EDU 311 Study Guide - Final Guide: Web 2.0
20 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Final Study Guide
This class has opened my eyes into the topic of integrating technology into teaching. The
most experience I previously had was in placements or jobs working with kids in schools.
Personally, I am familiar with social media but have only really used it for one class (which was
an Education class where we were learning to use professional twitters). Besides one class,
most of my teachers (now and in my childhood) have frowned upon the use of technology
within classrooms, likely because they fear the unknown. I enjoyed using my twitter
professionally because it gave me the opportunity to network with professionals from different
industries, something that contributes to having a broad vision with knowledge from all
spheres, a necessity as an educator.
The web 2.0 tools that were presented in class illustrated just how many different ways
there are to use tech in a classroom – to assign homework, have students complete practice
activities, or even quiz them in class. I hope to utilize several of them in my future classroom.
I enjoyed our trip to the maker hub because it gave me ideas of who I want to be as a
teacher (and a couple of specific activities I hope to do). One thing I want to do which I
observed was giving the students opportunities to explore and complete a task on their own
with purposefully vague guidelines. It allows the teacher to not only see their creativity and
personality but possibly any issues going on in a student’s life. We learned a lot about the
maker mindset while we were there – a theory of learning though creating and sharing. We also
learned about design thinking – a collection of strategies students can utilize to solve problems
to find solutions that work well. Something I know I will replicate from the maker hub are their
activities for visiting students new to the maker hub. The first time I went I did the
marshmallow challenge and the most recent, the ramp challenge. If possible, I think it would be
interesting (and quite telling) to conduct one of these challenges multiple times in a student’s
career in elementary school (or even beyond) and see how their results change over time. As
we discussed as a class, Kindergartners often do better than everyone else because their
creativity hasn’t been stifled yet. Not only would I share their results with their parents but also
the school and as many educators as I could to hopefully encourage the preserving of creativity.
It was hugely helpful to talk so in depth about the ISTE standards, the standards for the
use of integrating technology into teaching and learning. I had not learned about them in any
other classes even though they are vital to be knowledgeable about as an educator. They are a
framework for not just educators but also students, administrators and coaches to create
innovative learning environments integrating technology. They consist of clear guidelines for
the skills, knowledge, and approaches students and educators need to succeed in the digital
age. As a teacher, I will use them to guide me in my professional development as well as in
lesson and curriculum planning. It was helpful to look specifically at the student standards and
age bands because I got to think specifically about activities for my future students involving
particular standards. It also helped my understanding of what standards are and how they work
to discuss how they work with learning models such as TPACK.
Technology can provide a source of real world situations teachers can use with students
to make their material more relatable/interesting. That being said, it is important to remember
that though technology can allow more critical thinking and collaboration, it is not always
necessary, as it does not always improve learning. The TPACK lesson design framework taught
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
This class has opened my eyes into the topic of integrating technology into teaching. The most experience i previously had was in placements or jobs working with kids in schools. Personally, i am familiar with social media but have only really used it for one class (which was an education class where we were learning to use professional twitters). Besides one class, most of my teachers (now and in my childhood) have frowned upon the use of technology within classrooms, likely because they fear the unknown. I enjoyed using my twitter professionally because it gave me the opportunity to network with professionals from different industries, something that contributes to having a broad vision with knowledge from all spheres, a necessity as an educator. The web 2. 0 tools that were presented in class illustrated just how many different ways there are to use tech in a classroom to assign homework, have students complete practice activities, or even quiz them in class.
