Digital #L - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 concepts reflected upon:

WebQuests are a great tool for students. They follow a tour that teaches them new concepts. It might give an introduction, task, process, and references to help the students out. The intro is self explanatory, while the task will let students know what to expect. The process is the guided steps. Usually a conclusion will also be included which is a summary of understanding. Not only that, but the teachers get a spot to give all their input and their references. Virtual field trips are another great item to use. Google Earth can take students all over the globe while teaching important facts. Videoconferencing is another way for students to visit and meet people from all over the globe. Both of these tools are great and I believe some of the best teaching methods out there.

Online and virtual schools are schools done on the internet. They make it easier for students because there is no schedule. These schools are also helpful for students with disabilities as it is cheaper. The public schools might not be able to afford the special programs. I am personally against online schools. This takes away the experience of youth. It makes it harder to interact with peers and working in groups is not possible. How can one expect to learn for the future alone, when most jobs require some sort of human interaction. Not only that, but what about the child? How will the child learn to tolerate mean people or the opposite gender? Onine schools are a bad idea and only further isolates people from the real world.

Educational websites are a good thing, as they collect thousands of resources and make them into digital content. They are geared to grades K-12. There are a few types of these websites. Lesson plan websites are great as they give guided instruction and procedures. This is something I would want to use in my classroom. Student-to-expert communication is also effective as colleges, businesses, and other organizations can answer questions that students may have. A few more of these websites include real-time and recorded, archival and primary, skills practice, exploration, and discovery. All of these are beneficial and should be utilized in a modern classroom.

http://storybird.com/books/its-time-to-start-our-tour-of-google-earth-oh-is-t/?token=ycmcaywgqv

Credit to storybird

(I get message all school stories are private and it will not let me share directly with link)

References

                         Maloy, R. W. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Digital #K - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 concepts reflected upon:

Becoming a teacher is no easy feat. New potential teachers are assessed before being allowed to teach on their own. It is more of a challenge than I realized as you will be observed and forced to write more papers on things like classroom management. Even after college, you continue to be tested. Not only will you be tested, but you must be able to evaluate your students. I like to think of it like a work evaluation. You give a summary of how the students are doing. You even get to talk with parents and I remember this when I was in my youth. Parent teacher conferences is what we used to call it, and I was always worried about how the teachers perceived me! Not only that but teachers can show students how to self assess themselves so they progress.

Democratic schools and classrooms is an interesting name. It works like a democracy where both students and teachers make decisions from how the education operates and to how the school rules should work. Many critics abound saying students will make silly rules. I am for democratic schools because I think student input is an education experience for them, and of course teachers will be in charge overall. In democratic schools there are also activities that both teachers and students can choose. It gives students a chance to choose how they want to learn in my opinion will help them succeed in the future. I believe the more responsibility a student has, the better chance that student will have a successful future. Often times schools will also have a school wide mission to express their democratic values.

There are many tools for preassessments. They can be in the form of online surveys, The preassessments are a great way to see students progress before they begin a course. I have had preassessments when I attended Keiser University. They were in the form of tests. You would take a test before the semester and one after to see how much you learned. Online surveys can be used like polls to see how much the students thinks they know. This is another great tool, but I feel it is not used as widely yet. I rarely ever get a chance to use an online poll before starting a semester.

References

                         Maloy, R. W. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.