Exploring Problem Solving with Software, Apps and Games

Discussion Question:

How can teachers evaluate and use different types of educational software and apps available today?


One way can teachers can evaluate software is by using what Seymour Paperts thinks low quality software has three main features: 1. The computer dictates the activity, 2. Competition, stereotyping, or violence is presented, and 3. Quick reactions are favored over sustained thinking and problem solving. When you are a teacher looking for a software you want to ask yourself "will the child program the computer or will the computer program the child?" (Papert, 1996, p.56)

The other way teachers can evaluate software is by higher order thinking and lower order thinking. Lower order thinking is to compare and evaluate of theories and perspectives, higher order is processing information and solving problems in ways that promote new meanings and understandings. To successfully promote higher order thinking games have to have a score of 15 or higher and challenge the students every time they play as well as apps.


Tech tool 7.1
Scratch  is an electronic tool kit that enables students to make their own games, animated stories, and interactive art. I explored the website and the students can create their own or look at other students work that they have created. I think it would be awesome to do a whole lesson plan on this website were students read a story and make their own game or animated short story of they story we read in class. Definitely something I do not want to forget!


Chapter 7 summary

The first section talks about how technology generates problem solving and inquiry learning among students. Teaching methods use real world issues and situations to engage students. How to help students understand problem solving is using framework. 1. Make sure the student understands the problem. 2. Using solving strategies and check answers or results. The next section talks about how to identify standard and open source software applications that are available on most school computers. Software refers to the codes that tell the computers what functions to perform. Their are open source software that refer to programs that are open for anyone to copy use or modify. Teachers and students use a lot of the same programs in school like word PowerPoint the internet some games and YouTube as well. The next section talks about problem solving and inquiry learning software. The last two sections of the chapter talk about how to analyze education games which teachers can do one of two ways, they can ask themselves if the game is good for the students to play or if it is a lower thinking or higher thinking which most teachers would want to go with higher thinking to challenge the students. The last section talks about digital games for leaning for example Geogames which are geographical games for elementary school students. Chapter 7 is filled with a bunch of good information I really enjoyed this section because it talks about a bunch of ways teachers can explore problem solving with technology which every student with learn in their life!


Sources:

1. Maloy, Robert W. "Exploring Problem Solving with Software, Apps, and Games." Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. 158-74. Print.

2. Scratch - Imagine, Program, Share." Scratch - Imagine, Program, Share. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.

3."Using Apps for Higher Order Thinking in the Classroom." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014

Reflective Post

EME 2040 Introduction to Technology in my opinion has been one of my favorite courses I have taken. Through out my years of attending Edison. This course has taught me a lot about technology and how I can use it in teaching and one day in my very own classroom. When I first sign up for the class I was a little worried because I have never taking an online class before. The first assignment we did was a discussion post which was about us. I really enjoyed this because it got me comfortable with starting an online class and I got to know the other students in the class just like you would if you where in a classroom. The discussion I really liked because it gave the whole class a chance to give their opinions and comments about what each student was writing. The one thing I would change with the discussions is maybe limiting the amount of people who can do each topic. The last discussion we did pretty much the whole class talked about cyber bullying. Yes I highly disagree with cyber bullying and think it is wrong and needs to change, I feel as well as their are other threats to the internet. But with the class doing the discussion it had the class focusing on the objective. The objective was communication.

The next thing we did in class was our blogs about the chapters in the book. I really liked the book and thought it had a lot of very good lessons in it as well as me personally learning a lot more about the classroom and the technology in it. With the book is did lead us to some assignments in the classroom not just the blog. Chapter 8 talks about how to engage students with digital tools. After that chapter we did a power point on different types of digital technology in the classroom. I talked about the smart board ad how it works and what teachers and students can do with it in the classroom. To me the thing I liked the most about the book was the tech tools. I loved how it gave examples  of apps teachers can use in the classroom it was my favorite thing.

The last but not least thing is the projects from the PowerPoint to the collaborative lesson plan the wiki and the webquest and the teacher web page. Before this class I had no idea what a webquest was how to make a wiki and what to even out in a teacher website. But I for sure learned all of it. I really enjoyed working with other students on the collaborative lesson plan and the wiki. It was interesting working with other classmates but doing everything online. It was something I enjoyed. At times it was hard to get in touch with some classmates but in the end we got the work done! In the end this online class changed my mind forever and I will definitely love to take more online classes in my Edison future!


Sources

"Carving Out the Core: A Former Homeschooler's Perspective on the CCSS." Carving Out the Core: A Former Homeschooler's Perspective on the CCSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014

"Technology in Education." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

Chapter 11 Engaging students in performance assessment and reflectivelearning

Discussion Question:

Describe the use of assessment in schools. 

The use of assessment in schools allows schools to have performance evaluations which assess work completed rather than test taken. The performance evaluation includes students writing, individual and group projects, homework, individual presentations and teachers observation. Technology plays a huge roll in assessing performance because it allows students to display real world learning in many different ways. 

Tech tool 11.2 

Survey and poll resources and Apps. 

With this tech tool I am going to pick an App. The App I picked was poll everywhere. This is a texting app that allows students to use cell phones to submit responses to questions and polls through twitter. I have seen poll everywhere used in a 9th grade English class. The teacher had the students answer questions about the movie while the movie was playing. I thought it was a very good idea because it keeps the students focused on the movie and the details to be able to answer the questions right. If I ever teach a 9th grade class I would love to use this app! 

Chapter 11 summary 

Chapter 11 examines how teachers and students use technology to evaluate and assess learning. The first section of the chapter talks about the role of assessment in teaching and learning. Assessment features three elements. The first element is new teacher assessment. This is were your supervisor will asses your work. The next element is student assessment which is how you as a teacher will asses students' learning and your own effectiveness as a teacher. The third and final element is student self assessment which is how students will participate in the assessment process. The ability to engage in self reflection is key to success as a teacher.  The second section is digital teaching and portfolios. A digital teaching portfolio is a collection of educational and professional materials stored in an electronic format. It is an organized collection of materials that shows a teachers growth and development over the years. One big thing teachers learn from their portfolios is reflection which is a process of self assessment in which a learner examines past actions to identify what to keep or what to change. The great value of a digital portfolio is that it's contents can be constantly changed to reflect your growth as a teacher and the growth of students as learners. The final section in chapter 11 is involving students in learning and assessment. For students to care about rules of school conduct they want to have a say in the rules as well as in what they are learning in school. The movement for democratic schools and classrooms seek to increase the involvement of students in educational decision making and learning. I feel using technology to do assessments is a very good idea. Technology is making a huge impact on teaching now a days. Some technology that is being used for assessment is studen portfolios which are just like teachers! Portfolios was one of the main technologies talked about in this chapter and how it helps students and teachers reflect on their work and how they can improve it! I think it is a very cool idea in having something both students and teachers can do! 

Sources:

1. Maloy, Robert W. "Chapter 11 Engaging Students in Performance Assessment and Reflective Learning." Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. 276-93. Print.
2. "How to Use PollEverywhere." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.

Chapter 10 promoting success for all students through technology

Discussion Question:

    Discuss how teachers can use different technologies to create universally designed classroom? 

       Every teacher is an instructional designer deciding everything from seating arrangements to instructional activities. Any aspect of the classroom may make the difference between students maintaining or losing interest in what is being taught. There are three different types of accommodations in learning with technology. The types of accommodations are low tech which refers to changes that are made easily, in expensively, without applying digital materials. Mid tech accommodations involve substantive shifts in organization and delivery of curriculum that may include the use of digital materials. High tech accommodations introduce changes with the integration of computers and other specialized information technologies in the classroom. Examples of low tech technologies are chairs the desk, whiteboards, chalkboards, chart paper, pencils, pens, paper, and scissors. Mid tech would be audio books or recordings of books. As well as teachers using PowerPoint in their lessons. Some high tech accommodations are word cloud which is a visual representation of text. As well as electronic speller and dictionary which is a tools for learners of all ages. As well as students being able to use a handheld calculator. 

Tech tool 10.2 

Extra large and online calculators, 

Martindale's calculators online center for middle and high school students. I think middle school and high school students will love this website. This website has 24000 calculation programs, many with interactive simulation. I would highly recommend this website to high school and middle school teachers. It is a pretty cool website it has a bunch of different math situations the students can work out. For example they can learn about the storage capacities of an iPod and students sure do love apple! 

Chapter 10 summary: 

Chapter 10 talks about how to individualize learning for each student when they are many students to teach. The first section talks about technology for teaching diverse students. This sections main focus is multicultural education which is a term used to describe how teachers go about expansive diversity of students interests. Technology supports multicultural teaching and learning and affirms diversity by revealing hidden histories, creating culturally relevant curriculum and instruction, expanding teaching methods and approaches, and connecting classrooms with communities and cultures. The next section talks about differentiated instruction and universal design for learning. they can do this by differentiated instruction which teachers create different educational experiences. The third section talks about adaptations for classroom learning with technology which can be broken down into different accommodations and examples of each. The fourth section is assistive technology to reach diverse learners, assistive technology applies the concept of technological convergence to the ways that information technologies enables teachers to differentiate instruction and pursue universal design. Assistive technologies make it possible for students that have hearing, sight, mobility, or cognitive challenges to translate text and understand spoken words with a special tool. The last section talks about writing transformations with technology. With technology teachers can support students by giving them more confidence in their writing. With technology now students can go from brainstorming to their final draft in no time. There are many different types of apps students can use with writing. Some examples are write pad which students can use to write their drafts. They can also use wordpress which is another app they can use to publish their work. Chapter ten talks about all different ways technology can help in the classroom. The biggest part of technology in this chapter is computers. Computers help reach educational needs for every student in the classroom. I feel like this chapter gave me a good insight on how computers can be used for many different things in the classroom.

Work Citied:
1. Maloy, Robert W. "Promoting Success for All Students through Technology."Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2011. 244-73. Print.

2. "Top 10 Reasons to Use Technology in Education: IPad, Tablet, Computer, Listening Centers." YouTube. YouTube, 15 June 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2014.