Diigo 2: Teacher Tools

Teacher activity tools are for much more than just the act of teaching. There are tools that can be used to track student attendance, computing/organizing student grades, and compiling/designing lesson plans before you begin teaching.

#6 Professional Technology

The school website that I decided to visit was Lincoln high school—this is the school that I attended here in town.  From the Lincoln website I linked to the website of an English teacher at the school.

The website was called Ms. Harrer’s Reading nook.  The website seems to operate for the students similarly to the way that blackboard operates for Florida State students.  Available on the website was a document for library that contains what looks to be assignments and worksheets for this instructor’s course. 

Also on the website was an embedded reminder application that allows anyone who visits the site to submit their cell phone number to receive reminders about assignments in this class. There were also several vocabulary applications available to use on the site. Additionally, there were paragraphs on class policies similar to what one would fine in a Florida state course syllabus.

 The site can be accessed through this link: http://haarerreading.weebly.com

            Some of the technologies that I picture myself using my professional career that were mentioned in the podcast are spreadsheets(Excel), Google calendar, and a personal website.   As a student at the University I have found many opportunities to use Excel spreadsheet and Google calendar particularly.  I do not have a website but as a professional it would be incredibly useful for people to be able to receive information from me via website.

 The technology that I think has been the most important for me so far is word processing.  I cannot imagine any sort of professional career that will not involve some form of word processing.  The most significant tools available with word processing for me are grammar and spellchecking, document preparation, and tables.

 Another important Technology that I can see myself using in my professional career is database management.  Seeing as I will not, likely, be teaching the databases that I compile will not be much like the ones that we have compiled in this class but in my professional career (School Psychology) I will need access to websites that provide updated information and research as well as modern practices and techniques used in my job field. This is where I will need the sorting, queries, and archiving tools.

             One of the most interesting devices that I was able to use in the technology sandbox last week was the virtual reality glasses. One of the uses of these glasses could be in cognitive behavioral therapy (exposure therapy) for specific phobias—like fear of heights as suggested but I want to be operators.  In the classroom, I think that the most useful tool would be one of the interactive boards.  I think that the SmartBoard could be the most useful because it will allow students to write independently of the teacher—so that student working be tracked.

 This will allow for much more interactive student activities where Stevens will be able to come up to the board and do more than just write—they will be able to do whatever can be done on the Internet which may be to participate in online educational games at the entire class will be able to play together or possibly annotates an excerpt from a book or text online so that everyone in the class will be able to see.

ILP “Design” – Powerpoint-Google Drive

For my independent learning project, I decided to go with the Design category. I took French in high school and found that one of the more surprisingly difficult things to learn was the numbers 60-99. Reading/translating French numbers is more difficult because they have more irregularity than English. I decided to create a flash card PowerPoint game using hyperlinks. For the game the player will just click on the answer bubble that has the correct number in (##) form based on the written number given. I have based this game on the WL.K12.NM.2 CPalms standard about reading in foreign language (French).  

The game can be accessed at the following link—just click “Present” in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kukD1rzHQv0l5yY2tJOEhGeUSpW8KIycLRk2REjUcPE/edit?usp=sharin

#5.5 Emerging Technology

With the fast pace of the evolution of technology and the production of new technologies, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up and use helpful and appropriate tools in the classroom. This issue can be helped by using tools like Diigo to further your knowledge about tools that others in your network are using.

#5 Individual learners

I think that, comparatively, web 2.0 tools are going to be significantly more useful in the classroom then web 1.0 tools. Even the Web 2.0 tools that are for the most part passive for the student—YouTube and teacher created blogs for students to follow as mentioned in the podcast—are much more compelling. These tools are useful for finding a more creative way to present information to your class.

Some of the more interactive tools that applied to the definition of web 2.0 are going to be student blogs, Twitter, and Diigo (as mentioned in the podcast).  These tools Will be helpful for students by providing a more interesting means by which to submit work and share knowledge with their classmates.  These tools are also helpful for teacher professional development because—particularly Diigo—they can allow professionals to interact and collaborate with each other in an online setting that is directly related to creative development in their field.

             Another interesting web 2.0 tool can be found at a website called sumdog.com. This website is an educational Game source for students and teachers. Teachers can set standards and give assignments for students to complete by playing the games.  Teachers will receive progress reports for each of their students and will be informed of skills that students struggle with. Teachers will be able to select the games themselves.

 This could be a powerful tool for teachers and students as it could stimulate interest and motivation in students.  The website does require a subscription and payment depending on needs of the school or the teacher.  It allows for an interactive learning environment between teachers and students.  It can be found at this link: https://www.sumdog.com

             A technology advancement mentioned in chapter 12 that seemed the most revolutionary and effective for improving student success in education is called Lerner Analytics.  This is the gathering of data of individual students that can be used to determine what students have learned, how they learned it, and the most effective teaching strategies not just for an entire class but for each individual student.  Learner analytics will use technology to better understand how students learn and what is necessary and best for student success.

 This technology advancement seems to hold the most promise for education because of its individualistic approach to student education and its emphasis on observation to determine what works in a way that resembles the scientific method. Because all students learn differently, creating an environment that fosters individual differences will be the most successful for all students.