IT Survey

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Chapter 8 in Supporting learning with Technology: Essential of Classroom Practice reminds me a lot of our course. One example of how the book reminds

me of the course is the definition of a hybrid course that is provided on page 9. The definition of a hybrid course is a combination of face to face and electric learning. This definition is exactly like our current course where we meet both face to face and online. Another example that reminds me of the course is on page 211 where they discuss asynchronous courses. The book states that in asynchronous classes the students may ask for help and feedback, post comments and website URL’s, and participate with in an analysis of the topic at hand. This statement also reminded me of our Asynchronous course that we have taken in the class. The last statement that reminded me of the course is the list that is provided under the teachers’ role on the elearning environment. On page 215 the book states that instructors should encourage elearners by addressing feedback to them by name and guide them in finding their own answers. Ms. Okeefe always provides us with detailed feedback to correct all the problems that have occurred in our work, as well as guide us to the finding a way to correct the issues.

I completely agree with the list of student benefits from elearning. I believe that in courses that require a lot of online learning students must develop a sense of flexibility and control. For example, I have to be flexible in planning what I will do on the weekends strictly based on the work that we have due every weekend. Students also have to be responsible in order to accomplish all that needs to be done in an elearning environment. In online courses there isn’t professors to stay on top of you and constantly remind you of the deadlines and due dates; therefore, students must be responsible. While I can’t connect personally with the convenience of an online course, I can understand how it can be very convenient to students. A lot of students aren’t traditional students; therefore, they have jobs, children, and houses that they have tend to, so having an online course can be much more covenant than going up to a college campus and sitting in the classroom.

I can connect to the disadvantages of elearning on page 214 as well. The third bullet states that learners who are distant from the teacher may not have access to support for technical problems. For example, in this course when we were told to post a link of our blog in the comment box on Desire2learn and I couldn’t do it for some reason that I couldn’t explain. I later on found out that it was my computer that was not allowing me to post my blog link in the comment box. If we turned our documents in on paper instead of online I wouldn’t have had this issue. Elearning can be beneficial, but also has its pros and cons. Elearning can be beneficial to the classroom and other environments. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxUQsKxcOYM

The articles that were provided for last week asynchronous course on Digital storytelling were interesting and informative. All of the articles paint a perfect picture of what digital storytelling is. I found the Digital Storytelling Tips and Resources article the most helpful and beneficial. My reasoning is because it is very informative. Not only does the article give the reader an overview of what digital storytelling is on page 2, it also provides us with tips and suggestions while using digital storytelling inside the classroom on pages 6-8, and provides the reader with examples on pages that follow. I also enjoyed the article Digital Storytelling with the Ipad as well. My main reasoning for liking this article is because it is relevant. Ipad’s can be very helpful in the classroom and may one day be needed in the classroom.  In some of today’s schools Ipad are already integrated into the classroom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV8M6P9st9Q, so this article is very relevant to today learning society.

One thing that I did not quite understand in one of the articles is the challenges for students. One of the challenges listed in the article is the issue of students copyrighting information. On page 6 of the article Intro to Digital Storytelling in the Classroom the author states, one useful strategy to prevent students from copy righting is to get them to use their own content. This statement confused me because I got lost on exactly what the author suggest that the students do. If a student is preparing a digital story on a event in history and would like to include pictures of that event that they found online would that be considered copyrighting?

I’m sure that I have seen digital storytelling in some of my classes, but I may not have identified it as a digital story. Altogether, I believe that digital storytelling has it pros and cons, just like any other form of technology. Digital storytelling appears to be very helpful to the classroom in many ways, but it can also be a bit confusing. Overall, I think Digital Storytelling can be used to its advantage when it is taught and used correctly. Digital storytelling is

Overall, I did not like chapter 7. This particular chapter was hard to grasp my attention, every time I started to read I got off task. Usually once I begin to read the case study I automatically can get into the chapter and start to like it, but this time it did not do it. One thing I liked in this chapter was the way that it ties to chapters that we have previously read. For example, on page 183 the text states, “learning goal that can be included in the production process are widely supported in literature as leading to gains in student achievement; for example, collaboration in chapter 3, problem solving in chapter 6, and critical thinking in chapter 4. I like this in particular because it provides us with a purpose for reading. Tying the chapters together always makes me feel as if there is a reason to read each chapter thoroughly.

In this chapter there was nothing that I did not understand, even though I found this chapter kind of boring I did understand everything that the chapter was talking about.

One thing that I did connect with in the chapter is that I do agree that active learning is the best learning and that learning is maximized when it can be tied to real life situations. Active learning can help maximized learning in the classroom.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsDI6hDx5uI I firmly believe that in learning it is easier to understand when you can connect to what you are learning. It has also been said that in learning when readers are reading they find it easier to understand the text and also relay to the text when you make it personal.

When readers make the text personal they are more interested in the text and more active during reading. One thing I didn’t agree with in the chapter was the statement on page 185 which states like other types of group projects, well planned production projects can result in a student gain of individual and group/social responsibility. I don’t agree with this statement at all, because I personally hate working in groups for projects because people don’t take responsibility. It always seems as if one person is always picking up the slack for other people in the group.

In chapter 5 of the text one thing that I really liked was the definition and explanation of the word creativity. On page 129 of the text the author states, "There are many definitions of creativity , which one is relevant depends whether you are looking at the process, the outcome, or the goal, and which cultural and philosophic views you are taking". I think this is a great definition of creativity because in my eyes creativity is just what it states, creative. Therefore, I believe there is no set way that creativity should be.

I really could relate to the case study at the beginning of the chapter because one time I had a professor that would allow us to solve our math problems differently, as long as it was a logical process and the outcome would be the same on different problems. By the professor allowing us to be creative it turned math, a subject that I hated into something that I found interesting. Mr.Stalvey was always open to any solutions that we had as long as he agreed that it would work in every case. His math class was very interesting and kept me on my toes because I was always trying to figure out new solutions to the problems we did in class. His class was unlike any other math course that I had took. In a way I think that his class gave me a new opinion about math. So I completely agree that creativity can make children open up their minds about various subjects.

One thing that wowed me in this chapter was the introductory sentence on page 134 which states that teachers might stifle creativity to push to complete the assigned curriculum. This statement wowed me because earlier in the chapter they stated that critical thinking and creativity can be tied together. This statement also wowed me because in my last reflection on chapter 4.I said the same exact thing about teachers being able to allow time for critical thinking in the classroom. I think that creativity and critical thinking may not be used to its’ capacity in the classroom because teacher have to focus on so many other things that they don’t have time to allow the students to be creative.

   Something that wowed me in this chapter was the opening event with Mr.Andres and his students. I think that his way making the whole "Alligator rumor" into a project that includes technology was pretty interesting. Not only did he incorporate technology into his lesson plan he also chose a topic that he knew his students would be interested in. Even though Mr. Andres know that the topic and the project may be offsetting his lesson plan, he still decided to use it as a learning opportunity to help the students use their critical thinking skills. Another thing that wowed me was the sentence on page 101 that stated that, according to Sarason 2004, schools are not the most productive learning environments’ for critical thinking. In some way I agree and disagree with this statement. One reason I agree is because school is so structured with necessary standardized test and goals they must meet that sometimes they don’t allow that space for critical thinking inside the classroom. On the other hand I disagree, because I firmly believe that students make a lot of independent decisions at school. Students also have to use problem solving at school in almost every subject along with their social life.    Overall I don’t think that there was anything in the chapter that I did not understand. As I previously stated in last week’s reflection this book is very good with giving the reader information and also providing examples to clarify any confusion. For example, on page 103 the book defines the term media literacy. It also provided us with an example that tied us right to the opening case of the chapter. Later on in the chapter the book provides the reader with the link to Center for Media Literacy’s free MediaLit Kit for K-12 Media Literacy (http://www.medialit.org/). 
   This chapter connects to myself because the critical thinking concept is very familiar. In one of my classes that I am currently taking the teacher asked us on the first day, why we think it’s important for people to be good readers. Everyone gave their different answers, but the answer she gave us was very different from ours. Dr.Yarbrough stated that it is important for people to be good readers so they can become good members of the society and be able to make wise decisions. At first I was thinking what does that have to do with reading, but after reading this chapter I can see the connection. Dr. Yarbrough is always talking about higher order thinking skills and I always used to wonder what that was, and why she always stretched the importance of it. According to page 101 in the book HOTS include creative thinking and problem solving. In order to make wise decisions and become a critical thinker I believe reading is essential.