Week 7 Question #1

What is the internet? What value does it hold for educators?

The internet is a wonderful form of communication, constantly transferring information all across the globe. Just like your school can share information across many different computers, which is called a network; the internet allows the sharing of information between networks. The sharing of information across networks makes communication limitless between different parts of the globe. You may not remember a world without limitless communication because we are so accustomed to the ways of the internet. Yet, many do remember a time where long distance phone calls were out of reach for many. Can you imagine not being able to communicate with a relative out of the country? What about a world without email? It is hard for society today to realize how difficult it would be to run a huge corporation without the constant communication that email provides us.

The internet is formed by millions of interconnected networks from across the globe (p. 249). The internet allows “world-wide resources” to be shared with one another (p. 249). Telecommunication connects computers to computers over large amounts of distance (p. 256). Phone lines are a form of telecommunication. When a computer is hooked up to a phone line it allows the transfer of the networks to and from that computer. Since the telephone line was meant to transfer only voices there is a little bit of modification that takes place. Usually the modem of the computer is able to modify the information for the computer.

The internet is a valuable tool in education if it used correctly and with proper supervision. First the educator must know how to use to the internet. Once the educator is well versed in the ways of the internet he or she can begin to use to assist teaching and learning. Email can be used as a form of communication from student to student, student to teacher, and teacher to parent. The student can send in assignments as an attachment through email. The teacher can make corrections and send it back to the student. This process saves paper and ink also. Students can sign up for newsletters through email and receive wonderful educational material. The internet offers chat rooms dealing with all kinds of subject matter. A student could discuss the economy with someone in Hong Kong. A teacher can post their notes, syllabus, and homework assignments on the internet. The internet also offers information faster than having to look through hard copies in a library. If a student needs to do a research paper, he or she can log on to a search engine and type the topic of their paper in and millions of results will appear.

The important thing about the internet in classrooms is that students are being supervised and it is only being used for educational purposes. The large amount of information that the internet dumps in your lap can be a great tool, but sometimes a harmful one. The educator must set boundaries for the students. The educator must be very knowledgeable on the internet and be a step ahead of the students who are surfing it.

Week 6 Reflection on 1st Set of Projects

I have always been able to do what was needed of me on a computer. However, with the growing demand of technology it has become a challenge to keep up with new technology. Programs are always being updated with new gadgets and trinkets to learn. You have to stay on your toes and be dedicated to learning the technology as it changes. You also have to have the motivation to want to learn how to use technology to its fullest. My experiences with technology have been challenging and fun. There is always frustration that goes along with technology. Yet, we can’t live without it!!!

The three projects that were assigned this week were a little out of my knowledge of computers. I participated in all of the tutorials that were offered on the software and appreciated the step by step assistance. Once I viewed the tutorials I began my journey through the projects.

The first one that I started working on was the flyer for the parent-teacher meeting. I have used Publisher before and it was fairly simple to navigate through. I enjoyed being able to brush up my skills in the program. It is a good skill to be able to create attractive flyers for distribution. It makes you appear intelligent, organized, and proud of your work. When in reality it is simple to do it just takes a little time and effort.

The second project was the Excel Grade Chart. I do use Excel quite a bit, but the formulas were new to me. My regular usage of Excel is just to keep things organized into columns and alphabetical lists. After watching the tutorial it was a breeze to get the averages of the information. I did struggle a little bit when I got to the graph part of the assignment. I could not find in the tutorial where it showed how to enter the data and have it displayed as a graph. It took some effort and time but I was able to figure it out. It was simple copy and paste steps.

The third assignment was the Power Point Quiz. I have made one Power Point before for a class project. I don’t particularly care for Power Point in lectures or for notes. However, I thought that using it for an interactive quiz was a creative idea. I was able to make the slides without any trouble. What stumped me was inserting the link buttons to connect the slides together. I actually had to ask the Librarian at my school, it ended up being a very simple process.

I enjoyed the assignments, they were a challenge but I learned a lot from them!!!

Teacher Contact Flyer
Power Point Quiz
Grade Chart

Week 5 Question #3

What are authoring systems? What is the difference between drill-and-practice software and tutorial software? When is it appropriate to use each in teaching and learning?

An authoring system allows people who are not programmers and have no formal training to create software for tutoring systems. An authoring system allows non programmers to build educational software without being well versed in building software. The way that the authoring system works is that it has features built in that are hidden behind tools that assists the author in programming without knowing how to program.

Tutorial software is designed to teach a lesson or multiple lessons that are new to the student. The way they are designed allows the student to work at their own pace and move through a well thought out lesson in sequential order. The software is designed to use a combination of text and multimedia for the students benefit. The software gives the student multiple opportunities to review the new material through review questions and other assessment tools. It is beneficial to the educator and the student to have access to tutorial software in many different instances. Tutorial software can be the foundation for the lesson that the educator is about to embark upon. The educator can use tutorial software to introduce the new material and allow the students to work at their own pace. Once the students have completed the tutorial the teacher can then add to the tutorial by building on what the tutorial has taught. Furthermore the teacher can use tutorial software when he or she is limited for time and one on one interaction with the students. The tutorials can be used to enhance a lesson and provide frequent review.

Unfortunately there is downfall to tutorial software because it can become monotonous for the students when it is the only tool used. It also may not provide adequate feedback for each student. It can only provide feedback that it is designed to provide.

Drill-and-practice software is particularly used for practice for content that has already been taught by the teacher. It is similar to tutorial software in the sense that it is designed to use a combination of simple text and more complex multimedia tools. The student is sometimes able to control the pace of the exercise but is not able to choose what they are doing. Most of the software is designed to review the student’s weak areas. A good time to use drill-and-practice software is when the teacher is preparing the students for a large assessment. Also it is a good tool to review the lesson for the students before moving on to more complex lessons.

The downfall to drill-and-practice software is that the student can become bored. The practice does not promote higher learning only review. If the student is well skilled in that particular objective the teacher should not over-review them with this type of software.

Week 4, Question #2

Why is it advantageous for educators to share resources and programs on a network? What concerns are associated with program sharing?

A network can allow you to share the use of programs over an entire school. If there was not a network to share programs, busineses would have to buy a program for each individual workstation. With a network you cna buy a special type of program that allows sharing over multiple workstations. The cost of buying a program for each individual computer would be rather expensive. Most companies have special rates for buying a program that can be shared over a network; the program is bought with a site license, allowing the program to exist on any computer that is on that particular site. It si cost beneficial to have a network for sharing programs. Another benefit of having a network in the work ploace is that the program can be installed on the server and not have to be installed on each individual workstation. Since the program exists on the server then maintenance can be done within the server instead of on each individual workstation.

Sharing resources can be cost efficient and it maximizes the students' education. When educators have access to the same programs it allows them to help each other learn the programs to the best of their ability. Then educators can maximize the potential of the programs in the classroom. Each student has the privilege of working on many different programs since it is so cost efficient.

Another wonderful advantage of working on a network is the sharing of data. If one secretary needs to see a file that another person has been working on and they are located at the other end of the campus, the file is accessible by saving it to public domain on the server. Then whoever needs the file can access it at their individual workstation.

A great disadvantage to sharing programs on a network is that when the program is down on the server it is down for each workstation. Most networks have back up servers in case of emergencies. However when a server is down and there is no plan for back up the whole network will suffer until it is fixed on the server.

I work at a school that uses a network and we enjoy it greatly. Lately we have had a couple of viruses that have been trying to camp out in our server. It has caused the whole school quite a bit of grief. We have a back up server and after one day started having problems with it. It has been two weeks now since the problem started and it has been very trying. When the work that needs to be done exists on ly on the workstations and they are not working properly then you got a really big problem. Since the school runs off of a network system, it is all workstations that is having the problem and not just one or two. It hasbeen a great test of patience during the past two weeks. I know that when the problem is fixed everything will go back to being as perfect as it can be. Before viruses the network has been a wonderful experience. I have made the comment to a couple of co-workers who have been in the district for about twenty years, wondering; "How did you guys make it without computers?" Their answer was; "Very carefully, and with a lot of headaches!" I seriously think that technology in the school district is a blessing. Even if there are problems sometimes.

Week 3 Question #1

How can an instructional design model help you develop your instructional plan? Identify the steps of the DID model and briefly explain each.

The instructional design model is used to provide a structure or framework for people creating things. In the education world it applies to educators creating purposeful lessons for their students. The guideline or framework that is provided in the instructional design model lays out easy to follow steps for the educator to follow while creating the lesson. The steps help organize and structure the process of creating lesson plans, gathering of materials, and the use of technology. There are many different instructional design models created by different people. All follow the basic pattern of steps. One of the more popular ones was originally created by Robert Gagne. He has proven himself to be a prominent figure in the world of instructional design (p. 48). Gagne approached instructional design systematically and was proactive in sharing the information. His model broke planning instruction into steps. His work became a road map for later models.

The dynamic instructional design model builds on the instructional design model. The explainable difference between the two is the dynamic instructional design model has a more forceful design. It allows flexibility so that the teacher can modify instruction as to the learners needs. The instructor uses feedback to evaluate the students’ understanding of the objective. Performance objectives are “what the learner will be able to do when the instruction concludes.” (p. 51). Formative feedback is the constant loop of student work to teacher, and then the teacher is able to make suggestions on the students work or performance. It also allows the teacher to make modifications to the method of instruction to better reach the students’ needs. Summative feedback occurs when the instruction for that lesson is complete. Summative feedback can be a test, project, or some type of demonstration of the objective for that lesson (p. 48).

The steps to the dynamic instructional design model (DID) are: (p. 50).

-Know the learners
-State your objectives
-Establish the learning environment
-Identify teaching and learning strategies
-Identify and select technologies

Knowing the learners, is when the instructor demonstrates an understanding all of the students’ learning styles. The instructor must include instruction that will meet all the needs of the students. 2. State your objectives, the instructor must take responsibility for making sure that all students understand what is required of them. 3. Establish the learning environment; the instructor is responsible for making a safe, easy learning environment for the students. It is good for the class to be free of as many distractions as possible. 4. Identify teaching and learning strategies, the teacher has the responsibility of making sure that the teaching style is meeting the needs of the student and can make adjustments if necessary. 5. Identify and select technologies, the instructor is responsible for including relevant technology in the lesson. The instructor must also make sure the student is able to understand and use the technology in the lesson.
(Lever-Duffy, Teaching & Learning with Technology, 3e)

Week 2 Question #3

My synthesized view of teaching, learning, and technology.

I believe that teaching must always be evolving, evaluating, and energetic to engage students. What I mean by those 4 E’s is that an educator must be ready to change “evolve”, must always be assessing “evaluating” what the student is learning and ready to adapt the way they are teaching. Last but not least the educator must be energetic to captivate the students on an everyday basis. I truly believe that an educator must incorporate more than lecture into their classroom for the students to learn. It has been proven that different students learn different ways. An educator must have a huge briefcase full of tricks to be ready to overcome every obstacle that he or she might face. Some students learn better by visual aids, while others need hands on instruction.

The educator has to be ready to adapt their classroom setting by evaluating how much and how the student is learning. When the educator is aware of how each student learns then they can truly begin to teach the material. Advanced material truly needs to be distributed in different ways to further their understanding of the matter. So many different things must be taken into account when dealing with students and styles of learning. Home life is a big factor in the student’s preparedness at school and eagerness to learn. An educator is not going to be able to reach the student with energy or visual aids when that student is hungry. If the student comes to school after being abused it is going to be hard for an educator to get through to the student. An educator’s responsibility reaches further than just educating we become responsible for the student’s well being so that they can become educated.

Technology in this day in age is a must in the classroom. In the “Information Age” students must be more knowledgeable in technology to succeed in the work place. Student’s need understand the importance of technology and what it can do for them as students and future entrepreneurs. The earlier technology can be introduced to a student the better. The intranet has so much to offer to students for research purposes. Students are now able to do quick and easy research on the intranet and develop their research into reports and displays. Students are able to learn and present knowledge in so many different ways when technology is present. Teachers must be ready to incorporate technology into the curriculum no matter what subject so that students have the option to learn in a variety of ways.

About me...

Hello Everyone!!!

My name is Skye Dickinson, on the class roster I will be listed as Brittnay. I love spending time with my dogs, canoeing, camping, and playing disc golf. I am getting married this summer to my love of 5 years. I am ready to graduate with my masters and pursue my teaching career. I am currently working in the career center at Petal High School. I help students register for college, look for scholarships, and search for future careers. I am the assistant speech and debate coach and travel with the speech team every weekeend. It is a pleasure to have the opporutnity to work for such a wonderful school.