Intro+to+Tech+Reflections

=Module 1 Reflection=
 * Reflection Prompt: //How has your knowledge of technology standards changed after this module? Reflect on your own use of technology standards in your classroom and personal use.//**
 * Description:** For this module I read the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers booklet and also the introduction and chapter one in the ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards book. These readings detailed the technology standards for teachers and students. The rationale for creating these standards was explained with emphasis on how our society is moving from the industrial classroom to the technology classroom. I have not had specific experiences with the technology standards at the school I work at. I was not able to participate in the live chat but I did listen to it as a recording. The class talked about assignments and expectations of the class and program.
 * Impact:** From the readings I learned about the national standards for technology. I learned that there are five standards for teachers; 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity, 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, 4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, and 5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. I was unfamiliar with these and am now starting to understand them more the way they are written. They are separated into standards for teachers and for students. There were examples of some of the standards in the book with real examples from other teacher's classrooms. I liked reading about how they incorporated technology and used it in their own classrooms. This was the most helpful to me during this first assignment. I feel that it is very beneficial to me when I can have an example of how people can interpret the standards into their teaching. Most of the chapter just explained how the standards are organized, which is very similar to the state standards that I am used to working with. Before this module I was not aware of the difference between a technology facilitator and a technology leader. I was unaware that these positions even existed, because I do not see either one involved in the school that I currently work at. These seem like valuable positions that I believe are essential for the teaching of technology in schools.
 * Intent:** As a result of this module, I will research more about what can be done in the classroom to satisfy all of the standards. I understand this may take some time, but hopefully by the end of this course I will have an idea of an example or idea that others or myself have had about each standard and how to implement them in the classroom. I will compile this into a resource that I can use in the future and look back to. I plan on making a hard copy and hopefully using some sort of technology-based version as well.

=**Module 2 Reflection**=
 * Reflection Prompt: //How do the artifacts in your pre-competencies verification reflect your technology use as an educator? In light of your learning about TPACK, identify area of improvement needed.//**
 * Description:** For this module I read chapter 2 in the Technology Facilitation and Leadership book, chapter 1 and chapter 7 in the TPACK book.
 * Impact:** The reading in the Facilitation and Leadership book went along with how I feel about using technology. It explained what the problems are in technology use, like teachers being unprepared educational wise. Teachers need training to be able to use technology successfully in the classroom. More importantly, however, is the fact that most schools do not have access to the technology in the first place. My school has a computer lab with 30 computers in it. Our classes have 32-33 students in them. Now, account for the fact that some of our computers do not even work, there are almost ten students that cannot even participate when we all go to the lab. This is frustrating for students and teachers. However, the readings hint at the fact that if teachers had proper training and resources available, problems like that would be minimized and would not be such a problem. The ideas presented are great, but it seems like a huge endeavor. Saying incorporate technology for student learning and actually doing it are very far apart in reality. For students to have technology experiences that actually foster content knowledge and exploring technology at the same time a lot of preparation needs to take place ahead of time. There are many factors involved and many things that can go wrong. Teachers need to have training that gives specific examples and sample lessons to use in the classroom. Teachers commonly continue to do what they know, so there needs to be a shift in showing teachers what is expected of them when it comes to technology. These chapters are explaining what needs done and why it is important, but I am still waiting for the explanation of HOW it is to be done in the classroom. I feel that there has been a lot of research done on this topic, but it is obvious that we need to move to a more technology dependent way of teaching. I feel that for this to be successful, more resources should be available, or easier to find, on specific ways to incorporate technology into the students learning. The artifacts in my pre-competencies verification do not show how much I use technology in the classroom. There are some things that I used without even thinking of it as technology use, because it has become so common as a day to day activity. There is much that I need to improve on. One that stands out to me the most is how to get students so comfortable with technology that they are actually able to learn concepts and content knowledge. When I think of the students at my school, I know that when they are using the computers they are spending more time figuring out what they need to do with the programs and computers instead of the lesson that they are supposed to be learning. I feel it will take a long time for students to be comfortable with using the computers the way that they are supposed to, and with standardized testing pushing learning, it is hard to sacrifice that time. This emphasizes to me the importance of making sure the lessons are very well planned out ahead of time.
 * Intent:** I plan to be more organized with the great resources I find online. I can make a new tag or category on my Delicious account to put all of my technology resources under. I would like to make an easily available resource for myself to go back to for ideas on incorporating technology in the classroom. I would also like to investigate some and see if there are pre-made lessons online somewhere that were implemented in the classroom with reflections by the teacher. Reading the reflections might help me to understand how to successfully plan and create such technology rich and content rich lessons as are described in the books we are reading. This will be an ongoing process that will probably never be fully complete, much like the concept of technology education itself. :)

=**Module 3 Reflection**=
 * Reflection Prompt: //Reflect on what you plan to do to address the equity and ethics issues when applying technologies. You may share with us about what you have been doing by addressing theses aspects and what you will change after learning in this module.//**
 * Description:** This week I read chapters about equity of access to technology and social, ethical, legal, and human issues with technology use in the classroom. The first reading was about bridging the three different digital divides as related to classroom assignments and having equitable access to technology. The second reading was focused on digital equity, privacy/confidentiality of students, online safety, policies, procedures, and advocacy, and a description of the technology standards that apply to this topic. There was also an interesting case study at the end of the chapter that detailed the use of podcasts in an elementary school in Nebraska.
 * Impact:** From these readings i have learned that there is much more that a teacher and school district can do to help students have more access to technology outside of the classroom. It was very motivational for me to see the connections that were made within the community to help students succeed in this digital age. We have limited technology available for the students at my school, so teachers hesitate to give any assignments involving required technology because students do not have access to it outside of school. I feel that this is beneficial to me because it gives specific examples of what can be done to help increase student participation and achievement when related to technology. The other reading really opened my eyes about ethical use of technology. I really had not put much thought into the issues that are commonly arising today due to technology. Plagiarism has always been an important issue for students to understand, but now I see that there are many other things students need to understand and take seriously about using technology. Most of this is for their own safety.
 * Intent:** There are a list of websites as resources in both books, and I plan on visiting them and adding them to my Delicious account with my own summary of each site. By doing this I will end up with a collection of useful resources that will help my students and I in the future. The ones that look the most interesting to me at this point are the ones that involving plagiarism and copying others works. There was one website listed as a site where students can go to a sort of "webquest" or simulation about plagiarism and what it means.

=**Module 4 Reflection**=
 * Reflection Prompt: //Reflect on your thinking surrounding your developing a philosophy of Instructional Technology use for learning and your understanding of 21st Century Teaching and Learning.//**
 * Description:** This week our reading was about how teaching, learning, and the curriculum pertaining to technology needs to change to close the curriculum gaps and meet the needs of students.
 * Impact:** During this reading it explained how much students use technology outside of school. They are immersed in media for hours a day. T.V., internet, with students even using more than one medium at the same time. I was aware that students use social networking and the internet frequently outside of school, but I did not really understand how this related to school before. Now I am starting to understand that the reason there is and should be such a push for technology use in the classroom is not only to keep up with the technology that our students will have to use in college and in their careers but to keep their attention in the classroom. Students have a different way of gathering knowledge and technology can be used in an effective way to accommodate learning for 21st century learners. This module helped me refine my philosophy of instructional technology, as well as education. There is major concern that our students are graduating without the technological skills they will need to perform in the workplace. This is a concern that teachers need to be aware of to better incorporate learning these skills(technology standards) into the classroom.
 * Intent:** This module affected how my philosophy of instructional technology was formed. It is evident that students need to learn content knowledge in a technology rich way. I think that I can incorporate more technology into my lessons with my students to help them learn content knowledge as well as technology skills. I was interested in the ThinkQuest page, and I will explore that further to see how I can apply it with my students.

=**Module 5 Reflection**= Some of the things involved in productivity and professional practice are very commonplace in schools now. We use software programs for daily tasks such as grading, taking attendance and lunch count, entering detentions and referrals, and spreadsheets for creating lesson plans. These are very useful in my opinion and reduce the amount of time it takes for these types of tasks. I also agree with the fact that teachers are sometimes not very interested in implementing new things, because they are afraid that it will take too much time away from teaching or be non-successful. The technology facilitators and leaders acting as professional development coaches is a great idea to me because they can model and work with teachers to help them through the initiation process of implementing new technology tools into the classroom. However, this idea will only work when technology facilitators and leaders are present in the district. Some schools, such as the one that I work at, do not have any technology leaders or facilitators, so the teachers are sort of on their own when it comes to working with new technology. My classroom assessment is greatly impacted by technology. I am a Title I math teacher, so I use the data from the students test scores from their Scantron tests to help gauge how well they are doing and what they still need help in. Our students take this CBT three times a year, so we can use the results as assessment data. Since this was only my second year teaching, my assessments have already been technology driven from the start, so I have not had many changes. Technology when used for assessment purposes helps me identify the students that need extra help with math.
 * Reflection Prompt: //How has technology impacted or changed your classroom assessment and evaluation? Has your data collection methodology changed with technology? If technology has not impacted your assessment and evaluation, what would you like to change? Discuss technology and your own productivity and professional practice.//**
 * Description:** This module included the chapters involving assessment and evaluation and productivity and professional practice. This involved information on assessing students using technology tools, and also evaluating technology tools for their effectiveness in order to keep funding and the stakeholders happy. Technology facilitators and leaders must work to provide professional development to teachers to help them successfully utilize the technologies that they have access to.
 * Impact:** Before this module, I was already aware of the benefits of Computer Based Testing. We use programs like this at our school. The results are almost instantaneous and are easy to compile as data for individual or classroom analysis. One of the things that I was not aware of was how to test students on their technology literacy. I never really thought about it before, I have only been familiar with CBT that tests students on core content knowledge. The pattern is for high stakes testing to become CBT. This worries me a little because when our students take the current Scantron tests on the computers, they do not put forth as much effort and are quick to just guess an answer to get to move on to the next question.
 * Intent:** During the next school year I would like to try to find out from my administration if there is a budget at our school reserved for technology, and see how it has been spent in the past. I feel that if the teachers had more input on what they would use in the classroom, then our purchases would be more beneficial for the students. I would like to attend a professional development or seminar that showcases technology use in the classroom. Our school may even be able to form a technology committee since we do not have technology leaders and facilitators available to us.

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=**Module 6 Reflection**=
 * Reflection Prompt: //How did understanding the standards and the pre-comp verification help you design your FE plan? How can you use your ePortfolio to help others understand how to integrate technology more effectively in the classroom?//**
 * Description:** The chapters in the leadership book are aligned with the standards, with descriptions, explanations, and example situations.
 * Impact:** The readings helped me the most to understand the standards and how they are supposed to look in an educational setting. When designing my FE plan, the break down of the standards was very helpful. I was able to look at each standard individually and see where I could make improvements in my teaching or create experiences for myself to help reach my goals. The pre-competencies verification helped me see where my weaknesses are and enabled me to see how to work towards the standards that I need to include in my field experience. Reading extensively about the standards and trying to connect them with work I have done in the past helped me to better understand how to connect the standards to my plans for field experiences.
 * Intent:** I am still a little confused about what our ePortfolio is supposed to look like, and what to include on it. I plan on looking at the examples that I heard are in the content area of springboard for ideas. This will hopefully help me have a better vision for what my field experiences need to accomplish and how to get started.

=**Module 7 Reflection**= Reflection Prompt // : //**// Reflect on how you perceive yourself as an online learner? Are you well-prepare to be an online leaner? Tell us about what you need to improve in order to be a successful online learner. //**
 * Description:** For this module I read three chapters from the Student Guide to Successful Online Learning, as well as articles online on the same topic. These readings concentrated on adult online learning through colleges and universities. This course is my first 100% online class, and it has definitely been a learning experience for me. This class has prepared me to be an online learner, especially this last module.
 * Impact:** During this class I quickly realized that without substantial effort on my part, I tend to procrastinate when left with the responsibility of scheduling my own assignments. I took action, however, and was able to focus on "chunking" assignments to get them done each week. I have been working on getting the readings done by Wednesday of each week, doing assignments by Saturday, and posting on the discussion board on Saturday or Sunday of each week. This was one of the strategies that was listed in Ch 10 of the reading as a trait of successful online learners. Sometimes it is hard to stay motivated, but designating a specific time and place to complete assignments is crucial to the success of online learners. This is also a strategy to help online students from becoming overwhelmed by assignments.
 * Intent:** Based on the things I have learned from this module, I am more aware of the concerns that online learners should have and am therefore more prepared to deal with them successfully. One thing that I think I need to improve on in future online classes is participating in more of a community environment. I feel I could have made more peer-to-peer interactions that were outside of the discussion board. Studies have shown that interacting with other students during the class can increase motivation, and understanding of assignments. This also helps network with future opportunities that may become available.

=**Module 8 Reflection**= ** Reflection Prompt: ** // ** Summarize your learning for this term. How will you use the knowledge you have constructed to improve your use of technology for learning in your class and for your own personal and professional development? ** //
 * Description:** I have learned a lot this semester about technology in the classroom. This class has shown me that there are many different ways to incorporate technology in student centered ways to increase student motivation and learning. I feel like this class has just shown me the tip of the iceberg when it comes to knowing all of the different technologies and how they can be incorporated into the classroom.
 * Impact:** I feel that after taking this class I am more motivated than before to pursue this degree. I think that there is going to be a great need and push for technologies in schools in the near future and I am glad I will be near the forefront when it comes to preparedness. I also have a greater understanding of the proper way to use technology in the best way for students to learn. Through this course I have learned the difference between teacher centered technology and student centered technology. I was unaware of these terms before I took this class, but they fit right in as an explanation of why I still felt that the technology at our school is lacking, even when we have a Promethean Board in every classroom. Teachers, including myself, need extensive training and professional development, including resources, to help them transition from teacher centered to student centered use of technology in the classroom. I like the idea that I will be able to help other teachers implement technology activities and projects that are student centered into their lessons.
 * Intent:** I would like to pursue more professional developments and learning resources when available. I would also like to learn how to write grants and investigate other ways to help my school attain more technology resources and equipment. If I could successfully do this then I would be able to help increase the achievement of more than just the students that I work directly with, but with all the students in the building as well.