Blog 5: Power point and Taxonomy

In our most recent class of Education 422, Professor McCulloch refreshed our knowledge of power point. I found this to be very helpful because I don't think I ever really had a proper lesson on PowerPoint. I learned how to apply different animations and effects to each slide or all slides. I had know idea that there are online sources where power point templates can be downloaded and applied to my own slides. It was encouraging to learn that PowerPoint is not as basic as I had thought, that there are sources outside of the ones provided on the software. Further into our PowerPoint refresher course, we learned the dos and do nots of PowerPoint. There are many minor factors that go into making a decent power point. For example, by applying various sounds to one or more slide, the viewers will most likely be too distracted to even pay attention to the content of the slide. Some points Professor McCulloch provided us are to avoid abbreviations and acronyms, no more than two graphics per slide, use animation to emphasize points, don't use more than 5 bullets to a slide and 8 words to a bullet and a most important only include what is necessary.
Power point can be a very effective tool in many ways. The teacher can provide the students with the lesson before it is even presented. In this situation, the student can get a head start on the material but also print an outline of the power point and bring it to class to write notes next to each slide. In this example, both the teacher and student are impacted because both student and teacher are more likely to be on the same page therefore the lesson will be more efficient. I plan to use power point within my own classroom. The example above is one way I would include this tool in the class to improve my teaching and my students' learning. Another approach to power point that I would implement in my classroom is using power point in a game format to review for exams or when finalizing a chapter. In this manner my teaching ability would be improved and the students would be able to actively participate in improving their learning.
Bloom's taxonomies addresses levels of abstraction that are commonly seen in the education setting. The different competencies covered are knowledge, comprehension. application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. I think that Bloom's taxonomy is an interesting abstract of preperation for exams. According to my understanding it appears that each competance is thoroughly addressed with each skill that should be demonstrated. I think this is a helpful tool for any student and serves a rubric like purpose to studying successfully.

Blog 4: Mapping Student Minds

The activity discussed in "Mapping Student Minds" implements learning through technology and meets the NETS S3 and NETS TII standards. Throughout this course we have discussed various ways technology can be incorporated into the classroom. I found the featured activity to be very thorough and very engaging for this age group and above. I appreciated the structure of the activity in that the students were involved in the data finding both inside and outside of the classroom. On top of that they also worked collaboratively with partners as well as a separate after school group to keep the research ongoing and observe while it progressed. This week in EDUC 422, we are creating a similar format casual map to the one used in the activity in Walnut Creek, California discussed in the article. The online tool we are using is called "Inspiration". Similar to an outline one creates before delving into writing an essay or such, this tool allows you to create topics and link arrows to subtopics among many other creative aspects. The topic I chose for my inspiration map is immigration and migration to California between 1850 and 1900 (4.4.3). For this assignment the idea is to create a map on curriculum above third grade and as if we were in that grade level. While beginning this assignment I found the tool "inspiration" to be extremely helpful in formulating my ideas. My B.A. is in History and there were many times i could have used this tool in presentations and in my research for papers. Although I was unaware of this toolprior to EDUC 422, I will be using this in the future.

"Oh the Changes..."

For the past twenty something years computers and technology have been an instrument used within school classrooms. Over this period of time, many things have evolved and changed, including teaching strategy. There are many different approaches to teaching of which a teacher may follow in their classroom. In my point of view, or at least when it comes to my classroom, I except my students to take responsibility for their own education just as much if not more than me. In reading "Oh the Changes...", the section dedicated to "sense makers" (p.7) reminded me of the type of teacher and strategy I lean towards taking. In my Education 350 class, we explored the different teaching characteristics we think we will follow in our own classroom and what type of a teacher the majority of our answers are categorized into. My teaching style was classified as "Post Modernist", where I take an answer or topic out of it's common context and relate it to multiple other subjects or concepts. This follows the idea that perhaps there is sometimes no one right reason only. In the "Sense makers" column (p.7) of the reading it begins with "My teacher lets us work independently because she knows we have a plan. She's there if we need her." In today's classroom technology can support the learner in many ways. An example from the reading of technology used in learning and teaching is, when writing a paper if you mess up you don't need to erase it or throw away the paper. In the classroom, a student may mess up and find help through the computer or Internet and carry on with the task. Or, as a teacher, I may assist the student, and when back on track, there is time saved to continue rather than begin all over again. I think technology in the classroom creates an efficient setting and allows for more production within it. I hope that my students can facilitate in their own learning in my classroom with the help of technology and themselves, as much as the help from me. As I will do myself and learn from them.

Blog 2- tools - netiquette - "Teaching Understanding"

This week in EDUC 422, I read "Teaching Understanding" which was about using technology in a classroom to teach understanding. Also this week, I learned about netiquette and was taught by my professor many great tools for understanding the Internet.
In reading "Teaching Understanding", we are introduced to three findings introduced by psychologist John Bransford which support the belief that "learners construct their knowledge from their experiences, a perspective that generates many implications for how to teach students to understand." The three findings that are the basis for teaching and learning in this reading are 1: preconceptions influence all learning, 2: Understanding comes from knowing facts and principles, and, 3: Metacognition is essential for understanding. Through these three findings, we are introduced to the use of technology in support of these three notions.
In finding number one, the main challenge for a teacher is learning how to use these preconceptions as a foundation in expanding or modifying their understanding. So, the question here is how can technology be used as a tool in doing such, keeping in mind the main point in this situation, to correct the learner's incorrect assumptions. An important aspect considered in the reading that most teachers have a problem with is how to assess each student's misconceptions in order to correct these incorrect preconceptions. An example in the reading of doing so implemented the use of technology. The idea was to assess the students' understandings through discourse which technology then allows the teacher to provide instant responses and feedback and also adjust lessons accordingly.
Finding number two, "Understanding comes from knowing facts and principles", teaches how facts should be presented through interconnection of facts, concepts and pinciples and, developing framework in which students can organize such in their mind. Use of technology to support this way of teaching and understanding may be found through computer based programs. However it is vital that the teacher has a strong mastery of the material they are teaching as well as a strong understanding of how the students will typically learn that material.
In finding number three, meatacognition is addressed. "Metacognition describes the personal awareness of individuals to choose, monitor, and adjust the thinking strategies they use to learn and solve problems. " This line of thinking and learning helps the individual to control what and how they learn in order to be more aware and successful in their understanding process. An example of a technology tool that will aide in this finding is a online program called "Study Smart" which aims to teach these cognitive management skills.
In another reading based on netiquette, that we were to review for an introductory letter assignment, I learned the importance of expressing myself clearly through the computer text keeping in mind such aspects of tone and punctuation as to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings that may lead to argument, etc...
Reflecting upon this weeks class, I learned such helpful tools as internet language, advantages an disadvantages of the web, security and limitations of the web, what certain .abc means for example .org, .net, .gov... I also learned what "backflipping" is (bookmarking which allows one to include a description) and I also created a Yahoo.com account which gives me access to many useful tools for exploring the internet.

EDUC 422 Week 1: Reflection of first class

My first week of Education 422 proved to be a very significant one pertaining to my relationship with computers. First, I learned the difference between a PC and MAC computers and their differences and similarity of function. For example, on a MAC when there are programs running there are little arrows beneath the picture of the programs. One thing I learned from having my own MAC, which I got stolen, was that when you save something, it downloads differently than a PC. When you save a file on a MAC, it is automatically downloaded in desktop which may be confusing at first. But in class we learned, when saving to a MAC you can save to a second desktop or personal folder. A personal folder can be created under “columns”. To create a folder you need to close word, press control and click on icon, then type the name of the folder.
Besides learning the differences of a PC and a MAC and how to do specific tasks, I also learned what a Blog is and created one of my own. My URL is http://grech002.blogspot.com. If I learned this correctly then this will be my first post. Among the above mentioned however, the most interesting thing that I have learned in my first week of class is Print Screen. This was the first time I had ever heard of this function on a computer. Both a MAC and PC have this button which allows a photograph of what is on your computer at the moment to be copy pasted into word. On a PC you press “Prnt Scrn” – open word – and paste. On a MAC you press the control button – apple – shift – 4 and hold the mouse down and drag to copy a selection of the print. You then go to word and paste onto a document.
I feel that this first week of class has been very useful and successful. I am looking forward to learning a lot of useful computer techniques that will help me in my future career as a teacher.