Day 3 Reflection

The time I spent online today was unbelievable.  I didn't spend much time on my PLN because I spent so much time creating my video for the lesson.  I had a lot of fun using PowToon, but it took me so long to try to figure out how to manipulate it and have it work out the way I wanted.  I was having a nervous breakdown when I looked and saw how much time I spent on it. On and off, I spent about 6 hours on this video! I will say, I am very proud of it, haha. My lesson and activity target the applying and creating concepts of Blooms Digital Taxonomy.  They will be just creating and working together on Educreations using their prior knowledge and resources that were collected.

Tech Academy-Day 2 Reflection

Today, after watching a few soccer games, I spent a lot of time researching sites that would give me insight on some of the best web apps, tools, and other resources.  I found some great websites from many blog entries on Edutopia. I also used Google as a tool to search some sites and find great resources for technology. There's so much out there, it's hart to look at it all. What matters is that we know that it's there for us to use when we need it.  

The webinar on Flipped Classrooms was a great eye opener.  I enjoyed listening and having questions that I had in my mind answered.  I learned that it's important to give the students different options to choose from when giving them the assignment to view a video of some sort.  It's just like giving them a rubric for a project. They're free to do it the way they'd like as long as they follow a rubric.  

The lesson that I would like to use is something along the lines of character traits and characteristics. I would like the students to make a video using Animoto, which is an onine video making tool.  It is very easy to use. Some of the downsides of this web app is that it only allows 30 seconds for free and it requires an account. Other than that, it's a great tool. 

Overcoming Barriers

As listed in a previous post, there are a few barriers that I have encountered, or observed in classrooms.  Now that I have had some time to reflect, there are ways to solve these challenges and overcome them so that we can be as productive as possible in our lessons.  It's always important to know what students have knowledge of before starting a lesson. I feel that this will help the instructor know what is lacking so that it can be reviewed before beginning a lesson.  Students also enjoy working together, so those students that struggle with a concept or web app can get help from the student that has a better idea of how to do it or use it.  I feel that Network problems are always going to be unexpected.  Having something in place in case that happens will always be key, or waiting to do that particular lesson would also be beneficial so that the students can still be accountable for their work. As for data transfer and ability to access sites that aren't approved by the school? Well, we have to find ways to work around that.  Possibly downloading the video onto a device so that it can be used in the classroom, or finding an app that will be allowed to be used in the district.  Many sites require emails and such.  Sometimes it's easier to find the sites that don't require these because students become confused as to what they need to enter and/or forget what their information is.  One solution would be to have the students write down their information in a notebook where they would keep this information throughout their school career. Having it online in a folder would be a great method also.  I've found a a website that has many blog posts on technology in the classroom that I think will be beneficial to me in the near future. Together, teachers and students can learn to overcome these challenges by seeing the problem together, and coming up with alternative solutions. 

Edutopia-Classroom Tech-http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/tag/classroom-technology

Tech Academy-Day 1 Reflection

What was new to you? How can you use some of the tools from today with your students? What lesson are you thinking about using this week as you infuse technology?

I feel like I got a really good idea of what the technology TEKS are. Before, I had no clue what they consisted of.  I really enjoyed the video that was presented today using PowToon. I think that the students would have a blast using this web app to create something over a skill that they've learned. I'm thinking about doing something over character traits. Having the students find pictures from online and making a video would probably be something that I would like my kids to do.  

The Four Barriers

1. Prior Knowledge- I feel that at times, one is going to have students that will know what to do and go ahead of the class as a lesson is being presented.  This will cause everyone not being on the same page and students may not be following the right instructions as they are going ahead.  Another issue that has risen in my experiences is that one may think that all students know how to log into the computer, get on the internet, or even log off. These simple tasks get overlooked at times and might need to be addressed again during the lesson.  This takes time from the actual lesson wanting to be presented.

2. Network Problems- There is always the possibility of having network issues.  It's also very common to find an amazing video to introduce a concept to students, but then one forgets that students can't access it due to lightspeed or another site to protect students from unreliable sites.  Taking this into account before a lesson is essential so that crucial time isn't wasted in trying to load the information through a different site or finding another source to explain the concept.

3. Data Transfer- Some web apps make it difficult for students to import photos, or media onto the page.  This is particularly a challenge when working with younger children.  Not only do the apps sometimes not allow pictures or data entry, they are hard to manage.

4. Logins/Passwords-Some of the best web apps require a login and password.  It's very hard for students, especially at a lower grade level, to remember their passwords and logins.  This makes it time consuming during a lesson because there is so much time dedicated to having everyone be on the same page and getting them in their account.