Downfall of iclickers

Although I chose to explore iclickers a few weeks ago and discuss some strengths and weaknesses, I had some first hand experience today with one of the disadvantages that come with iclickers.

I let one of my friends borrow my iclicker for his class because I no longer needed my iclicker. Once he got my iclicker from me, he registered it under his name so he would receive the points and credit for his class.

After using his iclicker for almost the entire semester, his teacher emailed him telling him that his participation grade is 0% because he has not completed any of the iclicker questions! Of course, he was confused and upset, and needed to fix this.

It turns out that when he registered online, the code he typed in was wrong (because it was hard to see on the iclicker) and, therefore, the points were being given to someone else. Iclickers are a very cool technology tool to use, but have quite a few disadvantages that can really frustrate people and negatively effect someone's grade.

This Technical Semester...

I learned so much about different forms of technology and how important they are to teaching and learning! Before this class, I was afraid of technology. I always viewed technology as a scary thing that always frustrated me. I tended to have the mind set that I was going to be one of those teachers that only used the white boards and tangible books. But now, I am planning lessons and activities that involve various forms of technology!

Throughout this semester, I really enjoyed using blogs. It was interesting to share our thoughts on a public site and also view and comment on our class mates' blogs. I think blogs are a great tool to use in the classroom because it is an informal way to reflect on what you learned or what your feelings are about something. I want to learn even more about SMARTboards because they seem very interesting and fun. From my experience with SMARTboards, I have found that students get very excited while using them. I think SMARTboards are great to have in classrooms because they promote interaction and visuals! As a teacher, I want to use wikis in my classrooms for various projects. I have found that wikis are a great way to organize assignments, manage students' work, and assess their progress over time. I have already found myself using Google Docs and slideshare in other classes, which tells me that those are very helpful tools to continue to use.

Although technology can be difficult to use and frustrating at times, it is extremely exciting and ESSENTIAL in our future lives. I cannot wait to incorporate my new knowledge of technology into my future teaching!

Stressful Projects now --> Future Resources later

As a junior in the Special Education program, my classes and field placement is becoming much more intense and extensive. That being said, I have a lot of projects, papers, and lesson plans that are all very time consuming. I have been very stressed trying to fit all these projects in and making sure I am putting my best effort into each course. Although these projects are stressful, I am excited for them to be completed and to be an excellent resource to have as a future educator! My literacy reference project, for example, will provide me with a lot of useful assessments and information that I can directly use as a teacher of literacy. It is also extremely beneficial that I am getting practice with creating and altering lesson plans because that is a tool I will have to use a LOT as teacher.

Interactive Childrens Books

I have seen a lot of "leapfrog" and "tag" reading programs advertised on TV lately... but are they really more beneficial than reading tangible books we know and love? I think it is really neat that you can put a pen over a book and it will read it aloud to you! This can be extremely helpful and exciting for young children who struggle with word identification or decoding. The TAG program states "children will learn to read, and love reading!" I can definitely see how children can learn more and be more engaged with a book that is interactive and exciting. Many children learn better when they can hear what is being read, nut just look at it. However, interactive books can also become a problem if students become dependent on the pen in order to figure out what a word says. I think these programs are more beneficial and less harmful if used by younger children who are learning to read. I'd like to learn more about interactive books and see how they have been beneficial (or not) in children's literacy development.

 

Wikis Galore

Throughout the past semester, my "Teaching with Technology" course has been using a classroom website and a wiki to upload our projects. I have never used a wiki before this class, and it has been a real treat getting used to them! Wikis differ from websites and blogs in the sense that anyone can edit them! Although blogs allow other users to post comments, wikis allow you to control who can edit, view, write, etc, to your wiki! Websites can only be edited by the creator. I have really enjoyed creating and updating my own personal weebly website and posting my ideas and thoughts on my blog, but I have found wikis to be extremely helpful... especially as a future teacher!

Wikis allow teachers to organize their students' work and allow students to view each other's work and edit the page when needed. In our course, we upload a link each week to show our teacher and our class mates the technology we have been exploring. I want to use a wiki as a teacher in order for my students to view the work of others and self-evaluate their learning processes! I could use different wikis for different assignments, such as a wiki on the writing process, a wiki for a research paper, a wiki on photo shop and video editing. There are many possibilities when it comes to wikis!

Here is my newly created Wiki! With this particular wiki, my students would be doing a research paper on an animal of their choice. They would be required to upload their brainstorming ideas, a few resources used in their paper, their rough draft, a review of a class mate's paper, and their final draft. Using the wiki will allow students to see their progress of their paper and see what other students are doing if they need an example or feel lost. As a teacher, I can access my student's drafts all from my computer. I can also keep track and assess their progress, and take note if any students are dragging behind or need extra help.