Building, Sustaining, and Cultivating

I created a circle in google that has my school connections.  I honestly don't know how likely my circle is to grow because I don't know that many people.  I am definitely more of a brick and mortar connection person than online.  Building those relationships are easier for me because you get to know people face to face.  I'm not extremely trusting so this is beneficial because I'm decent at reading people when I'm in a face to face setting.  We have a tech team that is very active in making sure we know the new technology and use it.  Along with that I am a technology person to an extent so I will be paying attention when new things are released.

Final Reflection

Looking back over this semester I think TPCK and SAMR are the two items that I have been impacted by the most.  I truly believe that if I can look at each lesson during the planning stage and make sure I hit the R in SAMR I will be serving my students well.  Some of the items or tools we covered were confusing to me and I couldn't seem to get it to work.  If I can incorpate technology in more than just a substitution way then I will be making a decent attempt of intergrating technology.  Intergrating technology is important to me because we are living in an age where just about every student has used some type of technology on a semi regular basis.  With that being the case some students may be more involved in class if the technology is intergrated into it.  It even increases the chances of some type of class discussion with the addition of some type of discussion board.
Example: spaaze.com
 
I want my students to interact and participate so I believe that the understanding from this class will help me include technology in a helpful and useful way.

Digital Toolbox

Given the framework that we developed in my technologies class there were a few things that I focused in on.  I wanted to be sure that it was user friendly, interactive, age appropriate, and free. All of these are important for my students.  When I was looking at the tools for my digital toolbox I was looking more at how I could use those tools in a live classroom so I depending on TPCK a lot.  I wanted to make sure that whatever tools I chose served as more than a substitution.  I did my best to make sure that techonology was not just an extra little thing but was intertwined in everything.  I realized the further I got into it that the tools I found were more for me than for my students.  However I do believe that if my students are willing to experiment then they will be able to use most if not all of these tools.  I'm not sure how my toolbox will be expanded because I have to keep in mind the area of the state I will be working in and what my students will have access to.  I believe my toolbox will be relevant and easily usable in my history class.  It allows for a decent amount of student involvement and it also gives me a format to work with when having to lecture.  Unfortunately lecture will be a large part of my student teaching.  If you wish to see my toolbox click here.

Authoring Tools

A couple of weeks ago our emering web and mobile technologies class came up with a way to evaluate mobile technology tools.  Our focus was to make sure we could determine what worked for our specific subject and age group.  This week we were asked to look at tools that can be classified as authoring tools.  An example of authoring tools is tagxedo.  Below is an example of tagxedo.

This is a perfect way to introduce some of the topics you will be discussing during the semester.  One thing to keep in mind as an instructor when designing a learning object is your students and how much they enjoy interactive items.  If they have issues with following moving items it is probably best to steer clear of interactive programs.  If however students enjoy interactive learning then you should take advantage of it and use it to your advantage. These tools make for great student presentations and they can also be a fun way to present notes.  One of the tools I like is called Canva.  It gives students the ability to creat simple or elaborate presentations.  Here is a link to an example of a potential assignment on a News Story Debate.  Once you sign up you select your design.  Once you select the design it will move you into the creation area.  You chose the layout, the background, and add your text.  It is simple and quick.

We were asked in our emerging and mobile technologies to evaluate one of our past teachers using the ISTE Standards for Teachers.  First ISTE stands for International Society for Technology in Education.  I decided to evaluate the history professor I had my senior year of high school.  I will admit I am biased because I have always enjoyed his classes.
Standard 1 Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity: 6 out of 8
Standard 2 Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments: 2 out of 8
Standard 3 Model digital age work and learning: 3 out of 8
Standard 4 Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility: 4 out of 8
Standard 5 Engage in professional growth and leardership: 2 out of 8

We were also asked to look at an interactive wiki and the one thing that caught my attention for use in a history class was the Glog.  This is definitely something I look foward to trying when I begin teaching.

References

Education, I. S. (2014). ISTE. Retrieved from ISTE: http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-teachers

scfft6o. (2011). Civil Rights Movement. Retrieved from Glogster EDU: http://scfft6o.edu.glogster.com/harpersclassglog/