Final thoughts about technology use in a classroom

Technology is important to incorporate into a classroom and I mean more than just using Power-point.  Technology can allow teachers to accomplish simple tasks more easily.  More importantly, it opens up new ways for students to learn material.  It also gives students a way to express themselves and with direction from a teacher it can be done in a classroom.  Technology is definitely a bonus to use in the classroom.  The only setbacks of using technology in your classroom are the fact that technology can malfunction and not always work properly so you should always have a backup plan.  The other thing that I have to keep in mind is that every school will not have the same technology available to me and that money will forever be an issue so I will always need to be able to flexible in the classroom.  The most significant lesson I have learned in this class was to not be afraid of change because it does not have to be a bad thing.  The most useful program that I learned how to use would actually be Word because I never realized the extent of what it could do when used properly.  The other programs I learned how to use in this class will most likely come in handy for future use but will definitely be less common in my life.  I just hope that I do not forget how to use them between now and when I need them again. 

Copyright for teachers

     Copyright for teachers is a fine line.  Powerpoints created using informaiton taken from other places should only be allowed to be used in a class once but most are used for multiple periods and years.  Everything that a teacher uses should be sourced for their own protection.  I have seen teachers break the law by showing certain videos without a permit and by not siting their sources for powerpoints.  It is common for people to technically break copyright but normally on very small scales and for personal use.  You-tube is a good example of copyright laws being broken but they try to keep videos off that are not lawful. 
     It is a teacher's job to teach copyright.  It could and should be taught with plajorism becasuse copyright is just a larger form of plajorism.  Everyone diserves to have the credit for their own work.  And I know that I will teach it in my classroom even though the lines of copyright are hard to define.

Bad Digital Portfolio

http://www.slideshare.net/dmtaylorslcc/digital-portfolio-example

This says that it is an example of a digital portfolio but i have no idea how it really is.  The slides were poorly put together on top of it.  Many of the words were unreadable.  It also said that the last time the portfolio was updated had been two years ago and it is supposed to be a living document and by the looks of it it died.  This was an absolutely terrible example of a digital portfolio because I could not even tell its true purpose except for the fact that it was an example of work but for what we may never know.

Good Digital Portfolio

http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/digital.html

I think that this was a good digital portfolio because he stated what his purpose was for making the portfolio on the opening page and explained to the user how to use it correctly.  He also mentioned where the original photographs came from and then explained under them what he had done to change each one.  Finally he said where the photographs had been displayed so that we could get a purpose for why the piece was created and it gave him credentials.

Class Video

The video that we made for class went decently because we planned everything beforehand.  The hardest part was finding a dorm room to shoot in since none of us lived in a dorm.  We could of planned the order of a few shots better so that editing would have been easier.  I will take the skills of actually working with editing a video which is something I had never done before.  It will help me plan a different type of project in my future.

Interactive Whiteboards

     I feel that interactive whiteboards enhance teaching and learning by making certain aspects of presenting easier.  Interactive whiteboars allow teachers different ways to gain their student's attentions.  These whiteboards in classrooms also allow students to become more interactive with learning material in the classroom.  My favorite aspect of the SMART board is the way it allows teachers to create interactive assessments that can be seen as fun.
    The technology itsself was a little difficult for me to use.  I found it difficult to use because it was the first time I had used it.  I think that the tools from the SMART software are the most useful to use with powerpoint or on websites.  I believe that interactive whiteboards can be used to make very successful lessons but it is an extremely time consuming project which can not possibly be done for everyday.
     It is definitely a positive tool to use in your classroom, especially to have interactive lessons with students.  The most significant downfall to interactive whiteboards is the same as all technology.  The more complicated technology is the more things can go wrong.  Technology will not always be working properly so a back up plan will always be necessary just incase things would not be working.
     I would use the interactive whiteboards in my lessons to show basic information and link to videos to enhance the information i showed.  The way I would use them the most would be to assess how well my students were learning.  I find that this is a very important thing to be able to do because students should not have to be graded on everything so that the teacher can prove they have learned.

Software Skills

     We learned in my instructional technology a few different softwares such as inspiration, word, publisher, and SMART tools.  I was familiar with word when we had begun looking at it.  I was still able to learn some new tools that were available for me in class.  I found the templates in both Inspiration and Publisher the most helpful because they look professional and it is easy to plug in your own iformation.  I think that it was beneficial to learn how to use them because it could make our lives as teachers in the future more simple.
     It was nice to use the projects as a review of the softwares.  I know that I am going to remember how to use them better because I had to figure some tools out on my own after forgetting how to do them from class.  Doing is definitely the best and most memorable way of learning.  I enjoyed making my newsletter in word the most because I used tools that I had not previously and because my final product looked amazing.
     The software that is the most important for upcoming teachers to become familiar with is the SMART software.  Many schools already have or are getting SMART boards in their classrooms.  I am glad that I am being shown how to use it now, even ownly basically, because I know if I was not taught it now that I would not bother learning how to use it in the future.  One downside of the SMART software is that it takes a very long time to make a lesson on it.  It is much easier to use it like a whiteboard and project a powerpoint onto it than trying to make an interactive lesson on it.  I hope that I am able to learn how to do projects more efficiently using this new software but only time will tell.  I can not wait to try and teach my lesson this Friday!!! :)