End of Semester Reflection...

When I began this class I was a little indifferent about it. I was excited to be in it because I thought it would be fun. However, I honestly didn't think that I would learn much that I didn't already know. How ignorant of me! My view of the role that technology plays in learning has changed so much!

I now realize things that I wasn't aware of before. My experience in school was one of limited technology. We had overhead projectors. I remember when white boards were the new thing! Our new generations need to have technology incorporated into their learning for them to learn successfully.

Current generations are surrounded by technology. Televisions, computers, video games, cell phones, interactive toys...the list goes on and on. These things are interesting and captivating to children. As educators, we are loosing a great opportunity if we neglect to incorporate these things into the classroom.

Since beginning this class I have become more aware of the use of technology in learning around me. I see when it is used and works well, and I notice when it isn't used and should be. Because of this class, I now feel more confident to use technology in my everyday teaching. I have learned things that I never would have learned without this class. I recommend that every teacher-to-be take a class like this one...it taught me so much and more importantly it helped me feel confident to use technology in my future class.

Week 7- Greatest Tech and Teaching clallenge...

My greatest challenge regarding technology and teaching is time. Sadly, this great thing called technology takes time to implement...especially for someone who is just an average technology person. It takes time to learn, time to do, and time to perfect.

I plan to overcome this challenge by continuing my education in technology. It I keep working and experimenting with it now, before I am in a classroom, I am going to have more ideas and feel that there is an ease of use because it will be things that I have experience with. Just as we as teachers write lesson plans and file away ideas for our classroom, technology should be the same way. Things that I am beginning to do now, such as creating my website, I am going to remember and continue to work on. This way, when I beginning teaching in my classroom, the learning of new technology won't be so intimidating.

Reflection #10

I have noticed the use of technology increase in my classroom! This is an exciting thing. Last year my teacher was so busy finishing her masters degree that she simply didn't have the time to incorporate the use of items such as the interactive board into the class. It is exciting to see these things starting to be incorporated.

It's almost as if I am able to have a hand in starting to use the items with the class for the first time. Next semester when I will be teaching more, I want to make the use of technology a goal of mine. I am going to get to the point where it will be second nature to me! How exciting is this?!

Assignment #4

I created a website for my final project. It is a site that is meant to be accessible to both students and parents. The URL is, http://mbharrold.webs.com/.

This was such a helpful learning experience for me. Creating something like this was always on my list of things that I wanted to do, however I felt a bit intimidated about it. Now that I have had the opportunity to do it, I realize that there are a lot of technology things that I can do...not only do but do well. Once I started creating my site I began to get more and more creative. I had many ideas pop into my head and decided to include some of these on my site. It was hard for me to choose a stopping point. If this were a real site for my real classroom, I would be adding and changing things at least once a week. I hope everyone who looks at my site enjoys the material I included and finds it helpful.

The technology features that my site incorporates include:

• wiki's
• multi-page website
• blog

(Ideally I would like to include other items, like video's students make for various projects...etc. There are just so many possibilities!)

I decided to create my project and then see where it fit into the NETS standards. This was I was creating what I wanted to create without putting myself in a box. But after finishing my project and then looking at the standards, I realize that my project covers so many of them!

For the NETS-T it covers:

• 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity- I have included projects on my site that require student participation. These projects invite students to be creative, innovative, and responsible.
• 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments- The interactive parts of my site are set up in such a way so that my students need to use 'digital tools' to completes the assignments. The projects allow for my students different learning styles to be addressed.
• 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning- By using a web site, I am involving parents into the education of their children. They can use the web site to contact me as well as a means to get involved. This site acts as a way for me to communicate effectively to both parents and students.

For the NETS-S it covers:

• 1. Creativity and Innovation- By requiring students to participate in activities on the web site such as writing activities, they are gaining experience in both the use of digital tools and writing.
• 2. Communication and Collaboration- Student projects on the site include a class collaborative story created by putting together writing from each student. Another project requires students to answer weekly question which are submitted to me. This is a way for students to communicate with each other as well as individually with the teacher.
• 5. Digital Citizenship- By introducing the wiki feature to students, they are required to use responsible decisions when adding their content and not disturb the content posted by other students.

I have realized that the NETS standards are a wonderful guide for teachers. They don't require anything that isn't doable. Just by creating my project and then looking at the standards, I have covered have of the NETS-T and the NETS-S.

This project has been a great learning experience. I now feel a lot more confident about using technology in the classroom. We are to the point in our society where technology needs to be a central point in our classroom learning environment. I now feel as though I will be able to do this smoothly.

Reflection #9

I had so much fun creating my web site. I spent way too much time on the little details...switching colors or fonts...which don't really matter. It took a lot of time, however it was time that I didn't realize I was spending. I would sit down to work on it and look up and two hours had gone by.

I feel excited to continue learning about new technology. By the time I graduate and am ready for a job, I want to have a bunch of technology projects in my back pocket that I can pull out and them. Just from this final project, I now understand what wiki's are and what a good web site needs. Because I have simply been in this class I feel more prepared for my future as a teacher. Not just a teacher, but a technology educated teacher!

My Technology Project Plan

For my technology project I am going to create a webpage as if I had a class. On there I want to add a wiki or two, I haven't quite decided what they will be for yet. My goal for my webpage is for it to be easy for both parents and students to access the information that they need. I want it to be informative and fun and a convey the learning environment that I hope to create in my future classroom.

Reflection #8

I first came to NU when it wasn't NU but rather NC. Took some time off and now have been back for awhile to finish things up. I have noticed such a huge difference! Besides there being a completely new building where there was once a road, there is a huge amount of new technology!

Back my freshman year, a certain well known professor who shall remain nameless, told me to go out and buy a new computer because my iMac wasn't a real computer and wasn't supported by the network. Wow, how far we have come...the school supports Mac!!! ;-) Now we have a computer in every class, document cameras, SmartBoards, cool software...it's great to see NU working to improve these things for students and faculty. I have noticed that each semester things get better and better with regards to technology. This is a great thing!

My Smart Board Presentation

My presentation didn't go exactly as I had hoped. Part of the problem was that I was really sick when I was supposed to present so I presented a couple of weeks later. I think the thrill of seeing presentations had warn off for my fellow classmates. :-)

I still think my game, Punctuation Paintball, was a lot of fun. It is something that I would like to use with my students next spring in my cooperating classroom. We have an interactive board in there so I am going to try to incorporate that into my teaching.

I think it will be easier to get kids excited about it...they are so much easier to teach than my peers! But I am glad that I got the opportunity to show the use of the Smart Board in front of a group of people. It was a good preparation experience.

Reflection #7

I was just thinking about the amount of time technology can take up. Is it worth the time? To plan a lesson takes time as it is but to incorporate a bunch of technology into it takes even more time. Does the average teacher have the time to get this all done?

It's just that all of these things are so great...video, websites, wiki's...but is it all realistic? When is a teacher supposed to have a life outside of school? I want to know how to balance learning what all these are, how to use them, how to implement them, and still maintain a balance in life. I suppose figuring all of this out is something that will just take time! :-)

Reflection #6

So I found this really cool competition that's going on. It involves musicians posting video's of themselves, one showcasing their musical ability, and one playing a specific piece of work, to vie for a chance to play at Carnegie Hall in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. Read the article here.

This got me thinking about the possibilities regarding education and contests like this. What about students doing some sort of project to win computers for their classroom? Or a teacher connecting with other teachers to compare different students work? I think that TeacherTube should launch some sort of fun bi-yearly competition...this would get teachers and students using technology more and would open up many possibilities. As educators we need to stop fighting against the change in schools and use it to our advantage. Find ways to make technology fun for students and yourself as a teacher. And what's more fun than some friendly competition to win something you really want?

The Classroom in 5 Years...

What do I think my classroom will look like in 5 years? Honestly, I think it will look much like it does now. I don't think students will be flying to school with jet-backpacks or that pencils will be considered an out of date item (even though jet-backpacks would be lots of fun!).

One major thing I see changing would be the continued ease of using technology. It just keeps getting easier and easier and more available to EVERYONE. I imagine that as a teacher, I will incorporate technology into the classroom and learning more than the average teacher does now. This is only because I grew up in a generation that was beginning to understand and use technology more.

I think that every student will have access to a computer...whether it's in the classroom or in a computer lab. Instead of requiring 3 books for a research project, it might turn into requiring 3 web sources. Teachers will always be invaluable, unable to be replaced. While technology is great and helps kids learn, it cannot replace the compassion and dedication that a good teacher will inspire them with.

I really want to be able to use technology everyday in my classroom. I want to hook up with a school overseas and have some sort of email/Internet phone pen pal program. I want to use photography and video as teaching tools. I want my students to discover and learn about technology by jumping in and using it. Overall, I have positive feelings about the future classroom. It will be like a new model of a car...it's the same as the old just a bit more stylish and with a few more features.