final class

From this class, I take away knowledge that I didn't have before. I have better understanding and respect for technology and its capabilities. Also, as much as I hated writing these blogs, I finally understand I guess the importance of them. I can see more of the effect technology has on a persons life because of this class. It was great>>>THANKS

Video day

       Today in class, I enjoyed watching all the videos that everyone created. It was very informative and I learned some interesting facts that I didn't know before. I think everyone did a splendid job.

learning while playing chapter 7

I believe using computer games as a learning resource is a great idea. In my own life, when in elementary school, I remember going to computer class and fiddling with the computer while my teacher was teaching us. I never really paid attention to anything he said. Once he instructed us, to go to different sites on the internet or click on something to open an application, I became all ears.

One thing I must agree with is that with the entire computer learning games that I have played, they all shared the six characteristics discussed in this chapter. These six characteristics are: rules, goals and objectives, outcomes and feedback, conflict / competition / challenge / opposition, interaction, representation or story.

With children, I see now when they enjoy doing something that is fun they pay attention, so if they can learn and have fun at the same time, that’s a plus. With the computer learning games, in order to advance to the next stage, you have to first do well enough on the previous tasks, that is the beauty of it.

One that I find very useful with children as I watch my daughter play them is math learning games. Maybe I’m a little biased towards other subjects because I love math so much.

webquest chapter 6

            If it wasn’t for this class, I don’t know when I would have learned about web quest nor how to make one. Having the opportunity to create a webquest in this class, I was able to develop a virtual lesson plan. When making my webquest, I kept the student in mind, wording the content as if I was standing in front of them teaching. For my webquest, I chose to teach algebra, after completion of the webquest, one is to be able to solve algebraic equations.

            I think webquest are an excellent learning tool ad captures the attention of the students. They are able to interact through technology and use the internet through links provided to help them to better understand the assignment.

            One day I will be able to create an even better webquest that will contain more graphics and more educational tools.

chapter 5

            With students accessing online resources to do homework assignments and write papers, comes the risk of plagiarism. To help to prevent plagiarism, I will show students how to properly quote information they find. I remember when I was in undergraduate school, my teacher failed someone in my English class for taking credit for something that wasn’t his. I asked her one day, how was she so sure that majority of the paper given to her was plagiarized. She told that since we were to upload our work onto the school based website, there is a program installed that automatically goes through papers submitted. This program which scans papers than highlights any words or paragraphs that match with one found online.

            This was an excellent tool for preventing plagiarism. But in order to help prevent the need to plagiarize, student will be aware of proper citing techniques.

blogging as a teacher chapter 8

            Having to keep a blog for this class, it gives me practice to develop another blog as a teacher. Using a teacher created blog allows for me to get the opportunity to attract my students outside of the classroom as well as informative to parents. Students can interact with me online and ask any questions they may have. Being as accessible as it is, I can easily respond to someone when something is posted versus a student having to wait till they come to school to ask the teacher. When this blog site is created, there will be a list of do’s and don’ts to prevent unwanted language, behavior and activity.

Intergration of Technology chapter 4

            To successfully integrate technology into classroom, the thinking of the instructor has to be in order. One must ask themselves how does technology introduced improve the educational goals of the students. Also one must to know which route they are going to take to get to these goals through the many pathways available.

            When I become an instructor, I plan to use technology In my classroom. This will enhance the attention given by the students and simultaneously enable me to get my lesson across. Before I use different resources available to teachers, I will decide which option works best for the students and what I am teaching. Inside  of the classroom, there will be power point presentations. Since I will be teaching math, power points will allow me to present graphs of different problems, such as a parabola.