Final Reflective Post

I must admit that at first I thought this class was going to be a piece of cake, but soon enough I discovered that was not the case. The material was not hard to learn, but it was more in depth than I had expected, which made it a challenge.
I found the assignments to be not overly complicated, especially the blog posts, but they are a little time consuming. When you have to work with a program that you are not familiar with, it takes a while to get to know it; there are also programs that are easier to work with.
I personally gained a lot of knowledge; there were things like the animated videos that I thought you had to go to school to learn how to do, but you don't. I must also confess that it feels really cool to show your friends what you did in the computer.
I had a little trouble with the book because I had gotten the old edition, so the chapters were in different orders, and with different names; hat was a challenge. At the end I figure it out and was able to successfully completes my homework.
The discussions and the group projects were a great idea. That allow us to virtually get to know each other a little better; I think discussions are a great way to get the minds going.  It's healthy for us to organize out thoughts, understand them, and put them in words in a polite manner. It also trains us on how to listen to others and whether we agree or disagree, we show respect for one another.


 

Digital Blog Post #L

My personal opinion about technology has always been that it's all on how you use it; just like with other things in life. Being able to fully exploit the benefits of technology is something extraordinary, and doing so for the betterment of our future generations makes it even more noble. Is not about having the coolest tech available, is about knowing what to do with it.

Digital Blog Post #J

Photo credit to bryanmmathers from Flickr

At first glance having students make their own decisions about what they should learn or not, it does not sound like a good idea to me. My point of view is that kids, even high schoolers have no idea what they want, what is best for them, and it it our job as adults to guide them the best we can, to minimize their hardships in life. The book states that from a psychological stand point people are more likely to stay involved in something if they have a ro;e in creating and maintaining.  That part is true; I have experienced it myself, but giving them a voice does not mean letting them make the decisions. We should always have in schools required material the are expected to know according to their level, of course, because this will give them the foundation for heir future.
I think digital portfolios are a much better tool than traditional ones. One of the great things about it is that you can share it with anyone with access to the internet, whereas the traditional paper one is only with a very limited group of people. This is something that, in my opinion, should be introduced as soon as possible. Being able to record all of your achievements, no matter how small, has lots of benefits. It can save you time in the future , when looking for a job or applying to a school; it can be done little by little, instead of in a rush when you need it; it can help you visualize your future, what are your strengths, and weaknesses; and it can also help promote responsibility, by being something that students have to work on periodically, it can teach them patience and consistency. The book mentions some disadvantages but I think they are merely based on how you present the e-portfolio , thus making them minor details that can be work out.

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.

Digital Blog Post #H

   

Video in the classroom

Videos are a great way to expand the comprehension of any material. There are a lot of websites for teachers like PBS Teachers, TeacherTube and The Futures Channel that have very good material in any subject you can think off. I know I loved watching videos when I was going to school.

Photo taking and movie making by students 

I wished that when I went to school we had the opportunity to use cameras to work on a picture taking or video making project. I feel like this give the students the opportunity to express themselves in a different way; not everyone is capable of transferring their selves onto paper. This will be something I will definitely use in my classes. They could record different things, explore and maybe even discover a passion for it and take it to a professional level.

Podcast and vodcast as tools for teaching 

I am not very familiarized with podcasts but I see why is a good instrument to reach out to kids; they are usually listening to music or watching something on their phones or music players anyways. I always saw them as audios for lectures on all kids of subjects but according to the book even news organizations like PBS and the New York Times use them. I do listen to lectures, from a different apps, even when am grocery shopping and to me is just awesome to have that capability. Life can get a little hectic with all there is to do, and having the ability of multitasking is awesome. 

Resources

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Valladares, B. (2015, October 21). Video in the classroom. [Image File] retrieved from http://www.bitstripsforschools.com on October 21, 2015.

Valladares, B. (2015, October 21). Expressing Creativity. [Image file] Retrieved from https://www.canva.com/design/DABgAc4-iYE/-CE3L7WQPYiO9wgbriG-Tw/edit on October 21, 2015.

Digital Blog Post #G

Low tech refers to changes that are made easily, inexpensively, and without applying digital or electronic material
Mid Tech involves substantive shifts in organization and delivery of curriculum that may include the use of electronics
High tech introduces changes associated with the integration of computers and other specialized information technologies in the classroom

I would like to have a classroom nonconventional, I want a classroom that does not feel like a classroom. I want a classroom that reads: "we are here to learn not only from the teacher but from each other". I want a classroom with different areas based on activities; a creative corner, a writing booth, a let's do it together table. I want a classroom with the coolest technologies out there in which they can learn about the past and get ready for the future.


Assistive technologies is not only used for students with disabilities, in fact they can be a great tool to make the material more accesible to all students. The goal when using these technologies is to minimize the barriers in order to reach educational success. For example:

1. Electronic spellers and dictionaries
2. Calculators
3. Speech recognition software
4. Text reading software
5. Interactive electronic storybooks (this one is really awesome) 

I think these are all great tools and I don't see any problem in using them in the classroom on a regular basis. I also think that we must keep in mind that these are not replacement they are just tools to help us and our students, and should not be seen as an indispensable thing. Lets talk about calculators for a second. Calculators are awesome,they do the job a lot faster than any human being, but lets be honest and they make us a little lazy. I think calculators are best used to save time when dealing with equations or problems that are very long; for students that math is a challenge that could save them time on a test per say.    

I think encouraging kids to write is an excellent idea; I can't imagine Pride and Prejudice in the future.  Writing makes you think, and meditate in your thoughts. There are so many apps, programs, that you can get to help you in the writing process; some you have to pay some you don't. Here is some of best ones according to an article on the Huffingtonpost    






Resources 

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Valladares, B. (2015, October 20). Apps for writers. [Image file]. Retrieved on October 20, 2015 from https://magic.piktochart.com/infographics

Valladares, B. (2015, October 19). Classroom Learning with Technology. [Image file]. Retrieved on October 19,2015 from https://www.gliffy.com/go/html5/9210545?app=1b5094b0-6042-11e2-bcfd-0800200c9a66

Digital Blog Post #F

Communicating and Collaborating with Social Media - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Electronic communication allows the teacher to simplify the work, keep the students engage in academics outside of the classroom, and also targets those students that struggle with traditional classroom setting. There are many different options on how a teacher could accomplish this either thru instant messaging, emails, blogs, websites and wikis. I think one should take into account the material that we are going to be posting, what kind of assignment we want them to complete, is the outlet that we are using accesible from a mobile device, in other words is there an app for that; all this things and more we should have in mind. Another important thing is not to confuse them with many different options; find one that fits your class needs and stick with it.



Resources 


Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Valladares, B. (2015, October 11). Communicating and Collaborating with social Media [Presentation] Retrieved on October 11, 2015 from https://www.haikudeck.com/communicating-and-collaborating-with-social-media-uncategorized-presentation-qySXBTmqtd

Valladares, B. (2015, October 11). 5 Reasons to Use Electronic Communication [Image file] Retrieved on October 11, 2015 from https://magic.piktochart.com/editor/piktochart/8455630#

Digital Blog Post #E

Computer Games as Learning Resources

I must admit I have mixed feeling about gaming as educational tools. My personal point of view is that there is nothing wrong with a little bit of game time as long as its monitored by an adult, is a clean game and it teaches the child something. That being said I do not let me own kids play video games, anymore. I have seen how quickly they get attached to it: when we first got the iPad I thought that it will be a good idea to download a few games for them, learning games, well that's all they wanted to do, and they will fight all the time for it, so we decided no more games. Maybe when they are bigger, I don't know, but for the moment no games. The book, on table 7.4 provides contrasting views about computer games and learning. On the negative views we find that gaming decrease empathy and concern for other people. To this I want to add the internet in general, not only video games. I cannot say precisely how long ago started but recently it seems that there has been an increase on videos of people fighting, and the thing that puzzles me the most is the people watching. Why is everybody just standing there watching, doing nothing to stop the fight ? Why is it entertaining for us to watch other people fight? I do not know what would I do if I found myself in a situation like that, but I guarantee I will not take out my phone to record anything, only to call the police. For centuries people have liked watching other people fight, from gladiators to UFC, there is something completely wrong inside of us that makes us feel some kind of way when we watch that kind of stuff. But what's happening now is something different, people take videos of the people fighting, people take pictures of other people's embarrassing moments, and we just think is funny. Would we still think is funny it it happened to us? On the positive side we have the promotion of in-the-role learning where students learn by doing what people actually do in real-world jobs and professions. I think that this is a really good thing, it can help little kids have an idea of what they want to be when they grow up, it can help high schoolers to know how what working feels like and maybe even make them sympathetics towards their parents. Overall I think everything has its pros and cons but as long as we don't loose ourselves, as long as we don't loose our humanity, our ability to say hi to others in real life, to properly communicate an idea to others, as long as we don't loose our ability to feel, we should be fine.


Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are games that let you interact with other players using online identities such as avatars. Examples of these types of games are Second life, Minecraft ad Sims. I personally have not played any of these, but I have heard of people who love them especially Minecraft.




Intelligent Tutoring Systems






Resources

Edutopia. (2012, March 21). James Paul Gee on Learning with Video Games. [video file]. Retrieved on October 4, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnEN2Sm4IIQ


Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. 


Valladares, B. (2015, October 7). ITS. [Image file]. Retrieved on October 7, 2015 from https://magic.piktochart.com/output/8376792-its

Digital Blog Post #D

Photo credit to Ewa Rozkosz on Flickr

Information literacy is the capacity to access and assess information online (Malroy, 2011 p. 114) and it is a skill that every teacher and student should master. With the shifting in the way we search for information being internet savvy has become a necessity.  Now a days sending emails, creating documents and web browsing are very basic things almost everyone is expected to know. In the education field is no different, that's why IT fluency (information technology fluency) and IT FITness ( fluent with information technology)  has become a goal for teachers and students.

Among the technologies available today for searching information we have search engines. Search engines have become the door to the largest source of information the world has seen, the world wide web. One in specific has become very popular, that is of course Google. Google has very intelligently cover pretty much every area possible to offer services, from apps, to email, calendars, maps, translators, etc.. Google is definitely on top in this new information era. That's why I thought ,what a better way to know how google works, than having them explain it to us.



To me it sounds like a pretty complex thing that happens within seconds, depending on your internet speed, and that is the beauty of it. How long would it take a person to do what google does in order to give you the best answer? With tools like this we can easily think that we are a lucky generation. Our parents didn't have it this easy, some of our grandparents were lucky to even go to school and us; we have it all. Having it all has a price though; there is so much information available that we have to learn how to select the right one, and that is precisely my next topic.

Evaluating online information is a challenge. Quantity does not equal quality, so often an internet searcher must shift through pages of poor or wrong information to find a few kernels of valid data (Malroy, 2011 p. 127). Luckily the Association of College and Research Libraries did the work for us and gave us five criteria that we should take into consideration when searching the web.

After reading this chapter I have been reassured of how important it is to be selective and careful when searching or researching something, especially if you are planning to share it, or if it's for school. Many times, especially in social media, with the click of a button we share different things, news, images, videos, links; but it's save to say that we should verify that the information is truthful, and that it actually represents our point of view. A lot of times we read the title of the article and automatically share it, and that is wrong, I know am guilty of that myself. After this week's lecture I will definitely be extra careful and more attentive on the information am helping to spread.

Resources

Google. (2010, March 4). How Search Works. [Video file]. Retrieved on September 20, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNHR6IQJGZs

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Rozkosz, E. (2011, August 2). Information Literacy. [ Image file]. Retrieved on September 21, 2015 from https://www.flickr.com/photos/erozkosz/6002995338/

Valladares, B. (2015, September 20). Criteria for Evaluating Web Resources. [Image file]. Retrieved on September 21, 2015 from https://www.canva.com/design/DABdG6RFl9o/wVOQ3p9BjLRgawr3EaovEg/edit

Digital Blog Post # C

Photo credit to Giridhar-Photography on Flickr

The first concept I want to touch is lesson development using technology. There're three elements in lesson development what to teach, how to teach, and how to know what students have learned. In the what to teach stage there is a main factor to take into account and that is local and national guidelines. Once you have identify your goal, within those guidelines,  technology has many tools to make your research easier, faster and more efficient; internet search engines, electronic databases, online encyclopedias, blogs, wikis are just some of those. In the how to teach stage technology can also help with things like presentation software, podcasts, interactive software, digital cameras and teacher developed websites; the teaching methods and procedures come alive in order to achieve your goal. As far as assessment, aka how to know what students have learned, goes there are several tools for this as well examples are: digital portfolios, online surveys, personal response systems and online test and quizzes. The last ones are my favorite, as a student, because you are able to know your score right away, at least on all the ones I have taken.

After carefully reviewing it is pretty obvious that technology plays a very important role in all the aspects of lesson development. I didn't grew up in the iGeneration so when I had a project, that it was usually a group one, we will have to go to the city library. Going to the city library meant taking a couple busses, because it was far away, find huge encyclopedias, write down whatever piece of information we could find, by hand, with a limited amount of time of course, then go back home, put everything together, as a team,  needless to say it was a real challenge. Now everything is so easy, we have access to infinite amounts of information, right in the comfort of our own homes. A click over here, a search over there and voila everything you need to know about anything, poops up right in front of you, without you even leaving your seat. Sounds better than the old way, but guess what everything has its pros and cons. I have had a couple research papers to do using the schools databases and it is a different kind of challenge. There is just so much information that it can get a little bit overwhelming. That's why to me the most important thing is to know what you want, know what you are looking for, be specific, very specific. Browsing will take double the amount of time to finish your project.

The second concept is models of lesson planning. There are two approaches to help you plan your lessons; student learning objectives and understanding by design. Understanding by design(UBD) is also known as backward design and in this approach the teacher starts with the end, enduring understandings and moves towards the means (Malroy, 2011, p. 80). The student learning objective almost the oposite, you start with the means and move towards the end. It is up to the teacher to determine with media is better accordingly. Here's a short presentation on the different steps of student learning objectives.



Whether your approach is objective or UBD technology can lend a hand on lesson planning as well. There are several websites for lesson planning full of ideas, with templates, worksheets, printable, themes, discussion guides, tips, etc... here are a few that I found.

1. Planboard 
2. teAchnology
3. Common Curriculum 
4. edHelper

The last thing I want to touch is evaluating and assessing students. This is the largest section in the chapter and test are very controversial. Many people argue that tests are really not the best tool for evaluating students's knowledge, others support it. My personal opinion is that the way the system is set up, does not allow he students to learn with desire. The book quotes UCLA professor W. James Popham and his opinion about standardized tests. He mentions three cons about standardized tests. Number one curricular reductionism, where the teachers only focus in the information covered on the test. Number two excessive test focused drilling; this is when the teacher makes the activities revolve around the test. Number three dishonesty; teachers adjusting the test conditions and in occasions telling students the answers that they can pass the test (Malroy, 2011, p.74) I don't think anybody likes tests, especially being tested in something you don't like or don't understand. A lot of times what happens is that we go thru the motions but we are simply not engaged in what we are doing; we seat in class, we do the homework, and the minute we finish it we forgot what we just did. That happens to me a lot with one specific class, you guessed it, its mathematics. The main problem, in my opinion, is that we have learning like that for so long that we don't want it any other way. We go to class and all we want to do is learn the necessary things to pass the class and that is it. This am talking about, in my personal experience, a class that you are not particularly a fan of. Another thing that I strongly agree with is measuring everybody with the same stick. Now technology and testing, I think one of the nicest features I have experienced on canvas for example is testing. You can do it in the comfort of your home, unless is a proctored exam, you get your results right away, the system keep record and  calculates your overall score for you, and honestly if it wasn't for technology we would not be able to take this class right now. Think about it writing this blog is how we are being evaluated this week.


Resources

Giridhar Photography (2010, June 10) [Picture] Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-sculpture/4967120465/

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 1st Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc

Valladares, B. (2015, September 15) Student Learning Objectives [ Prezi presentation]. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/oc_rvrwfj1hb/student-learning-objective/

Digital Blog Post #B

The first thing I want to talk about is creativity. A couple semester ago I bumped into this video, and I thought that he had a really good point. 

The book actually has this to say about creativity "those who are acknowledge to be creative are those whose accomplishments enriched life and changed the course of history" (Malroy, 51). Now a days kids have access to a lot of things that can help boost their creativity but they are not really being encouraged at schools , it seems that schools prepare students to be doctors, lawyers, to go to college, get a degree, but are not listening hat students really want. I think this has a lot to do with they way we teach, because if we are going to say that every child learns differently and that we should approached them accordingly why not use the tools that we have to help them figure out what they are good at, what is their passion. 

The second point I want to touch is visual literacy. My personal believe is that once you see something, you cannot unseen it, it stays with you forever; I don't  have any research to back me up, just my own personal experience. Now you might not always remember but at some point, it will poop up when you least expect it. It seems to me that we are becoming even more lazy than usual, and videos are our go to sources of information. I think a lot of people don't like to read, and if they do is up to 140 characters, anything longer than that will get scrolled over. But his gets even better, if the videos are too long we don't watch them, and I include myself in this list. I like things straight to the point, and I think most people do to, especially now a days wen we "don't have time" for anything. A lot of people, specially teenager like Vines, and maybe one of the reasons is because they are so short. From a students point of view, wouldn't it be fun to incorporate something like that in class? Lets say they finished a chapter in Geography about Europe and they can do a short educational video saying the capitals of all the western Europe countries, believe it or not a lot of people don't know what they are. 

The last thing I want to talk about is feedback. I think that one of the main reasons we like the internet so much is due to its ability to connect us instantly even with people that are on the other side of the world, ad to think that today we have the possibility to be taking this class online is amazing. When I came to this country, I stared working and going to school was not possible for me in the beginning especially because I was consider an out of state student. So I enrolled in this over the mail business  course. They would send the book, by mail, I will send them a check, by mail, and needless to say that didn't last long. I decided to wait patiently until I was able to enroll in college, this was back in 2006, not long ago right? Fast forward 9 years and this is my third or fourth semester taking online classes, and I could not be any happier. One of the most important things about this system is being able to communicate with the professor, and thanks to technology that is not an issue. Any questions or doubts can be dealt with almost instantly thanks to apps, instant messaging, etc.  

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.

TED. (2015, September 12). Do Schools Kill Creativity? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Digital Blog Post #A

Photo Credit to bgolub on Flickr 

 When we use technology for the most rewarding profession of all times something magical happens. Studying becomes more interesting, lectures become fun, and homework and projects are done with more enthusiasm. Digital childhood seemed to me like a scary thing at first. The fact that most of 8-18 years old are using some type of digital or electronic technology almost every waking hour outside of school ( Maloy, p.17) makes me wonder what are we doing wrong. That being said this world is inevitably changing more rapidly than ever thanks to technology, so instead of fighting the change we should use this double edge sword for good.
  
 One things that particularly caught my attention, because I have never heard of it, was the clicker. The clicker is basically a device that students use to participate in class, it kinda looks like calculator. The clicker sends each individual student's answer to the professor's computer. This benefits the professor by having all the scoring done for him, which reduces the work load and is also environmental friendly. For the student I think that besides that it feels less traditional, it gives the shy students the opportunity to participate without being afraid of not getting it right and then feeling embarrassed. I myself would like to have the opportunity of being in a class that uses clicker either as a student or a professor. The things with the clicker is that i think it will work best in a large class, not so much in a small elementary school setting. 

 Another good things that I see about technology is that it helps you save time in the classroom. If you prepare properly and efficiently you will be able to have everything all set, that way when you go with your students you can actually dedicate time for them, help them with their own specific needs. To me that is wonderful, and that is one of the reason why I would prefer a small class. Speaking about small classes another benefit is if there is a need to buy computers, other devices like tablets or maybe some educational software,having a small class can make it easier to fund. Besides there are so many resources out there for example printable coloring pages on any subject imaginable, DIY projects, classroom decoration ideas, the options are endless.

 In conclusion, yes technology can be evil and beneficial depending on what you use it for, but as educators it is our job, our duty, to use something that they like and transform it from meaningless waste of time to a lesson to remember. There are many tools out there like the clicker, that can help us achieve our goals, there are multiple resources, websites, soft wares, that can put a little bit of sparkle in our daily routines. Nobody likes to eat the same breakfast everyday for a year, so why should we give the children the same lectures using the same methods that have been used for years.  

Resources 

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Using Clickers to Enhance Teaching and Learning: Pilot Case Studies in Science Programmes. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2015.

He was 12 years old here and since then has design a revolutionary 3D printer