Final Reflective Post

             The course EME 2040 has taught me a lot of information, in a short period of time. Going into the class I lacked valuable knowledge on technology. Of course I knew how to use the internet, or make a PowerPoint, but that was about it. Through this course I have learned multiple skills that I can use in my teaching future. I learned how to "create a blog like this one, how to make a wiki, how to create a weebly, how to make charts or comics strips online, and how to collaborate online, and never have to meet the people I'm working with in person."

              Throughout the course, I also learned a lot from the reading and various sources that are now in my "delicious account." (Which I also learned how to create in this course.) Some information fascinated me such as how to "integrate more technology into my students' learning" (Starr, 12 June 2011) from the article "Integrating Technology in the Classroom: It takes more than just having computers" by Linda Starr, from the website "Education World"; a very useful website. This is very useful considering how important technology is in the modern world, and how it is important our students understand fully how to properly use that technology, so they can eventually become successful adults.

              We had multiple learning outcomes that we were supposed to meet in this course. I believe we met all of them, especially the learning outcome that said "The students will develop an internet-based project that uses technology as both a medium and a goal of K-12 instruction." (Coleman/FSW, Course Syllabus for EME 2040, Summer A 2015) I feel like we really went above on beyond on this outcome, as we created so many "online projects."

              There are not many suggestions I would offer to the class, as it was really effective this semester. I really liked how you provided detailed instructions for the assignments, and how to create the different technology accounts. I was a little worried about this class, since I had never taken a college class online, and was pleasantly surprised when I realized that is was really not bad at all, and I was still able to ask questions on projects and information related to the course, just like in a regular college course.

             Overall, this course was a new learning experience, that I feel was successful. I learned a ton of new content, and most importantly I could easily see how I could apply most if not all of what I learned to my future career in teaching.
             

                                            (Geralt. 19 December 2014. Retrieved From:  https://pixabay.com/en/blackboard-technology-board-school-573023/)
                                                                References

       Coleman Marie, FSW. EME 2040 Introduction to Technology for Educators Course Syllabus. (Summer A 2015) Retrieved From: https://fsw.instructure.com/courses/962659/modules 
      Geralt. Technology on Blackboard. Pixabay. (19 December 2014) Retrieved From: https://pixabay.com/en/blackboard-technology-board-school-573023/

     Starr Linda. "Integrating Technology in the Classroom: It takes more than just having computers."      Education World. (12 June 2011) Retrieved From: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech146.shtml

Chapters 11 and 12

The first concept I want to talk about from our textbook: "Transforming Learning With New Technologies" is a "digital teaching portfolio." According to our textbook, "Transforming Learning With New Technologies", " a digital teaching portfolio is a collection of educational and professional materials stored in an electronic format. " (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 279) "Digital Teaching Portfolios" are very important as they allow teachers to keep track of their progress, and stride to become better teachers. One of the assignments in my EME 2040 course allows us to start our own unique "digital teaching portfolio." It is important to want to learn and progress as a teacher, and what better way to accomplish that, then by "self-evaluating" yourself, which is what a "digital teaching portfolio" allows us to do. 

The second concept I want to talk about from our textbook: "Transforming Learning With New Technologies" is "pre-assessments." According to our textbook, "Transforming Learning With New Technologies", " a pre-assessment occurs before introducing a new lesson, topic, or unit as a way for teachers to determine what students know or can already do in order to form subsequent plans for learning." (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 285) This is very important, as teachers could be wasting valuable time going over information students already know if they fail to pre-assess their students. Throughout my whole educational experience thus far, almost all my teachers had some sort of test or assessment at the beginning of the year or semester, in order to see what we already knew, and what we needed to go over more. Teachers can't read students minds, so it is important they get smoked of idea of where the student is academically. 

The final concept I want to discuss from our textbook: "Transforming Learning With New Technologies" is "computer literacy." According to our textbook, "Transforming Learning With New Technologies", "computer literacy has meant learning the names, functions, and procedures of computer hardware and software." (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 312) "Computer literacy" is important as technology is so crucial in today's world. We need to teach our students "computer literacy" from a young age so they have the highest probability of succeeding in today's world. 

(Schwarz, Gabrielle. Chapters 11 and 12. Made with Gliffy.com. (21 June 2015) Retrieved From: http://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/image/8396605/L.png)

References:
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 

Schwarz, Gabrielle. Chapters 11 and 12. Made with Gliffy.com. (21 June 2015) Retrieved From: http://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/image/8396605/L.png

Chapters 4 and 9

           The first concept I want to discuss from our textbook: "Transforming Learning with New Technologies" is "learning assessments." According to our textbook, "Transforming Learning with New Technologies", "learning assessments occur before, during, and after teaching lessons and enable teachers to evaluate student knowledge, understanding, and performance. " (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 77) I believe learning assessments are crucial to a student's learning. Without assessments, teachers would not know where their students were in terms of comprehension of information. Although, I do think that students do not simply just have to be assessed by the "old fashioned test", but also in other more creative ways. 

             The second concept I want to discuss from our textbook: "Transforming Learning with New Technologies" is the "PowerPoint." According to our textbook, "Transforming Learning with New Technologies", "PowerPoints are multimedia presentation software packages, that are a standard feature on many of today's computers. (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 220) The reason I chose to talk about "PowerPoints" for this concept is because I believe they are one of those tools in education that can either really help a student's learning or really hurt a student's learning. If used properly, "PowerPoints" are an excellent teaching aid, that really helps a student visually see the information being taught. Used improperly, "PowerPoints" can be a student's learning nightmare. What I mean by "used improperly" is when teachers use "PowerPoints" every single day, so overuse, or when they improperly make a "PowerPoint," such as too much text on a slide. Basically, PowerPoints are great teaching tools as long as they are used effectively. 

            The final concept I want to discuss from our textbook: "Transforming Learning with New Technologies" is "alphabet books." According to our textbook, "Transforming Learning with New Technologies", "alphabet books can be made by students and can be used as a way to practice spelling patterns, letter sounds, vocabulary words, and reading skills."(Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 230) I thought this was a very creative way to allow younger students to learn some of the basics. It is creative and able to be used for multiple topics in the same lesson. 

References: 
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.
Schwarz, G. (2015, June 14) "Assessmemts". Created with toondoo.com: http://www.toondoo.com/View.toon?param=9066238

Chapters 6 and 10

          The first concept I want to talk about from our textbook: "Transforming Learning with new technologies" is "information management." According to our textbook: "Transforming Learning with new technologies", "when applied to teaching, information management means effectively utilizing different kinds of digital resources to create meaningful learning learning experiences for students. " (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 133)  I thought this term was very interesting. I think it is very important that educators really think about how and where to incorporate technology into lesson plans. It can become really easy to "over use" technology. I think technology is a great tool to aid in teaching, but I also believe that if you use technology too much it can become less effective, and lose that appeal to students. Although, I could also see how some teachers who are not as comfortable with technology could unintentionally harm their students' education. As they could easily ignore the use of technology, and take away that necessary exposure to technology students need, in our modern day world. 

           The second concept I want to discuss from our textbook: "Transforming Learning with new technologies" is "word clouds." According to our textbook: "Transforming Learning with new technologies," "world clouds are a visual representation of text...and allows teachers and students to display large amounts of written text in a visually engaging format on a computer screen." (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 253) I had actually heard of "word clouds." Although, I think it sounds like a very intriguing concept. I think of myself as a "visual learner", and could really see how "word clouds" could help students who are more "visual learners." It also puts a twist on what would normally be plain old text. 

            The final concept I want to discuss from our textbook: "Transforming Learning with new technologies" is"assistive technologies." According to our textbook: "Transforming Learning with new technologies," "assistive technologies apply the concept of technological convergence to the ways that information technologies enable teachers to differentiate instruction and pursue universal design."  (Maloy, Verock-O' Loughlin, Edwards, 259) Educators should be very familiar with "assistive technologies," as they are what helps allow educators to help provide equal educational opportunities to all students. We have so many new "assistive technologies" available that help provide the best educational experiences for disabled students. It is key that educators stay on top of the newly available "assistive technologies", so that we can utilize them in the classroom. 

(Schwarz, June 07, 2015, Made With Gliffy, Retrieved From: https://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/image/8298385/L.png)

Resources:
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.
Schwarz, Gabrielle. (June 07, 2015) Chapters 6 and 10. gliffy. Made with cliffy. Retrieved From:https://www.gliffy.com/go/publish/image/8298385/L.png