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!

Blog Post #2: Tuesday 09/06 [My experience with MS Word, ISTE standards, and whether I agree with the term "Digital Citizen"]

 Blog Post #2: Tuesday 09/06

My experience using MS Word as a student:

I've used MS Word more than any other word-processing software. I find Word to be the most helpful application for essay writing and other tasks involving long-form text. I was certified in Word before high school and continue to use it for note-taking and extended papers. 

Google Docs is really useful for assignments that mandate group editing/viewing during the writing process. Also, Google Docs makes inserting (charts, emoticons, images, etc.) really simple. However, I don't typically use Google Docs over Word solely because I am not as familiar with it. 

MS Word was the first word-processing software I ever utilized in school and I've used it regularly for years. Therefore, I'm very aware of how Word will help me accomplish my goals for any assignment. 

ISTE Standards

In my opinion, the ISTE "Citizen" standard is the most significant of the seven. 

This standard says: Educators inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world. 

To me, this describes an educator's duty to be a knowledgeable resource for their students to learn how to safely navigate technology. While the internet has countless valuable uses, identity theft and other dangers are a big risk to young users. Educators should be not only technologically-minded but much more so than their students. As adults who are then fully acquainted with safe technological practices, educators will be able to guide students in the right direction. The alternative in which children teach themselves about social media often results in dangerous consequences. On the contrary, I've observed that most of my teachers are at least somewhat or even severely less familiar with technology than my classmates and I. This is unsurprising if we assign them the "Digital Immigrants" title. Many of my teachers did not grow up with access to advanced technology and therefore, new applications are often very difficult to master. Consequently, for instance, class time could be occupied or even totally wasted in the process of attempting to access a slideshow. 

Additionally, students at any age will need technical skills to succeed in their academic/professional careers. Educators serve to transfer knowledge of the many technological resources available to aid them in their endeavors. I anticipate that classrooms will gradually acquire more advanced technological resources and possibly abandon paper altogether. 

Whether I agree with the term "Digital Native"

Digital Native: a member of the most recent generation(s) with close to full remembrance of access to technology resources. 

    - Important factors to consider: 

           (1) Affluence (personal or societal)

           (2) Personal preference

           (3) Family dynamics/culture

Considering any exemptions posed by the factors above, I agree conditionally with the term "digital native". The conditions, namely, concern binary classification. While I agree with the generational implications behind the term, I believe there are degrees of technological fluency that fall within each generation. Most generations span across 15 years. While I am a member of Gen Z and I would consider myself a digital native, I can remember a time when things like smart boards and IPads weren't accessible for educator use. 

"Office-ms-word" by RRZEicons is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.