Blog Post #9: Thursday 11/03 [My Experience as a Distance Learner, Open Educational Resources, and PowerPoint Assignments]

 Blog Post #9: Thursday 11/03

My Experience as a Distance Learner

As a junior in high school, I was one of the few students to return to school as soon as possible. I was adamant that I would be much more successful learning in person rather than online. Therefore, I only spent the last grading period of my sophomore year. I disliked several things about distance learning. For one, I tend to panic when I don’t have access to immediate help from my teachers. Additionally, I much prefer physical communication to digital because it’s difficult to show my teachers what material I’m trying to discuss. Finally, most of my teachers were not digital natives, and a large portion of class time was wasted as they attempted to solve technology problems. I enjoyed having the freedom to delegate my free time between doing assignments on my chosen tasks at home. If I was a distance teacher, I would ensure that I was fully knowledgeable about the technological equipment in use. I would also conduct regular meetings with distance learners to discuss their progress and address any questions.

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources can be described as free and accessible learning tools that are available to all students. OERs are effective tools to close the education accessibility gap and eventually diminish gaps between social statuses. One example of an OER is WikiBooks. WikiBooks is a vast database of free, accessible ebooks on countless subjects. The software is interactive in the sense that "anyone can edit" their book selection. There is a 'community' page linked on the sidebar and a clear way to contact the website administration. Regarding inclusion, there are several languages to choose from at the bottom of the sidebar. 

WikiBooks can be accessed using this link: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page

Skills Acquired from PowerPoint Assignments

Unfortunately, I could not complete Assignment 4 before today due to illness. However, the assignment taught me more about PowerPoint than I knew. For one, I didn’t know how to record my voice while traversing through slides. I also wasn’t too familiar with inserting slide numbers or footers. I’m glad I will learn more about PowerPoint because I frequently make presentations. 

 Blog Post #8: Thursday 10/27 

New Skills Acquired from Web Design Assignment

The Web Design assignment gave me a lot of insight into working with Wix and developing an effective resource for information about a classroom. Regarding Wix itself, I thought it was mostly easy to navigate and interactive. My troubles with the software concern options for the user. I wish that headings, images, and embeddings could be inserted virtually anywhere on a page. However, the software usually wouldn't allow these things to deviate from a specific few spots. Regarding the assignment, I didn't enjoy having to create a class calendar (although brief). However, I enjoyed seeing the website come all together. The things I learned in this assignment could help me in the public health field by marketing myself and my services and creating a website if necessary. 

My website: https://delaneywildermuth.wixsite.com/ms--wildermuth-s-5th 

New Skills Acquired from Diigo

Diigo taught me more about effective annotations and group forums. I also became more familiar with tags and choosing which ones to use. In a classroom, Diigo could be very useful for older students. The task of acquiring relevant academic resources is a great skill to have. Hypothetically, entire grades could form a group on Diigo and share resources. Otherwise, Diigo could help small groups of students create a strong foundation for a group research project via communicative resource sharing in particular categories. In a public health sense, I could use Diigo to share updated science on health with colleagues. As a public health official or hospital administrator, it's very important to be aware of the recent research discourse in the health field. 

Technology and Teacher Professional Development 

I believe that teaching a proper understanding of technology is one of the primary ways to keep children safe in the United States. Therefore, teachers must be hyper-knowledgeable about technological innovation to be good educators. In addition to safety, technology in this age is crucial for professional development. At least 65% of new jobs in the United States mandate medium or advanced technological skills (writersblocklive.com). The field of education is certainly not an exception to this reality. In my opinion, being an educator requires above-average technological skills. To put this into perspective, consider virtual meetings, digital teaching tools, and the popularization of school-issued IPads. Being unfamiliar with the digital resources used in one's classroom results in wasted class time in which the teacher attempts to comprehend their resource.

Science Daily has a subpage all about education technology news: 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/educational_technology/

Blog Post #7: Thursday 10/13 [Teacher Pages on the Griffin MS Website, How I will use Technology to Accomplish Professional Responsibilities, and My Experience with Canvas Pages]

Blog Post #7: Thursday 10/13 

Teacher Pages on the Griffin Middle School Website

I visited the teacher pages from the Griffin Middle School website. The pages are dedicated to Dr. Delmae Darling and Ms. Christian Ellrich. It was immediately apparent that Griffin MS doesn't require all teachers to make a page for themselves. Many of the teacher names listed in the "faculty" section aren't accompanied by a website address. If the pages are linked, very few of them are finished or have been updated. For instance, Ms. Ellrich's teacher page includes several sections, including "Welcome", "Meet the Teacher", "Discussion", "Student Resources", "Assignments", "Documents", and "Class Calendar". However, only the "Meet the Teacher" section has been edited. Dr. Darling's page, however, is completely filled out. Anyone may view these teacher pages, even those without a log-in. 

https://www.leonschools.net/domain/1672

How I Envision Myself Using Tech to Accomplish Professional Responsibilities

I've really enjoyed learning about new and efficient software. Although I'm not pursuing a career in education, I believe this class taught me many things I will use in a professional setting. For one, I see myself using Canva for all creative projects going forward. I thought it was a really helpful tool for expressing myself in a way I often dismiss. Specifically, I really enjoyed the newsletter assignment. In addition, I believe I will use Twitter much more frequently in the future. I didn't know that there were so many professional uses for typical social media applications. I will also continue using Google calendar for all my scheduling needs. 

My Experience with Canvas Groups

Before starting assignment 2, I had no idea that Canvas offered a mini-website format in the "groups" section. I found the hyperlink function very helpful for our purposes. I rediscovered my own perfectionism in terms of every page heading having the same sentence structure. I did not enjoy the text box that appears when a new page is created. The tables in the box don't orient correctly and feel restricted compared to a typical Word-style page. 

Blog Post #6: Thursday 10/13 [My Initial Experiences Using Diigo and Blogging plus a Review of Tumblr]

 Blog Post #6: Thursday 10/13

Initial Experiences Using Diigo

In general, I'm not the biggest fan of Diigo. However, I do appreciate a few aspects of the extension. For one, I really like that Diigo allows users to annotate and create comments on text files. I imagine this would be very useful in a classroom setting for educators and students who are learning to efficiently highlight text sections. I also appreciate the applicable tags on group posts and a clear section for groups. All that being said, there are many other things I don't enjoy about Diigo. For one, I think the site should be technologically revamped in several ways. For one, the main page always prompts me to add the Diigo extension to my computer even though I already have the extension. Additionally, I don't like how the site is not feed-based (in the sense that groups are the only section for content). Also, I'm still unclear about the use of outlines. 

My Experience with Blogging

I've enjoyed my experience with blogging thus far. I appreciate clear instructions on what to include in each blog section. Blogging in this manner is an excellent way for me to reflect upon our class assignments and portfolio items. The only aspect that I don't care for regards teacher simulation. In other words, I am not pursuing a career in teaching; therefore, I feel awkward discussing "my future classroom". I understand that this is a big part of the class and that many of my classmates are education majors. Nevertheless, it's a little strange to me that in all of my elective classes, it's implied that I'm pursuing those specific careers. However, I appreciate learning more about technology and valuable educational resources which will help me in college. 

Unique Web 2.0 Tool: Tumblr

I always perceived Tumblr as somewhat of an outdated social media application. It turns out that there are a lot of professional uses for blogging and posting on Tumblr.

Tumblr is feed-based, which I appreciate. Rather than the feed algorithm operating based on past usage, Tumblr uses tags. Therefore, it's essential that users are browsing under their preferred tags. Additionally, there is a "trending" page, which suggests that there is recent information circling through the site. Unique to Tumblr, there is a "staff favorites" section; I'm not too sure why that section exists. In terms of professionalism, Tumblr blog pages are highly customizable for companies. Additionally, there are many options for publishing from other locations- namely Twitter, email, text messages, etc. Finally, users have access to a search engine and copyrights.

I was surprised to discover Tumblr's many usages. 

Tumblr can be accessed here

Blog Post #5: Thursday 10/06 [My Early Experiences Using Twitter, the Digital Divide, and Academic Software for Students]

 Blog Post #5: Thursday 10/06

My Early Experiences Using Twitter

Twitter has been an exciting resource for communicating with aspiring teachers. I enjoyed the Twitter chat; I didn't know that kind of thing existed. It's interesting to see how people of all professions utilize technological resources like social media to expand their network. Social media like Twitter are great ways to stay updated on the news impacting your career field. I plan to pursue a career in public health and government health policy. Therefore, I could use Twitter in a few years to stay updated on recent public health news and communicate with colleagues in the field. Relevant to my interests, I could also use Twitter to educate myself about where in the country I might be able to help with my expertise. 

Digital Divide

The digital divide is very relevant to the issue of education equality. Educational technology is often unequally distributed to specific schools for discriminatory reasons. Notably, increased funding granted to high-achieving schools presents a significant concern for the accessibility gap between privileged and underprivileged communities. This leaves children with many fewer opportunities to succeed than they had already. The school digital divide interferes with education equality and leaves minority students behind. As a classroom teacher, you may not have IPads or interactive technology accessible in your classroom. This could be because the school district you work may not be adequately or excessively funded. Teachers in this situation must be creative with their classroom techniques to maintain engagement.

Academic Software for Students

I would like to implement two software tools in my future classroom: Jamboard and Class Dojo. Jamboard is a great resource for displaying student ideas pleasingly and interactively. Teachers can make several different canvases for different topics and manipulate the size and category of their students' sticky notes. Class Dojo allows teachers to encourage and reward positive behavior, display directions, make random groups, etc. Younger students love receiving their Dojo avatar and setting up their digital portfolio. Both software systems are great resources for establishing a close community in the classroom and promoting individual expression. 

Blog Post #4: Tuesday 09/20 [ELA Tech Standards, CPALMS resources, and Proficient Internet Searching]

 Blog Post #4: Tuesday 09/20

ELA Tech Standards (Fifth Grade)

The fifth-grade ELA Standards for Technology cover a variety of topics including familiarity with multimedia, typing proficiency, and writing skills. Primarily, the standards encourage educators to familiarize students with multiple types of technological resources. This includes many different kinds of audio, visual, and digital software including Microsoft applications, Youtube, eBooks, Popplet, and others. The standards also claim that fifth graders should be able to construct and publish well-formatted works of writing with sophisticated framework components. Another standard asserts that students (with help from their teachers) should be able to use the internet to write and collaborate with their peers. Subsequently, if students are presented with a question on any given topic, they should know how to most efficiently search for the answer via the internet. Finally, by the end of their fifth-grade year, students should be skilled in using a keyboard. This regards proper typing technique and navigation of numbers, punctuation, and other desktop tools. 

Considering that I am not well versed in nearly half of the software programs cited in the "Technology Tools" column, I'm confident that I'm not currently prepared to implement these standards in a classroom setting. Additionally, while I type rather quickly, I do not practice proper typing techniques. Therefore, I don't think I'd be able to enforce those practices in a classroom. 

Integrating CPALMS Resources 

The CPALMS resources for fifth-grade mathematics were full of structured tools for students and educators. I noticed a detailed list of standards coupled with math games, lesson plans, and videos. I imagine it can be difficult for teachers to create interactive lesson plans to target every state standard. Personally, I prefer to learn in the most predictable environment possible. As a student, I do not like to be taken off-guard by big activities that deviate from the norm. In my own classroom, these resources can be used to craft a general schedule for lesson plans and activities. However, educators should avoid relying solely on pre-made lesson plans to communicate the state standard. It is more than likely that some of their students will not be able to grasp the information via the same medium as their peers. If the students need extra help on a subject, mini-lessons can be incorporated into the day's plan.

Internet Searching as an Educator 

As an educator, being familiar with proper internet searching technique is key for classroom productivity. If teachers know exactly how to find the information they're looking for, more class time can be spent delivering the information to students. Additionally, knowing proper search techniques leads teachers to the most precise and accurate information available. This promotes better quality of student understanding. I learned a lot from the advanced google search lesson this week. I'm not aware of any shortcuts that weren't mentioned in class. Moving forward, I will use the reverse image search and 'exclude words' tools the most. 

Blog Post #3: Tuesday 09/14 [Copyright and Fair Use, Technology Implication Issues, and my experience with the Newsletter Design Assignment]

 Blog Post #3: Tuesday 09/14

Copyright and Fair Use:

Copyright is a sometimes invisible protection on intellectual property which prevents others from using a work without the original creator's permission. Some examples of intellectual property include trademarks and inventions. Beware, not all intellectual property is subject to copyright. Most copyright titles must be filed and/or purchased. Fixed work like factual statements and public records cannot be copyright claimed.

Fair use is a term that classifies content as public domain. This is often determined by a judge during an infringement case. During cases like these, the judge must consider the type of content, its nature, the substantiality of the portions used, and the affect of its use. 

Classrooms familiar with technology will run into copyrighted material at every turn. As an educator, I'd take several precautions to follow copyright jurisdiction:

• never photocopy entire textbooks
• always purchase copyrighted material
• ask my school of employment if teachers in my county are permitted to use certain copyrighted material by the creator
• I will familiarize myself with resources in the public domain 

I will also instruct my students on the proper ways to cite their sources (whether in APA, MLA, etc.).

Technology Implication Issues 

Cyberbullying: Before any technology is utilized, it's important to start a conversation with students about respect online. I would explain that posting content under a different alias gives people often inconsequential power to slew hate online. Then, I would remind my class of the definition of bullying. I would ask them how this concept could transfer over to the internet. Finally, I would reiterate the importance of mutual respect when given access to the internet and interactive software. 

If someone in my class became a victim or perpetrator of cyberbullying, I would contact their parent(s) and my school's administration. From my perspective, cyberbullying is too dyer of a matter to hesitate to consult the administration. 

Decreased Productivity: In terms of technology, I can easily picture a classroom where students are not focused on the digital task at hand. In general, I would limit the time my classroom is using one technological resource continuously. I would set a precedent for on-task operation regarding technological resources. I would also inquire about the software attachments which don't allow users to start new tabs. A reward system would be put in place for quick completion of tasks. If my warnings about distractions are dismissed, I would have a class meeting to discuss the situation with a broad audience. If the issue persists with one particular student, I would then confiscate that technological resource until I could hold a parent-teacher meeting to discuss our options. 

New Skills from Newsletter Design Assignment 

I absolutely loved this assignment. It reminded me of how much I love graphic design and I appreciate specific directions. I'm glad I finally learned how to insert a hyperlink and I'm getting much more familiar with Canva. Word art is also a really interesting tool. In the future, I think my newsletter could look a bit more organized. Because I based the newsletter around an art week, it looks a little all over the place. It may have been more aesthetically pleasing to use graphics with straighter lines and integrate a more clean cut header. Nevertheless, I still loved how it turned out!