Making my web portal and portfolio go beyond text

Wow! I am really amazed and impressed with all the tools and therefore the possibilities of incorporating video and audio into the portal. I really opens up a person's creativity and individualizes projects and presentations. I can see how the addition of either video, audio or both can help capture the real classroom, and can show what a teacher can really do in the classroom , which ultimately improves teaching. I could see how students would become a lot more engaged, stay focused and want to use the technology to "show what they know" and personalize their presentations. Technology using video and audio would also help the learner who better demonstrates their learning through performance than thru pencil-paper means to show that they've learned their material. It gives a lot more flexibility for assessment and evaluation. I could use the video and audio for sending parents a glimpse into our classroom and show what we've been learning and how we do certain activities. I could also create a presentation of classroom activities to show to the administration, in order to prove how valuable having the technology is to student achievement. I would love to be able to use Smartboard technology to "record" a lesson I present, for those students who could not be in the classroom, due to having to go to speech therapy or are absent and can't be involved in the learning themselves. Students would love to add music and sound effects to drama or puppet shows they present to an audience. There are lots of ideas, and I'm sure that when a teacher starts to use technology, students will come up with new and different ways as wll!

Technology and Communication

Technology offers so many possibilities for communication with students, parents, peers, other professionals, and the larger community. I would love to be able to create different documents like newsletters, send updates through e-mails, have a homework assignment page, and give parents information like grades, etc. Creating a weekly newsletter really helps parents to stay up to date with what is happening in the classroom, what their students will be doing in the coming week, and what things to reinforce at home as far as learning concepts and specific skills from classroom instruction. I know that a lot of parents by habit check online communication from their own jobs or personal relationships, so it just seems to be a natural fit for them. A weekly newsletter also gives parents a "heads up" on what items they need to acquire for their children for upcoming activities, such as show-n-tell, etc. Or maybe the family needs to know the schedule for the month to plan if they can participate in school events, like a family reading night, open house, and so on. I just think technology is a very powerful tool that can offer flexibility and information on short notice, so I hope to use it in a number of ways for school communication.

July 2 Blog

At this point in the class, I am currently working on my parent newsletter, editing the content and adding any clipart, a border, etc. to make it more visually interesting. I will probably be finished with it in the next day or so. The big project for me is to complete my web portal, which I am creating using TaskStream. I really like the professional look, moreso than a more informal look. I want to incorporate some photos of family and students from my kindergarten classes, so that is my next project. I have the text for most every page created, and I need to fit the pictures in with the text, and add some different fonts and color. I am bound to have questions about doing some of that, so I may be e-mailing or calling you (you have been warned :) ). I will also be preparing my last discussion board post on digital equity, so my big focus is the web portal. I appreciate all the help with questions - Thanks

Terri

Wordle Blog

http://www.wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/978054/Terri%27s_Second_Word_Cloud

Standard III

For Standard III, I selected creation of a Powerpoint presentation. However, I would like to bring it up on a Smartboard, in order to have students interact with the presentation and ultimately play an interactive game. I chose to create a lesson using Powerpoint, because I am most familiar with using the program to create a presentation. I wanted to design a lesson about Nutrition and Exercise for kindergarten students, and enable them to activate options and make choices, realizing which choices are correct and which ones need rethinking. Allowing them to interact with the technology is a way to initially obtain their attention, maintain their focus, and motivate them to want to learn more about the subject. The objective of this lesson is to help students understand what nutrition and physical activity are, why good nutrition and daily physical activity are necessary for good health, and the ways to make good choices for their meals and exercise. Once students have been presented with and interacted with the lesson, there will be a "reward" of a fun interactive game, in which they must use the knowledge they gained from the powerpoint presentation to participate in and "win" the game. In this Powerpoint, I hope to communicate not only the content area information according to the National Health Standards for that age group, but also the idea that learning about nutrition and physical activity can be fun. I want them to hopefully retain the information and use it across their life span.

Learning Styles and Technology

Learning styles help teachers to know what type of instruction, support and technology can best help a particular student access and acquire learning. When a student first begins the year, the teacher would be wise to administer a learning styles assessment, to determine how that student gains understanding from instruction. If the student prefers visual input, the teacher should provide visual support, such as diagrams, maps, charts and any type of symbolized information. If the student is more a verbal learner, he/she best benefits from the written or spoken word, utilizing meaning from language to learn. Tactile learners prefer hands-on activities, to manipulate objects and make sense that way. Kinesthetic learners need to literally move their bodies to internalize learning. The multiple intelligences bring in different styles such as musical, naturalistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal preferences. Students each display one or more of these preferences, and it is in the interest of the teacher to create lessons and activities that can reference these strengths and abilities in these areas. Tapping into these styles will more likely ensure students' engagement with the learning, as well as a more successful outcome toward the goal or objective of the lesson or activity.

Technology offers a wide range of options for addressing the various learning styles. Choices such as the Smartboard can offer support for the visual learner, verbal learner, and tactile learners. A system such as Blackboard can supply information in advance for learners who prefer information ahead of time to be prepared for classwork and even work in advance of deadlines. The use of the Internet provides students with an almost endless array of websites for those who prefer to use verbal means to acquire understanding, through research from online resources. Many game-oriented software programs give the tactile learner a way to interact to learn math, spelling, etc. Another avenue for the tactile learner involves the use of manipulatives in math, which also support the student who needs concrete objects to understand concepts.

My classmate's results of her two learning style quizzes show her to be:
- Introverted, preferring Judgment, Sensing. She prefers to work alone in general, rather than in a group, unless she has a group of people she feels very comfortable sharing in the learning. For her, she would probably best learn through access to the Internet for information that she could independently research. Also, the use of video can provide information that each learner can access individually. Of course, using a word processing program would allow her to create written products in her own manner. In order to create a written piece of work, she could do her own brainstorming with a graphic-organization program like Inspiration. Or she may want to use Timeliner to design timelines or life cycles for projects. She also likes to do work ahead of time, getting an early start on her assignments and projects. In this case, a system like Blackboard would help her to know in advance what to expect, what deadlines she has, and how to organize her time. Thirdly, she likes to have a more concrete presentation and factual lessons, rather than abstract learning. She would most like to have a software program that provides objective information, maybe a reference guide. Possibly, she would also use the resources of the Internet for such access.

-Reflective, Sequential. My classmate tends to need time to absorb information, and revisit and reflect on it. In this situation, having the technology from the Smartboard (printed notes) which provides her with a set of lecture notes would help her reference the material. Also, teacher use of a Powerpoint program would give her similar access. Learning in a logical, sequential manner means she needs visual supports and a step-by-step direct instruction method. Again, the Smartboard can display a type of task analysis, with each step described, guided practice and monitoring by the teacher, and immediate answers to questions when problems arise.

In conclusion, it is to both the teacher's and the student's benefits to know what type of learning style the student has. Differentiating instruction can spell the difference between the student not understanding a concept, or achieving a skill, and really making sense of instruction through a careful analysis of learning preference and delivery through appropriate methods.

Day

I am obviously very technologically challenged! I think that is why maybe I have been putting off taking this class until now. However, I am willing to put in the time to learn new things. I do best if I can have one-on-one support, in order to write down the steps, and once I can learn the basics, I would feel more free to explore and experiment with design, format, and content. I like the idea of having an electronic portfolio, but I need to take lots of time to get there. I am hoping that by doing some of the more familiar work first (the assignments that involve reading, responding, etc.), that I will have a little more time to play with and learn the technology better.

I have had about ten years in a classroom environment, so I love being with the kids and learn something new each year about how to better work with them and try to keep them engaged. So far, I have not been responsible to use much of the technology available in our classroom. I need to learn how to use the Smartboard technology, use a new management tool called RenWeb for all kinds of things, like attendance, lunchcount, grading, creating lesson plans, etc., and accessing various awesome websites to use with the kids. There are also websites that the kids are on in our computer lab, and many of them are so much more knowledgeable about the games than any of the adult "experts" monitoring them! It's such an irony! I learn more by watching and asking them questions!

Anyways, I hope that I won't become frustrated or intimidated by creating the Web Portal or other projects that involve using software to design and create a project. Please hang in there with me.

Terri