My Reflection on Information Literacy and It's Use

This has been an interesting class. Revelations have occurred, but more frequently than not it was confirmations of what I had believed in for quite some time. As a technology teacher for nine years, I have seen quite a few changes in not only the material that is taught, but also the use or lack their of which homeroom teachers have been willing to invest into linking technology into their primary lesson plans. My greatest revelation occurred when I found that many people say the same thing, and even are correct in their data, but some sources can get lost in the mixing in of commercial banners, pop-ups, how busy a web site is, and even the structure of a site can make a huge difference in whether information can be found. In general, it is best to straight to the source when doing research.
As I move forward heading back into the classroom, it will be interesting to see exactly how I can put my past experiences outside the classroom to work. My teaching practices were somewhat different given the resource role I held in the past years. Now, my knowledge of literacy skills and practice will be put to the test as I will be doing my own projects with my own students. Being my own direct instructor will truly allow me to test all that I have learned in this and all my previous classes. Rumor has it that I will be teaching math and science. If so, then we will be doing a large amount of research based projects. While I believe the students need to learn their basic facts, they also need to know how to use and interpret them.
Unit lesson plans are the way to go. I cannot wait to learn more on developing large unit lesson plans and am preparing to begin development of more of them. In that vein, I will be attending some professional development workshops, possibly over the summer, to provide more ideas about what students would enjoy and learn from at the same time. My goal is to share ideas and gather in experiences from other teachers to assist in finding the topics that students enjoy. Admittedly, not all topics are enjoyable, but we can work towards making them less painful. Students are generally eager to learn. They simply need the guidance and attention to get their minds working in a way that perhaps they did not consider.

Voice Thread of Web Site Tour

Here is the link to my voice thread from our assignment concerning an audio web tour.

http://voicethread.com/share/1180745/

Enjoy!

Steve

Proposed New Topic

I plan to review the breakdown and momentum of spending on technology in the classroom throughout the City of Chicago and national comparisons for increase or decrease in per pupil costs with a breakdown of labor, equipment and administration.

1) Are we spending more per pupil on technology throughout Chicago?
2) How do we compare with other districts throughout the country?
3) What is the breakdown of technology costs during a school year?

Research Questions

Hello,

I am dong both, as I am on a Track E (year round school). I have 2 weeks off here in late March and Early April. I will be going to my parent's home for a few days and then spending the Easter season with my fiance here at home. It will be quite a bit of fun in both situations. I am getting a flight, train ride and fun time out of all this.

Planned Research Topic

I plan to explore the feasibility of moving standardized and classroom testing into the 21st Century. Testing in its current form does not sync with how our children think today. As a result, testing will be more accurate with the implementation of an online testing system. Based on skill level, this research will be targeted at third to twelfth grade.

Research Questions:

1) Does the technology exist for students to be tested using computers rather in paper form?

2) Is there funding to support such a change in standard operating procedures from paper to computer testing?

3) Is there a measurable advantage to testing students in electronic form?

4) Are there methods to grade electronic format tests for extended response answers?

5) Who should make this decision, federal, state, district or school governance?

Any more ideas? I am also posting this on my blog at: http://stukb.blogspot.com/

My Research Topic

I plan to explore the feasibility of moving standardized and classroom testing into the 21st Century. Testing in its current form does not sync with how our children think today. As a result, testing will be more accurate with the implementation of an online testing system. Based on skill level, this research will be targeted at third to twelfth grade.

Reflection of Learning Styles and Theory

Throughout this course, I have learned about many different ways to teach and been shown devices to use when introducing students to ways of learning. I have learned that teaching can be done in many ways and each has its own place in a teaching practice.

There are the different ways of teaching subject material from Direct to Indirect Instruction. Another comparison would be Instructional and Learning Theories of teaching. With the direct or instructional theory, students are to follow along with the information presented by the teacher. While this form has its place, it is not the best way for students to learn. Students learn when learning theory takes hold in any classroom. Students learn through hands-on projects and problem-solving techniques.

With the introduction of the Voice Thread, a whole new door of how to employ Learning theory has availed itself. Students have always made PowerPoint presentations for me,. but now they have an extra step that will allow them to take what they have just made and share it with the classmates in a whole new way.

As I said, changes have already started to take place in my classroom. I have the students reply much more on their own direction. One concern is how to set it up so that students do not have to worry about age limits on blogs and such. It can limit whether or not a student can actually do my assignment. Are there any age appropriate ones out there. The only one I have come across is Gaggle.net, but unless they have added blogging, it was only email.

A couple long-term goals that I can look into include, but are not limited to more indirect instruction and incorporating a wider variety of technology tools to create media. My goals are all to expand my students abilities. As I am an exploratory teacher, my students are ones that select my class. In that vein, I want them to leave my school with a wide variety of tools to help them be more successful as they left for high school.

In an effort to achieve these goals, I am using these programs upon first sight with my class. They are loving it. My co-teacher Ms. Parker said she has been to high schools where students show up there with no experience or exposure to technology. In today's society, that is such a shame.

I look forward to your comments and will answer or explain any questions.

Have a GREAT next class.
More later.

Voice Thread

http://voicethread.com/share/889739/

This is my Voice Thread link. What do you think? I was going to make more, but it ran out of space.