USM 2019 SUMMER
Introduction I have benefited a lot from IT 645 Computers in Education course this semester. As the essential support of 21 century's teaching and learning, instructional technology has developed greatly and made a grand contribution to improving the learning environment and effectiveness. In this course, we have explored basic teaching theories and training strategies by using technology in educational design. We have made projects using Google apps, video editors, podcast, creative practice online tools, and collect all the teaching materials to make a model online course website. By reading and reviewing the textbook Teaching and Learning with Technology (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2015) we reflect on the given questions and shared opinions with group members about how to apply technology in the classroom, how to use software to create a better education atmosphere, issues and trends in the future of educational technology, etc. The blog folio you are reading contains two segments. The first part is the blog post that presents my opinions about reading materials and my projects reflection. The second part is the five standard page of ISTE, which demonstrate detailed standards, artifacts related to them, and my future learning goals based on each standard. In this article, a brief reflection of the course is made to give a conclusion about what I have learned, what projects I have created and my experiences of using each tool. At the end of this article, I’ll also list my strong and week points that I have found during my learning process. What I’ve learned in this class Before learning this course, I always feel there is a lack of basic and systematic knowledge about teaching and learning technologies in my knowledge system. Thanks to IT 645, I have improved my understanding of theoretical perspectives, proper usage of educational technologies, quality instruction design steps, learning styles, and design models, technology conduction in physical and virtual classrooms and so on. Based on my understanding, educational technology is a research area that explores the process of analyzing, designing, creating, applying and assessing the educational environment and learning materials to enhance teaching and learning. It is essential to remember that the aim of teaching technology is to enhance education outcome and facilitate teaching and learning. The highlight of this course is creative hand-on projects, I have build-up and even broaden my instructional tool kits by finishing that assignment. Creating the course site is an interesting experience too, I get a chance to practice theories into real life and organize the curriculum, rubrics, syllabus, multimedia practices and course materials. Reflections on the tools Google Apps (Google Form, Google Slides & Google Docs). Products from Google for Education are simple to deploy, use and handle. IT administrators can set up fresh equipment and handle strategies throughout a college or district with just a few clicks. Automated management based on the cloud streamlines procedures and guarantees that all customers remain up-to-date. Google Form can be used to to create a technology background survey and Google Slides & Docs are great tools to create the presentation as well as the storyboard or course introductions. Google Apps are also practical and effective to use in group work. Collaboration among students allows them to communicate and share ideas with no limitation. Each app can simply be switched on or off with a single click for individual users depending on the setup of the accounts. There are dozens of outstanding lesser-known apps that are engaging and useful. If in a few years I become a teacher, I’ll definitely introduce Google apps into the classroom for its Budget-friendly, with security built-in, and inspiring. Podcast. Podcasting is a tool that provides flexibility in the way users can access and distribute media. A public podcast that can be accessed on school grounds can be retrieved from any computer, regardless of its location. Moreover, a podcast can be created on any type of computer, regardless of location, as long as the computer is equipped with a microphone. In this way, podcasting can extend the learning that takes place at school into the home environment and vice versa. In addition, the flexibility and mobility of podcasting offer students choice in the way they choose to access and create their literacy experiences. Movie Story. I made my movies story with iMovie because it’s convenient to import images, video clips and background music on Mac system. The export of the final project is easy and you can even post your work directly to connected Youtube account in a few minutes. One benefit of making your own movie story is that you may choose specific materials that could benefit the most of student’s learning experience. The editing effect is not the key to success, it’s the content that makes the movie story attractive and engaging. EDpuzzle. Videos are wildly used in education, especially for the online classroom. Increasing interaction and level of engagement of students is the core competency of interactive video compared to the traditional video materials. EDpuzzle allows splitting the video by questions, tips, audio explanations, and quizzes. Students can watch the video while get instructed and practice what they just learned from the video. Interactive modules like Edpuzzle videos may increase students’ engagement and increase the level of retention compared to standard video. Instructors may explore and adopt more available video editing tools to benefit their classes. Rubistar. Creating the rubric is necessary for a learning plan. The more detailed the rubric is for the assignment, the better students could understand what they should do on their tasks. An obvious advantage of using Rubistar is that you may use numerous templates of different topics offered by the website. The database with numerous sample collection also helps with your rubric creation. Modifying rubric content is pretty easy, you may add raws or columns with no strings. Export the form may not be that ideal for me, but students can always get access to the original version by entering the code on the website. Quizizz & Kahoot. Quiz tools are popularly used for e-learning and m-learning. However, the quality and function variety of the tools are various according to the developer’s work. By comparing Kahoot and Quizizz, the differences between an effective, flexible, functionally satisfied application and a rough-made, essential one is clear. I integrated both of the tools into my website course, then found out that Quizizz is more user-friendly and functionally variable. For instructors, adopting online tools into the course should be careful and considered. It is necessary to experience by yourself before applying them to your students. Thinglink. Thinglink is the best interactive learning tool I’ve ever experience so far. The design is beautiful and clear, the tags and texts are easy to navigate and manipulate. Scoopit. Once I add Scoopit and set up the auto bookmark function as a plugin to my browser, I can’t stop using it! Scoopit is handy and convenient to be used as an online bookmark program. You can build-up my personal reading list daily and also use it as a reading list or information sharing platform for students. Students may share and discuss the information they have collected to develop collaboration and communication. E-portfolio For the construction of electronic portfolios, we still adhere to Weebly.com. The project conveys a number of meanings, such as what we have learned and achieved in the course, our growth and advancement, the philosophy of learning, and our compatibility as a future teacher. I like the way classmates could read and review peer's work, it's a positive dynamic for virtual learning. My strong and weak points Reading professional articles is a good chance to learn about fundamental knowledge, I love reading and absorbing new ideas, however, I’m not good at writing and reflection, which is one of my weakness. I’m proud of the website I’ve created for this course. I’ve spent some time to write the learning plan and organize which tools should be used for what kind of activities. But once I figured that out, the process of creating the website is enjoyable. I also love review my classmates work for their perspectives alway inspires me. Another weak point for students like me who lack inner-motivation sometimes is that time management could be hard and tough. I have conquered my procrastination this semester which is good news. Being active and motivated to learn all the time is not easy for online learners, for this reason, I feel the responsibility of creating more useful instructional designs to help with learners. Future learning goals My future learning goal is to use the instruments I've learned to enrich future lessons, to find more tools and tricks to use to share data with my fellow co-works and learners. I will continue to use and add applications and internet instruments to generate fresh and enjoyable methods of communicating and teaching. Furthermore, I plan to integrate diverse and alternative techniques of evaluation in future material to support individual students.
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Chap. 11 Online social interaction offers great opportunity to develop and practice positive social, as well as good communication skills. However, the threat of cyberbullying and the possibility of inappropriate sharing require protecting children. What do you think the role of online social interaction should be in schools? What steps should educators take to ensure that such integration can be done safely?
Increased social interactions lead to a greater sense of connection, which in turn leads to enhanced learning. A well-designed online course has the ability to help learners form bonds that can generate this sort of efficient learning community. Online courses give the chance for a much deeper and richer involvement with the products, but for higher efficiency, it is necessary to take into consideration the social elements of group dynamics. Online discussions have the ability to be efficient cooperative learning seminars and forums; however, they are not always intended in this manner. Sometimes the goal of the course is to effectively impart content in much of the way that face-to-face lectures do or correspondence courses did in the past. It makes perfect sense to use the internet universe to interact with your learners as they are already there most of the moment. There is no need for another case study on the use of social media in colleges. The advantages of social media in the education system do not have to stop in the connection between teacher and student.There are many other advantages that can also be derived from the use of social networking at greater concentrations. For instance, directors or administrators can discover a fresh way to incorporate social media. Social engagement is active in interacting with others, exchanging thoughts and collaborating on teaching duties for the purpose of co-building understanding. Social interaction plays a major part in the teaching process of internet learning. The first step towards defending young learners using social media is to obviously articulate strategies within schools. While the future of training is connecting with learners outside the classroom, it must intentionally unfold, with very clear limits in place. Secondly, computers used in classrooms and classroom networks must be properly set up. Firewalls mounted on classroom networks can restrict the kinds of locations that are accessed and prevent learners from opening malicious email attachments and other malware. Filtering software offers additional fortification, limiting access to particular kinds of locations and content. Besides, many educational-specific applications leverage functionality that many of us have become acquainted with through common social media apps. Chap. 12 As emerging technologies continue to affect education, there is little question that the role of the teacher will change. Imagine yourself teaching a class in 20 years. How do yo think your role would be different from the typical teacher’s role today? It is evident that the school demands of the 21st century are very distinct from those of the 20th century. In the school of the 21st century, educators are facilitators of student learning and creators of productive school settings in which learners can develop the abilities they might need at present or in the future. Teaching methods are more learner-centered rather than teacher-oriented. If I’m a teacher in 20 years, I would see my role in education as the participant, the prompter, the resource, the assessor, and the instructor. Successful use of technology at its finest offers possibilities for more interactive learning and teaching. In the technology-supported classroom, instead of distributing understanding, educators set up projects, arrange for access to suitable resources, and develop the organizational structure and support that can assist learners to succeed. This strategy transfers concepts of learning beyond the rotary memorization of facts and processes to learning as a method of knowledge creation. The roles of collaborators and team coordinators are backed by the use of Internet browsing software and electronic mail software programs. "Instructional designer" is one of the fresh positions that I would take on. Like the "self-learner" role of learners, educators in this position must design, schedule, and organize themselves to efficiently use and incorporate technology in their schools. I would adopt effectively all the resources from the internet and the new online tools available to meet the various needs of students as an instructional designer.
Chap. 9: Web communication tools open broad new opportunities for interaction among students across the globe. Of the communication tools you have learned about, which do you think holds the most promise?
Email is one of the most commonly used communication tools that support messaging between teachers and students, file sharing and collaborating. Email can be used in multiple ways to help with course management, daily announcement, grade reporting, learning evaluation, and feedback. It is easy to register, get access whenever and wherever, copy and refer emails and store documents. I would use email as a day-to-day communication tool and introduce it to my classmates when we need to do group work. Because a large number of people can be copied and communicated at once if needed. One drawback of the email is that urgent information might not be read and respond immediately if the receiver didn’t set an alert. For instant responses and direct communication, one-to-one chat, or instant messaging provides better interactive experience compared with communicating with email. Many chat apps allow creating private or public chat rooms. Using voice messaging is another popular way to discuss with group members. With the global internet connection, teachers could invite experts or students from different areas to participate in the communication. However, students should be self-disciplined and motivated to maintain the dynamic interaction between the instructor and students as well as among the students themselves. As internet technology has been developed, students in the 21st century can learn anywhere with computer access. Meanwhile, video conferencing software is getting more and more advanced, not only in the business field but also in the educational area. With a multimedia computer, a webcam, and internet access, students can cross traditional classroom boundaries to have actual conversations. The conference sessions can be recorded and shared afterward for students who missed the meeting or want to take another look. Borderless education is the future trend. Video conferencing is making distance learning possible and effective. The technical issue is one of the aspects that instructors should be prepared for. Participants should be supported when audio or video connection is troubled, or the link drops out halfway. The Internet gives students the availability to explore online resources and non-traditional education is chosen by young generations to improve their learning experience. As a future educator, I’m driven by the responsibility of teaching creatively and effectively to prepare students for the Internet society. Therefore, adopting new technology and communication tools to the classroom is an ideal start. Chap. 10: One of the primary issues associated with the implementation of distance education revolves around the teacher’s ability to adequately and appropriately evaluated student progress and competencies. Do you believe that this is an issue? Why or why not? The hardness of assessing and evaluating student’s outcomes is a significant issue for distance education. As a critical component of distance education and online learning, assess student performance and improvements is no longer used for grading and qualification, but has been connected to the students ' learning and skill growth. Most teachers agree that memory testing is not the best measure of learning in any setting, but measuring the outcomes of the program is hard. It is necessary to practice a valid evaluation scheme that can guarantee the fulfillment of the goals of the course. Tools based on information communication technology evaluation, such as portfolio and e-portfolio, should be used on a big scale to establish a student friendly and innovative practice.
Softwares are wildly used in the different level of education areas. Powerful and potential softwares can engage student to learn actively and effectively. The various types of educational and academic softwares and their practical usages are introduced in Chapter 8. By creating podcast, movie story, and interactive video, I've explored how to design and develop attractive materials for courses. Also, some of their benefits and drawbacks are listed as below.
- Podcast I have been listening and subscribing language-learning podcasts for years, because I'm allowed to access the program anytime and with the headphone blocking the noise outside, I enjoy a lot this convenient learning way. Another advantage of podcast is that, for details that I missed, I can roll back the podcast and listen again easily. However, when creating my own podcast, I found it's difficult for teachers to finish the recording within 3 times (or it was just me?). Adding the background music is another tricky thing to do just to make the podcast more enjoyable. I still consider podcast as a good way to compose course material. Currently, the mobile learning in China is very popular, most of the courses is published as podcast and with no limitation of learning time and location, it's getting more and more welcomed.
- iMovie
IMovie is a surprisingly delightful movie editor for me as a beginner. The surface and settings are friendly, and the rich array of online tutorials support the transaction from images, audios, video clips to an interesting short story movie. My technique of using this application still need to improve, so the current project looks like an animated presentation, but the audio and transfer effects offer by this program is truly helpful. With more specific teaching goals and solid course materials, I'm sure iMovie can achieve more possibilities. Last but not the least, the iMovie supports direct export to YouTube, which is convenient and time-saving.
-Interactive Video
As a free assessment-focused tool, Edpuzzle allow teachers to create interactive online videos by clipping, adding quizzes and notes, and recording audios to instruct or explain. Its ability of making interactive videos with videos from other websites is amazing. A number of websites, including YouTube, TED, Vimeo, and National Geographic are accessible with no barriers. I can also embed my own voice and ask questions in the video. When finishing editing and saving, I could add the video to my online class easily on EdPuzzle and share it with your students via links and code. Or the embedded code allows me to insert the video on the other websites as well. Course link: https://edpuzzle.com/join/herevjo Code: herevjo - How Google Docs promote active learning and collaboration among students?
This week we explored how to use google docs, google slides to create course materials. My experience of using google doc begin with sharing information or collaborating with classmates on article writing. It was an effective way to build up texts with multiple group members when working or studying together. I have tired several other applications such as Evernote and EtherPad (by clicking on their names you could see the introduction and tutorials of these tools). The main characteristics of google docs are easy accessibility, digital storage assurance, multiple group work support and sharing/ editing friendly. With google tools, teachers can also facilitate and supervise students' learning process, give comments and suggestions in time, and of course, get feedbacks immediately. Google doc is vastly compatible with everyone’s technology, most importantly, it's for free. Projects sharing links: Document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dAPKlF2ZywxRsz4NkGY5KwrvIgNTZP0CFmJsfY9m_9Q/edit?usp=sharing (Links to an external site.) Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1enDZBTw2xcr0LLis2ZGpdhOTpFfNMi0FWegQ3AoWl-Q/edit?usp=sharing Chap.4 Q2: Technology can provide solutions to help meet the unique needs of both groups. However, schools typically have limited budgets for technology. Considering that the needs of all students should be met, what do you think the best allocation of limited technology dollars should be to meet these students’ needs? Give examples to support your views.
First of all, before deciding what kind of technology should be used in education, educational institutions professionals should target the amount and condition of the population with disabilities they are serving for. The result of measuring participants’ real needs and the course requirements determine what kind of technology can help with the group learning effectively. For example, supportive technology tools that are provided by mobiles are more facility for visual, auditory and tactile learners. If participants with special needs are included, IT designers should integrate these technologies to help with them. Secondly, teachers should be well trained to manage technology tools and integrate them effectively into daily teaching. To achieve this, schools and institutions should support teachers to get familiar with technology tools and learn about the features so they can help better with student’s learning. Thirdly, integrating technology to facilitate different teaching strategies is also important to improve learning effectiveness. Schools can improve learning and teaching using research-based and best practices-based strategies that in many cases don’t require more money, and in others where more money will help if it’s spent strategically Chap. 5 Q3: What is the most significant opportunity presented by technology integration? What role does training play in effectively integrating computers in the classroom? Learning with technologies offer students a platform with rich multimedia tools, a chance to explore abundant resources, and experiences of collaborative communication. During the usage of computer, mobiles and other devices and tools, students can practice their ability to work and learning with new technologies. Many tools are focused on communication which enhances their ability to interact and cooperate with group members.These are abilities allow students to meet the demands of the labor market better in this technological development society. Before integrating completely the new technology system or new devices, teachers need to develop new skills that meet the requirement of using devices and systems practically. Training programs should prepare and provide support for the teachers and challenge their pedagogical beliefs regarding the way they teach and how they can use technologies to enhance and support the way students learn. Training and retraining is an essential step to achieve this goal. For 21st century classrooms, teachers need to keep upgrading their skill to meet the challenge and make better integration of technological tools into the classroom. Training needs to go beyond simple computer skills such as word-processing. It needs to provide support for educators and to prepare them. Training should therefore also focus on addressing second-order barriers. Chap. 6 Q3: You have learned about the challenges you will face in implementing technology in your classroom. How do you plan to meet these challenges during your pre-service and in-service career? Be specific in describing a strategy to meet each challenge. Integrating technology and immersing it into learning has some great advantages. Video conferencing tools like Skype, Google hangouts and virtual classroom software, like Blackboard Collaborate and DiscoverE, mean that our classes can always be connected. Sufficient time to learn and play with the tools and technology is also a challenge. Access to technician support, personal knowledge and expertise can also be problems. However, social and professional networks have helped me overcome much of this. Teachers need to develop a supportive network via Twitter, email groups and other social networks. There are many online free webinars and conferences, and MOOC’s are becoming increasingly available on many topics. Teachers need to find tools that will be of use in their classroom, that suit the needs of learning and are within their comfort zone. There are many tools that do not require a lot of technological expertise, such as Skype or online notepads. the Chap. 1 Q: What will you do to keep yourself informed about the options of technology tool available to you? How will you manage your discoveries and work toward integrating them into your classroom?
To meet the professional requirement of technology standards, teachers in the 21st century should integrate technologies actively into daily teaching and help students to learn with new tools supported by technologies. I would like to participate in workshop or technology literacy courses every once in a while to keep myself updated and explore more possibilities. Attending free online training classes is another option. To keep abreast with the new trend of technology applied in the educational area, instructors should participate in courses, seminars, and workshops that aim to introduce, discuss and eventually develop educational technology. Research new tools via the Internet is another convenient way to approach new tools. Resources are more available than before with the help of the Internet. Many new tools can be found by just insert the keywords. Teachers can subscribe to email newsletters from popular educational websites to get updates all the time. I have subscribed email newsletter from Schoology, Coursera, Edmodo, Weebly, and Prezi. By reading their new posts, I could learn about not only the new functions of these tools but also suggestions from professional LMS managers that could facilitate my daily use of these tools. Keep an eye on the official website of journal or dissertation publishers is another option to keep me updated. Many new articles introduce new tools and strategies for how to benefit from teaching technology. Furthermore, if I start working in the educational area, I would collaborate with my colleagues very often and learn from each other about new tools that are qualified enough to be a positive component in my courses. Teachers should understand thoroughly the function of new tools to make them a better usage in teaching and learning. Every tool has its own working domain. Some are for administrative tasks, others are for communications, self-learning, presentation or lesson preparation, etc. Before adopting new tools into daily teaching, I would analysis the purpose of using this new tool and examine the effectiveness of it. After the sample using for a while, I will collect comments and reflections about user experience to make adjustments. Chap. 2 Q: Discuss your understanding on different learning styles and its influence on learning. Learning style refers to best learning conditions that various on individual differences. “Each learner is likely to have a unique cognitive style, a unique learning style, and some parameters related to intelligence.” The teacher should take a closer look at the student’s cognitive and learning style, consider their characteristics when designing the teaching process and material formats to help learners learning effectively. For example, auditory learners are more likely to learn from listening, for learning materials, using auditory media such as podcasts could benefit their learning. Visual-oriented learners learn primarily from seeing, so text-based material with picturized content is a better choice for them to learn. Hands-on learners are kinesthetic and prone to learn from doing and modeling, hence teachers should integrate practicing activities to engage more experience in the learning process. Learning styles have combined schemes as well. Motivating learner’s multiple modes of perceiving --- visual, auditory and kinesthetic, could allow learners to receive information in their preferred learning style. By integrating various educational technologies, modern classroom and online courses have more possibilities to improve learner’s experience and reinforce their learning outcomes. Chap. 3 Q: Discuss Design-Plan-Act (DPA) system – what it is, how the three distinct planning components of DFA differ, and why it is helpful to use a system approach to integrate technology? The DPA system refers to an instructional planning model that allows the teacher to create a systematic instruction process. To DESIGN the complete instruction, teachers could adapt to DID (Dynamic Instruction Design) model known as the guidance of the unit design format to start with. the DID model includes five steps: Know the learners; state learning objectives; identify teaching and learning strategies; identify and select technologies, and assess and revise the system. The second step: PLAN, articulates specified unit contents, that's to say, the lesson plan. The PLAN step means to detail and prepares the outline of the whole learning plan. During this phase, the unit design is broken into daily lesson plans. Teachers need to ready the learners, the learning environment, target learning objectives, prepare the steps of the pedagogical cycle, and design methods to assure the success of the lesson. In the end, the details of the lesson plan should be carried out for instruction where the planning phase comes to the ACT. This step put teacher's plan into action when the instruction is carried out smoothly as planned. Teachers need to keep tracking on the completion of daily objectives during this period. Lever-Duffy, Judy; McDonald, Jean (2014-02-11). Teaching and Learning with Technology. Pearson Education. My name is Tian Meng and I am currently pursuing my Master’s in Instructional Technology. This is my second semester and hope to complete my studies at the end of summer 2019. Before coming here, I graduated from Beijing Language and Culture University in June 2018 with a bachelor degree in Spanish Language and Literature. I worked as a Spanish-Chinese interpreter and translator in the last year of university, then I got admitted to study here out of my interest in teaching Spanish with instructional technologies. In China, technology is developing very fast and has already been used wildly in the education area. Meanwhile, being a language teacher has always been my dream, so IT became my best choice for a future career. Currently, I work as a GA in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development of USM. I've been using and exploring more and more instructional technology tools besides the basic Microsoft Office products. Benefited from the study of the first semester, I've learned how to make graphic design and web design, how to use computer programs such as iMovie, Adobe Photoshop, Pixlr, piZap, photovisi, Animaker, Vyond, Powtoon, Weebly, Wix, Google Sites to make professional educational video and presentation materials. In the second semester, I've explored with my classmates more communication tools and developed thought-provoking discussions about learning theories and strategies. Besides, I'm getting more and more familiar with Learning Management Systems such as Canvas and Schoology by using them every day. I am unsure what my teaching philosophy is. I think that everyone can learn and should be given the same opportunities no matter their background. I am looking forward finding my philosophy. I enjoyed learning online with so many great classmates. Learning from each other is the best experience but not the least advantages of IT courses. To conclude, I'm very happy to be part of this class and looking forward to learning more with and from everyone! Good luck and enjoy the summer! |