I liked reading the section about Artificial Intelligence. Reading just the section title I was hoping I would be reading about technology similar to the ones in the movie Ai, with a life like robot boy and a brown walking talking teddy bear. It only took a couple of sentences for me to realize I was not thinking along the correct lines. I did find these possibilities to be encouraging and feasible.
One of the programs sorts out how a student thinks and learns. It bases it questions around how the previous question was answered. The program stores all this information and analyzes it. Then a profile is created laying out what the student knows, what scaffolding needs to take place, and the best way for the student to learn material. I would love to have a profile spelled out about every one of my students. I could then spend more time teaching the most beneficial information and waste less time trying to figure out what the students already know. Our school has a very basic program similar to this called Study Island. It is designed for third grade and up so I have not had much experience with it. From what I understand each student has his or her own user name and password. After logging in the student can choose from various educational activities and games. The computer keeps track of how well the students do so the next time the student logs in the games and activities have been adjusted to appropriately challenge the student. I believe the teacher can access each students profile to keep track of the progress. Although the program is not suitable for first graders, I have heard many positive comments from the teachers’ whose students are using it.
As teachers we do get a profile on each student using their scores from the standardize test we take at the beginning of the year. It is present in a three-ring three-inch binder. We have to interpret what the score means. What the student already know, what we need to teach them to improve the score, and then we have to figure out on our own to teach all of it in addition to our year’s academic objectives. My understanding is that most teacher but the binder on the shelf and never touch it again. The whole process is tedious, boring, and unlikely to change what and how we teach. If a computer program printed out in plain English exactly how the student learns and what the student needs to learn, I think teachers would be more receptive to making the effort to go the extra mile. Why not when all the hard work is already don for them? But once you spend four weeks sorting through piles of paper I know all my extra energy is spent.
My favorite activity was our very first week in creating our blogs. I found this to be my favorite because it allowed us to share every other activity we complete throughout the semester. I believe this tool to be very versatile and appropriate for almost all ages, grade level, and abilities. It is a wonderful first basic step into a technology driven and advancing world.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Reflection / Discussion 12
Rich media I can apply to improve my teaching of first grade students would be visual and audio materials. Since my students come to me on a variety of different reading levels audio and visuals would come in handy during whole group instruction. This way their reading level would not be a hurdle when learning some topics.
It was encouraging to learn that almost all visuals are beneficial for students. When I started reading the section I was afraid that only the fanciest and most expletive visuals would prove effective. I like that there is a wide range of possible presentation from animation, screen shots, and word plus graphic diagrams. I sometimes get bored creating lesson plan with the same visual format. I know that if I am bored teaching then my students are bored learning and that is not the kind of environment I want to create in my classroom. With a variety of effective formats mixing up the form will help ease the monotony and keep students interested and engaged in learning the task at hand.
Audio is a component I have always wanted to include with my teaching but I just never had a clear understand of how do incorporate it effectively. When my students are working independently I often play, at their request, background music. It is classical music with nature sounds such as a summer thunderstorm or garden rain. While I understand this does not have much educational value, I have found my students work quietly and efficiently and it adds an overall serenity to the classroom. After reading about audio I plan to find ways to incorporate it with educational value. Of the top of my head I would like to include more books on tape, screencasts with speech, podcasts, and students recording their own stories to books without words to play back for themselves and their classmates.
Visual and Audio media can play such an important role in the classroom. Especially when using them together, the mixing and matching makes the possibilities endless.
It was encouraging to learn that almost all visuals are beneficial for students. When I started reading the section I was afraid that only the fanciest and most expletive visuals would prove effective. I like that there is a wide range of possible presentation from animation, screen shots, and word plus graphic diagrams. I sometimes get bored creating lesson plan with the same visual format. I know that if I am bored teaching then my students are bored learning and that is not the kind of environment I want to create in my classroom. With a variety of effective formats mixing up the form will help ease the monotony and keep students interested and engaged in learning the task at hand.
Audio is a component I have always wanted to include with my teaching but I just never had a clear understand of how do incorporate it effectively. When my students are working independently I often play, at their request, background music. It is classical music with nature sounds such as a summer thunderstorm or garden rain. While I understand this does not have much educational value, I have found my students work quietly and efficiently and it adds an overall serenity to the classroom. After reading about audio I plan to find ways to incorporate it with educational value. Of the top of my head I would like to include more books on tape, screencasts with speech, podcasts, and students recording their own stories to books without words to play back for themselves and their classmates.
Visual and Audio media can play such an important role in the classroom. Especially when using them together, the mixing and matching makes the possibilities endless.
Google Documents & Zoho
Google Documents and Zoho caught my attention as application I would enjoy reviewing. They lived up to my high expectations
Google Documents is a great application that I would highly recommend to fellow teachers, especially upper elementary to college instructors. Like many of the Google features, a great help section is provided answering questions quickly and accurately. It is a great way for students to submit assignments. This suite is very portable, allowing teachers to read, comment on, and grade assignments from home, school, a coffee shop, or on vacation. The set up is quick and easy. All teachers have to do is create an account, invite all students to share, and then distribute to assigned email address to students for submission of papers and projects. Documents can also be uploaded. Uploading would be a great way for a teacher to share rubrics, examples, and assignment specifications. And for those of us trying to “Go Green” this application cuts down on the use and waste of paper.
I was excited to see Zoho had a Wiki application. As I explored the program my excitement decreased. I would recommend this application to colleagues who have a good handle on technology and time to spare. I did not find much of the help support to be beneficial. And just as I thought I knew what I was doing, I made a wrong move pushing myself to the point of frustration. If teachers can get a good grasp on this program it would be a great source for grade group planning, across grade group planning, and school function collaboration. I think as long as one teacher is able to create the initial wiki set up and give a crash course to colleagues, it would be a great resource for collaboration at times when sitting down face to face as a large group become difficult.
Google Documents is a great application that I would highly recommend to fellow teachers, especially upper elementary to college instructors. Like many of the Google features, a great help section is provided answering questions quickly and accurately. It is a great way for students to submit assignments. This suite is very portable, allowing teachers to read, comment on, and grade assignments from home, school, a coffee shop, or on vacation. The set up is quick and easy. All teachers have to do is create an account, invite all students to share, and then distribute to assigned email address to students for submission of papers and projects. Documents can also be uploaded. Uploading would be a great way for a teacher to share rubrics, examples, and assignment specifications. And for those of us trying to “Go Green” this application cuts down on the use and waste of paper.
I was excited to see Zoho had a Wiki application. As I explored the program my excitement decreased. I would recommend this application to colleagues who have a good handle on technology and time to spare. I did not find much of the help support to be beneficial. And just as I thought I knew what I was doing, I made a wrong move pushing myself to the point of frustration. If teachers can get a good grasp on this program it would be a great source for grade group planning, across grade group planning, and school function collaboration. I think as long as one teacher is able to create the initial wiki set up and give a crash course to colleagues, it would be a great resource for collaboration at times when sitting down face to face as a large group become difficult.
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