EDLD+5364

=Teaching With Technology= =__Week 1 Reflections__= __Group Google Doc__ __Teach Tech Project__

During the first week of class, I have seen both the ups and downs of using technology to both learn and teach. Thankfully, Google and its user-friendly applications (ie. Google Site, Google Docs, Google Groups) has made the creation of an online communication portal simple to setup, manage and maintain. There have been some minor issues with sharing permissions on the Google site, but the group members have still been able to sustain effective communication.

As a technology learner, I have ...
 * Collaborated online with 3 group members via email and Google Docs
 * Created a group document using Google Docs
 * Created a collaboration group using Google Groups
 * Analyzed and solved problem situations
 * Uploaded images

The virtual world has no walls. Students will need technological instruction in 21st Century skills to navigate their future.

=**__Week 2 Reflections__** =

The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) was a very interesting resource. The school culture has changed significantly since I first started teaching and I have a much more diverse group of learners than I have ever had in the past. As I brainstorm ideas for the group project, I am recognizing the importance of addressing the various needs of my own students. I plan to incorporate recognition, strategic, and affective tasks in to my lessons. I would like to focus on providing my students multiple representations of concepts, multiple means of expression those concepts, and especially multiple ways of engaging my students through the use of technology. In previous years, I have used class blogs to communicate both my learning goals and students reflections on what they have learned. I now see that I also need to put more emphasis on my students participating in developing their own learning goals and objectives so they can master skill to help make them successful.

=__Week 3 Reflections__=

I have always used information fromt he internet but I have mainly focused on print materials. Today's learners have changed and they acquire their information in many formats. Using the media and technology provided by the internet and compiling that information into a classroom resource is invaluable to the success of student sin the classroom. after researching the information provided by CAST, I am excited to find multi media tools that will help individualize instruction, as well as, challenge my students. Throughout the week, I have communicated this information with my colleagues and I'm beginning to see the importance of providing multiple technological examples of the content that I am teaching in order for my students to comprehend better. I truly believe it is my job as an educator to continue to find ways to reach the abilities of all the diverse learners in which I teach.

__**UDL Lesson and Reflection**__
UDL Lesson for Gifted Students over Converting Fractions to Decimals

Students were given the option of utilizing online texts, a teacher created ebook, and printed and electronic concept maps in order to support the recognition networks. A digital media collection was started and can be expanded by the teacher as well as students to reinforce strategic networks. Students were given the option to work collaboratively and independently to use online animated programs to explain their learning. This supports both the strategic and affective networks.

Fraction to Decimal ebook created by Christina Davis

**__Week 4 Reflections__**
I was extremely inspired by Vicki Davis's work in Georgia. This is how I want to be able to teach my students through the use of technology and letting them experience and learn about what the world has to offer. (edutopia.org) It was refreshing to see someone teach without concern for state assessments. It was learning fort he sake of learning and that's the way education should be. If all students could see what awaits them on the other side of a computer, they too would be intrinsically motivated to explore, experiment, create and imagine. This type of learning not only benefits the students but as Ms. Davis mentioned the students were teaching her and she benefits as well.

Edutopia.org. (nd). //Harness Your Student's Digital Smarts//. Retrieved on March 14, 2011 from @http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis-video

__Week 5 Reflections__
As I look back over the weeks of this course, I value the experience and knowledge I have gained in using technology to teach. The project has helped me to create resources for my students and see the importance of utilizing UDL lessons in my classroom so that I reach a more diverse group of learners. I have been able to see the effect of my efforts, as well as the efforts of my group members, through our Google site, Teach Tech Project. I have started my own personal media resources wiki page to house anything and everything I find technologically valuable and useful to me. This course has reminded me of why I am seeking a degree in educational technology. I love learning through the use of technology. The accessibility to information is quick, abundant, and enticing. Teaching are students the ways to create, analyze, interpret, evaluate, use, and share the information they acquire through this medium should be the focus of education.

Discussion Board posting
“Technology makes it easier for students and teachers to track the effects of effort and facilitates more immediate feedback.” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). Effort. How do you measure effort? Effort and the effects it has on student success are measurable. According to a study in the American Educational Research Journal, "students who received high praise and completed the high effort assignments formed significantly more positive attitudes."(McMillan, 1977). The importance of feedback is never lost on a good educator and a tool that can provide immediate access to that feedback is invaluable in and of itself. As a user of technology both as a student and teacher, I have collected quality data through online surveys and displayed student data graphically using multiple applications. Technology makes this process quicker, easier, and thus more valuable.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

McMillan, JH. (1977). The effect of effort and feedback on the formation of student attitudes.American Educational Research Journal, 14(3), Retrieved from http://aer.sagepub.com/content/14/3/317.abstract doi: 10.3102/000283120.