I enjoyed working with my group on this assignment. We worked well together and did not have any problems. Everyone completed their part of the project on time. I was in charge of the technology piece and I found this very easy to write because my county just gave every school interactive white boards, which was a big focus of my technology piece. I was also in charge of the meeting minutes and milestones. I realized that our milestones were supposed to be in a memo form after I already submitted them. I followed the writing protocol because I was not sure what a memo looks like. I have never had to send a memo to anyone before. Now that everyone emails I did not really even think people sent memos anymore. I guess next time I will look up the memo format.
I enjoy teaching in the age of emerging technologies. It is very rewarding to see students learning so much more with technology. In my faculty meeting yesterday my principal acknowledged that we have to let kids read their books on the computers. Not everyone likes reading paperback books. It is important to remember that our students are growing up in a paperless society and we need to help teach them how to succeed in that world. That is why it is great to have all these technologies to work with. The problem we have in my county is that our internet always goes down towards the end of the day and we can’t use the technology. My IT department needs to fix this problem because it is quite problematic when you can’t teach the way you need too because the internet is always down. Also a lot of teacher evaluations are based on technology use in the classroom and if the internet is down you can’t really do much.
David Copeland
Schooling in the age of emerging technologies is very rewarding to me as an educator. For decades, new technologies have been working their ways into the classroom but now, technology is becoming more prominent as it us changing the overall dynamics of the classroom. Technology has the ability to speak for itself. It creates a climate where students can interact to solve challenging problems individually, small groups, or in large groups. The teacher is now gearing toward the role of a facilitator while allowing the students to collaborate, design, and learn by experimentation and physical involvement. Finished products reflect the students’ creativity as well as their level of learning. Differentiation is also easy to manage, because technology allows the teacher to be more versatile in activity planning as the teacher is catering to the needs of each student. As I completed this assignment, I reflect about my experience in the past weeks leading up to my presentation this week. Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment. We were prompted to create a schooling plan after a meteorite has come down upon Earth. Also, the school had to be in relation to the age group I currently teach. I loved the fact that this was a group project. I had two elementary teachers and a media specialist in my group. Currently, I teach for the Georgia Pre-k program, so I have not been in the elementary realm since I student taught in undergrad. Collaborating with my group members allowed me to have an insight on some of things that are going on in elementary schools. I was also able to share about the joys of teaching pre-k. I signed up to research the two sections “Challenges and Limitations” and “Expanding Adoption, Adaptation, and Diffusion”. I gathered information using articles which allowed me to investigate various perspectives that related to technology based institutions. In conclusion, this was an interesting project and I enjoyed working with a group of hardworking people.
Meagan McKinney
I really enjoyed working on this project with my group. Everyone worked so well and diligently. We met at least every other week for almost an hour or so. We talked through each section of the paper in order to support each other in our work. I was in charge of building the wiki, writing the population and philosophy of teaching, and putting together out white paper. I feel very lucky to have worked with such a hardworking and understanding group. We had our fair share of challenges with Wimba sessions not working, and not being completely certain of directions. We found ways around our challenges and rose above them.
Heather Wilkie
Schooling in the Age of Emerging Technologies Schooling in the age of emerging technologies is an exciting time to be a student and a teacher. With all the new advances and resources available the possibilities are endless. Many counties have adapted a ‘Bring Your Own Technology’ (BYOT) to school philosophy. Students can bring their own technological devices to school, connect to the WIFI, and participate in guided activities and projects. The students of today enjoy using the technology and expect to use it. In order for our students to be successful in today’s job market, background knowledge of computer skills and programs is extremely important. Teaching students to use the technology early on prepares them for college and their future jobs. Using technology in the classroom engages the students. Instead of a traditional paper-pencil test, students can take a test with an interactive response system. This approach would allow for immediate feedback that the teacher could use for data assessment. The teacher could then use that data to reteach as needed. Classrooms that have interactive white boards are highly engaging and the students appear to be more involved in the lesson. Technology in the classroom is an innovation that is here to stay and it is one that is very beneficial to the teachers and to the students. Project Reflection I had a wonderful group to work with on this assignment. Everyone completed their assignments on time, provided feedback and guidance where needed, and we met weekly to discuss progress. I feel that everyone completed their part and that made this assignment an easy one to complete. We had a common vision for our school and this also helped. I feel that we did a good job of pacing ourselves also that we did not feel overloaded when it came time turn in assignments. As far as working with a group in an online class setting, I think that working with this group was the smoothest it has ever gone for me.
Emily Brown
I enjoyed working with my group on this assignment. We worked well together and did not have any problems. Everyone completed their part of the project on time. I was in charge of the technology piece and I found this very easy to write because my county just gave every school interactive white boards, which was a big focus of my technology piece. I was also in charge of the meeting minutes and milestones. I realized that our milestones were supposed to be in a memo form after I already submitted them. I followed the writing protocol because I was not sure what a memo looks like. I have never had to send a memo to anyone before. Now that everyone emails I did not really even think people sent memos anymore. I guess next time I will look up the memo format.I enjoy teaching in the age of emerging technologies. It is very rewarding to see students learning so much more with technology. In my faculty meeting yesterday my principal acknowledged that we have to let kids read their books on the computers. Not everyone likes reading paperback books. It is important to remember that our students are growing up in a paperless society and we need to help teach them how to succeed in that world. That is why it is great to have all these technologies to work with. The problem we have in my county is that our internet always goes down towards the end of the day and we can’t use the technology. My IT department needs to fix this problem because it is quite problematic when you can’t teach the way you need too because the internet is always down. Also a lot of teacher evaluations are based on technology use in the classroom and if the internet is down you can’t really do much.
David Copeland
Schooling in the age of emerging technologies is very rewarding to me as an educator. For decades, new technologies have been working their ways into the classroom but now, technology is becoming more prominent as it us changing the overall dynamics of the classroom. Technology has the ability to speak for itself. It creates a climate where students can interact to solve challenging problems individually, small groups, or in large groups. The teacher is now gearing toward the role of a facilitator while allowing the students to collaborate, design, and learn by experimentation and physical involvement. Finished products reflect the students’ creativity as well as their level of learning. Differentiation is also easy to manage, because technology allows the teacher to be more versatile in activity planning as the teacher is catering to the needs of each student.As I completed this assignment, I reflect about my experience in the past weeks leading up to my presentation this week. Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment. We were prompted to create a schooling plan after a meteorite has come down upon Earth. Also, the school had to be in relation to the age group I currently teach. I loved the fact that this was a group project. I had two elementary teachers and a media specialist in my group. Currently, I teach for the Georgia Pre-k program, so I have not been in the elementary realm since I student taught in undergrad. Collaborating with my group members allowed me to have an insight on some of things that are going on in elementary schools. I was also able to share about the joys of teaching pre-k. I signed up to research the two sections “Challenges and Limitations” and “Expanding Adoption, Adaptation, and Diffusion”. I gathered information using articles which allowed me to investigate various perspectives that related to technology based institutions. In conclusion, this was an interesting project and I enjoyed working with a group of hardworking people.
Meagan McKinney
I really enjoyed working on this project with my group. Everyone worked so well and diligently. We met at least every other week for almost an hour or so. We talked through each section of the paper in order to support each other in our work. I was in charge of building the wiki, writing the population and philosophy of teaching, and putting together out white paper. I feel very lucky to have worked with such a hardworking and understanding group. We had our fair share of challenges with Wimba sessions not working, and not being completely certain of directions. We found ways around our challenges and rose above them.Heather Wilkie
Schooling in the Age of Emerging TechnologiesSchooling in the age of emerging technologies is an exciting time to be a student and a teacher. With all the new advances and resources available the possibilities are endless. Many counties have adapted a ‘Bring Your Own Technology’ (BYOT) to school philosophy. Students can bring their own technological devices to school, connect to the WIFI, and participate in guided activities and projects. The students of today enjoy using the technology and expect to use it. In order for our students to be successful in today’s job market, background knowledge of computer skills and programs is extremely important. Teaching students to use the technology early on prepares them for college and their future jobs. Using technology in the classroom engages the students. Instead of a traditional paper-pencil test, students can take a test with an interactive response system. This approach would allow for immediate feedback that the teacher could use for data assessment. The teacher could then use that data to reteach as needed. Classrooms that have interactive white boards are highly engaging and the students appear to be more involved in the lesson. Technology in the classroom is an innovation that is here to stay and it is one that is very beneficial to the teachers and to the students.
Project Reflection
I had a wonderful group to work with on this assignment. Everyone completed their assignments on time, provided feedback and guidance where needed, and we met weekly to discuss progress. I feel that everyone completed their part and that made this assignment an easy one to complete. We had a common vision for our school and this also helped. I feel that we did a good job of pacing ourselves also that we did not feel overloaded when it came time turn in assignments. As far as working with a group in an online class setting, I think that working with this group was the smoothest it has ever gone for me.