Reflection Question: Chapter 7, Prompt 1 Reflection Post: When using the Internet with children, there are privacy and acceptable use issues. Describe the issues you are most concerned with and how you plan to address them when you become a teacher. ![]() Children's privacy online is a huge concern for both teachers as well as parents. There are many challenges when it comes to students and their safe and appropriate use of the web. Students need to be taught to be good digital citizens - behaving ethically, being civil to one another, being responsible for themselves, and general good communication skills. The issue most concerning to me is keeping kids safe on the internet. The Department of Justice has a great website on children's safety online. They provide many great tips such as, communicating online safety with your children/students, supervision, awareness (of what apps children are using), using privacy settings and controls, keeping computers in open areas, and teaching children not to share personal information online. While these are a good starting point, I think the crucial factor in keeping kids safe is simply being PRESENT and aware at all times of the children's online activities. Another great resource that I found for teachers is Childnet.com. They have a complete resource bank with free resources for teachers, tool kits, activities and more. I am not a teacher, but if I was to have that responsibility in the future I would make sure to educate myself on best practices and consult with my school district for guidelines and resources in addition to my own research. My Learning Experiences ![]() Our group did a fantastic job coordinating, working together, and playing on our individual strengths, skills, and interests to divide the remaining group projects. We started with the central project (the Lesson Plan) and then built all of our other projects off of that completed project. We looked at all of the group projects for the remaining weeks to divvy up those that would take longer and make a plan of action. Our group communicated with each other, primarily through Slack and text messages. We set up weekly project channels in Slack with the projects due weekly, who would tackle the assignments and the instructions. We then asked questions and received feedback on individual projects to collaborate on a final project to be submitted. This weeks projects can be seen utilizing the links below. Lesson Plan: Since I am not a teacher, this was a new concept to me. I could see, however, how this would be applicable to my job as I design and implement short courses for training. Our textbook, pg. 20 points out the importance of the lesson plan stating that this is the foundation for excellent instruction both in the classroom as well as IT design. there are tools available such as the 10 Minute Lesson Planner to aid in the creation of the lesson plan. Other lesson tools available make it easy to ensure that you are following the national standards as well as providing for differing learning styles and intelligences. Thinkfinity is a source of standards-correlated lesson plans for every grade level that can be customized to your school's planner format. Curriki is a collaborative lesson plan platform that enables teachers to share content at all grade levels. No matter how you go about creating your lesson plan, I think the lesson plan is crucial for any successful classroom teacher. Technology Survey: I use survey's regularly in my job so I will be looking at google docs as an option for those in the future (I typically use survey monkey). I can see how survey's could be very useful in the classroom as well as something different for students to do to enhance learning or do their own research. Table 8.1 The Growth of K-12 Distance Education Program (pg. 227) is a great example of how survey's can be used to track changes in technology use in the traditional classroom. Google Documents: I use google documents regularly, but in particular when training my student workers or for project planning. These are a wonderful tool for collaborative projects/learning and could be easily implemented into classroom and group projects. Chapter 8 discuses various methods for teacher/student interaction in the online platform. The video Tech Tutor 8.1 on page 224 goes over various learning management systems (LMS) as well as course management systems (CMS). Podcast: I love to listen to podcasts, but never considered making one myself before. I could see how this could be applicable in my marketing or recruiting strategies in the future. I can also see how this could be a wonderful homework tool for students or an online resource to supplement a course. Chapter 8, page 269 discusses the use of podcasts and vodcasts in the classroom. Several platforms are suggested including: Adobe Spark, Apple iMovie, Audacity, educational podcast, educational vodcast, RealPlayer, Vimeo, and Windows Movie Maker.
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![]() Problem You attend a workshop to find out the process to apply for funds to improve your classroom. At the workshop, your principal has asked that each department and/or grade level interested in applying work together to develop an ideal learning environment that will support individualized instruction to meet diverse learner needs. The ideal learning environment descriptions the principal has detailed must include everything a teacher wants from furniture to miscellaneous equipment to technologies. The principal has specifically stated that to submit a request for up to $20,000 per classroom in funds from the district, each team must:
Solution To tackle this group project, our group initially met via phone to discuss project, requirements, our own experience and how to divide and tackle the group assignment. We defined our classroom as a 7th grade, English Language Arts classroom with diverse learning styles and needs. The design and layout of the classroom was collectively agreed upon as well as the tools needed to accomplish our ideal classroom setting. Most of our discussion was done via Slack and group text messaging. We used Lucidchart to create the Mindmap. We divided up the work load and began the assignment by creating a mind map, and a diagram of our ideal classroom layout. This was followed up with exhaustive research of the technology tools that we previously decided upon to see if they would fit within the constraints of the proposal funding. Our initial wish list went over the allotted budget so we adjusted our purchase requests and changed certain items to conform to the budgetary restrictions. The next step was to develop the lesson and activity plan which was the core of the project and provided the justification for the expenses. Alongside this, a detailed budget was developed and a budget justification written itemizing each expense and what it would be used for. Included with the budget justification, a complete list showing the resource for each purchase is listed in the references section. The final step in the process was to compile all of these steps/documents into one cohesive grant proposal document. We each thoroughly reviewed and edited the final document before deciding it was ready for submission. Reflection Question: Chapter 6, Prompt 1 Consider how technology has helped you to be productive and complete tasks. Examine the physical requirements for using your favorite technologies. How might physical disabilities hamper your use of those preferred technologies and impact your personal productivity. As a teacher, what can you do to mitigate these challenges for students with special needs. Technology is a crucial aspect of both my personal and professional life. I rely heavily on various technologies to get my job done, as well as to stay organized. Universal inputs to the technologies I use most frequently are the mouse, keyboard, and voice controls. All of these could create an issue with someone who has a physical disability. Voice recognition can be impacted by a speech impediment, English as a second language, or other disability. Many students can't use a keyboard or mouse and would need a workaround or other options to use these tools. ![]() Diversity in the classroom and among students learning needs is an issue that all teachers at all grade levels must recognize and address. Included are special learning needs, culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), and talented and gifted (TAG) students. Technology can be a powerful tool to address this multitude of individual and often complex learning needs. It can enable teachers so that they are successful, and the learning process becomes more effective. ![]() Teachers can use the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines as a starting point to consider their students' needs. Other resources for the teacher include the University of Washington's Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology (DO-IT) project, which was developed to offer an online library of resources and tools. The Learning Center for Teachers of the Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd) offers help that is focused on the diverse learner and to enable them universal access. The National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) focuses on media. The National Association for Gifted Children offers resources geared towards TAG students. CLD students provide a unique challenge, and many resources are available to address their success in learning with the aid of technology. Awareness of differences in learning styles, individual learning needs, disabilities, and challenges for students is the beginning point for any teacher addressing how best to meet these students' needs to ensure a thriving learning environment. ![]() Reflection Question: Chapter 5, Prompt 2 Question Part 1 Recall a class where presentation software, such as PowerPoint, was used. Did you enjoy the experience? Was it easy to take notes? Did you stay focused on the presentation, or did your attention drift into other thoughts? Could the presentation have been modified to make it more interactive, more interesting? How? I took many classes in my undergraduate studies where PowerPoint was used. Some teachers excelled at using these and they were engaging and crucial to the success of the class. In particular, I took a finance class that had pretty complicated formulas and my teacher for that class used PowerPoint as a method to walk us through the problem-solving steps. We worked along with the presentation to solve the problem and it was very interactive, educational and engaging. I had a real estate class however, that was basically the PowerPoint version of the book and the slides were not engaging, the class was not interactive and I had a lot of trouble staying focused on the material and engaged. I would often have to go back after the class and basically teach myself the material using a combination of YouTube video’s, Khan academy and the text book. I think PowerPoint presentations can be a great asset to learning if used in an engaging manner or to support what is being taught, but not as a stand alone (teach from the slides only) manner. ![]() Question Part 2 Select a grade level and subject matter that you would most want to teach. How you would use three different types of academic software to teach a specific topic. Explain why you selected these three academic software packages. I would love to someday teach project management at a community college. The academic software that I would use to teach this course would include Airtable, Excel and Microsoft Teams. Airtable: I would use Airtable (Productivity Suite), Excel, and Quizlet for this class. Airtable is a delightful cloud collaboration project management software with multiple uses and is a good starting point for the project management student. It is intuitive, and simple to use, yet has many in depth capabilities as users advance in experience and knowledge. They believe that you shouldn’t have to work within the limitations of your software, but that your software should work how you decide it should. They have both free and premium versions so beginning students would not have to pay to use the software. Project management students would learn to create forms, link between their table, collaborate with other students on group projects, set up databases, sort records and publish to an external website. More information on Airtable can be found on their website at https://airtable.com/ Excel Excel would be my second tool that I would use in this class. Most students are already somewhat adept and familiar with Excel. This class would build on those basic skills teaching students how to budget and track expenditures for a project, create and manage a project timeline, create a project review, create a project schedule, status report, tracker, planner and dashboard. Students would also learn how to export these different segments into a Power Point presentation. Students would learn how to create a template from their project to save time creating future projects. Microsoft Teams I would also teach my students the use of Microsoft teams as this is such a great project / team solution. Students would be assigned groups (teams) and need to set up a team for communication. They would need to add either planner or task in a box for tasks and due dates. They would create and a team schedule, notes, files, and collaboration space within their Microsoft team. They would need to show competency with use of polls, chat and video calls within the Microsoft team ap. ![]()
Reflection Question: Chapter 4, Prompt 1
Question: How many of the digital technologies discussed in this chapter have you used? Have you used them in an educational setting or elsewhere? For what purposes did you use them? Did they facilitate the purposes? I have used almost all of the technology tools discussed in this chapter, both in my professional work and my personal life. One of the tools that I have not used is the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) scanner. Examples of tools I have used widely
Printers: I use a variety of inkjet, laser, and 3D printers, many of which are multi-use (scan/fax) machines. These are used (both for work and personal use) for copying, making marketing materials, classroom handouts, printing exams, faxing, scanning, name badges, labels, and many other things. For my line of work a multi-use printer is an essential tool. For my personal use printer, I have a printer/scanner/fax machine. Our research lab has a 3D printer that I have been able to use to make fidget spinners with our logo on them. We then use these as marketing/promotional materials (aka free handouts) at conferences which we are exhibitors. ![]()
Storage:
I also use an array of external storage options, including thumb drives, external hard drives and cloud-based applications. I love the cloud-based feature because I can access any work document that I need from anywhere without being tied to an external hard drive. It also helps my team to have immediate and quick access to needed documents without relying on me to email them. I also use this for personal items from a camping trip agenda to my recipe box. Again, I like to be able to access the documents from my phone anywhere that I am. I find these to be essential parts of my professional work toolbox. Tablets, Touchscreens, and Whiteboards: I own an Ipad mini for my personal use, and for work, we use an Ipad Pro. We use the ipad for a running promotional video while exhibiting, as well as for sign in for meetings and many many other applications. I have a touch screen enabled laptop that I use for work and I have used whiteboards for both work as well as classes that I have taken, and I love this feature. Digital Camera: I use a digital camera for both personal use as well as work usage. We often need promotional pictures of students in the lab or lab research groups or high school groups that come in for competitions, etc. I use the digital camera to capture images for marketing materials and our website. Clickers: I have had classes that utilized the use of the clickers for learning and engagement. I didn’t find this particularly helpful as a student or engaging. I think this is one tool that is getting a little outdated. I have been on webinars where the speakers use questions or polls in the middle of the lecture to encourage audience participation and feedback. I do like these and find them useful and engaging as a student. Of course, there are many more commonplace tools mentioned in this chapter, such as webcams, mobile devices, wifi, etc. that are used regularly in a variety of ways, and I didn’t deem them necessary enough to mention individually. ![]() Reflection Question: Chapter 3, Prompt 3 This chapter described how proper planning ensures success in teaching and learning. Describe two activities (not educational in nature) in which you have been involved in the past which were NOT successful due to lack of planning. What lessons can you draw from those experiences that will help motivate you to plan for instruction? Mileage Mishap The first that comes to mind is a friend of mine who decided at the last minute to rent a zip car to drive from Chicago to Mississippi for a long weekend trip to pick up his dog that he had to leave behind when he moved several months previously. He drove about 2.5 hours out of town and stopped for gas when he got a notification that he was close to meeting his mileage limitation on the zip car rental (designed to primarily be in-town rentals). He still had another 9.5 hours of driving to get to Mississippi and another 12 hours for the return trip home. He had no option but to turn around, drive the 2.5 hours back home and turn in the rental car early. This mistake cost him about $300, and he did not make it back to get his dog, thus resulting in a future expense for an actual airplane ticket or car rental to retrieve his pup. Had he taken the time to research and plan his trip correctly, he would have seen the mileage needed and made sure that whatever car he rented would cover such a long distance. This is an essential lesson in considering ALL the aspects of a situation and the desired outcome to try to avoid running into unnecessary problems. ![]() Airline Fiasco Another situation that comes to mind is when my father passed away recently. Although this is not typically a "planned" situation, my daughter, due to stress and emotional distress, booked a ticket for herself and her younger brother into the wrong town that was 5 hours away from my parent's home. After hours on the phone with the airline, we had to purchase all new tickets to get her into the correct city to make it to the funeral. Fortunately, this situation had a good outcome as after we explained to American Airlines what had happened; they gave us a full refund on the incorrect tickets. The lesson that I can conclude from this is that no matter how trying the situation is, how emotional or tired you are, you should take a deep breath, step away from the problem and calm down instead of just reacting. Once you have gathered yourself, you can approach the problem rationally and, hopefully, without any incident. ![]() Reflection Question: Chapter 2, Prompt 2 Using Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, describe three intelligences in which you excel and give an example of each. How could these intelligences be useful when you become a teacher? Howard Gardner developed a theory that broadened the then widely accepted idea of what encompassed intelligence. His theory was a broader view that took into account areas of linguistics, music, mathematical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and existential intelligences. Linguistic Intelligence Being a voracious reader from the time I can remember, I feel like I excel in linguistics. Gardner states that this intelligence area includes the effective use of language and words to communicate ideas, express oneself, and learn new information. I have a reasonably extensive vocabulary and grasp of English. I have taken several creative writing courses and have a long-standing experience with writing in various styles. Writing poetry was one of my favorite parts of creative writing classes. It could be advantageous when writing lesson plans, designing a learning project, and just communicating effectively with the students. Reading and writing are crucial elements of teaching. ![]() Musical Intelligence I also excel in musical intelligence, have played the piano since I was four years old, and have taught piano for over 20 years. I am Suzuki trained and certified as a piano teacher and also play guitar and cello. This intelligence covers musical composition, pitch, rhythm, and tone. As a piano teacher, I experienced this intelligence on a variety of levels. I had some students who had 10+ years of piano lessons, that still couldn’t express themselves with the music, but instead played unemotional and rote notes on a page. On the other hand, I experienced a few students who I would call “gifted”. These students not only learned rapidly, but they were able to play with feeling and express themselves through the music, making it come alive rather than just spewing out some notes learned. Kinesthetic intelligence Kinesthetic intelligence goes hand in hand with musical intelligence. I had a student that was so strongly a kinesthetic learner that she played at a recital her entire piece, one piano key off of where she was supposed to be. Her kinesthetic senses (finger patterns, the order of notes) took over for her auditory sense (whether it sounded correct), and she performed the piece perfectly even though it sounded very wrong. This was my first introduction to the different intelligence styles; however, it helped me to be a better teacher by making sure she was engaging her auditory senses while playing instead of relying solely on finger memorization. As a piano player, this intelligence is essential to coordinate reading the music, simultaneously playing multiple notes while sustaining some and moving others, complicated rhythms, and using the various pedals to accomplish a desired effect and sound. Music performance is very auditory, but very kinesthetic as well. All of these intelligence areas can help as a teacher in both the classroom setting as well as one-on-one instruction. Being aware that some people struggle with verbal communication will help you to be a better communicator. Understanding that some people are incredibly kinesthetic can help you adapt to teaching them in more effective ways (they may need more rote practice than an auditory learner). Music is useful for learning a variety of non-music related things. When my daughter was young, we used music for her to memorize her multiplication facts since she was very musically inclined. Reflection Question: Chapter 1, Prompt 1
I chose to answer question 1 for the Chapter 1 assignment. The question includes the following topics:
Self assessment and areas for Improvement I think I have a reasonably good grasp of the technology tools that I use frequently and feel proficient in these. Where I find myself lacking is keeping on top of newer emerging technologies, keeping up with tools that I don't use very often and social media. However, sometimes I'm surprised by newer technologies that are available (and potentially better than what I am using). I get comfortable with what I know, and it becomes natural, so I often overlook something that might be a better option. Also, I sometimes struggle with the technology that I used to feel proficient in, which I haven't used in a long time and have to dust up on certain aspects of it. Social media as a means of communication is a big area that I could improve upon, particularly as used in a classroom situation. I have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for both work and personal use. I find I use Facebook the most for personal use and LinkedIn the most for work. However, I feel like I could significantly improve my skills in not only these social media platforms but others that are available. Competency It's hard for me to judge how competent I feel teaching in a technology-rich environment as I am not currently a teacher in the classroom. I feel like I would be qualified if using the tools that I am familiar with. I also learn technology quickly, so I think that I could implement new tools reasonably quickly. However, I don't have much to base this on as I'm not sure exactly what a "technology-rich" learning environment is. It seems as though that term could mean a wide array of things to different individuals. If it means using excel, Photoshop, creating movies, creating graphics, using flashcard sites, etc. then I would be right at home. Opportunities and Improvement When searching for opportunities to be more proficient with technology in the classroom, I would make sure to start by evaluating my technology skills against the five AECT Standards: content knowledge, contend pedagogy, learning environments, professional knowledge and skills, and research. Beginning with these standards as my basis, I can then see where my most significant weaknesses are and which areas I need to focus on for improvement. For those areas where I need improvement, I would seek out online training and national certification courses. Chapter 1, page 13, gives an informative table (Table 1.1) of online tech training sources for reference. Table 1.2 on page 18 lists typical applications for classroom technologies and is also a great reference tool for analyzing which areas might need improvement. Other useful resources: ![]() Hi all! My name is Melanie and I am in my second semester at USM pursuing a master's degree in Human Capital Development with an emphasis in IT Design. I have worked for USM for 10 years and am currently in the Polymer Science Department as a Senior Program Manager | Research Lab Manager. I received a BS in Finance and Banking and a BS in Marketing from Southern Miss. I have taken a variety of classes online both professional as well as educational so am quite familiar with the online learning models. I am currently completing my certification as a Digital Events Specialist with the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) which is a fully online class | certification. Technology software that I use and consider myself proficient in include the following:
I regularly use email, slack, remind, video calls, webinars, video meetings, various discussion boards, LinkedIn groups and chat in both my professional, personal and educational dealings. Some of these methods of online communication I prefer to others (mainly the more like face-to-face the more I like them). I love Microfsoft teams for chat, tasks, video meetings, etc and it is probably my favorite followed by slack. My least favorite are ones that I have to search through for necessary content/information and that aren't as interactive or "live". I try to stay somewhat on top of new technology tools particular to my work, but find that it is increasingly overwhelming with the number of options and the speed of new options available. I currently use Wiki's for managing project tasks and assigning them to my team members for work. I'm not a huge blog person (neither reading nor posting them) but I do have a few cooking/recipe blogs that I follow regularly. I am an avid consumer of podcasts, and quite frequently listen to these while I am at work to get the latest news and updates in marketing, event management and other topics relevant to me. Teaching Philosophy & Methodology My teaching philosophy relies on the belief that we are each given gifts; therefore, it is our obligation as teachers to share those gift with our students. I believe that one of the most gratifying accomplishments in life is giving back to others the knowledge, wisdom, or experiences that we have each acquired. I desire to be a mentor for my students, and my motivation comes from the inherent fulfillment of witnessing my students grasp information, learn new skills, and build their knowledge base. In my spare time I love cooking, travel, time with my family, reading, music/concerts, hiking, kayaking, backpacking, camping and fishing. |
AuthorMy name is Melanie and I am in my first year of pursing a Master's degree in Human Capital Development with an emphasis on IT Design at USM. I currently work as a Senior Program Manager for USM. Blogroll
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