Why Use Technology?

This course details why educators should use technology in their classrooms.  All semester, though, we have been forming out own reasons as to why we should use certain kinds of technology.  I found a video online that spells out the top ten reason WHY we should do certain things in the classroom.

Right away, the first comment the video made caught my attention because it is something that we have heard before.  Teachers are not going to be replaced by technology, but teachers who do not use technology will be replaced by those teachers that DO use technology.  This resonated with me because we heard this before in one of the other interactivities.  Those teachers that do not use technology will be left behind.  Aside from that, here is the ten reasons the video talks about, and to me, they seem pretty reasonable and obvious.  It made me think, why shouldn't I use technology?

1) Students love it.
2) It engages the four key elements of learning.
3) Professional development reasons.
4) It makes life easier for us!
5) It improves test scores.
6) Helps students with low attention spans.
7) Learn from the experts.
8) Encourages homework.
9) Saves money.
10) Remove obstacles.

If anyone is interested in listening to what the video has to say about each of these, here it is:

Apps in the classroom

iPad as a Smartboard? 

My last post was about how we must use discretion about when to incorporate technology into the classroom; however, today's post brings about an instance where I think technology is making a great leap, and should be included into the classroom.

For those users with an iPad, there is a new app called Paper.  Paper works similarly to a journal or a notebook.  It lets you draw or take notes.  The article stated that, "one might be devoted to handwritten notes during meetings, a second could serve as your virtual napkin to sketch out drawings and a third can be used to storyboard a new ad campaign."

With all of the different templates that are useable, the potential for this app is infinite!  The reason I wanted to share the news about this app, is because it reminds me of a mini smartboard.  With the tap of a screen, a student can email their notes, share with friends, and on social media.  It takes interactive learning to a whole new level, because now, if you miss a class, you can get the exact replica of a student's notes in an instant.  Students can submit notes to teachers for notebook checks, and can also serve as other formative assessment tools.

To use this, it does assume that every student has access to an iPad or iPhone, and in a perfect world, everyone does.  Some schools provide their students with these tools, and some students are fortunate enough to have one.  As a teacher, it is imperative that we make ourselves familiar with the most innovative, and newest technology so we are not left behind.  Apps like this one, lets us help our students turn recreational devices into tools for learning.  There are a plethora of others apps out there that help students in the academic setting as well, and we as educators can be the link between fun and learning.

E-Readers used to grade essays?

 Facing a Robo-Grader? Just Keep Obfuscating Mellifluously

This article in the New York Times caught my eye immediately.  There is a computer developed that can be used to electronitcally grade essays without the need of a human!  As an English teacher, one of the forms of assessment I would be using would be essays, but what would be the point of having teachers if a computer could grade the work for them? I was immediately skeptical about the E-rater as it is called, because an essay is not black or white.

Upon reading further, I discovered that, "the substance of an argument doesn’t matter...as long as it looks to the computer as if it’s nicely argued."  The student could completely lie, saying something along the lines of "King Kong climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower; however, because of his great size, he was required to take the elevator to accommodate for the weight."  The sentence is grammatically correct, and complex.  To the trained teacher's eye, the sentence is nonsense, but to the E-rater, the sentence is literary genius.

The reason the E-rater is getting so much attention is because it "can grade 16,000 essays in 20 seconds."  A little ridiculous if I may say so myself.  The E-rater may be efficient, but it is not appropriate to use, especially when trying to teach students how to appropriately write.  The E-rater can give feedback on craft, but not on content, because it cannot measure the facts.  I wanted to post this summary and analysis of this article because I think this is a great example of how using discretion when incorporating technology into the classroom is beneficial.  As a future educator, I cannot see myself being a proponent of such a technology, especially while it is not perfected.

Happy Earth Day, Everyone!

Earth Day Games for Kids

USA Today is my Sunday newspaper of choice.  Not only because it is the only one delivered right to me, but because it does a great job at reporting smaller stories that The New York Times or other larger newspapers do not.  Today while I was on the USA Today website, this article really caught my eye.  I love video games, and when an opportunity arises for video games to be used in an educational setting I jump all over the opportunity.

These games strategically combine fun, fast-paced graphics with facts towards living a greener lifestyle.  This synergistic effect is a prime example of incidental learning.  Students are learning one concept while doing something else. Incidental learning is a great tool to use in the classroom, especially when the subject matter being presented is boring to the students.  The incidental learning will distract them from the actual target objective, while still learning.  The games in the article cost money, but educators can adapt this learning strategy into any material and formulate specialized games or tasks for specific topics.  Using technology in this way is just another example of how using multimodal forms of educating in the classroom can bolster learning!

Pineapples Don't Have Sleeves

Pineapples Don't Have Sleeves

The phrase mentioned above is found on a standardized test.  the article is quite interesting because it demonstrates what happens when active students meet ineffective assessment.  this phrase confused students, which sparked them o take action because they thought that it was crazy that a standardized test THEY paid for would contain something they could not understand.  Students began to ridicule the exam, making a joke out of the expression.  I found this interesting because my Assessment class is currently looking at how to create effective assessments.  I think that this instance serves as a warning for teachers everywhere.  We are charged with a responsibility to make assessments clear to students.  We always should keep that in the back of our heads, and sometimes the students don't realize that we hold this power until they take the exam.  Therefore, it is very important that we take preventative measures and try to create the most effective assessment for them that we can.  If we learn that an assessment is not effective as in this case, then we must use that as a diagnostic tool, and create a better exam.  This process is repeated until the exam has been made as most effective as possible.  If you have time, I would suggest reading this short article about the dangers of creating assessments.

Interactivity #5

Lesson Plan Analysis with NETS-S

 

      The teacher I interviewed for my interactivity is employed as a full-time English teacher at Camden County Technical School. She was actually very knowledgeable and proactive in incorporating the standards. I discovered quickly that her district was not pushing for the NETS-S just yet, but the NETS-T had already begun their entrance into the school.

      

Her school had begun to implement the NETS into their school.  She explained that at the rate things were developing, it would take the school about 2 years to reach full completion of implementation of these standards.  She said teachers at her school have begun to model proficiency in technology.  Every lesson that they need to teach must use some form of technology.  These technologies can include anything from projectors to online tools to proficiency with Microsoft.  The skills they learn in the classroom must be skills that enhance real life skills in the outside world.  It is interesting that the school is pushing the standards, but not the district yet.  She said this means that not all of the teachers in the school have become familiar with these standards yet and are not making technology a part of their lessons as they should.  These standards help bolster the level of interest for students especially in an English Classroom where students may not be fond of reading.  For example, the first standard is to Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning 
and Creativity.  Incorporating technology into lessons that students find boring may provide some intrinsic motivation for the students.  They may want to actually complete projects or assignments because they deem it “fun” and do it because they enjoy it.

When we began talking about the standards, I was definitely surprised.  She seemed to be very knowledgeable about what was going on.  She easily provided me with the path that the school wanted her to go on; however, then she began to talk about things that are needed in order to make these standards work.  She said that something important is for teachers to know what resources they have.  She said that training was an important aspect of this implementation that is needed in order for it to succeed.  This made me think of two things: 1) Teachers are not being proactive in their quest to provide the students with the most comprehensive teaching.  Why would the teachers not be aware of the resources provided to them? As a future educator, I would actively seek out this information myself; even before school wide training sessions were held.  I would especially make sure that other teachers were knowledgeable and helping their students to the best of their abilities. 2) Technology is needed in the classroom.  Those standards aren’t only there to be set requirements, but they also provide excellent support.  We as educators should incorporate any support we are given into our planning.  In this way, we can provide students with a more synergistically valuable education.

Technology in Use

I wanted to share an example of a way in which students can use technology in a language arts classroom.  For this project, the students found examples of poetic devices in popular songs today.  This is a great way to make learning these devices accessible to students because students can relate to the pop culture references. 

The students make great use of the internet, and video recording device.  The ultimate product is a video encompassing definitions and examples of all the devices they learned.  Technology integration worked wonders for this lesson.