Reflective Post

I really enjoyed taking this class. I never realized how crucial technology is within each classroom and how it enhances each students learning. Two of my favorite websites for technology in classroom is Hatch and Waterford's Early Learning. This video shows a little bit about Hatch:

I found the textbook really helpful and full of awesome concepts that I can’t wait to use in my own classroom one day. I found them really helpful while writing each digital blog post. I think the digital blog posts were really cool because we got to pick our 3 favorite concepts to reflect on instead of being told what to write about. It’s easier to remember them also because we reflected on them. Our group assignments were also fun but a little more nerve racking. It’s hard to keep everyone on the same page through technology and requires a lot more attention than working on your own. It was a little difficult at times when other group members didn’t participate or not what was going on until the last minute. It’s extremely important to constantly check on your group when working on collaborative assignments. My favorite assignments were the collaborative lesson plan and our portfolio. Lesson plan gave a glimpse into the future of what it’s actually like to create your own although you’ll do it alone. The portfolio was cool because it brought together all of our assignments and ideas that we’ve done and had over the entire course. It showed all of our accomplishments and I got to see how far I’ve come since the beginning of the semester. My delicious account is great! I absolutely love it mainly because it keeps all of my favorite websites in one place. It’ll be really helpful when I become a teacher because throughout the duration of this class, I’ve found a lot of really helpful and interesting websites. I can’t really think of a way to improve this course. I found each assignment really helpful and fun to do. It was one of my favorite courses I’ve taken!

References:

Early Education Technology & Supplies | Hatch Early Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved May 01, 2016, from http://www.hatchearlylearning.com/

H. (2010). Hatch's iStartSmart System. Retrieved May 01, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWrCD45JXZI

Waterford Institute | Early Learning Curriculum Software . (n.d.). Retrieved May 01, 2016, from http://www.waterford.org/

Digital Blog Post #F

Digital Blog Post #E

Digital Blog Post #D

Digital Blog Post #D - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Digital Blog Post #C

Digital Blog Post #B

Ashley's Prezi

Digital Blog Post #A

The first concept that caught my attention as I’m sure it did others was the numerous amounts of statistics that show the amount of technology being used by students and young children. I was a little shocked at just how much it is really used. I like to think of young children going outside and playing rather than sitting inside on some kind of game although times are changing quickly. The section that talked about young children experiencing a digital childhood which is “characterized by television watching and increasing use of computers and other digital media” as referenced by, Maloy, et al, (2013, pp. 3). Although I can’t keep young children spending countless hours watching television or playing games, there are some things I could try to have parents do with their children that’s educational by giving them websites like this one for example, Free Online Educational Games. I looked through a lot of these games and I liked how they really looked like games that kids would enjoy and at the same time still be able to use technology.

Second, I was interested about technology-based teaching tool. I think it's great that teachers are able to do this. After reading about it, I realized that my kindergarten teacher actually did this with us. We had centers and some of them consisted of getting on the computer and doing activities. I think using a technology-based teaching tool is very helpful because it allows the teacher to focus more on a group of kids instead of the entire classroom. I will definitely use it in my classroom as a teaching tool. This video was a actually one that was used when I was younger and I hope to be able to use the same in  my classroom one day as well.

Third, the book gave us strategies for learning new technologies. I thought it was really interesting to read some of these strategies because it will most definitely be helpful one day. The one I found most helpful was "Learn technologies while teaching academic content" which was stated by Maloy, et al, (2013, pp. 14). I think all teachers should incorporate and keep up with the technology as much as possible. Technology is an ongoing thing and I believe that kids work very well with it because it's something they're comfortable with.

All in all, there is a lot to learn about becoming a 21st century teacher. It's very obvious that technology plays a huge role in successful teachers. I'm not saying that all successful teachers use technology but i think connecting with students through technology is the easiest and best way to get the job done.

Resources

Educational Games for Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2016, from http://www,education.com/games,educational

Letter Pictures c.(n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RSGan1OHzE

Maloy, R,. O'Loghlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.