My EME2040 Reflections

I believe that Web 2.0 technologies can be very useful in the classroom. A lot of my teachers in K-12 used blog-like activities in our classrooms. They used these to track our progress from the beginning of the year until end and keep us engaged weekly. Teachers also commonly used youtube, Vimeo, and other video websites to virtually support what they are teaching in their classrooms. While being in this class I have learned a lot about Web 2.0 technologies I can use in my classroom when I become a teacher. For example, Twitter is a really good way to start class discussions and let students share their thoughts on a daily basis. All of these Web 2.0 technologies are so beneficial in the classroom that it would be wasteful if they weren't used. https://www.skype.com/en/ Skype is a Web 2.0 tool I can use in my classroom. Skype is a good way to interact directly with people all around the country. I remember when I was in elementary school, my teachers would set up Skype phone ca...

The experiences I have had with Twitter thus far for this class have been interesting. I have never used twitter before this class so I am just getting used to how it works. It was very easy to get the hang of and I enjoy seeing the things my peers are tweeting. I have mostly been interacting with people who tweet about the assignments they are doing because I am usually doing the same one. It is interesting to see the reasons my classmates think the assignments are beneficial. Another thing I like about using the class twitter is for reading articles people are sharing. A lot of them are really interesting and give me a better understanding of this class. Twitter in general is a really good way to get your message out there. Many famous and important people use twitter daily as a source of communication. For example, our president Donald Trump tweets almost daily to keep his people updated on his thoughts, whether we like what he is saying or don't. I think twitter could be benefi...

The ISTE standard I feel most comfortable with teaching is the SL.5 standard, “Use Digital Media.” I feel so comfortable with this standard because it is the basics. It is teaching kids to do simple technological things like add images and media, creating audio recordings, add sounds, etc. However, the overall purpose of this standard is to strategically use this media so the standard also gets more in depth with things like using media in presentations to help emphasize the point you are trying to display. I feel very comfortable with teaching this because I am very comfortable doing it myself. On standard I don’t feel confident teaching is L.5 “Vocabulary: Use Context Clues.” To be honest, I am not familiar with most of the tasks that fall in this standard, such as tracing the etymology of words and adding reference materials, so I am excited to learn and figure it out. I think it is very important for me to understand this concept first, before I can teach it to students. In m...

In my classrooms in the past I have used Microsoft Word in a very traditional way. I used it as a source to write papers. I would use the tools like spell check, word counter, and the different formatting options Word offers to assist me while writing the papers. I also would use Word to make flyers and such for school events and projects. I am comfortable using Word, however, in high school my teachers had us stray away from Microsoft Word and transition to Google docs. I think they encouraged us to use this because it was easier for collaboration purposes because multiple people can be on the doc at once. When the teachers did use Microsoft they would use it to for purposes such as creating their worksheets and writing their notes for our class. I am sure they used the same tools we did, like spell check, formatting, etc. Their uses of Word was used mostly for preparation for their classes and creating lessons to give students to help us learn. My experience with copyright knowledg...

Both teachers and students are influenced to use technology in the classroom for different reasons. We live in a world today where it is very hard to be successful without having a basic understanding of modern technologies. Most professions require some level of technological work and some even fully rely on technology. So, teachers today are influenced to use technology in their classrooms to provide their students with the knowledge they will need to be successful in the future. Another reason teachers frequently chose to use technology in their respective classrooms is because they can. The US Department of Education (DOE) has awarded billions of dollars to states for education technology. So, because so many teachers have access to technology because of government funding, why wouldn't they use the equipment provided to make it easier to teach? Teachers also use technology for administrative, presentation, lesson preparation, communications, and teaching purposes. The administ...

My prior experience of technology in the classroom is very strong due to the fact that at my school, Glastonbury High School in Connecticut gives every student received a free iPad. In my classes, my teachers incorporated apps like google classroom, google docs, google slides, google sheets and google drive on a daily basis. Therefore, I have a very good understanding of how those technological tools work. Other apps that were incorporated into my teachers lesson plans were apps like kahoot, turnitin.com, edmodo, evernote, and educreations. These apps were used to do things such as review information, check for plagiarism, allow for online discussion, and voice over power point presentations. These apps among others were used frequently in my classes throughout high school. On top of the iPad I understand the basic function of cell phones, computers, and other tablets. In this class I hope to learn how to be on the other side of technology. I am used to being the student and doing al...