Technology in Education

Final Exam
Jessie Steele

1-Facilitate and inspire student

learning and creativity
I believe my work this semester was very creative, due
to the restrictive semester theme. It was fun to glean
through the Americas themed standards, and turn them
into whiteboard activities, powerpoints, and webquests.
I wanted my students to be able to learn, and see, and
create- beyond a simple bar graph or graphic organizer.
I wanted my students to be able to collaborate, but also
practice self sustaining. However, on the web 2.0 tool
tumblr, the students would have group blogs and group
projects being conducted on the website.

He aint heavy- hes my partner!

I also believe that my projects had a good balance
of talking face to face, and digitally. In my Harlem
Renaissance web-quest, I had them explore
websites and watch film, but I also had them
interview a relative, and self reflect on their own
sense of style.
In terms of reflection- my students were constantly
asked follow up questions, and there was a constant
questioning of do you like this, how can this be made
more relevant and interesting to you ect, ect. Its
important to constantly ask your students to reflect.

2.Design and Develop digital age

learning experiences and assessments
One of the key things of this class that I got to
experience was the design aspect. I am relatively
tech savvy, but creating digital lesson plans and
activities from scratch was entirely new to me.
I believe my work was relevant, to grade level and
semester theme. A good point to keep in mind
however, when creating these for a real class, is to
let the students have a say. Let them speak out and
give suggestions on what they like to do. If they
didnt like the whiteboard activity? Ok, so dont do
the whiteboard activities as much, and focus on the
webquests they did like.

Lets learn, together

I also believe I had a good mix of learning styles,
especially in my webquest. Things to research,
questions to answer, things to create, things to write,
and people to talk to. Something to address the visual,
kinesthetic, and auditory learners in a classroom.
My work in this class helped train me to
technologically advance my lesson plans, and it helped
train my brain to wonder how technology could be
incorporated into ANY lesson.
This class also taught me to ALWAYS have a rubric, to
assess a project, technological or not!

3.Model Digital age work and

learning
This course, and the work within, was critical to this
standard. I dont believe I demonstrated excellency,
but it taught me to be aware of maintaining contact,
and becoming proficient in technology advances.
I believe the web 2.0 tools I discussed would be
beneficial in maintaining contact with students and
parents, as well as the audioboom and screencast-omatic. The latter two especially, to explain how to use
tricky technology tools.

Im online!
This wasnt demonstrated in the work submitted, but I
had several friends enrolled in this course, and we all
collaborated, and bounced ideas off each other. If we
were stuck on how to incorporate technology, we would
chat with each other and give suggestions. Perfect
training for our future as teachers.
There was also research that was necessary, especially
to find lesson plans within the semester theme, and
technology was absolutely beneficial in that process.

4.Promote and Model digital

citizenship and responsibility
We talked a lot in the discussion boards about making sure our
students were well educated in how to use, and respect both
technology and the teacher.
In our field experience for this course, we learned that
several elementary schools have one common hub (like
Weebly) where teachers can put the links the students need,
and ONLY those links, so the students wont be tempted to go
to forbidden sites.
In several of our web 2.0 tools we explored, Skype
particularly, one option was discussed to contact people from
across the world and discuss whats happening with them, to
promote global diversity and cultural awareness.

Model Digital Citizens

In the common discussions about teaching our students
how to use technology, it was implied that we should
teach them to be lawful on the internet (and we ourselves
should uphold this at school- no illegal streamed movies!).
We didnt have many activities to discuss the etiquette of
online interaction, but it was implied in discussion and
general knowledge of the course.
There were also a diverse mix of activities, to appeal to
learning types of all sorts, so no one felt left out, or
behind. This was especially taken into account in the
accomodation sections of lesson plans.

5.Engage professional growth and

leadership
This class makes me feel more professional. I know how to do
a lot of things on my computer than I did at the start. I also
feel that with this knowledge, I can be a better leader at my
future school and help my fellow staff-members if they are
having trouble.
As stated in previous slides, this class helped me develop a
technology-tinted brain process for lesson plans, to have a
technological drive as it were.
We were also asked to reflect, a LOT. On why we chose what
we chose, on how we did what we did, and on how we could
make it better. Self evaluation was key to this course, which
makes for a more professional teacher in the long run.

LEADERS
This class made me excited to be a teacher. It taught me
how to write a lesson plan, and made me chomp at the bit
in order to graduate and get out there. If teachers want to
teach, it WILL restore vitality to the profession.
This class, and several of the activities, was so cool that I
shared them with some colleagues and family friends who
are already teachers- keeping the cycle spinning.
The feedback also helped- helped us know what we
excelled in, and how we could do EVEN better. And
knowing your strengths and fixing your weaknesses is key
to being a good leader.