Digital Blog K

Chapter Six had some very new and useful information that talks about technology being used in an everyday classroom, a few concepts in this chapter really intrigued me and I will discuss them with you now.

            The first concept that I found the most interesting in this chapter was the introduction of all these new and improved interaction based educational websites. This is where we are heading in our education system and I find it groundbreaking. Our society is so involved in technology, that being able to teach them using this new websites should have a more profound effect on their learning. I think it’s still important to have interaction with teachers and students, but this form of teaching through technology is where we are heading as a society and it’s a better way to get these younger generations to focus and enjoy reading.

            The second concept I liked reading about in this chapter was a convenient tool for teachers called ‘Information alert’, this tool alerts teachers electronically about a topic that has just become available on an online publication format. This allows teachers to continually be updated on topics that are important to them and what they are teaching their students. This saves teachers tons of time from having to try and find new material on what they’re teaching and allows them to prepare more for future assignments.

            The last concept I will talk about is the introduction of virtual and online schools that are changing the way we learn. Online and virtual schools allows students to obtain education through the internet. This is a big help for students who need excess help catching up if they have fallen behind, or students who are looking to excel further ahead in their studies. Online schooling has become so prominent that it is being used constantly in colleges all over the world for students who have a full time schedule. From personal experience, I enjoy online schooling a lot more due to the schedule I’m faced with. It allows me to complete my daily job and priorities and I can still gain an education.

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

www.YouTube.com; 'The Advantages of Online Education', 2011; https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=advantages+of+online+education

Digital Blog Post J

            Reading over this chapter “Engaging students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning”,  I found some pretty interesting ideas and concepts that will further the world of teaching and how technology is incorporated into it.

            The first concept I enjoyed reading about was the use of a democratic classroom. The democratic classroom can be a place where students and teachers now make important decisions together based on how the classroom operates educationally; from an academic standpoint to the rules of the room. I think this idea gives students a chance to become more engaged in what they’re learning. Instead of a strict agenda from the beginning of school until the end of the year, the students may feel like they were a part of what they’re going to learn and it should make them feel more incorporated into the lesson plan.

https://tackk.com/yj9wdl

Created by: Brandon Hurley

            A second concept I thought was a pretty good idea was the creation of the digital teaching portfolio. The portfolio would contain all the teacher’s important collections of his or her educational material virtually. This is a pretty big change that teachers will be getting used to because everything we know is turning digital, especially in the education field. Take this class for example, we are learning about variety of ways to create educational things using web tools. With this portfolio; it’s only making the teacher’s job, less cluttered and more efficient.  

            The last concept I like while reading this chapter was the section where it spoke about the use of online surveys. I think the use of online surveys is a great way to gauge a student and see where they are at from an educational stand point, that way you know what you really want to incorporate into their lesson. Using these surveys will make great use of the time you have with your students, instead of wasting time on things they might have a good grasp on; you can now find out exactly what they need help in or what they don’t have interest in and get working on it.

References:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Hurley, B (November 9th, 2015) The New Digital and Democratic created with Tackk

Digital Blog Post I

Chapter Four was a very interesting chapter to read over, I found some pretty intriguing concepts that should be very helpful for future teachers like me.

            The first concept I read about was in the section titled, “Web Sources and Apps for Lesson Planning”. This section talked about a lot of what we do in this class. I showed that there are multiple websites on the internet for interactive learning and creating useful lesson plans.  There are interactive lessons for any grade level and almost any area of schooling. I think teachers have been using these more and more, simply because they offer so many different ways to help students understand concepts; from using videos to step-by-step problem solving.

            The second thing I found interesting in this chapter was the rise of the electronic grading system. This system was just picking up steam when I was leaving high school and it’s only gotten more popular throughout schools. With this ability, teachers can input the students graded homework, quizzes, or test and receive an exact grade within seconds. This allows for students to see where they stand immediately so they can begin to improve without having to wait for a progress report. With this improvement, I think it will give students an extra boost to stay on target with their studies, especially if it can be viewed by parents.

            The last concept I enjoyed reading about in this chapter was about designing individual lesson plans for students. I think this has become a major part for the teachers. Having so much useful and interactive information can make life so easy and fun for the teachers now. They can incorporate things that will keep the students attention throughout the entire class instead of keeping their eyes in the textbook like the old days. As long as they follow their required state laws they are free to create fun interactive lesson plans.

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Hurley, B (October 11th, 2015) New Lesson Plans created with Piktochart