Now What?

The past 6 weeks of EDU 331 have flown by. Technology in the Classroom has been a great learning experience. As an elective, I have found this class to be one of the most beneficial, knowing that I will use a lot of this information in the future! It has been fun to learn many simple, but new ways to integrate technology into my future classroom.

What was the most useful?

1.       Common Craft video- This was a great learning experience. A fun way to teach a lesson in a new way! Loved seeing creative and different ideas of how this could be implemented.

2.      Google- Who knew that you could use google in so many collaborative ways! Google Docs is great for assignments when working in groups. I also liked Google form as it is a great tool for surveys or quizzes.

3.      TodaysMeet and Online Polling-Great way to connect with students through technology.

Where will I go from here?

This class has informed me of so many ways to use technology. At whatever age level I teach, I plan to use several of the ideas in my classroom. The Internet Resources document that we created as a class is a document that I will refer to often (I hope!).  I also will use Twitter because there are so many wonderful educators and new ideas for any subject area. Even just looking online, through pinterest or blogs can be beneficial.

Blogging?

I have enjoyed this experience because it has served as a way for me to reflect on learning within this class. It has also taught me a new way to connect with fellow educators. I don’t know how committed I will be to keeping up this blog. I want to be able to share ideas with other educators, so I hope that can be my motivation to continue blogging as my career moves forward!

Thanks for spending the time to connect with me through this blog.  It is my hope that at some point in my future you will see this blog active again! :)

Until next time,

Carly 

"So Many Colours of the Rainbow..."

The past week we were asked to view two videos related to children and their ability to use creativity (or the lack of!). Harry Chapin sings Flowers are Red  which describes how a young boy drew flowers in different colours, yet the teacher demanded that flowers are only red and green, and there is no other way. This teacher told the child how it ought to be and did not let their creative ideas flow. Therefore, from this young age, this child now thinks that flowers are only allowed to be red and green.

The second video is titled “School Kills Creativity” by Ken Robinson. He speaks of our education systems today and how we squander children’s talents. Our school systems focus on the math, science and literacy and move to subjects like art when we are able to squeeze it between everything. Robinson states that “Creativity is just as important as literacy and we should treat it the same”.

In education today, students come to the understanding that mistakes are the worst thing ever. They are afraid to be wrong, because they are not prepared to be wrong. Students are getting educated out of creativity. 

So what should we be doing as future teachers?

We are to educate the whole being in every aspect. Students should be able to let their creativity shine through in any subject. God has gifted each student with different talents so we should be allowing children to use these God-given gifts! We should also give our students the opportunities to let their creativity show in the classroom.

Students have wonderful ideas. We should allow time for collaboration amongst students, where they are able to work together, share their thoughts, and discover what this world has to offer. Let students fall in love with learning by allowing their creativity to come through.

I believe that teachers are recognizing this and are now working at ways they can let students use their creativity. Technology is assisting us in making this transition. Students catch on to technology just as quick as us (if not quicker!).

A question to ponder this week: What are the best ways to use technology in our classroom so that it will enhance student creativity?  

Child-Driven Education

Last night I went out for dinner with my parents and my husband. While sitting in a booth, two friends, one that brought a child along, were sitting at a table near us. The daughter was between a year and a half to two years old (my estimated guess). She was sitting in her high chair and playing with an ipad while the two friends chatted amongst each other. At our table we joked to my parents how they had it rough, they had to entertain us as children when we were out. Not only did this ipad keep this child entertained, but she knew what to do with it. We then went into a discussion on how children at such a young age can grasp technology and can learn it so quickly on their own.

This goes into the video I watched for this week, titled “The Child-Driven Education” by Sugata Mitra. This TED talks video went into detail about an experiment Sugata Mitra had performed in countries like New Delhi and South Africa. He performed the “Hole in the Wall” experiment where computers with internet connection were placed in the streets. On their own, children figured out how to use them, and became educated through them. It is stated that children will learn to do what they want to do, no matter where they live. If children are interested, then they can figure out what they are looking for and what they want to know. The video goes into more depth on different examples of children succeeding through their own methods.

This was an interesting video to watch, and teachers can learn from it. Children are smart and ambitious; they are excited to learn. We need to provide environments where they are able to explore on their own, dive into topics they are interested in, and use technology to enhance their learning. 

Technology in P.E.

From my own experiences in my previous physical education classes, ones that I have taught, and from what I have heard from fellow colleagues, technology is not used very often in physical education classrooms. I understand why; students are meant to be active, learn the fundamental skills, and participate in cooperative games with peers. After spending quite some time surfing the internet, blogs, and twitter, I have found numerous resources of ways that technology is being used in physical education classes. Creative physical educators are sharing their knowledge so that more teachers and students will benefit!

Personally, I would love to incorporate technology into my physical education classes at times. The reason I say at times is because I still think that developing fundamentals and skills are critical and very important in the gymnasium. But, I do believe that bringing technology in can get kids excited about learning in new ways (and that we can still be active by doing so!)  

I will share with you a few websites/ideas that I came across tonight that I am excited to use in the future!

• This link and this one are two videos I found on Youtube where younger students are able to throw balls at a particular moving object on a screen. The technology used are powerpoint, projector, and an ipod. 
• Mr. Robbo "The P.E. geek" is a teacher who blogs numerous ideas about technology in education. His website has so many ideas! Some of my favourites are his suggestions for apps on ipads or androids. A few that I found particularly interesting are apps on assessment, music to workouts (timing for breaks, etc.), classroom attendance, step test, and sports rules.
• This powerpoint has ideas from several teachers who have added so that others may benefit. From this I particularly like the idea to use video performance as feedback, using QR codes, and using video games such as Wii to play fitness games. 
• Another awesome teaching technique from this powerpoint is to use the flipped classroom approach, teaching students the rules of a new game prior to class in a video that they are required to watch, so when they come to class they know how to play the game. 
• I found a great teacher on pinterest to follow, Gretchen Jessel who has pinned many ideas for P.E in the classroom, at home, and at recess time. 

It looks as if I will be kept busy exploring these ideas more over the next few days! I hope that these links and websites lead you to figure new ways to use technology in your P.E. classrooms. :) 

ISTE (International Standards for Technology in Education)

This is week #2 of blogging and we have been asked to look into the ISTE website which stands for the International Standards for Technology in Education. There are five standards and also a large list of essential conditions that have been listed and described in detail. 

Standards: 

The first standard states that teachers are to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. This caught my eye, especially after my last blog post in regards to how we as teachers make our instructional decisions and how students learn in different ways. Technology brings in a whole new type of creativity into a classroom setting which we should take advantage of. Many new learning experiences can be had through technology and it can truly inspire creativity and a new interest in students. Last week we looked at google documents and ways that sharing can be done between classmates. Simple things such as working on an assignment with a partner or creating a survey for classmates are new and exciting ways of learning. Students are creative, like to explore, and understand technology. Why not let them do all three while creating a learning opportunity. 

Essential Conditions:

Conditions are outlined in order to use technology effectively within schools. There are a number that stood out to me and made me aware of what is needed from staff and students alike. 

Shared Vision. It is key that not only the teachers and students, but also the parents, administrators, and support staff all share the same vision on technology in order to come together in order to form a learning community. 

Skilled Personnel. If there are no experts/specialists on technology within a school, then technology will not succeed. It is important to have leaders guiding and educating fellow staff and students on the proper use of technology. 

Ongoing Professional Learning. As teachers, we should always be involved in some type of professional learning. With technology being so new and yet always changing, we should dedicate time and effort into seeing how technology can impact our future lessons. 

Assessment and Evaluation. With the new "Growing Success" assessment document recently being published, it is our job as educators to develop useful ways to evaluate and assess our students while using technology. It is important to determine assessment techniques throughout their learning process, not just the final outcome. This may result in new ways of evaluating. 

Here are the links used:  ISTE Standards       ISTE Essential Conditions

Hope these thoughts get you thinking a bit more about your thoughts on technology in the classroom. Have a wonderful week! 

Educational Insights for the Future...

Well browsing on Twitter last night I came across two different posts regarding education that I thought were valuable to me and wanted to share with others.

1) The first was about how we can use different ways to assess our students. The teacher posted a large piece of paper in the classroom (next to a door) and gave every student a pack of sticky notes. Students could leave a sticky note on their way out the door regarding questions, concerns, or even concepts they didn't understand. This could be a great resource for teachers as well because they too can assess how they can develop their next lesson. I hope to use this in my future classroom for communicating with students.

Here is the blog post: http://blog.web20classroom.org/2013/01/formative-assessments-are-easier-than.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

2) The second article I read was entitled "How Do You Make Instructional Decisions". It talked about how a lot of times in the classroom teachers fall into the pit of "When I was a kid, this is how I learned it". We need to remind ourselves throughout the day that what worked for us as a student may not be the same style of learning for other children. Teachers make over a thousand decisions a day. We need to choose how we will  make decisions in our classroom and learning environment.

Here is the link: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/instructional-decisions-reasons-elena-aguilar

Blog Post #1!

Welcome to my first ever blog post! I have started my own blog in regards to an education course I am taking entitled “Digital Technology for Learning”. One of our requirements is to blog each week about different experiences and thoughts on technology in our classrooms today. In a reading that our professor recommended, George Couros (http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/2350) argues that a good blog provides a place where teachers can create a learning community where they can share information with fellow colleagues. He has convinced me enough to give it a shot. I hope that by the end of this course I become a real “blogger” and learn how to use blogs as a great resource for the future!

A bit about me…

My name is Carly Voortman and I am in my 5^th (and final!) year of the Concurrent Education program at Redeemer University College getting my Junior/Intermediate degree. My major is in Physical Education, with a minor in Geography. I hope to become a high school teacher as I loved my previous placement in that division.

My educational interests…

·         Project Based Learning—I had my first experience of this in my last placement which intrigues me to look into it deeper.

·         Assessment—the new ministry document “Growing for Success” has me thinking to myself: learning for, of, and as…How will I enable this in my future classroom?

·         Technology: What is the best use for our classrooms? Is there such thing as too much technology? Not enough? Are their ways I can integrate technology into my phys. Ed classrooms?

Why this course…

I chose to take this course to increase my knowledge on beneficial ways to use technology in the classroom. I want to become aware and more confident in different uses of technology so that I can enable my students with great learning experiences!  

Technology in Education?

In our world, technology is growing and has become a part of everyday life (especially students!). Why not figure out ways that we can engage, interact, and excite students about new learning opportunities through technology.

Through twitter I found an article on daily edventures, a website that looks at global heroes in education. This particular grade three teacher, Sarah Collins, created a fundraiser with her students called “Cans for the P.L.A.N (Proceeds for Learning and New Technology) ” where they benefited the community by cleaning up and recycling in the town to raise funds for new technology in their classroom. Collins states that “innovative education is purposeful, designed, and reflective”. She goes into depth in how technology has been an effective way to engage students in learning. Check out the link for more information on this class project. (http://dailyedventures.com/index.php/2013/01/14/sarah/?cid=dlvr.it) 

That's all for now!