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.

Thoughts on Kohler and Mishra Article

            I found the approach in this article a very effective one.  Allowing teachers to learn how to use technology while solving real pedagogy issues or a problem of practice while using prior knowledge makes the process meaningful to learners.  I find that I am much more engaged in completing assignments when they are relevant and meaningful.  When reading the key problems about teaching design, I can definitely relate as the learner in feeling that the ideas at first come across as vague, ambiguous, and incomplete until the ideas are clarified through action.  I am happy to say that I feel supported in learning technology in this course and specifically how we have been allowed to extend our understanding to other courses in the program and build on it further. 

            I especially appreciated the sections on Learning about Design and Learning about Learning.  These sections put into perspective that design and learning are complex, yet rewarding.  I couldn’t help but think about how this design not only relates to technology but it serves as a great model for teaching in general.  In my ESOL endorsement classes there is great emphasis on teaching students new content by building on background knowledge, making learning meaningful, providing lots of support and hands on activities.   I couldn’t help but relate Learning by Design to best practice. 

Tech Project Update

For my Technology project I will be creating a classroom website designed for the purpose of communicating with parents and keeping them connected with their child’s education.  My goal is to infiltrate my findings in my AR study about the importance of building partnerships with parents and parent involvement.  Several sections of the website will be focused on my synthesis of my AR (this will account for the Pedagogy-my research and findings).  I will also be sharing student work through photos and postings through a blog (this will account for the content).  I will also include several aspects from what we have learned through our tech class to implement in my website, e.g. website, blog, imbedding slideshows and links, etc. (this will account for the technology).  I realize that my content won’t be as strong as if I were focusing on a subject; rather it will have a broad range of aspects to make a well-rounded website and act more as a resource and informational place for parents to come.  

Technology Project

Technology Project:

Class Blog

For my Technology project I wanted to create a blog for my students where they are able to present their course work and also a place where they can share collectively the work they have found. Within the blog I will break down depending in how many different classes I would be teaching, it would be broken down into three different classes. Spanish 1, Spanish 2 and Spanish 3, again this all depends on how many different classes I’ll be teaching. Within the Spanish blogs the students will be designated to their specific class and will also be able to view the other two Spanish class blogs. The more recourse the students have the more they will be able to practice.

The different blogs will contain different elements and different difficulty levels of work that will also depend on the class level 1, 2 or 3. As the creator of the blogs I will provide different example and tools students will be able to use as an aid to learning the Spanish language. The blogs will contain, audio, video, pictures, exercises and most importantly students work that they will need to share with the class. These are also elements that students need to post on the blog as well. I will ask them to find real world examples of the Spanish language in their everyday lives. This will give them a chance to interact more with native speakers and this will also make them more conscious of their Spanish surroundings. This will also give the students the ability to use technology that they are accustomed too. The can use their phones, itouches or really any mobile devise that can connect to the internet to post on our blogs on the spot. Again real life application and awareness of the language is key for me applying this type of interactive work.  

Tech Review

Luis Cisneros

Delicious Stack: http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/CxVXDr

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iPad app: Khan Academy iPad app

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