Final Thoughts

CEP 811 not only allowed me to try new technologies, but it also showed me how to evaluate materials I find online or I create myself. This course introduced me to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) which has guidelines for multiple means of representation, for action and expression, and for engagement. These guidelines will help me evaluate my lessons and the curicculum to make sure each student's needs are met. 

By using web-based technologies and providing a rubric for evaluation of these technologies, I am now able to find the best resources to use in my classroom. I plan to use a class website or blog, go on webquests, and create StAIRs to supplement the curriculum this year. I feel like I have met my personal goals for learning about technology integration. Since I have younger students, I want to integrate technology slowly and with instruction so they get the most out of it.

I will continue to search for new technology to integrate into my classroom. I will continue my education and attend professional develop to stay up to date on new technologies. It is the way of the future!

My Thoughts on Online Learning

A. Technologies I think would be easy to use with my students: 

Educational Gaming: I believe my students would really enjoy the integration of educational games into the curriculum. Games present information in a fun and familiar way and, in some cases, students don't even know how much they are learning. By engaging students, they are more likely to retain information. I would like to use educational games with math and spelling to supplement my lessons. Educational games allow for teacher involvement and teach life-long skills. 

Blog or Wiki: A blog or wiki would be a great place for students to keep track and reflect on what they have learned, provide feedback for other students, allow parents to see learning, and allow students to express themselves and their knowledge through a different media. I would like to use a blog/wiki for social studies or science because of the limited time we have to teach them. It could be a good extension and supplement. Blogs/wikis promote collaboration, integration, and teach life-long skills. 

B. Technology I think would be harder to use with my students: 

Online Research: I have found online research to be difficult for third graders. There is so much information put on the internet, it is hard for them to determine what is accurate. It is also easy for them to get lost or stray from the assignment. Most schools have firewalls, but it could be dangerous if they wonder onto unsafe sites. If I am going to do a research project, I will have to put specific links on our class website or have a website pulled up on the computers. It is a lot of work for only 30 minute time slots in the computer lab. 

Wiki Lab

My school was not on Wikipedia, so I created an account and submitted a page. I provided some information on the location of Marble school, our students, our teachers, and our test scores throughout the year. My submission is in for review.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Educator's Checklist

UDL Guidelines

Throughout my education at Michigan State and in my first years of teaching, I always prided myself on finding the needs of my students and meeting them. I thought this was the only way to make sure each student learned best and succeeded. This theory has worked for me and my students, however it is quite tedious. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has opened my eyes to a new way of meeting student needs in a more direct way. UDL has educators look for needs in one place- the curriculum. By identifying the strengths and weakness of the curriculum, I can create better and higher quality lessons. Therefore, the needs of my students have a better chance of being meet. 

When evaluating my myths and legends lesson, I realized I was meeting the needs of some of the principles, but I still had a lot of work to do. For example, I felt I did a good job offering auditory and visual information, using multiple media, activating background knowledge, and fostering collaboration and community. These are things I try to do in every lesson. I could use more scaffolding and differentiation. I will definitely use the UDL guidelines when creating lessons in the future. 

MERLOT

Evalaution of "Who Wants Pizza? (A fun way to learn about fractions)" 
Who Wants Pizza?

Quality of Content: The StAIR presents accuate concepts, models, and skills. It shared the content first before having students practice and applying, but I feel it could have explained the content more. It would be difficult for younger students to jump right into practice without learning about the concept first or seeing a model from the teacher. 

The tool starts off with basic fractions and builds on the content. It gets into adding and multiplying fractions which we do not do in 3rd grade, but it would be a good tool to challenge some of my higher students who understand fractions quickly.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool: This tool uses all the stages of the learning process (Explanation, demonstration, practice, applying). It does not directly state the learning objective, but focuses on introducing fractions. Students should be able to recognize, create, add, and multiply fractions by the end of the StAIR. 

This tool would improve my teaching by providing students an introduction and practice before or during our fraction unit. I think students would learn better because they are manipulating the fractions and it is presented in more of a game format than traditional textbooks. I could have students complete this individually, in small groups, or as a whole class. The assessment is built in and provides immediate feedback for myself and the students. 

Ease of Use: For the most part, my students could easily navigate through the program. There are clear links to the assessments, next activity, and the home page. I would like for it to have a better way of displaying questions students got wrong or right. When you click "submit," it shows the correct answers and your score, but you have to go back to see if your answer matches theirs for each question. Also, on the questions near the bottom, the answer is clearly displayed on the drop down menu so students can see the answer. The layout is simple and clear.