My Beliefs

The most important belief that I hold when it comes to technology and education was brought to my attention through taking this Instructional Media class. I was made aware just how amazing technology can be! I want to use technology in every lesson I teach in the future. I want to somehow incorporate technology so that the students realize just how important it is to understand how to use technology because it can be very useful in the real world.

Another belief that I hold regarding this topic is that technology needs to be used as a positive learning tool rather than a learning distraction. I want my students to see that texting in class and playing games on their phones isn't as beneficial as composing a podcast that alerts other students about the dangers of using drugs. I want them to know that technology should be used to the highest capacity rather than just "lol"ing.

Last but not least, I believe that technology in the classroom should be used as a useful resource. Students shouldn't just go online and copy and paste to get projects over with, but rather search through articles that interest them and find things that inspire them to learn more. Computers in my classroom will serve as the modern day dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas, and etc. They will turn to technology with questions they have on any topic and be sure that it is a relevant answer they are receiving.

Lessons Learned

One thing that was brought to my attention while I was going through all of the videos, articles and websites was that there are constantly improvements. I knew that technology was moving quickly but I didn't realize just how quickly. In one of the articles it stated that for students that are in a four year degree program, by the time they are in their third year of school, the information they learned in their first year will be outdated! That just absolutely blew my mind!

Another idea that I really liked in the WWW article was that we can't let the new technology be a distraction to our students or a detriment. We need to make our lessons full of the new technology so that they are engaged and interested. This way they will be using the technology to their benefit instead of just losing themselves in something meaningless.

One more thing out of all of the great resources that were provided that I liked was the High Tech Learning site. It amazed me that you can actually get degrees from taking classes online. I had always though that taking classes online was just something mom's did because they needed to stay home with their kids. I didn't realize just how efficient they are and how beneficial they can truly be. It made me want to sign up for some of those classes so that I can become more comfortable with the computer while learning other things as well.

PowerPoint

What? - We learned about how to create a project for students to use when they are creating a PowerPoint. We were taught how to take screen shots and how to put them into a document so the students have pictures of what their projects should look like all along the way.

So What? - I like this idea a lot of being able to take shots a long the way of the project because it shows in more detail what I should be doing. A lot of times I can get lost a long the way because I don't even know if what I am doing is right. Or I can't simply find where a specific button is on the page I am working with. This idea helps to solve all of these problems for me. I can compare my work to what it should look like and I can easily find the buttons on my site through the screen shot I have been provided with.

Now What? - This will be great for my students because I can easily give them a specific project to do and they won't need very much help on it. To me, this would be a great project to have the students do when there is a substitute for the day. They are still learning and finding the information that they need, but there isn't much need for a teacher at the time.The students are doing the learning by themselves!

Cameras & Picasa

What? - Today we learned about how to use the Picasa tool that is available through google. It helps to edit and manipulate pictures. We also learned how this works with powerpoint.

So What? - I can use this Picasa to help me edit my own photos of family and friends. I can edit pictures to look just the way I would like but cropping, changing colors, changing backgrounds, and etc. This is a fun tool that I can personally use on my own time for entertainment and memories.

Now What? - This is beneficial to my future classes because I can take pictures of foods for class when I am teaching my nutrition unit and sharpen the colors so they look even better. Or I can take pictures of exercising and encourage my students to participate in the activities they see presented before them. This will all around be a great influence in my future classroom.

Cyber Ethics

What? - Today we learned about cyber ethics and how to determine what websites are useful. We learned about how to identify which sites are reputable and which won't aren't. We also learned what type of information is unsafe to share.

So What? - This helps me when I am writing research papers to find out which sites are reputable and which ones I should disregard. I can use the specific information I found when it comes to defining a site that has true information or false information. I can learn how to find sites that are useful as well so I know that the information I am learning is real.

Now What? - Now I can warn my students about the dangers that are out there and remind them of the importance of keeping their personal information safe. I can also give them some techniques of how to avoid getting false information online and finding good sources instead. I also will show my students the effects of cyberbullying and encourage them to fight against it and not fall into it's ugly trap.