Technology is becoming more and more widely available and used in classrooms at schools. Technology affects both teachers and students in many ways. Technology gives more resources for teachers to use for gathering information; it also gives teachers a wide variety of activities to incorporate in their lesson plans so that they are not always doing the same thing with the students. There are many articles that we read and discussions we had in our forums that addressed the point of technology changing the roles of teachers. Teachers now ask for many things to be submitted online rather than handing in hard copies, and they even give quizzes and tests online (which sometimes can be graded by the computer so the teacher does not have to do it). Technology has also made online classes possible. This has drastically affected teachers; they now have the option of teaching classes partially or fully online, which means they are not giving lectures to students. They are not having much communication with students other than through online discussions, assignments, or emails. The question remains, will teachers at some point in the future lose their jobs due to all the things technology can do? Let's hope that will not happen, but I do think it could be a possibility. Technology has also effected students. Students (at all ages) now have the opportunity to take classes online rather than going to school. This is nice for college students because it makes work schedules much easier to organize. However, in my opinion, at younger ages (such as elementary) children really need that social interaction with other classmates and the teacher, but they will not receive this as much if they are taking online classes. Technology also affects students when they are sitting in class or doing homework at home. Students tend to enjoy the use of technology in the classroom because they like the educational games, movies, and presentations; it is a nice break from lectures and discussions. They have the opportunity to look up resources or even ask questions online when they are struggling with homework; they also can use technology to help them study (graphic organizers) or to help them make presentations (Power Point). When using the World Wide Web students will be tempted to copy and paste things from sources that they find. Students need to understand that they cannot copy things directly from the internet; they need to know that plagiarism is a very serious thing that they could get in a lot of trouble for doing. I will teach them what it means to plagiarize (taking someone's work or ideas and passing them off as your own), and I will teach them how to avoid it (by giving credit to people when using their ideas or work). Teachers need to be very familiar with the copyright law so that they know what they can and cannot do legally. I think the most important thing for teachers to know is that we are somewhat protected under Fair Use. This means that teachers can use some materials in the classroom as long as it is for educational purposes and depending on how much of it you are using. Also, teachers are allowed to make copies of materials as long as they meet the criteria for word count, getting permission would be unreasonable for the teacher, and the copying is only for one class. Another important thing for teachers to know about copyright laws is that if something is installed on a central server at a school so that teachers or students can access it from their classrooms it is not a violation of copyright laws. As long as one copy is not being used simultaneously, it is okay to distribute the software through the server. A fourth thing that teachers need to know and understand about copyright is that materials that are legitimately acquired can be used in the classroom, but it cannot be redistributed in any way (posting it or handing it out other than in the classroom for educational purposes). Last, teachers should know that they cannot show any films or movies in the classroom unless it is for educational purposes. So, if a teacher is using her classroom to watch children during a PTA meeting it is not legal to show a Disney movie to keep them entertained.
One great website for students to use for research purposes is http://www.kidtopia.info/. I chose this website because students have the option to search things or they can choose a subject and a topic under that subject. The website then gives students different links for information, pictures, coloring pages, and videos. I think this is very kid-friendly for both appearance and usage. It also has some very helpful information for the students. Another website I like for students to use is http://www.mightybook.com/. This is a website that has stories, songs, games, puzzles, and poems that help teach students how to read and reading comprehension. When you choose a story there is music playing in the background, pictures for the students to look at, and words so that the students can read along. The words are read aloud on the computer and each word is highlighted when it is being read. Students could turn off the sound so that they can read for themselves. I think this would be a great website for students who are learning to read and for ESL students. I also think it is great because many students would probably enjoy this much more than just reading books on their own. This is much more interactive and entertaining. A website that I could use as a teacher to help me stay current in the field would be http://www.tryscience.org/parents/ss_6.html. This website offers articles of research and news about mathematics, books, conferences, and lessons and resources. There are so many helpful things on this website. I like that it is designed specifically for teachers and how many different resources are available for teachers. An organization that I could join is MRA; this organization is for Michigan Reading Association. One of my content areas is Language Arts, so I think it would be really good to join a reading organization. By joining this organization I would receive issues of their news and views as well as issues of the Michigan Reading Journal. It would give me opportunities for leadership, which would be great on a resume. This organization also hold many conferences that would be helpful for staying current in the field. One website that offers educational games for students is Learn to be Healthy. This website has many different educational games for all topics in Health and for all grades. I really like it because there are so many different options and the games are very educational and kid-friendly.
This purpose of this assignment is for us to see all the resources that are available to us as teachers and to our students. It also helps us determine what our view of technology is and how often we will use it in the classroom. This assignment allowed us the opportunity to gather some great resources and ideas for the future. I completed this assignment by looking back at articles we read and by doing some research online to find the websites.
Resources:
Bhaskar, S. (2013, July 29). How technology helps teachers to manage their classrooms. Ed Tech Review. Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/472-technology-helps-teachers-manage-classrooms.
Sinha, R, (2013, May 15). Integrating mobile technology into the classroom. Ed Tech Review. Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/330-mobile-technology-in-classroom.
Techlearning.com (2002). The educator's guide to copyright and fair use (cont'd). Retrieved from: https://moodle.oakland.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=1757465.
Last updated: November 25, 2014
One great website for students to use for research purposes is http://www.kidtopia.info/. I chose this website because students have the option to search things or they can choose a subject and a topic under that subject. The website then gives students different links for information, pictures, coloring pages, and videos. I think this is very kid-friendly for both appearance and usage. It also has some very helpful information for the students. Another website I like for students to use is http://www.mightybook.com/. This is a website that has stories, songs, games, puzzles, and poems that help teach students how to read and reading comprehension. When you choose a story there is music playing in the background, pictures for the students to look at, and words so that the students can read along. The words are read aloud on the computer and each word is highlighted when it is being read. Students could turn off the sound so that they can read for themselves. I think this would be a great website for students who are learning to read and for ESL students. I also think it is great because many students would probably enjoy this much more than just reading books on their own. This is much more interactive and entertaining. A website that I could use as a teacher to help me stay current in the field would be http://www.tryscience.org/parents/ss_6.html. This website offers articles of research and news about mathematics, books, conferences, and lessons and resources. There are so many helpful things on this website. I like that it is designed specifically for teachers and how many different resources are available for teachers. An organization that I could join is MRA; this organization is for Michigan Reading Association. One of my content areas is Language Arts, so I think it would be really good to join a reading organization. By joining this organization I would receive issues of their news and views as well as issues of the Michigan Reading Journal. It would give me opportunities for leadership, which would be great on a resume. This organization also hold many conferences that would be helpful for staying current in the field. One website that offers educational games for students is Learn to be Healthy. This website has many different educational games for all topics in Health and for all grades. I really like it because there are so many different options and the games are very educational and kid-friendly.
This purpose of this assignment is for us to see all the resources that are available to us as teachers and to our students. It also helps us determine what our view of technology is and how often we will use it in the classroom. This assignment allowed us the opportunity to gather some great resources and ideas for the future. I completed this assignment by looking back at articles we read and by doing some research online to find the websites.
Resources:
Bhaskar, S. (2013, July 29). How technology helps teachers to manage their classrooms. Ed Tech Review. Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/472-technology-helps-teachers-manage-classrooms.
Sinha, R, (2013, May 15). Integrating mobile technology into the classroom. Ed Tech Review. Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/330-mobile-technology-in-classroom.
Techlearning.com (2002). The educator's guide to copyright and fair use (cont'd). Retrieved from: https://moodle.oakland.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=1757465.
Last updated: November 25, 2014