Comment on Kohler and Mishra Article

It was almost 10 years ago when I started teaching in middle schools in Mexico. I had a hard time making my students engage on and learn what I was teaching. I decided to leave the textbook and use technology once a week. I had three options: A very old overhead projector, a computer lab with very out-dated computers and software, or the Smartboard. As I read the article, I was bringing all these memories back to mind. I loved using the computer and the Smartboard, I knew my students were excited to go to class when they knew we were going to use those two elements instead of the textbook and workbook. Honestly, I do not think of myself designing a lesson once week for making my students learn more or better. I was using the technology because it was more fun, the kids enjoyed it more, and because time flew when using it. It was something different for me and for my students.

Even though I was not able to deconstruct and analyze my practice back then, now I see some of the things that are mentioned in the article that are true in teaching, but that I was not able to take advantage of. When a teacher is able to use technology to solve or improve a challenging situation in his practice, a lot of good things could happen. The use of technology and the teaching design facilitate our practice, engage students in the content matter, and allow the learning process to take place in more meaningful ways. I also agree that the design and use of technology could help us have a more inclusive classroom environment. I believe that the model described in the article is a great tool to help us meet the needs of the different learning styles. Helping our kids learn should be one of the main goals as teachers. Learning about designing and learning about how our students learn could make a huge difference and impact on our students.

Looking for educational groups in the Internet

FaceBook
This page has many interesting links to websites and resources that could be helpful to different levels of education. My search started with phrases related to my current position and master program. I looked for groups related to the Migrant Education Program and groups for teachers or elementary grade levels. In my first experience on FaceBook looking for educational groups, I have to say I was not very successful. Many of the groups I searched for were not active or the content was not updated or simply not the best. However, I came across this group called Top Teachers Resources (http://www.facebook.com/topteacherresources).

This group reads “Top teacher/authors on Facebook sharing all their best resources, ideas, tips, tricks, and more!”  Even though I did not have the chance to explore all the different links, I found very good resources and links to different blogs and websites, however, some links were resources for free and some others for a low cost.

Classroom20.com

As I checked the website, I went to explore some of the different groups that are in there. Two of them caught my attention. The first one was about the use of cell phones in education. The second one was about downloading YouTube videos. These topics were presented as a Group Discussions. I liked the idea of posting a question and asking for an answer from the audience out there. The cool part is that the answers are related to education and by teachers or educators sharing their experiences and resources, not by “experts” trying to show off or sell something.

Response to Koehler & Mishra Article

Response to Koehler & Mishra Article  

    This was a great article that really shows the need for “sustained inquiry and revision of ideas” in the field of teaching and more specifically dealing with technology.  Instead of just teaching the basics on how to use a certain technology, it makes sense to focus on a problem of practice and seek ways to use technology to solve the problem.  I like the reference to social constructivist theory in the reading and how Learning by Design is based on this.  It really tied us back to what we studied previously and it helped it to make more sense.  I think in this class here at Pacific we are indeed following this model and it will help us immensely as we transition to teachers in the coming years.  
    I think that a problem in the schools today that I have noticed is there is a huge gap between those teachers that use technology and those that don’t.  You can’t exactly force veteran teachers to change their whole way of teaching overnight but it would really help the students to be able to have some consistency between classes.  It would also help the collaboration between teachers that could benefit the students on many fronts.  I do think the “diversity of teaching styles” argument is somewhat valid but I think it wouldn’t hurt to have more teachers using technology in diverse ways.

Technology Project Update

    
    For my technology project I am going to create a Jeopardy game from JeopardyLabs.com using the Biology curriculum from my placement.  I would like to eventually create a game to use at the end of every unit of study for a fun way to prepare for the exam.  This could help a variety of learners to get a grasp on the big picture of each unit of study.  It could also help create a sense of camaraderie for students who aren’t involved in sports and are good at science. This fits well with the TPACK model due to the use of technology to enhance content knowledge. From a pedagogical standpoint, by knowing how students learn in different ways, this teaching approach will help to add to a more diverse learning environment that in conducive to a variety of learners. It could also be used as an assessment to judge how much the students know about the material.