Final Course Reflection

This has been a very informative class to be in. I have learned many things that I will use in my classroom and these things will hopefully make me a better teacher. I really enjoyed learning how to create web pages. This would be a great way to stay in touch with the students over breaks. Also, the students would never feel like they would be behind in their work. They would always be able to go back and see what is due. I also enjoyed learning how to evaluate websites and understand if they would be a good website to use for the classroom. We learned many things including how to create our own worksheets, rubrics, and lesson plans. These things were very helpful and will definitely be things that I will use in my own classroom when I start teaching. I also loved learning about plagiarism. I never knew that there was a program that could be used to help teachers find plagiarism in reports. This would be very helpful for all teachers in all areas. I loved learning how to use concept maps and how to create them. I will defiantly use this when I begin teaching because I love to use visuals in my lessons. Concept maps are also extremely easy to create and use. I learned many things from this class that I will bring into the classroom with me.

Social, Ethical, Legal, and Human Issues

Teachers understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and apply that understanding in practice. Teachers:
Performance Indicators for Teachers:
A. model and teach legal and ethical practice related to technolody use.
B. apply technology resources to enable and empower learners with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, and abilities.
C. identify and use technology resources that affirm diversity.
D. promote safe and healthy use of technology resources.
E. facilitate equitable access to technology resources for all students.

Reflection:
Last week we done assignment number eight that dealt with plagerism. Plagerism is something that many students and teachers will encounter. The activity, I believe goes under this category with letter A. By showing students this program it teaches them the legal and ethical practice related to the technology use. I really enjoyed this activity because I did not realize that there was a program out there that was used to catch plagerism in reports. It would be very useful for teachers to use this in their classroom. It would cut down on students who plagerize their reports.
Artifacts/Evidence:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4041258/Assignment-8-2

Future Learning Goals:
I hope to learn more and explore this program more. I plan to use this program in my classroom and I plan to teach my students how to use it. Some students may not exactly understand how to paraphrase and put things into their own words and this program would help them to see whether they are doing that or not. I believe that students learning the correct way to use technology is very important and is something that they should be taught in the classroom.

Productivity and Professional Practice

Teachers use technology to enhance their productivity and professional practice. Teachers:

Performance Indicators for Teachers:
A. use technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development and lifelong learning.
B. continually evaluate and reflect on professional practice to make informed decisions regarding the use of technology in support of student learning.
C. apply technology to increase productivity.
D. use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.

Reflection:

Last week we learned about Wiki's. I had no idea what a Wiki was, so everything was completely new to me. This meets the standard number five, letter D. It teaches students how to collaborate with peers, parents, and the community to discuss topics. It not only allows the students to keep in touch and understand what each other are doing; it is also great to teach people how to collaborate on line. It is a great way to allow children to do homework. We are using it to discuss chapters that everyone has read. This helps the children to learn. Also if a student makes a mistake, another student can correct their mistake. We also learned that some Wiki's are very educational and can be a very good source of information to use in teaching. Not all of them are accurate, but some are very educational.

Last week we learned how to develop lesson plans for our students. It was very interesting how easy doing lesson plans on a computer really is. I believe that this assignment goes under the productivity and professional practice standard. It shows how teachers use technology to enhance their productivity. To me, doing lesson plans on a computer also could go with A under standard five because it shows professional development. Doing lesson plans in this manner allow the teachers to save them and go in and edit them at anytime they please. It also allows them to always have a back up unless they lose their original copy.

Artifacts/Evidence:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3868891/Lesson-Plan-1-Assignment-5

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3868871/Lesson-Plan-2-Assignment-5

Future Learning Goals:

I really enjoyed learning different things that can help a teacher be more professional in their practice. I really loved learning how to make lesson plans online and use them. It was very helpful to learn all of these things. I will definately use these things when I become a teacher because it makes it much easier to stay on top of the things that need to be done for the classroom. I hope to learn more about the programs and learn more ways to apply technology to help my students learn more and accomplish more. I would love to use technology to stay in touch with the students and for them to stay in touch with one another.

Assessment and Evaluation

Teachers apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies. Teachers:

Performance Indicators for Teachers:
A. apply technology in assessing student learning or subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques.
B. use technology resources to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning.
C. apply multiple methods of evaluation to determine students' appropriate use of technology resources for learning, communication, and productivity.

Reflection:
Today we learned about assistive technology. We had to answer many questions about how a teacher applies technology to assisting her children in learning, including those with learning disabilities. The lesson that we done today falls under standard four, assessment and evaluation. I believe it also goes along with letter A. The teacher applied technology to help her students learn subject matter by using the technology techniques such as WebQuest. I believe that these type of things are very important for a teacher to use in the classroom. Some students will learn better by using technology and other students will remember more about what they learned because the can visualize it.

Today in class we learned how to use web tools. One of the things we learned how to do was to create a rubric. This would be very helpful in grading students on things that they need to do. I really think it will be helpful when I begin to teach. I also learned how to make quizzes online. this will be extremely helpful and easy for me to use when I begin to teach. Sometimes its easier to make your own test. I think this applies to Assessment and Evaluation letter a. I believe it applies because we learned different things to use to create assessment and evaluation.
Artifacts/Evidence:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3464363/AssistiveTechcasestudy-Answered-Assignment-3
Future Learning Goals:
I never realized that there was so many assessment styles to use while teaching. I hope to learn all the ways of assessing and use the variety of ways in my classroom. I also want to create my own rubrics for all of my projects. I want to learn how to do that for every subject. I believe that it is better for a teacher to create her own rubric because it is very helpful because the teacher can grade on everything she/he wants to grade on. I will definately use different assessing styles and rubrics when I become a teacher.

Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum

Teaches implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning. Teachers:

Performance Indicators for Teachers:

A. facilitate technology-enhanced experiences that address content standards and student technology standards.
B. use technology to support learner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students.
C. apply technology to develop students' higher order skills and creativity.
D. manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment.

Reflection:
Last week in class we learned about blogs. To me, a blog could be categorized under standard three, letter C or D. Blogs can help to manage student learning activities. It will allow them to use technology and learn about how to use it more. I like the idea of a blog because the students can keep blogs about what they learn from day to day. The teachers could get on and read the blogs and see what their students are learning. When using a blog they are also applying technology and thinking about what they learned in order to create a blog. They are learning while they are doing their blog. I think this is a very useful tool in technology. We learned that blogs are a great way to show what you learn. We will also do a blog weekly on everything we learned in class.

Last week, we learned how to us Inspiration. We learned how to create concept maps for our lesson plans. This applies to the standard Teaching, Learning, and the Curriculum. I believe it applies to letter B. I believe they use technology to support learning strategies that can help all students. The concept maps allows the teacher to put it in sequence order. It also allows the teacher to put in notes for the students and use pictures for students who like to visualize. I believe that these can be very helpful in enhancing lesson plans. When the students have it in front of them in order, they will more likely be able to remember and recall the information from the concept map. I will definately use this program when I become a teacher because it allows teachers to put information down in an interesting manner for the students.

Artifacts/Evidence:







http://www.scribd.com/doc/3603642/worksheet
http://www.scribd.com/doc/3603653/word-search
Future Learning Goals:
I hope to use technolgy to help my students learn the curriculum. Technology is very important when it comes to teaching the curriculum to the students. I want to learn more about using technology to accompany the learning styles of my students. I want to know how to help them learn more and how to comprehend everything that I teach. I want to watch their eyes widen when they learn a concept that I have taught. I really hope that I use technology in every subject to broaden the students learning and knowledge of the subjects. I want to also learn more about how to use technology as a supplement for learning.

Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences

Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology. Teachers:

A. design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
B. apply current research on teaching and learning with technology when planning learning environments and experiences.
C. identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.
D. plan for the management of technology resources within the context of learning activities.
E. plan strategies to manage student learning in a technology-enhanced environment.

Performance Indicators for Teachers:

• Design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners.
• Identify and locate technology resources and evaluate them for accuracy and suitability.
  
  Reflection:
  Last week we learned in class how to evaluate websites. This applies to Standard number II letter b and c. By looking and evaluating websites, we can decide what research to use in teaching. The website reviews would also help us plan learning and experience. It also allowed us to find internet resources and evaluate them for correctness and suitability. This is a very good technique to know how to do. This will help teachers to assure that their lesson plans are accurate. We learned that websites should be accurate and kept up to date. The source should also be reliable. If a website has a lot of pop ups, it would not be an accurate website. Websites should also be appealing and informative. Boring websites will not catch a child's attention, so they will not learn anything from it.

Last week we learned in class how to create a movie to help in our classroom. I really enjoyed learning how to do this. I believe it pertains to Standard II letter A. I believe it that it has apporpriate learning opportunities that apply to technology enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners. Anyone can learn from a movie and it is very informational and interesting for students to look at. It will make the lesson more enjoyable to students. It could also be used for field trip experiences. I would use it to put together a class trip and allow the students to view it and reflect on the field trip.

Artifacts/Evidence:

Website Evaluations

Future Learning Goals:

I think that teachers should all look and evaluate things before they give it to their students as evidence and facts. I think it is good for teachers to use technology to teach but make sure their sources or educational. I want to learn more about planning technology based activities. I also want to learn more about how to evaluate websites and how to pick the best website to use in teaching the lesson I have prepared for the students. I want to learn to plan activities that are suitable to all different learning styles of every student.

Technology Operations and Concepts

Teachers demonstrate a sound understanding of technology operations and concepts. Teachers:
Performance Indicators for Teachers:
A. demonstrate introductory knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts related to technology (as described in the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students).
B. demonstrate continual growth in technology knowledge and skills to stay abreast of current and emerging technologies.
Reflection:
Last week we learned how to make web pages and use them in the classroom. I think this applies to standard 1 in the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards. It shows that the teacher is literate in areas of technology. It also leaves room for continual growth. When working with a web page, teachers can always add things to it and it is always changing so the teachers can make it better. I really think that this would be a great thing for all teachers to learn. They can put their lessons in a lesson plan and also keep a calendar on their website for the students to keep up with their assignments. Students could also get on the Internet and to check on previous things they have learned. I believe it is beneficial for teachers to stay up to date with technology and be learned in technology.
Artifacts/Evidence:
http://bittwalters.googlepages.com/homepage
Future Learning Goals:
I believe that technology operations and concepts are very important things for students to learn and for teachers to apply. Teachers should know how to appropriately use technology and how to apply it to their teaching strategies. I want to learn more about technology and always learn more ways to incorporate it into the lessons that I teach the students. I want to always be taking classes to better myself in technology after I start teaching. I believe that all teachers should know how to use the latest forms of technology so they can incorporate it into their teaching and teach it to their students.

Introduction

I am a student at a four year university majoring in Education. IT 365 is a required course for my program. The purpose of this course is to help pre-service teachers become profecient in using technology to enhance their lessons and help with assessments. The curriculum for this class reflects the National Educational Technology Standards as created by the International Society for Technology in Education. The assignments created by stduents throughout the course include:

• Concept Map
• Integrating technology into a lesson plan during the teaching and assessment phase
• Evaluating websites for content and usability
• Creating artifacts using Web 2.0 tools
• Creating a teacher web site
• Creating a video using Movie Maker
• Case study utilizing technology to aid special needs students
• Utilizing turnitin to detect plagiarized material
• Blogfolio as a reflection of what was learned in addition to exposure to the latest trends in technology.
• Wiki

What follows is the NETS standards and what assignments related to each standard, a reflection on what I learned about each standard and future learning goals.