Final Blog for L&T: "Parting is such sweet sorrow"

I can’t believe this course (Literacy & Technology) is over already! Upon reflection of this course I find that I have become much more technologically savvy. Here are my final thoughts on what I have learned and what skills I now possess in my quest to become a digital native:

In this class I have practiced and refined the following skills:
* wiki entries
- I better understand their purpose too
* blogging
- very comfortable posting and commenting on these
- am now able to add links, videos and pictures
* powerpoints
- can now add video links, hyperlinks, do animations and add sound and

pictures


I must admit that I still need to work on the following skills:
* refining the art of creating videos with corresponding soundtrack
* podcasting still seems to be beyond my capabilities
* I still have difficulty maneuvering social networking sites
* I have yet to create a voiki (I find them a bit freaky)

I have learned so many new technologies in this class and I know I have only just begun to scratch the surface of what is available out there. I have gained confidence in my ability to investigate web 2.0 tools and am no longer impatient with my progress. I have learned that it takes me longer than others to investigate and master these new skills but it I persevere than I am successful. I have also learned that I cannot learn everything the first time I try it. I must spend some quality time investigating and maneuvering through each tool before I am comfortable with it.

I am definitely no longer a digital immigrant. I am a far cry from considering myself a digital native but I have come a long way. I now not only understand the importance of using technology in the classroom with my students but I understand why I should use them. In order to help my students achieve the highest level of learning they are capable of I must exploit what they know and understand already. Technology is an integral part of their lives and can help motivate student learning.

For the past two years my science colleagues and I have been asking for professional development to help us utilize the smartboard technology we have more efficiently. I now can show the administration why it is crucial for us to tap into the technology we already have and add new ones as well. I hope to be the spark that leads us all closer to having web 2.0 classrooms.

Literacy & Technology has been a wonderful experience for me and I know it will help me to keep learning more so that I can help maximize the potential of my student’s learning experience. The key to success in today’s world is to be a life-long learner.

Sneak a Peak at My Gradebook!

I have provided you with a link will give you a sneak peak at the gradebook I created online at: http://www.engrade.com/


Click here for a sneak peak at my gradebook:
Engrade / Regents Chemistry / Gradebook


I investigated the free online gradebook, Engrade, from www.engrade.com . Here’s what I liked and disliked about this gradebook:

What I Liked:
* Can drop a students lowest score in any particular category (example: quizzes)
* Can print out grades for individual students so they can see not only their grades but also
any assignments they are missing
* Able to enter extra credit assignments which adds points for students that complete the
assignment but doesn’t penalize those students that do not complete the assignment
* Can excuse a student from an assignment without penalty
* Can enter the letter ‘m’ for a missing assignment and a zero is calculated in
* Can do daily attendance for each class
* Class averages are shown for each assignment
* Can add comments for students – especially helpful to keep track of miscellaneous
information that comes up on a daily and regular basis
* Students and parents can access grades online at any time
* Can upload various types of files, in addition to grades, that parents and students can access
(notes, syllabus, assignments, etc)

What I didn’t like:
* Can not just print for a single assignment, such as a test, all the grades of the students in the
class to post in class for the students to view
* Can not see all students assignments and grades at the same time – only for one student at
a time; this makes it cumbersome to change or modify grades especially if need to modify
multiple grades from multiple students
* All grade recalculations are done in excel which I find very difficult and extremely time
consuming to use (just a personal opinion)

Online gradebook systems can be considered as a useful tool for teachers. Every teacher will have a personal opinion as to which program they prefer and why. All of these gradebooks have pros and cons. Online gradebooks have the advantage of being able to automatically calculate grades which is a huge time saver over handwritten gradebooks. Online gradebooks empowers parents because it allows them access at any time to their child’s grades. Students may or may not like online gradebooks depending on whether or not they are doing well. It does allows them to access their grades at any time so they can see their progess (or lack of) as well as what they are missing.

The school district I work in uses the grading system Integrade Pro. I have used it for five years now and am very comfortable with it. There are a few features available in Engrade that I wish were present in Integrade Pro. These features of Engrade are:
* the ability to allow for extra credit
* entering m in as a grade which signifies a missing assignment and therefore calculates the
grade as a zero
* the ability to drop the lowest score in any assignment category
* allows parent and student access without extra work by teacher

Blogging about week 3 in L&T:

Instructional Systems Design Models inform, enhance and encourage student’s personal, pedagogical inquiry by utilizing a step-by-step approach to:
- Evaluate student needs
- Design and develop learning materials
- Evaluate effectiveness of learning intervention


Technologies that are aligned with the models of instruction:

Behavioral Model (direct instruction)
- audio technologies: tapes, CD’s and talking books
- visual technologies: videotapes and boards (white, chalk and bulliten)
- digital technologies: smartboards, internet resources

Information-Processing Model (inquiry)
- audio technologies: radios, music and multimedia CD’s
- visual technologies: videotapes, overhead/slide projectors, models
- digital technologies: streaming audio and video, webcasts, internet
resources, computer software

Social-Interactive Model (cooperative)
- audio technologies: talking books, tapes and recordings
- visual technologies: models, cartoons/drawings, cameras
- digital technologies: internet resources, interactive websites

Personal Model
- audio technologies: tapes and recordings
- visual technologies: video cameras, projection devices
- digital technologies: computer software programs, internet resources

The Behavioral Model (BM)compared to the Information-Processing (IPM) and Social-Interactive Models (SIM):

BM: direct instruction, teacher-centered, stresses learning tasks divided into a series of sequential tasks and behaviors, effective for providing information or developing step-by-step skills

IPM: indirect instruction, inquiry learning, stresses cognitive functioning, effective for concept formation

SIM: indirect instruction, cooperative learning, stresses personal and societal relationship among people, effective for relating to others

Web 2.0 tools such as Webquests, Web bits and WIB (web inquiry projects) are a great way to diversify a teachers pedagogy and enhance teaching with students because these tools allow the technology savy students to use more motivating tools to participate in their own learning process. The more ownership that students are given the in the learning process the more likely the students will achieve true learning.

The 5E lesson plan design from the L&T webquest project adheres to the Theory of Constructivism and is aligned with the inquiry process. The inquiry process entails:
- Involvement that leads to understanding
- Processing skills that permit resolutions to issues while constructing knowledge
- Not the seeking of a right answer (often more than one) but rather the seeking of an appropriate resolution to the issue

With the 5E lesson plan design the students can be given multiple choices to present the information discovered during the learning process. The students are absolutely involved in the whole process making their own choices to achieve the desired outcome.

I created a Movie!

Please visit my website (www.freewebs.com/lizkotlowski/ )and see the movie I created using Windows Movie Maker. It is on the video page and is entitled: Everyday Chemistry for HS students. I was a bit out of my league here but I managed to create a decent looking product. I'm sure with a lot more time, energy and practice I could produce a better product.

My movie is very short but it does contain chemistry photos and has a soundtract (called: Periodity Song) borrowed from a science teacher named Evan Silberstein who has a fabulous site that is worth visiting: (http://evanschemistrycorner.com/About_Evan.htm ).

Communication Is The Key Ingredient

Communication is crucial between teachers and students and also between teachers and parents. There are many ways to keep open the lines of communication open. Publishing a newsletter that spells out what is happening in the classroom is just one way to communicate. I have created one for my Regents Chemistry classes to help at that most stressful time of the school year: Review for the Regents Chemistry Exam.

Check out my newsletter: http://letterpop.com/newsletters/?id=92811-faed3f
and feel free to make any comments. I chose LetterPop (http://letterpop.com/index.php)to create my newsletter because it was very easy to use, especially uploading the pictures which can sometimes be tricky to do. I think in the future it would be both fun and constructive to have the students create the newsletter themselves. By choosing what to include and how to set up the information will give them ownership of the content. As the authors they will be responsible for making sure everything necessary is included.

Why is communication so important?

• so that parents and students are well aware of what is expected of them (also when, how and why)
• important information can be dispersed as often as necessary

These are the ways in which I communicate with the parents of my students:

• e-mail messages
• phone calls
• website which contains:

1. course syllabus
2. course outline
3. powerpoint lessons
4. test objectives
5. announcements of quizzes, tests, any pertinent infomation

The following software applications would be fun to try as communication tools with parents:

• newsletter via a web 2.0 publisher such as LetterPop
• class wiki that both the students and parents can both participate in using
• podcasts of student presentations that can be posted on the class webpage

Puzzles Using Vocabulary Words

I created two puzzles:

1. a crossword puzzle in excel:
   

2. A word search puzzle from online web site (http://www.edhelper.com/puzzles.htm)

To see larger views see my web site: http://www.freewebs.com/lizkotlowski/

The word puzzle was extremely easy to create with the online free puzzle maker. The crossword created in excel took all day and it took more hours than I care to admit to figure out how to put the crossword puzzle into a jpeg so that I could post it here and on my website. This digital immigrant always seem to be frustrated learning all this technology on my own but I refuse to give up and when I succeed well it is very sweet indeed!

Week Two Summary: Does this tech immigrant make any progress?

This was an intense week for me. There were many assignments to do, several videos to watch and lots of text to read. To begin I want to discuss the question: "Why are digital students different from the previous generation of students?"

• Probably the main reason is the way the two groups of students gather and process information. Digital students have at their fingertips (via the internet) a wealth of information (whether accurate or not) that can be obtained quickly and easily with little or no effort. These students expect instantaneous feedback. The pre-computer generations did not have the technology available to access information so quickly or easily. Information was obtained via libraries through books and periodicals which the students spend much time going through by hand. These students did not expect instantaneous feedback.

What are the implications for teachers concerning the digital way of obtaining information?

• Since students are able to obtain information so quickly with the available technology they also expect instant feedback from their teachers concerning their grades and teacher supplied information. Students also expect to put little effort into obtaining results.

The 6 National Educational Technologu Standards for students (NETS-S) are as follows:

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

The standards that are stressed in my classroom (Regents level chemistry)are: #2 and 4

The standards that I feel ready to meet in my classroom are: #1,2,4

I would love to be able to implement more technology in my classroom. I feel better prepared to meet the challenge now after taking these 2 techmology courses however my classroom is physically missing the technology tools to meet the challenge. I do plan on putting much more into our class website than presently exhists now. I just wish I had the flexibility to be more creative and innovative with the assignments I give my students but the powers that be up in Albany have packed so much into the required curriculum that there is no room for #1,5 and 6.

The school/classroom has shifted form 1.0:

• pencil and paper format
• more activities designed for the individual
• direct instruction that is teacher-centered
• book research in libraries

to the school/classroom for 2.0:

• technology tool format
• more activities designed for groups
• differentiated instruction that is student-centered
• research using webbased sites

One of the assignments this week was to explore webtools such as:

• del.icio.us
• diigo
• slideshare
• mindmapping tools

I must admit that del.icio.us and diigo which are social networking sites with different spins on the individual elements they offer (highlighting, tagging, annotating, bookmarking. etc.) are still a bit too overwhelming yet for me to grasp. I have watched the tutorial and tried to maneuver through del.icio.us but I still do not have a grasp on exactly how it works and how to really use it. The diigo tutorial was way over my head but I tried anywhay and was quickly overwhelmed by my inabilities to figure out what I was doing. I guess I can't accomplish everything with only two classes. I have used slideshare and actually created a short video which was ok for a first attempt. The mindmapping tools I believe have sent me over the edge. I don't know about you but I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE TO PAY OUT OF MY OWN POCKET FOR ANY WEB TOOLS. These are some free ones that I did try (mind42, mindmeister, gliffy and a few others) but I was overwhelmed by my inability to figure out how things work and while I have a great deal of patience with my students I don't share the same level with myself and I am turned off after spending hours trying something and getting nowhere or find myself just going around in circles.

I found the ppt presentation presented this week by group 2 on Internet Safety Issues very informative. Even though these issues are drummed into our heads by school districts and administrators it was refreshing to see a presentation that can be shared with our students.