CEP 811 Reflection

Throughout my CEP 811 course, Adapting Innovative Technology to Education I have learned about effective strategies to implement when integrating technology. The instructional design principles process had me re-evaluate my lessons for optimal goal-directed teaching focusing on motivation, socialization, audience and technology needs. The Universal Design for Learning focused on reaching “all” learners. During this session I was re-introduced to the fact that all my students learn differently and to be sure to design my curriculum to accommodate all backgrounds, strengths and diverse needs. I think this is always in the back of an educator’s head, but I believe more could be done in the classroom to increase success. I have since implemented written, verbal, and visual directions for most projects in my art room. It is especially necessary when introducing a new technology to the students, when not knowing individual skill levels.

Web-based technologies are great for schools, especially since many are free! Google Docs is an excellent example, as well as Google sites. I was glad to be introduced to Merlot. It is a great resource for teachers to use in the classroom. I found great interactive web-based technologies to integrate into an art classroom. The completion of this course has helped me reach some of my personal technology goals, by becoming more familiar with integrating technology into an art curriculum and feeling confident to implement these elements into my classroom, such as a classroom website and interactive web activities. The World Wide Web is full of resources and I feel like I have only begun experiencing the tip of the iceberg, I am excited to continue my journey of educational technology. 

Online Learning Experience: Virtual Field Trips

Online field trips are very beneficial to an art classroom. Due to this technology students are able to visit art museums they would normally never get to see, they can visit online galleries and museums from around the world. Schools are no longer funding field trips as often as they use to, so using online field trips is also an economical solution to a lack of field trip funding. Along with online museums, using Google Maps to locate museums allows students to visually see where they are in the world. I love Google Maps street view function as well, so students can see the museum as if they were driving by. 

The pedagogical strategies that would be employed with online field trips would obviously include distant learning and integrating technology, but I believe that active learning would be a large part of the experience. Just like an actual museum, in most cases students will be able to explore the online gallery or museum at their own pace and order. Students will be able to reflect on what they are learning while it is happening through taking notes, asking questions and creating discussions. One of the great parts of online field trips is if you want to learn more about an art piece or artist, open a new tab on your web browser and type the topic in Google! 


Technologies that would be hard to integrate into my classroom would be requiring students to be active on a blog or wiki. I think that as a teacher, having a blog or wiki for students to check is more applicable for me rather than students contributing to one of their own. I teach in a very poor farm community and many students have mentioned to me that they do not have access to the Internet outside of school. If this is true or not,I do not know, but I have to assume they are telling the truth. As participation, I can only require the amount of time I give the students to access the Internet with me in the classroom. I would like to see a blog or wiki being used almost as a tutoring or studying tool for students outside the classroom, so they can learn from their peers.

Wikis Lab

We all know what Wikipedia is so I will not bore us with details on an explanation. I recently added my first contribution to Wikipedia, creating a page for my school district, Camden-Frontier Schools. I found in my research that the only one school in my county has a Wikipedia entry, so after today it makes two! I need to get some exact numbers and facts from my school to add to the page to make it complete. 

Through completion of the Wiki Lab for CEP 811, I found that Wikis can be very useful in the classroom. I was introduced to Wikis earlier in the semester but did not explore all the options nor fully understand the use a Wiki. I cannot wait to share this knowledge with my colleagues. Wikis allow you to create a functional website that is easily updated within a matter of minutes. Wiki-spaces would be a great way to create departmental pages for schools where students could find general information on a specific department, yet teachers could create individual pages for each class, where students could find more specific information. The wiki could also be easily used for online communication with students and educators. I created a wiki-space for the art department at Camden-Frontier, where I teach. I am the only teacher in the department, but I plan to create a page for each course as well as one for the after school art club, V.A.C. ( Visual Artists Society) I am using the main page as a welcome page in which you can find important dates and events pertaining to the art department. Here is the link to my Wiki-space.

UDL Checklist

With completion the UDL checklist, using the lesson plan that can be seen here, I realized that I could adjust my lesson to further reach all my learners. I feel that the presentation of the information could be adjusted and implement more learning styles. The auditory learners would benefit from other resources of information, as well as the visual wirh text supplements to the teacher lecture. The digital design project to showcase the learned information could be altered to provide students will more options of how they express the information was learned. I think students will be engaged but minimizing threats could still  increase success. 

Personal Learning Reflection

When asking students to submit typed papers or essays, should we limit our students’ creativity and expression by not allowing students to use other technological tools to communicate their message, probably just as well or even more successfully? No. I know in some cases, it is important for students to write formal papers, but what about the other cases? Our students know how to use computers and technology; they probably use it more frequently than educators. The CEP 810: Teaching for Understanding with Computers course has further emphasized the fact that students are ready to learn in the digital world, where Podcasts and YouTube videos are integrated into lessons, communication is done through social networks, and assignments are done with Wiki, PowerPoint, Google Docs and more!

I know some people are hesitant to rely on technology; they are comfortable with their pencil and paper. They like the feeling on something concrete in front of them, but we need to remember as teachers, who are we here for? The students. During this course I have become more comfortable about integrating internet based applications and programs into the classroom. As we discussed in class it is important to teach students about their digital footprints, and to be aware of the dangers of the internet.

I really enjoyed the SIG group projects which allowed us to collaborate with others as well as use a variety of resources on the internet. Bookmarking, social networks, internet based research, and presentation applications were all part of the experience. I think this project really exemplifies good teaching with technology. Students have independent work, group work and integration of multiple programs.

            In my personal growth plan I stated that I wanted to become more comfortable using technology for educational purposes before implementing it into my classroom as well as assist my students in becoming better prepared for a digital world. I feel that with the completion of CEP 810 I have began progress towards this goal. My goal by the end of the educational technology program at MSU is to be a confident educational technology resource for my classroom and school. I am slowly integrating more technology into my classroom and sharing resources with my co-workers. 

Evaluating Resources on Merlot

Art Explorer from The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Explorer website from the Art Institute of Chicago is an excellent resource for art educators. The site provides accurate information on the museums Impressionist and Postimpressionist collection as well as great visuals. Art Explorer offers images, videos, biographies, timelines, as well as online games to deliver the concepts and information to the viewer. The website could be used for the explanation or description stage in the learning cycle. Students would be able to identify key concepts of the Impressionist and Postimpressionist art movement.

The interactive presentation of the information would increase engagement of the students’ attention. The website could easily be integrated into any current art curriculum addressing multiple learning styles with the visuals, audio and hands on activities. Art Explorer is easy to navigate. The user is not easily lost, and can navigate the site with ease. The main banner is displayed on each page allowing easy access back to the homepage. Students should be able to successfully navigate their way through the program with little to no difficulties. 

How I Learn

I am a visual learner through and through. I can remember taking a test in which I could see the page in the book where the answer was in my head but could not remember the text. I could even picture the exact part of the page where I could have found the answer. I have devoted my life to visuals. I concentrated in painting during college, became a visual arts teacher and know spend my spare time being a photographer. I find myself understand and remembering visual aids, such as graphic organizers more than the text. Sometimes I have to read text over and over again to fully comprehend what I have read. I usually make myself notes on the side to reinforce what I have read. As a teacher I try to incorporate as many different learning styles and multiple intelligence's into my lessons. For example, when introducing a new project in art I show images, have written directions projected to the class,  complete a demonstration and have a hands on warm up activity before the start of the final project.

Creative Commons and Images

© 2009 Emery Co Photo, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

I incorporate images into my art curriculum on a daily basis. We use posters, books,  magazines and the web. Images are used to study artwork of famous artists as well as to get inspiration for our own art. I also teach  basic darkroom photography to my high school students.

View my brand new Flickr account here! 

RSS Feed Reflection

RSS Feed Reflection

I am currently using Google Reader to collect my RSS feeds. Before this course, I had no idea what RSS was or how to collect “feeds.” I asked my tech-savvy cousin if she was familiar with RSS feeds. Of course, as a web-designer she did. For this course I subscribed to the following feeds: Technology and Learning, NPR Topics: Education, Weblogg-ed, and Literacy Education Updates. I also subscribed to some RSS feeds of my own such as: MDE-Michigan Department of Education, New York Times-Arts, ArtNews, NPR and of course Sports Illustrated.

The blog article that caught my eye was one by Will Richardson at http://willrichardson.com/post/11028447664/no-quick-fix#disqus_thread. 

The blog was titled, No Quick Fix. The article brings attention to when there is a change needed, instead of changing our schools why don’t we ask, “How do we change ourselves.” Unfortunately, many people do not think that way. I responded with the comment below.

I have witnessed this multiple times in my 5 short years as a teacher. When teachers are told they are going to have to change the way they do something, they demand for new books to follow, programs to implement or compensation in some way. I don't think getting new math books will improve our students' success, I believe it is the delivery of the information that will cause the "change."

I have found in my short time using an RSS Feed reader that the topics change quite frequently. One day the New York Times-Arts will flood my Google Reader with articles on the latest gallery openings and ballets, and others the MDE will have multiple articles on the MEAP. I tend to see a lot of art-related topics on my feed due to my subscriptions. Some of the other subscriptions must not update as often as Artnews and The New York Times.

Using Google Reader I have explored many of the links and categories on the side. I clicked on Trend thinking that it would show me what is trending on Google Reader, giving me good articles to read and instead I find out what I have done in the last 30 days.

I think that having students create an RSS Reader page would be perfect for a current events class. I think that it could be modified to fit in my curriculum as well, if I asked students to follow art related news source to integrate into my teachings. 

PC Maintenance and Security

Tutorial used: Avoiding Phishing Scams

Tips I learned that I will definitely be sharing with others:

Always check your accounts on the website to see if you have any messages from the organization on the website.

No one with ask for username, password, social security number or any personal information through email.

Information that surprised me: With one click of a button you could be sending your money to a criminal.

Tutorial used: Using Caution with Email Attachments

Tips that I learned that I will definitely be sharing with others:

            Call before double clicking.

Read the subject very carefully- does it make sense?

Check the grammar.

If it seems strange it probably is- be suspicious!

When in doubt- delete.

Information that surprised me: I didn’t realize that poor grammar was a sigh that it may be scam.

Tutorial used: Avoid Clicking on Pop-Ups or Pop-Under Ads

Tips that I learned that I will definitely be sharing with others:

            Most spyware, malware and viruses infect your computer through pop-ups.

            Beware of ActiveX controls, not all of them are good!

            Be safe. Just don’t click them! 

Information that surprised me: ActiveX applications can sometimes be scams or malware.

GTD

In this post I will be talking about GTD: Getting Things Done, not to be confused with the over-used GTL: Gym, Tan, Laundry made popular by the Jersey Shore cast on MTV. GTD is tool that can implemented to organize your work flow and create a less stressful environment when balancing multiple tasks. The GTD method is broken down into steps, which makes this organizational tool very user friendly. Below is my attempt at "Getting Things Done."


Step 1. Collect. Using a piece of paper and pen , I created a list of everything I need to get done. I love lists. I use lists daily. In fact, before I started working on this weeks assignments, I made a list of everything I wanted to accomplish today. Basically, what I am saying... Step 1: = piece of cake! 


Step 2: Process. This is where you take each item on your list and you make a decision. Below are the key questions taken from the lecture by Tammy Maginity, Instructional Technology Coordinator for Pennfield Schools. 

1. What is it?
2. Is it actionable? If no, toss it or put it in a file for a later time.
3. What is the next action?
4. Will it take less then 2 minutes? Yes, do it. No, then
5. Defer or delegate

Okay, Step 2, I like the under two minute rule. Usually in my list making process I would still just add it to a "to-do" list instead of just doing! It makes so much sense, if it something that only takes a couple minutes, why put it off. 

Step 3: Organize. Art teachers stereo-typically are not the most organized people, but I try. So during step 3, it suggests to decide what to do with each item, and decide whether it is actionable or not. I like this step! Organizing the items on my list to different categories such as, projects, calendars (must be done on a specific date or time) and by what has to be done ASAP, creates a visual map that allows me to see my to-list more clearly. 

I believe that this process will help me in organizing my time for this course, teaching, and the extra-curricular activities I am involved in at the school, not to mention the wedding I am just beginning to plan.

Social Networking

Social networking has become an essential element in my life, as well as the lives of my students. Professionally I use a social network site to connect with my peers outside of work, especially during the summer. Personally, I am able to stay in close contact with family and friends although we may  not even be in the same state, or country. My students are constantly connecting with one another through social networks using any device they can get their hands on. The students post images, videos, links and create discussions.  Unfortunately, sometimes theses connections are not always positive. Cyber-bullying has become a huge concern in public schools, and social networks have been one of the go to tools for these bullies. Our students need to understand the good that can come from social networking. Using social networking in a classroom could greatly benefit teachers and students. Teachers could lead online discussions, post lectures, peer access, which students could access outside of the classroom. I do not connect with students through a social network, although our school has recently created a Facebook page. We created the page as another outlet to reach our parents and community, so they know what is happening in the district. If you would like to visit our Facebook page click here. 

GoogleReader

Hello :) Check out my shared page on GoogleReader.
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/Lacey.Spieth\

Traditional Web Page vs. The Blog

Blogging is a very popular trend in technology, but how is it different from a traditional web page? Blogs are a  web page in which the author leaves written entries, much like a journal. The entries are in chronological  order and can contain embedded images and videos. the difference from a traditional web page is the interaction between the authors and the viewers. Readers of a particular blog can follow an author and comment on their daily blogs. Blogs are used as a resource to deliver information to a specific audience much like any web page, but encourages interaction between the author and viewer.