PLE Week 11

Bookends of War - http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/bow/
Inside Kapunahala - http://etec.hawaii.edu/etecvideos/videos/kap/

A main idea that I came away with from watching these videos is that students are capable of much more, with regards to technology, than I probably assume they are, and many types of technologies can be enjoyable and interesting to work with.

In the video "Bookends of War" students seemed to particularly enjoy working together to make their class website. They made remarks indicating that they enjoyed the collaborative aspect, and they seemed to understand what they project would be useful for. It seemed that this kind of collaborative project allowed them many opportunities to problem-solve amongst themselves, and thereby explore different possibilities. From this video I learned that technology can be successfully incorporated in a unit or lesson when students are genuinely interested in it and can recognize the benefits, and it can be helpful and enjoyable when they are able to work in groups or partners.

I found the video "Inside Kapunahala" to be very informative in that it showed not only how technology skills and media literacy can be taught in stages in the different grade levels, but also how many different standards can be met in a project like this one. Areas that are strengthened include communicating ideas through pictures, writing, and speaking clearly, as well as simply how to use technologies like video cameras. Students in this video obviously enjoyed the chance to "be on TV", but they also seemed to take other responsibilities seriously. They also seemed to understand the different skills they were learning and how those would be helpful for them in the future.

Lesson Plan Links

These links are on my link list, but I am posting them here as well:

Science lesson plan:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhm2d4kx_22gzppfv78

Math lesson plan:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhm2d4kx_21ghd5mpf6

Language Arts lesson plan:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhm2d4kx_20ffd7mjcz

Week 10

The most valuable thing I came away from the video presentation was the knowledge that several technologies can be used naturally and effectively in a classroom unit for younger children. For example, in the video “I Love Spiders”, the teacher of the class in Virginia incorporated the following technologies into her class’ unit on spiders: audio and video presentations, disposable cameras, and the internet (relaying pictures and information between two classes using a website). I was impressed by how naturally all of these technologies fit the subject matter and made for a more interesting unit. If I had been a student in that class, I think the technologies used would definitely enhance my learning and make me excited about the subject matter. I also thought this was a great example of how more than one technology can be used to enhance learning. The technologies were used in giving background information, in a hands-on activity that allowed students to gain firsthand knowledge both in the area of using specific equipment as well as the content area being taught, and then in a larger-scale endeavor that reinforced knowledge gained by allowing students to share their knowledge with others. I would love to find ways to use technology like this in my future classroom. I believe that trying to think of activities that would enhance both knowledge of technology and knowledge of the content area would be more effective.

Week 9

I had a very pleasant experience visiting with Ms. Barlow of Rock Canyon Elementary School. Her classroom appears to be equipped with many of the latest useful technologies. These include four computers in the classroom (including hers), a digital camera (belonging to her), a TV, CD player, internet and wireless internet access, a computer projector, calculators, and a DVD and VCR player. Ms. Barlow wishes that her class could have access to a Smart Board or Prometheus Board. She has been saving her money to try and purchase one for her class, though she expects them to become standard technological equipment for all of the school's classrooms in the near future.

When it comes to getting ideas and preparing materials for the classroom, Ms. Barlow said that her class uses the computers everyday for reading. She also shines lessons on a whiteboard using a projector and allows students to interact with the technology as much as possible by circling things, etc. (kind of like a makeshift Smart Board). She uses the computers for testing reading, as well as to enhance the core curriculum. For example, her class has studied different aspects of a "County Fair", taking a week to study different things you might find there, such as wool. One way she uses technology to teach about the process of wool being taken from the sheep and eventually spun is to show the class pictures of the process taking place (e.g. the sheep being shorn, etc.).

An additional question I had for Ms. Barlow was how she decides what technology is age-appropriate for her students. Her response was that it mainly just comes from experience. She has been teaching for 28 years and has therefore had plenty of experiences to teach her about age-appropriate technology. For example, sometimes she will sort through visual resources and decide that some pictures are too detailed or otherwise not appealing to the second graders. Similarly sometimes something will involve too much text that is over their heads. She tries to gear the technology to students' attention and whether it will relate to them in some way. I also asked her if children have become more technology-inclined over those 28 years, coming to her classroom with more experience than past generations - she said that they are definitely more technologically savvy than in past years, and often they come to her classroom knowing more about the current technology than she does.

Week 9

I completed part 1 and 2 of this week's PLE assignment.