Digital Blog Post # G




Reading chapter ten in our book,Transforming Learning With New Technologies. I came to understand more about Americas cultural diversity in the classroom. Technology is very good tool to have in facilitating teachers to teach a increasingly diverse population. Technology has also allowed, for schools and educators to be more interactive with students who may not necessarily speak English as a primary language at home.  Simple programs such as google translate, can help relay important information to bilingual students, who parents may not read or speak English at home.Websites are ever increasingly providing multilingual content for users of different languages. Blended learning as spoken about in this article Can Blended Learning Improve Equity in One of Nation’s Most Diverse Districts is a way for us to integrate learning with our diverse classroom population



The book also talks about Differentiated instructions. This is an educational teaching concept i believe is really valuable. I believe this so because, as the book states, this approach is when a teacher creates different educational experiences, as a way to meet the learning needs of individual students and classes. I as an future educator would be constantly using this mechanisim. Depanding on the subject i am teaching , to relate meaningful information to my students so they can understand the curriculum, whether through movies,podcasts, power points or interactive discussions. Lastly assistive technologies,as spoken about in this chapter are a great asset in helping learning impaired students. Assistive technologies have created extra ordinary opportunities for all students.i particular think, that these technologies will help students more then ever before, because of revolution in software. The book talks about speech recognition software, an individual who does not have good fine motor skills, would be a great benefactor of this technology, but also a writer who just wants to talk and have the software program dictate his or her words.

Digital Blog Post # E

Reading,through chapter seven Exploring Problem Solving with Software Apps, & Games.I came to notice three concepts that struck me as interesting and that i had previous experience.The three concepts that attracted my attention were, Open-source-Software's,Simulation Games & Google earth.

 I have had personal experience with the concept of  Open-source-Software's, as i learned more in the book about these open public computer programs, that one can attain at little or no coast to them. For example the book states that Linux is a major open source operating system for computers,as well as Ubuntu a open source operating system i have used in the past.The real concept behind these open source programs is so that other individuals,organizations will  contribute to the source codes and help improve on the program and it will get better, like Mozilla Firefox.

The second concept that grabbed my attention was Simulation games.I can say with experience at one point or another a child that grows up in the 21st century, has probably played a simulation game. I certainly have played a few.Whats important to note is that according to our text stealth learning games are the best of stimulation games, because they are the games that students play without realizing that they are actually learning. I personally love this concept i remember, that i used to play a game, that would teach me how to play a game while learning.

Third web tool that i used to love and now am reading about in my textbook just struck out to me. Google earth as spoken of in the book is a great and effective tool for teachers to use, that students can interact with in real time. Weather your teaching geography or science google earth can be an effective web tool at a teachers disposal.    

Digital Blog Post #C

           

 Digital Blog Post #C

Reflecting back on chapter three,there were some distinct concepts that caught my attention.I read those with more depth and reflected upon them as if i were a teacher myself and as a current student.Those three concepts that had me a little bit more intrigued were,the concept of student center approach,active learning & digital citizenship.

First and foremost,the concept of a student center approached intrigued me and makes sense to me as well,because as a student and as a future educator,i tend to agree with this approach for the most part.This approach is fundamentally practical,because it takes classroom engagement and blends it with real life scenarios.This leads the student to formulate,hypotheses and opinions on unanswered questions and helps the student resolve important questions based on what she or he has learned in the classroom. Examples of student centered approached,would be online learning and interaction. quizzes..etccc. One such example is here  Freshman English of a active student centered engagement.

The second concept, that i reflected upon was active learning. This is the form of learning,which best fits me and as a teacher i would assume it does with most students, but not all.Active learning is defined as a process whereby students engage in activities, such as reading, writing, discussion, or problem solving that promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content.This to me is the most natural and most basic form of learning. As teachers according to the book, we will have to work with the preexisting understanding that students bring with them to class and incorporate them as part of the discussion.

The last concept, is an important concept especially because of the world we are living in now.Digital Citizenship is a concept that talks of our digital footprint in the online world.Such as a regular citizens of a nation has to abide by rules and regulations,so to people who have social interactions online. If we as a natural citizen of a country commit a crime we get punished.So to we also have rules and regulations in the online world such as cyber crime,hacking copyright infringement.The book talks of having moral and social responsibilities online as a digital citizen, just like we have it in a country. 

Digital Bog Post # A

Digital Blog Post # A



Transforming Learning Technologies with New Technologies, has a ton of informative information for blending traditional class tools and infusing it with a digital identity. Chapter one of the book "Becoming a 21st Century Teacher" discusses in depth on how to do so. I grew up in an era when the digital revolution had not fully metastasized,reading through the chapter i see that our new generations all have been immersed in this educational technological revolution. As a future educator i will need to grasp the information of the new technology and blend it with some of the traditional to have a state of the art teaching environment.



First and foremost the idea that jumped out at me the most was,a technological-based learning environment.When i first read this, the first thing that came to my mind was computer labs.That is what i was used to when i was in grade school,but no the book was speaking of another type of environment. It was speaking of a class website,blogs and wikis where the teacher and students may interact with each other even outside the classroom environment to message one another post grades ...etc This type of learning is a whole different ball game then what i was used to, we were not even allowed to have phones or laptops on in class let alone class websites. Here is an article with a little bit more insight on this topic:    http://technologysource.org/article/preparing_teachers_to_use_learning_objects/

The second concept which i found striking was the idea called iGeneration. Group of  grade school students who were born in the late ninety's and on. It is interesting to know this is the generation that has never known a world without the internet.I personally did not even have a cellphone till i was in the ninth grade. I did grow up with Aol and dial up, but i do not consider myself part of the igeneration since i was born in 1992 and still remember my teacher playing us VHS tapes of Reading Rainbow in the 1st grade.It is however good to know that the igeneration has technological access to educational material that my generation could have only dreamed of and that is good for learning.It is particularly good for learning because i came across this video that shows the history of technological advance s in education.

The last and final concept that i found intriguing was the concept of a "technology based office" at first glance i guessed that this concept would pertain to virtual school teachers,boy was i wrong. This concept talks about a teachers overall computer laptop or desktop in class or virtual school as his or her nucleus.The desktop today incorporates numerous applications emails,grades,evaluations student software.This means that teachers in this generation and the next to come will be ever more connected to there work space and students and parents,wherever they go there classroom goes.

All in all to conclude this chapter is just the beginning of immersing ourselves in this book Transforming Learning Technologies with New Technologies. I have grasped the concept of some new emerging educational technological teaching trends.In future i am sure the book will elaborate in detail ways technology is helping educational learning even more and hopefully the text will be informative.

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.