FIN(For now.)

So, this is the end of my EME 2040 class, I accumulated mass amounts of knowledge in which I feel will better me in my chosen career path (education). As any student does, I do feel relief that I am over with school for the moment, but I also find dismay in the departure of my peers, myself, and of course my teacher. This course was an absolute pleasure to take, and because of this I find it extremely difficult to help you improve this class through my feedback. If I had a suggestion, it would be to allot more extra points (because who wouldn't want that)?

In the syllabus, learning outcomes, or objectives are discussed. One of these outcomes is as follows (directly copied from the syllabus):

• "The students will analyze and evaluate a selection of technological tools for assisting students with special and/or diverse needs, and link the technology to specific outcomes for these students."

We definitely analyzed and evaluated plenty of technology, most of which is geared to aid students with diverse needs. This is one of the reasons I will miss this class so much (I actually learned something useful) and I can't wait to pass even more education courses!! The most interesting thing we did in this class, in my opinion, was make our own lesson plans as groups. I really feel that the assignment helped us all better ourselves.


References

"Clipart Kid." Quotes Like —. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

"EME 2040 Canvas." Fsw.edu. FSW, Web.

Blog # B

Digital Blog Post # B
Anthony Torres

After reading chapter two in my textbook, there are three distinct topic in which I would find useful to reflect upon and share any thoughts. The three topics that I would like to reflect upon are as follows:

1. Responding to Innovation and Change
2. Developing Lessons and Engaging Students
3. Using Technology to Enhance Teaching

First off, I would like to discuss "Responding to Innovation and Change". The textbook uses the Rogers Innovation Curve(which depicts how individuals in business and management respond to change).The model shows that the majority of people(68%)are following the early adopters and innovators, which make up about 16%.

"What about the other 16%? "

Well, these are people that reject and avoid these new ideas. This always will happen no matter the circumstances.

In education, you want to not have anybody that rejects the technology you are using since the technology will aid students.

Secondly, I would like to discuss "Developing Lessons and Engaging Students". As found by Project Tomorrow, many teachers use technology as a tool to create lesson plans and develop said lessons.According to HSSE, student boredom is on the rise.A key reason for high school dropouts is disaffection, or boredom, within schools. Technology can foster a new way of thinking among students. The continued use of programs such writing and design programs, online research, and learning games, often eliminate this boredom, or at least reduce the boredom among students significantly.  @noto_boredom       

 https://twitter.com/noto_boredom is a twitter account designed to do exactly as it says, say no to boredom.

On my final note I would like to talk about enhancing teaching through the use of technology. "Computers and other digital tools directly enhance two central aspects of the work of teachers..." Instructional Practices and Administrative Activities.

Instructional practices are methods of teaching where the teacher interacts directly with the student. Even integrating technologies into lessons.

Administrative Activities are the behind the scenes activities a teacher must perform. Examples of this include organizing lessons and planning/ brainstorming. 

References

"3 Phases of Leading District Change with Formative Instructional Practices." Teach. Learn. Gro., 16 Feb. 2017. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

Mossberger, Marcus. "Building a Workplace Culture of Trust: Yes, Technology Can Help Cultivate It." ERE Media. 12 Apr. 2016. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

Boredom, Say No To. "Say No To Boredom (@noto_boredom)." Twitter. Twitter, 11 Sept. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.

Maloy W, Robert. "Transforming Learning With New Technologies." Pearson.2014.

Digital Blog Post L

In chapter 12 of the textbook, three key topics in my mind are Becoming a Technology Leading Teacher, Involving Students in Technology and Change, and Flipped Classrooms.

 Becoming a Technology Leading Teacher

Technology tools can extend learning in powerful ways, so step number one is to integrate technology into your class room. Teachers become leaders through their choice of technology, and students learn from this.

Involving Students in Technology and Change

This is key when trying to integrate technology into any school. Typically, if students are not involved in the change or reform, they tend to resist it.

Flipped Classrooms

This is more or less a concept, not just a topic. Flipped classrooms reverse what happens inside and outside of the classroom.

What happens inside the classroom now happens outside, and vice versa.




References
"Inspiration ... Ways ... for Teachers." Pinterest.  Web. 15 Apr. 2017
"Catching on at Last." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 29 June 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
"The Flipped Classroom and Personalised Learning." Whizz. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
My book

Digital blog #l

It is project time in my online class! We are all divided up into groups, and we get to make lesson plans! Before I get into all that fun stuff, it is time for me to talk about what I read in chapter four of my fabulous textbook. This chapter is called Designing Lessons and Developing Curriculum With TECHNOLOGY (Imagine that!).
The chapter,like most chapters, starts off with a charming little scenario with a new Teacher,Christina. The book explains that just like here we will have basically no idea what we are doing(encouraging). The chapter is not just about planning a lesson on the computer, surprisingly. The lesson is also meant to make you think about if and how technology can enhance a lesson.

My first concept will be academic content, or what to teach ( pretty important to know what to teach).Academic content is actually broken down into for sub-categories: Facts,Concept, Ideas and skills.( The stupid image did not load!)

The next concept I would like to talk about is student learning objectives. To save a little time, it can be said that learning objectives should be essentially outcome based. Questions like "How come" or "Tell who" should be asked towards the end of the teaching.

The next concept is using technology for performance assessment. All students should be evaluated on their performance, and this concept talks about this.

References 

ETStv. "When Tests Talk Back: Assessments Using Avatars and Simulations." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Aug. 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"Student Learning Objectives." Pinterest.  Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"Students." Academic Content Development| Educational Content| Institutional Content|study Material Writing | Training Content| Course Content| India |Delhi| Professional Content Writer. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

Digital Blog Post #G

Hello! Today I read chapter 10 of my textbook "Transforming Learning with New technologies" by Robert W. Maloy, Sharon  A. Edwards, Beverly P. Woolf and Ruth-Ellen Vercock- O' Loughlin.

I have been instructed to take three concepts from my reading, analyse them, define them, then discuss them.


My first key concept in which I would like to discuss is that of multicultural education. As the textbook defines it, multicultural education is "A term used to describe how teachers go about 'affirming' the expansive diversity of student interests, needs and talents present in every school classroom(Nieto & Bode,2011)".
It is important for teachers to account for all factors in which makes every student unique. An example of this may be accommodating for a student's religious beliefs.

The next concept I would like to discuss is differentiated instruction, or DI. DI is a method used to adjust the curriculum in order to fit the needs of diverse students(those with special needs, gifted and talented learners and English language learners). With DI, certain learning experiences are changed, like a student may watch a video instead of a book, or vice versa. As a teacher, it is vital to take all student's learning styles into consideration.

I also would like to talk about the tech tool in this chapter. In this chapter, they talked about interactive whiteboard( also called smart boards). These incredible pieces of technology can revolutionize how teachers differentiate their classroom. These smart boards are tremendously interactive, and engage the whole class in the activity!

Digital Blog Post #E

So Anthony decided it would be a good idea to not go to sleep because that is not for him.
Anyway, I read chapter 7 in the textbook so these are a few of the key concepts I gathered from this:

Problem Solving!
This was one of the main ideas of the whole chapter, there are many steps involved in problem solving.

1) Understanding the problem.
This is...you guessed it! It is important to appropriately that students identify what exactly is being asked of them. it is also vital to identify what you previously knew that can help you solve the problem.

2) Using Problem Solving Strategies.
Strategies such as breaking the big problem into manageable smaller chunks is a very effective problem solving strategy, especially in math.

3) Checking your results.
This is the final step to solving any problem. One must first check to see if they are right, then resolve the problem if necessary.

OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
No, I did not put this in all caps by accident, I just feel this was important. Open source software is any software that is open to the public. As said in the book, you should look into the website of "The Open Source Initiative" to discover more on the topic.

Digital Blog Post #C

Hello, my name is Anthony Torres. First things first, I would like to apologize to my professor for misnaming the blog EME 2020 when the name of the class is actually EME 2040. Really my whole name for the blog is inaccurate, but for now I hope it will do.



I am going to talk about chapter three in the textbook, or module four online, and what I have learned from each. I will try and use my own knowledge, but as this is an introductory course and merely the beginning, I will most likely use plenty of sources and cite them appropriately.

One huge concept I learned both in this class and psychology is the concept of behaviorism. In this course we focus on how this concept can help learning. The concept of behaviorism is to present the learner with " explicit and planned stimuli"(Maloy, 49).The primary tasks involved with this learning strategy are those of  memory and recall.

I made this cartoon to attempt to explain behaviorism as a learning concept. As you can see, the boy was completing an online math assessment.  He completed this assessment, and as he did he instantly felt more confidence in his math ability and for an upcoming quiz.

The next concept for me to explain is Cognitivism has a focus that is,  as the book describes it on page 49,  " On program design and interaction.""The teacher is the coach,facilitator,and partner." Essentially cognitivism makes it critical to have the student interact with and enjoy the assessment while thinking critically. The teacher tailors to individual learning needs, is there to answer questions, and to control the group of students.

This kind of describes cognivitism but I personally do not think I fully captured the concept without physically teaching a student.

One more concept I found especially important was the  Teacher- Centered learning approaches to learning. Teacher centered approaches often times come with the expectation that students will use the information taught to them. This approach often goes by different names such as information processing and emphasizes teachers instructing children in the most effective and efficient ways as possible .

Resources: 

Toondoo.com

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.