Chapter #7 Problem Solving and Inquiry Learning with Software and Web Tools

 

Focus Question 3:  How do teachers use different types of software programs to promote problem solving and inquity learning?

• Educational software can be used to promote skills-based learning, problem solving and inquiry learning, or many combinations of each.
• Composing and calculating software such as Microsoft Word and Excel provide extensive ways to promote learning through digital writing and computer-based mathematical computations.
• Skills-based learning software promotes the learning of basic skills such as number operations in math or vocabulary words in language arts.
• Inquiry and discovery learing software such as the "House" series, Kid Pix, and Google Earth offers students opportunities to problem solve and discover through follow-you-own-questions types of learning explorations.
• Visual thinking and concept mapping software such as Kidspiration and Inspiration provide ways for teachers and students to organize and outline their ideas on a computer.

Tech Tool 7.1     Squeak Etoys

Squeak Etoys, is a computer software that can be downloaded free of charge.  It can be used in different grade levels and various academic subjects.

Conclusion

Students can either learn from or with computers. When technology is applied to a variety of learning goals and is used to develop higher order thinking, creativity and research skills, students learn with computer. Software applications the come in the form of math and reading games and activities that students find fun and motivating. Also, have a positive reading and math achievement

I absolutely agree that technology helps to engage kids more into education or it just make it more simple for children and also adults to understand. I am working with children four and five year olds at the childcare center and I see the kids – how quickly they learn and are eager to do something you just have shown to them!. The integration of technology is vital in this age.  At the child care, we  do not have any type of technology except a CD player.  You would be surprised how many children these days use IPad’s and Iphones. We live surrounded by technology, I think if I able to introduce techology for these children that I am working right now they will benefits from it. I also very much agree on the fact that children are more engaged and interested in learning with the help of technology.

Resources:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010). Transforming
teaching with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon

                                                                                                                



Chapter #6 Teaching with Education Websites and other Online Resources

Chapter #6 - Teaching with Education Websites and other Online Resources

Focus Question 6:  How might education websites provide interactive and engaging learning experiences for students?

• Educational websites provide opportunities for students to explore their own questions or go through a site in a nonlinear, self-directed manner.
• Educational websites allow students to engage with online material through stories, characters, mysteries, and controversial issues.

Student engagement - traditional teaching and learning is transmissive: it focuses on communicating a great dial of information (or content) to students.  Today's students, with very different characteristics.  They do not usually learn as effectively by simple listening passively, note-taking and absorbing information.  They learn better if they are engaged.  This means moving away from didactic content delivery and increasing interaction.

Engaging students online, consider students' access to computing facilities, and to high speed Internet.  While the vast majority of students have good access, there are still many students who may not have good access off-schools.

Again, students abilities are improving as Internet related activieties increase in every day life.  However, some students will need assistance and consideration in these matters.

Tech Tool 6.2:   Delicious

Free online.  Users are required to register.  Delicious is a Web-based social bookmarking tool that organizes all of your bookmarks in one place.  While using delicious, you can view a Web page and capture the page by clicking on a Delicious tab in your toolbar.


 

Conclusion
 

Very few of us attend regular lectures these days; most information comes to us electronically, and includes graphics, etc.  We unlikely to be accustomed to sitting for long periods simply listening to someone talk. Web tools led us to focus and giving students access to information (lecture notes online, for example) made it easier to get students doing-interacting with resources and with peers through chat and discussion. I think the educational websites and other online resources are being used increasingly by educators to enable a greater level of interaction and collaboration among students.

Resources:
Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010). Transforming
teaching with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon
 

Chapter #5 Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

Chapter #5 - Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

Focus Questions 1:  What is the meaning of information literacy for teachers and students?

• Instantly available information on the Internet is transforming the work of teachers, creating the need to teach students how to access and assess the resources and materials they find online.
• Teaching students how to do Internet research is a crucial element of information literacy and involves learning how to recognize and utilize high-quality electronic information.
• Information literacy and Internet research together enable students to act as critical readers and thoughtful researchers in Web-based environments.

Literacy is a multimedia database that provides access to resources for teachers to use in teaching information literacy skills to students.

The Internet have made tremendous amounts of information easily accessible, however, the quality and usefulness of information stream.  It is imperative for students to understand how to locate reliable data, it's appropriateness, and use it effectively.  For example, teachers can requiring students to think critically and comparatively about the quality of the information presented.  Accessing information efficiently and effectively, evaluating information critically and competently using information accurately and creatively.

Tech Tool 5.1:  Flickr

Flickr is an online photo managing and sharing tool with a number of instructional options for teachers. I find a lots a visual learning resources like photos into sets based on a theme.

Today's educators and students need to be able to locate, evaluable, use and share information.  They can successfully navigate through information resources. To improve their quality of education.  To learn additional tools, to reinforce course content and to enhance lifelong learning.


Resources:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010). Transforming
teaching with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon

Chapter #4 - Integrating Technology and Creating Change

Focus Question: How can teachers create change in classrooms using technology?

• How a technology is designed and how a technology is used will either expand or limit that technology's change impact in schools.
• Digital pens are an example of technology that has a greater or lesser capacity to create change depending on each type's technological capabilities.
• Preparing class notes using a tablet PC is an example of how a technology can fundamentally change how teachers and students interact with academic materials.

Although there has been a strong push to educational technology into the hands of teachers and students, many obstacles to implementation still exist.  Equipment may not be easily accessible.   Hardware and software often pose problems for teachers in the classroom, and just in time technical support may be unavailable.

 

Learning the new roles and ways of teaching that go hand in hand with technology integration requires that teachers have opportunities to participate in an extended process of professional development.  Teachers need time to acquire technology skills and develop new teaching strategies for integrating technology into the classroom.

Tech Tool 4.1:  Edutopia

Edutopia: Information and Inspiration for Innovative Teaching in K-12 Schools, programs that are improving the way students learn.  The series focuses on evidenced based successes and uses how to videos and tip lists to help education leader.

No matter what your skill level, integrating technology into your classroom offers the change to increase student interest and teach valuable professional skills and have some fun.  A quick internet search may help you identify ways to supplement your lessons with intesting new material.

Resources:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010). Transforming
teaching with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon

Chapter #3 - DEVELOPING LESSONS WITH TECHNOLOGY

Focus Question: What is meant by "lesson development using technology"?

• Lesson development is central to the work of every teacher.
• Lesson development is a process of creative design and decision making that includes three elements: (1) what to teach, (2) how to teach, and (3) how to know what students have learned.
• Technology tools support all three aspects of lesson development.

Lesson planning is a special skill that is learned in much the same way as other skills.  It is one thing to surf the web to retrieve lesson plans from others sites and adapt them to your needs.  The internet has many thousands of lesson plans available to anyone.  I find something that will either give me some new ideas, or perhaps reinforce my oldes ones.  Learning from other teachers is an important means of professional development.

Tech Tool 3.1: PBS Teachers

PBS Teachers is an extensive resource for educators from the Public Broadcasting Service. It is available free of charge online. I like this side because it has Prek activities, professional development opportunities, video, etc.

In conclusion technologies change every aspect of teacher's work, including how to plan lessons, keep records, and communicate with students, families, and collagues.  As a parent waiting for inews each month from my daughter's school I find wonderful and also working with prek children getting ideas and information from all kind of sources help me a lot.

Resources:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010). Transforming
teaching with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon

Journal #2 - Transforming Learning with Unique, Powerful Technology

Focus Question:   In what ways does technology promote unique, powerful, and transformative learning for students?

Transforming learning with unique, powerful technology, we mean tools, concepts, innovations, and advancements that are utilized in diverse educational settings, to serve varied educational purposes.

Teachers experience technology as an effective tool for professional learning and develop skills to powerfully use technology to improve student learning.  I the think teacher develop confidence and effectiveness in designing and supporting technology rich environments that maximize students learning.

There are five kinds of unique, powerful and transformative learning experiences: visual learning, accessing and assesing information, student engagement and collaboration, feedback, and creativity.

• Visual Learning - consists of sofware programs, internet sites, videos, etc
• Accessing and Assessing Information - use of websites, google, digital dictionaries, etc.  These resources help the student gain informational literacy.
• Engagement and Collaboration - This method is much different than the traditional approach of a lecture from the teacher and worksheet, but rather work in groups on a project to keep them interested and focused.
• Feedback - Way that a student and teacher can communicate on a different level.
• Creativity - characteristic that is beneficial to a students growing process.  Web processing, drawing, design and paint programs are to name a few ways one can express their individuality.

Tech Tool 2.1:  Visual Dictionary Only http:/visual.merriam-webster.com

Teachers who have experienced technology as teaching tool for professional learning, and who in the process have developed the skills for powerful use of technology in the classroom, can greatly improve student learning.  It also provides teachers with new tools and challenges that can transform instructional roles, curricula, and practices.

A range of hardware and software applications supported these students roles.  Students had access to vast stores of information like Visual Dictionary Online (http:/visual.merriam-wester.com).  In addition, they had a variety of tools that could use to transform this information into knowledge, tools such as word processors, graphics, multimedia, and  web development software.

Conclusion:

Finally, technology is applied effectively, it can be a strong force for promoting learning.  Technology plays a role in this approach of providing students with tools and information that support their problem solving, communication, collaboration, and knowledge creation.  I think one of the valuable aspects of technology is that it lets a teacher engage his or her students on the students' level.


Resources:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010). Transforming teaching with new technologies. Allyn & Bacon

Journal #1 - Becoming an e-Teacher

Focus Question:  How do new technologies create new opportunities for teaching and learning?

Teachers have always used tools to help them present the material to be learned.  Some of these tools are chalk and chalkboards, magic markers, poster paper, etc.; others by comparison have been more high tech like tape records, slide projectors, overhead projectors, VCRs, and more.

Today's newest high tech educational tools include computers and interactive software like Microsoft, offer many advantages ranging from classroom managament, recordkeeping, etc.

Technology is also changing education in two ways: first, by offering new resources to engage students in learning, and second, by giving them an opportunity to learn about new technological fields, leading to jobs and to a greater understanding of how these fields affect the world.

Technology appears to hold great potential for learning for all ages, undeniably, the role of technology in early childhood education is that of a tool for learning, communicating, equalizing opportunities, and creating positive changes in the learning environment.

The potencial technology has for all children is beyond anything in past educational experiences.  But in and of itself technology is no magic wand.  To be effective, it must be used and used appropriately.  Simply having a computer and adaptive technologies available for the children is not enough.

Tech Tool 1.2: 7 Things You Should Know About ...(EDUCAUSE)

Technology provides numerous tools that teachers can use in and out of the classroom to enhance student learning.  There are also numerous on-line resources about using technology to enhance teaching in a number of different ways.  Some of the many technologies including data visualization, digital storytelling, Google Earth, blogs, and more.

Each "7 Things" brief follows a similar format with answers to questions about a technology:

What is it?
Who's doing it?
How does it work?
What are the downsides?
Where is it going?
What are the implications for teaching and learning?

Summary:

To prepare students to learn throughout their lives and in settings far beyond classrooms, we must change what and how we teach to match what people need to know, how they learn, and where and when they learn and change our perception of who needs to learn.  We must bring technology into learning in meaningful ways to engage, motivate, and inspire learners of all ages to achieve.

The classroom teacher and her program assistants hold the key to successful integration of technology into the education classroom because they control its use and create opportunities for children to use the technology as a too.  Therefore, technology training is critical.  Without training, with out the opportunities to learn to use the equipment for themselves, teachers may have difficulty being motivated or comfortable using the technology in their classroom environment.


Resources:

Maloy, R. W., Verock-O, R. E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2010).  Transforming teaching with new technologies.  Allyn & Bacon.