.

Working in the field of instructional technology I feel that I need to stay up to date with what's happening in education. I teach teachers the uses of technology and how to incorporate it into their daily lessons. I will continue to do research and learn more about the different technology Web 2.0 tools and social networking available for K-12 classrooms and beyond. I gained knowledge on blogs and e-portfolios which I have been using with Lamar University, and how it is a tool to help me determine my effort levels as well as an environment to store archives and get feedback from professors. In one of the readings there was a quote: “Technological tools make it easier for a teacher to provide every student with multiple options for expression.” I found this to be true for me as a student and as an educator. The more we allow students to use technology the easier it will be for students to express themselves in a learning environment. By integrating technology all students can benefit from the enhanced lessons.

Solomon, G., Schrum, L. (2007) Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools. International Society for Technology in Education

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E.R., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007) Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

David H. Rose & Anne Meyer (2002). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Retrieved on 3/15/11 from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

EDLD 5364 Week 5 Reflection

Week 5 Discussion

This week quote that made me think about how data is collected, shared, and used among teachers and students is “A powerful way to convince students that effort is truly tied to achievement is to show them data” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p 161). Last year we introduced student response system/clickers as a form of test taking. Teachers would then upload to Eduphoria/Aware to view data immediately after completing the assessment. Using paper and pencil, it sometimes more time consuming for a teacher to provide immediate feedback; however, “technology make it easier for students and teachers to track the effects of effort and facilitates more immediate feedback” (Pitler et al., 2007, p. 156). After viewing the results the teachers would then call up the students and provide assessment results.

Pitler, H., Hubbell E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 168­176.

EDLD 5364 Week 4 Post Conference Reflection

So I attended to web conference on 9-22-13 at 6:00 PM. I was having difficulty hearing Dr. A. I think it was on my end because everyone else could hear her. I did however read all the posts that were stated. Nikki Looper posted this for the coming week: Week 5 is a lot of reflection: Discussion is a quote with reflection and citation and two comments both with citation.  Part 1 is a 2 paragraph reflection w 3 citations over the new learning for Week 5.   Part 2 is a 6 paragraph TEAM reflection over our group UDL and activities.  Part 3 is a 200-250 word reflection w 3 citations over writing a UDL and eBook. This really helped to sum up week 5. Even though I couldn't hear I still walked away with valuable information. Thanks

EDLD 5364 Week 4 Reflection

“Giving the same written test to all students is neither fair nor accurate. When a single, inflexible medium is used for testing, students' skills with that medium become hopelessly confused with the skills we intend to measure.” This holds true due to the fact that not all learners learn in the same way. If we are asked to differentiate to the student’s ability, then assessments should also be done in this manner. Teaching to the test causes confusion as to whether or not the student has learned the material or has just learned how to be a good test taker. Many of our students are bored out of their minds because of this linear approach to learning. Basically, they are missing one of the main points of higher education, which is learning to think critically about a variety of subjects in order to develop informed opinions and insight about important issues.

 

Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Chapter 7. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Post Conference Reflection

I attended the web conference at 6:00 PM on Sunday, September 15, 2013 with Dr. A. I learned how to embed my e-book on our group site. I was also able to talk with one of my group members. I was having trouble editing our site. The end result was that I needed to be signed in with a Gmail account. I learned valuable information in such a short amount of time. Thanks to everyone who was able to attend and lend helpful information.

EDLD 5364 Week 3 UDL Book Builder

I had never heard of bookbuilder.cast.org. I first looked at samples of books. I played around with this site unfortunately I didn't think it was user-friendly. I didn't like how you had to add pages to the book just to finish 1 page of the book. However once I got started and was able to maneuver around the site I thought this might be fun for others to create an e-book. I will be sharing this site with my teachers. I think a few of them might actually want to create a book and then share it with their students.  

Click on the link below to see what I created
http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=share&book=8d31c1265dc4a94d5028bdc8124e11b9&sid=13748

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Reflection

"In a time of greater student diversity, increased emphasis on standards and accountability challenges teachers to help all students achieve.” I would have to say this quote stood out the most to me. It is so true; the accountability that teachers now hold is at a higher level than in the past.  The students that are in our rooms today, learn much differently than students of previous eras. They communicate using technology on a daily basis, whether it is through texting or some type of mobile device app. I feel if we teach students using what they are accustomed to, then they are more likely to adapt to our teaching style and thus retain more knowledge. When classrooms don't implement what has now become everyday technology, we’re doing students a disservice.

Technology is a tool not a solution, however, it helps level the playing field in diversifying learning. Tablets, for example, have the ability to increase font size with the pinch of your fingers for students who have special needs. The higher level learners could use apps designed to reach their potential as well, while grade level students can use other apps targeted to their needs.   

Citation: Rose, D., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal design for learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Special Technology Web site. Chapter 6. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/

EDLD 5364 Week 3 Cast UDL Lesson Builder~Pronouns

Creating the UDL lesson was something I never had to do before. After reading about Universal Design for Learning (UDL); I thought wow this is very thorough when it comes to creating lessons.  UDL uses a set of principles for instruction development that give all students in your classroom an equal opportunity to learn. Our group decided to do third grade grammar; we each choose a different objective and ran with it. I liked how it addressed all types of learners. I think it is so important that we target all abilities that we work with each day to ensure success is made by all. 

CAST’s UDL LESSON BUILDER

Pronouns

Lesson Overview

Title:	Pronouns
Author:	Robin Jacobson
Subject:	Reading/Language Arts
Grade Level(s):	3rd
Duration:	45 min. lesson w/ centers
Subject Area:	Parts of Speech
Unit Description:	Parts of speech
Lesson Description for Day:	A pronoun is often defined as a word which can be used instead of a noun.
State Standards:	Students understand the function of and use the conventions of academic language when speaking and writing. Students continue to apply earlier standards with greater complexity. Students are expected to: (A)     use and understand the function of the following parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, and speaking:xas State Standards for English Language Arts (ii)  nouns (singular/plural, common/proper); (vi)  possessive pronouns (e.g., his, hers, theirs

Goals

Unit Goals:	To provide students with the understanding of the parts of speech.
Lesson Goals:	He, she, they, them... We use pronouns so often, we hardly even notice them. This lesson is designed to call attention to the words that are often overlooked while reading everyday materials. Students will understand the parts of speech and how they function on everyday conversations.

Methods

Anticipatory Set:	To introduce students to the parts of speech as well as build upon their previous knowledge. Students will visit these websites: http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/grammar/pronoun/balloon_game/  Move the mouse so the cursor hovers over a balloon.  A sentence will appear at the top of the page to give you a clue. Click every balloon that has a pronoun in it. http://www.gotkidsgames.com/hom/pronounAgree.html Pick the correct pronoun to match antecedent in sentence. Accomodations: Blind students will be paired with another student when playing the interactive games. The other student will ask the questions that come across the screen, that way both students are receiving instruction. The deaf student will read the activity and then click on the correct answer.
Introduce and Model New Knowledge:	Students will use the website: http://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-3/identify-pronouns they will become familiar with pronouns and using internet resources. Teacher will go over the parts of speech and give examples of how they are to be used. The student will use the website above to practice their skills. After each lesson students will discuss what they learned or had trouble with. Teacher will then decide is reteach is necessary. Accomadations: Blind students will be paired with a student when using the educational websites. The student will read what is being presented. If a Braille computer is available the blind student would have opportunity to use it. The deaf student would use a translator to communicate their questions or concerns. Students will learn to definitions for: Nouns-A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea.  Pronouns-A pronoun that takes the place of one or more nouns in the subject of a sentence.
Provide Guided Practice:	Students will follow along in their textbooks. When directed students will point out all pronouns they come across while reading each sentence. Students will then visit the website: http://havefunteaching.com/worksheets/english-worksheets/parts-of-speech-worksheets/ from here students will select Pronoun Worksheet, print it out and complete. Student will then be directed to go to this webstie: http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html?q=%22pronouns%22\ This activity requires you to have a smart exchange account. If you have a smartboard you should be using this site for all the resources. Teacher will click on each slide and students will complete each lesson.
Provide Independent Practice:	Set up learning stations (centers) in your room, this will provide opportunity for students to work independently and in a group. Station 1: Provide students with newspaper article per pair of students also provide highlighters Activities: Pass out the newspapers and have students pick an article to work with. It should be at least 5 or 6 paragraphs. Have the students work in teams to find and highlight all the pronouns. After they are finished, they should give the article to their parter so they can skim it and make sure nothinig is missing. If they are missing some, let them know and have them continue working. Once they have found all of them, they can then create a graph showing how many of each one there is. Have each group present their graph to the class. Talk about how difficult or easy it was to locate all the pronouns Station 2: Provide each student within the group with a copy of the same news story from a newspaper. Challenge students to circle all the pronouns in the article. How many pronouns did they find? Provide time for students to share the pronouns they circled. Students might identify each as a singular or plural pronoun. Station 3: Write a list of pronouns on the board or a sheet of chart paper. Then challenge students to write a paragraph about themselves (perhaps the paragraph might be about a favorite hobby, pet or food). But they must write this paragraph without using any of the pronouns you have listed. Invite some students to share their paragraphs and discuss the difficulty they had completing the assignment. As it turns out, pronouns are very useful parts of speech!

 

Assessment

Formative/Ongoing Assessment:	Provide ongoing assessment throughout the lesson. Observe and encourage student participation in class discussion, asking and answering questions, and volunteering comments and ideas. Visit students throughout the center activities and provide direction, correct any errors, and affirm successes. Did student's responses accurately answer the questions?
Summative/End Of Lesson Assessment:	Give each student a sticky note with a pronoun.  Have each student use Kidspiration to create a web of words with that pronoun.  Students will present their webs to the class. Use a rubric to grade each students web.

Materials

This list of materials represents several different media including text, graphics, and video.

http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/grammar/pronoun/balloon_game/

http://www.gotkidsgames.com/hom/pronounAgree.html

http://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-3/identify-pronouns

http://havefunteaching.com/worksheets/english-worksheets/parts-of-speech-worksheets/

http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html?q=%22pronouns%22\

Smartboard, Smart Exchange, Kidspiration, Newspapers, highlighters, post-it notes

EDLD 5364 Week 2 Web Conference Reflection

I attended the web conference on Sat. Sept. 7, 2013 at 10 am with Dr. A. After listening and responding to questions I feel my group is off to a great start. We were all a little confused at first but I think as a group we figured most of it out. This morning there was some confusion on whether to post your reflections on the group site as well as your personal site. Dr. A says the more posts the better. I feel after attending the conference this morning much more prepared to begin week 3.   

EDLD 5364 Week 2 Reflection

The quote that really interested me was from the article, Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. “Computer technology, when integrated into the classroom for significant periods of time, may also have more significant effects among students classified as low socioeconomic status” (Page, 2002). I work in a school that is categorized as having a low socioeconomic status. I feel this statement to hold true. The more technology used by teachers the more student involvement with higher success rate. Last year we implemented ipads into the classroom as well as sending them home equipped with 3G. The students who received them were the low socioeconomic due to the fact that they had no internet service. This population of student’s made huge gains whether it was in the area of self-esteem or academics. I truly believe technology is key to reaching all students.

 Reference:

Page, M. S. (2002). Technology-enriched classrooms: Effects on students of low socioeconomic status. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(4), 389–409.

EDLD 5364 Week 1 Web Conference Reflection

I attended the web conference on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 6 pm with Dr. Abernathy. There were only 4 students that attended probably due to the fact that it is Labor Day weekend. I had a couple of questions to ask and needed clarification regarding what was needed on our personal site. I knew we had to create a group Google site as well as a team Google doc. As usual Dr. Abernathy was able to help. I try to attend web conferences as much as possible. I feel they help with any additional questions that I might have or need clarification. 

EDLD 5364 Week 1 Group Link and Google Doc

https://sites.google.com/site/edld5364groupproject7/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vprzDpj_1PTsDALmVobEW8Qoyc5Epd8b-fvz36Qj7xU/edit?pli=1

EDLD 5364 Week 1 Reflections

Working in the field of instructional technology I feel that I need to stay up to date with what's happening in education. I teach teachers the uses of technology and how to incorporate it into their daily lessons. What I found was most interesting was the article on social networking technologies (McPheeters, 2009) and his discussion of what he calls "cyborg learning." I was drawn in by his statement that "Learning how to learn will become the new curriculum because what we know will become decreasingly useful as obsolescence becomes as familiar as exhaling." I think he is exactly right. Students today are technology savy. They are constantly on their phones texting, sending and receiving email and doing some type of social networking. We are going to have to step back and let our students use their brains. I also feel that teaching critical thinking early on is essential to this generation.


McPheeters, D. (2009, March). Social Networking Tehnologies in Education, Tech and Learning.
Retrieved February 22, 2011 from
http://www.techlearning.com/article/16250.

EDLD 5366 Week 5 Reflection

Digital Graphics/Desktop Publishing Reflection

 Self- Assessment

As I reflect on the content I learned from EDLD 5366, I would have to say that I learned a tremendous amount of  information. “The most powerful learning often happens when students self-monitor, or reflect.” (Gerstein, 2011). I feel this statement to be true. I learned from posting to the discussion board and reflecting to colleagues' responses. I found the videos as well as the readings helpful.  I enjoyed creating a logo/brand and an animation. I can't wait to share this experience with teachers. I also found the CRAP principals to be informative. I used the principals while creating my logo as well as our group website. I will be taking this knowledge to show teachers the importance of design.

Learn as a Learner

This course allowed me to work in a group. I have to be honest I am not a fan of group work. I did however enjoy working with this group of people. We all had to depend upon each other to complete our task.  We would email often about what we accomplished throughout the week and the status of our individual pages. As soon as we chose our topic I began my part of the assignment right away. I hate waiting on others so I did not want my team to experience that. I feel that our group did a great job working together to create a useful website. I feel our website is full of information and I will be sharing it with teachers as well as parents. 

Lifelong Learning Skills

I feel that writing reflections and posting to blogs enhance my level of understanding. I think it is important to reflect often. Feedback from discussions and the group website activity has helped me as an individual. I enjoy reading what others have to say. I will continue to learn and stay up to date on resourceful resources and do anything to help my teachers as well as my students. I will use this information as a learning tool to strengthen my personal learning and training skills.

 Implementation in the Classroom

Blogs and websites are an excellent way to keep in touch with parents and keep students informed. Teachers at my campus are required to have a website as well as keeping it up to date. I use Moodle throughout the year to have group discussions. I also post to Moodle for my parents to have discussions. I feel the lower grade levels could use their teacher website to click on educational games and resources. Blogs and websites can be very beneficial in a classroom if taught proper procedures.

Gerstein, J. (2011), Where is reflection in the learning process? retrieved from http://usergeneratededucation. wordpress.com/2011/08/16/where-is-reflection-in-the-learning-process/ Feb. 18, 2012.

EDLD 5366 Week 4 Group Website Link

https://sites.google.com/site/groupproject5366/home

EDLD 5366 Week 3 Animation

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/11701594/

EDLD 5366 Week 2 Logo

5366 Week 1 Manuscript Reflection

The manuscript I chose was Alice's Adventures Under Ground. It was just as I thought it would be. Before opening up this story I thought about what it would of looked like back then and I was surprised that it hasn't changed much. All four principles of design are represented in this story. Starting with contrast, it can be found on most pages with the print being darker than the page. The title page and page one were colorful which brought attention to the reader. Repetition was used throughout the story with the font, size and layout being examples. Alignment was used in several areas of this text as well. The graphics were placed with the text wrapping around them. Graphics were also in different corners of the page as well as full page with a side view layout. Proximity was used with the graphics being placed throughout the story bringing attention to the passage. The manuscript was bound in black leather as well as the dedication page was dedicated to Alice demonstrating the importance of the manuscript. I thoroughly enjoyed investigating this piece of writing.

EDLD 5363 Week 5 Video/Reflection

I had a great experience working with my team. We produced a video on Main Idea. I hope you enjoy it.




ETL Production by Crystal Arnold, Melissa Hein, Robin Jacobson, and William Weeks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Web Conferences :Reflections of Multimedia Video Technology

Being an online student can be tough. I love the web conferences, they truly come in handy with all the questions that I might have or might arise. The professor is able to clarify all questions or concerns with assignments. The conferences allow us to share ideas or information with one another.

EDLD 5363 Week 4 Reflection

In preparing for week 4 I helped with narration as well as the video. My group used drop box to share files. I will definitely be using this program in the future as well as sharing it with my colleagues. This week our main source of communication has been through email.

EDLD 5363 Week 3 Reflection

 My group consists of 4 people. Email has been our main source of communication. I was able to do a Google Hangout video call with one of my group members. I truly enjoyed it. It also had screen sharing which was helpful. I  will be sharing that way of conferencing with my collegues. We uploaded all our documents for this class in dropbox and then as a group were able to access each assignment to make revisions.

EDLD 5363 Week 2 Reflection

This week started out being time consuming for me. I was stuck on an opening line for my podcast. After days of worrying that it might not be good enough I just went ahead with what I had originally planned. I thought Audacity as well as Creative Commons were both easy to navigate. I enjoyed making the podcast that was something I had never done before. I used Windows Live Movie Maker to create my podcast over Audacity. It was simple and easy to use. I will be sharing this experience with my colleagues as well as my students.

EDLD 5363 Audacity Podcast Tutorial

Audacity Podcast by Robin Jaconson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

EDLD 5363 Reflection

This project was time consuming for me as well as a learning experience. I used photo story 3 and iMovie for the first time. I started out using photo story 3. I inserted by photos in the storyboard as well as music from Soundzabound but for some reason could not add narration. I did not have a microphone that was USB so it was not compatible with the program. I saved my video and imported it into iMovie. In iMovie I was able to add narration and complete my project. Photo Story seemed much easier than iMovie to navigate around. As a result I learned many new skills while producing this video project. Below is my digital photo story.

EDLD 5363 Personal Digital Story

Week 1 Personal Digital Story by Robin Jacobson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Revised Action Plan for Review

After talking with my site supervisor, I had shared my peer’s recommendations and she suggested that we not change the dates because we feel that it would unnecessarily extend the length of the project. So we decided to not make any changes to my action research plan. She feels it is thorough enough to get the data we are looking for. I am excited to begin the process of my action research and evaluate the outcome(s). I am anticipating achieving my goal of finding and publishing the best practices for TIS and teachers on the implementation of technology into the classrooms.

A Vision of K-12 Students Today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

 

Action Research Plan

Action Planning Template
Goal: What are the best practices that have helped Technology Instructional Specialist (TIS) to be more effective in getting teachers to implement technology into their classrooms?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Administrative survey which contains the following questions: ~ What is the best thing your TIS has ever done to help you with your instruction in the classroom? ~ What non-technical skills do you think TIS need to have in order to help with classroom instruction? ~ As a TIS, what skills do you feel are important for you to help teachers with classroom instruction?	TIS/ Teachers	2 weeks, March 18-29, 2013	Create a Moodle Discussion Board	I will gather answers to questions, collate data
2. Develop tangible skill actions to improve upon the original data points that were discovered in survey	TIS/ Teachers	2 weeks, April 1-12, 2013	Moodle Thread Discussion	I will gather answers to questions, collate data
3. Create a prioritized list that Technology Instructional Specialist (TIS) could reference to improve their best practices.	TIS/ Myself	2-4 weeks, April 15-May 10, 2013	Create a document in Moodle for discussion