Podcast Reflection 3: Ed Tech Talk

Feb. 10, 2011

When I listened to the EdTech Talk podcast, I was actually pretty shocked. These educators were talking about how they teach in both North America and in Australia. They said they make use of laptops, iPads, and even cell phones for their classrooms. In fact, cell phones are expected to be brought and used in class. The educators continued to say that they insist on not having a ‘traditional’ school. I am all for technology in the classroom, but when listening I found it hard to envision these types of things happening in the Kansas schools I will be teaching in. I know many of them are using laptops and sometimes iPads, but I cannot ever see them telling students they are required to bring and use their cell phones. It’s interesting how different countries and cultures allow for different things in the classroom.

Reflection: Animoto in my Classroom

Using Animoto is a fun way to incorporate a lesson for students that is much more engaging. When creating my educational Animoto I saw a lot of potential and opportunity to continue using it for my future classroom. I enjoyed making the video and I was amazed at how simple it was to make! I would be interested in figuring out how to apply power points or other use of text in these videos for more instructional material. The thirty second limit is a little bit hard to work with, but for a simple lesson it would be beneficial.

Podcast Reflection 2: CDK's Education Technology Place

I watched a youtube video on CDK’s Education Technology Place about needing teachers to learn about new ways of technology especially in the classroom. This was kind of eye opening for me. I consider myself a little bit ‘old fashioned’, but I am becoming more and more accepting to technology. The story about the girl who had her notes on her laptop but could only use a note card for the test was interesting to me. I understand why some teachers wouldn’t allow that considering there’s no way to monitor that the internet isn’t being used to find answers, but in a general sense it made me realize that as a teacher I need to accommodate to students who may be more apt to use technology as a way of studying.

Reflection 1: Technology Bits, Bytes, & Nibbles

While browsing the blog, Technology Bits, Bytes, & Nibbles, I read a chart called Upgrade Your Lesson- 21^st Century Skills. One of the topics was ‘Communicate’. This listed different ways of communicating as a teacher in the 21^st Century. It sparked an idea in my mind about how much more parents might be involved if they were able to meet with their children’s parents via Skype, or another online resource. I feel like some parents might be reluctant to use online resources only because older people are still having a hard time adjusting to technology. But I do believe by offering more opportunities for parents to meet with teachers, some parents will take up the offer. For example, it would be neat to set up parent-teacher conferences via Skype. This way if the conference times for the school conflict with a parents schedule they have the possibility to talk with the teacher over the internet.

I also read an article about a Tennessee school requiring iPads for fourth through twelfth graders. This is incredibly insane to me, because I knew this would be happening eventually but I didn’t think so soon. The article says both students and teachers will use these iPads at school and at home. I think this could work out really well. I feel like the reason people are reluctant to iPads or use of other technology is because they don’t have use to it for enough time to learn on it, but I think that this Tennessee school may benefit a lot by having teachers  and students using them at school and at home. They will be on the same page because they’ll be using them in both settings.