New & Emerging Technologies Reflection

As I look back on the courses that I have learned from, in the quest to complete my Master's through Walden U. I feel better equipped to move forward into a leadership role within the school community that I am a part of. The learning activity that I worked on last week made me plan for the obstacles that would present themselves. Instead of reacting to the barriers that come up, I am prepared to break down those barriers. The Prezi presentations and voicethreads that i have created I will share with my administrators and colleagues ti influence their own change. I have built up a strong case to convince administration of the benefits of integrating technology into our classrooms, particularly as it pertains to Lemke's & Coughlin's, change agents. With the wealth of information available to our students, we as educators must show them how to filter out all the misinformation(2009. Students will search for knowledge we are not the only presenters of knowledge. Our roles then become that of guides. They want to learn about a particular topic we must lead and point them in the right direction.

There is so much technology available today to engage all learners. The world has "shrunk" because we are able to connect with others across the world and timelines. It is necessary to be aware of emerging technologies that we can take advantage in our classrooms. I have to be more aware of the new gizmos that are coming up. There are a number of ways that I have found to stay on top of the future. A couple that i have found that I have found are a blog http://www.emergingedtech.com/ and the website http://www.techlearning.com/. By scanning these as well as other resources I can find new and exciting ways to engage all learners and develop 21st century skills in all my students and colleagues. The better prepared we are as a school community, the better our students will be prepared to jump into the future by solving problems and coming up with creative solutions to problems that we have yet to see or hear of.

These past months I have gained much knowledge and received a lot of support from my fellow classmates/cohorts. I wish you all the best and hope to work with you again as we strive to reach the goal of educating our students for the future.

Luis


References
Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. (2009). The change agents. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 54–59.

Online Learning in K-12 Schools

Here is my Prezi presentation for this week's application.
Spotlight on Emerging Technologies

http://prezi.com/hf4l6w_zmztr/spotlight-on-emerging-technology-online-learning-in-k-12-schools/

Let me know what you think
Luis

Spotlight on Emerging Technology: Online Learning in K-12 Schools on Prezi

Final Reflection EDUC6714

Throughout this course I have learned so many new strategies an added many new tools that I can incorporate into my classroom as I reach all the different learners that will walk through my doors. The first that comes to mind is the creation of a NING to be used by the school staff. Our school year has just ended and there are many changes in store our school for next year. We are losing our tech coordinator. I want to be more of a leader in our school so that teachers feel more comfortable with integrating technology in their own classrooms. The NING would be a central place where staff could learn from each other and share their own knowledge, projects and ideas with the rest of the school community.
The next tool that i have picked up from during this course is the Natural Reader program shared by our group member Erin Middendorf. It is a free text-to-speech program that will be very useful for my 2nd graders that struggle with reading content written on a 2nd grade reading level. I have used the KidBiz3000 website, there students can use text to speech tool to listen to the text that they have trouble decoding. It is limited though only to the passages made available to them. the Natural Reader program makes it possible for me to write sentences, passages in a word document and then be available to be "read" by my students.
The final tool that I will use is Prezi presentations this was shared during our group chat by Scott K. I decide to create a Prezi of my own. I had a great time doing and look forward to having my students using it to show what they learn throughout the year. Students can use their creativity to show their deeper learning.
Thank you to all members in Group #3. Your ideas and resources are invaluable.

UDL & DI Wordle

A Wordle showing UDL & DI

Prezi on Universal Design for Learning

I completed my first Prezi. It is about Universal Design for Learning.

Here is the link
http://prezi.com/dp-tvssfl56j/
in case you can't see it here.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks

Why Use Universal Design for Learning? on Prezi

Reflecting on EDUC 6713

Whew these have been some interesting 8 weeks. The GAME Plan has now become a permanent part of my own learning. It has provided me with a focus for my learning. I can now move forward and continue on my path of life-long learning. I started my GAME plan by focusing on Standard #5 Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership and Standard #2 Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, (ISTE, 2008). The most positive thing I have learned is that there are colleagues even though it would be great to have more, that are willing to learn of new ways to integrate technology into their classrooms. Being able to meet with them to show them how to use wikis with their students is exciting. 


I have gained new ideas for using digital storytelling in the content areas, my favorites are hybrid animals,  showing fraction shapes and creating PSA's for the school community. As we continue after all the testing in our schools I will be use these projects to engage my students during a time that is difficult to motivate students. I have also be able to create unit plans to integrate technology within problem based learning. I look forward to incorporating this new knowledge during the next school year, as long as the budget cuts do not affect me.  


A new goal of mine to learn how to use video editing software for more than simply adding titles. I will use my summer to practice on my numerous videos of my daughter. Lord knows that I have enough to practice on.


References
National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) located at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf" 

Students and Their GAME PLans

How many times have I heard that students do not set goals and are not motivated? What if we show them what they will be capable of after they learn? Let them see what they can do with the use of technology. Give them examples of work presented by other students. Then let them set goals for what they want to be able to do on their own. Have students follow some of their personal interests. They will be more engaged and motivated than reading facts from any book. With these goals set students will use their creativity and innovation skills to make a product as good or better than what they saw. If students also establish their own projects and rubrics, they will also be driven to reach their goals. A student watches a digital story of about what if two different animals were crossed. They then say to themselves, "I can do that. I want to do that." It is a lot more motivating than, " I have to do that because the teacher told me to." The use of GAME plans keeps students focused on the goal and allows them to reflect on their progress and make changes when necessary. Students will take responsibility for their own learning and make gains that they did not think they were capable of accomplishing. The students will amazing themselves as well as each other.