Technology Tool Assessment

MOODLE

-MOODLE is an interactive educational tool that allows students and teachers to access the course syllabus, assignments, deadlines, and much more—twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. It gives students the opportunity to access an interactive course community at the luxury of their homes. MOODLE is a great tool for educators that will lessen the actual hardcopy of students’ works being turned in. Instead, students can simply submit all their assignments online, which will be available for access anytime of the day.
http://www.moodle.org
RATING: 5 out of 5



FIREFOX

-Firefox is one of the best available web browsers on the Internet. It is secure, customizable, easy-to-use, fast, and user-friendly. Some great aspects of Firefox are its features, which include spell check, session restore, tags, and password manager. Every computer owner should definitely have Firefox as one of his or her browsers.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/upgrade.html
RATING: 5 out of 5




DELICIOUS

-Delicious is a free book marking website that allows users to bookmark websites they love and share them with others. It is a great tool for students, teachers, and every one else who surfs the web. Some great features of delicious include the ability to tag websites with words such as “education, technology, food” or whatever the website relates to. Delicious also has updates about the most recently added bookmarks or the top bookmarks of the day. It is a wonderful tool for organization and research as well.
http://www.delicious.com
RATING: 5 out of 5



GOOGLE SUITES



-Google Suites, which includes Gmail, interactive documents, and Blogger, is an amazing tool that allows interactive communication between friends, students, and teachers. Gmail possesses great features such as video chatting with contacts that are online, and not to mention the huge space of your inbox. Another tool part of Google Suites is Blogger. This free blog is available to anyone and can be used as an online portfolio or a personalized news updater. Google Suites is great for everyone and should definitely be taken advantage of by educators and students.
http://www.gmail.com
http://www.blogger.com
RATING: 5 out of 5



AUTHORSTREAM

-authorSTREAM is a helpful online tool that allows users to upload Power Point presentations and share them with others. It is also great for storing important presentations or embedding them in blogs or other personalized websites. In addition to sharing, there is also the option of keeping some presentations private. Also, you can view other public presentations from other users around the world regarding any topic. One downside to authorSTREAM, however, is the possibility of presentations being modified when uploaded.
http://www.authorstream.com/Dashboard
RATING: 4 out of 5



YOLA

-Yola is a free website builder that is easy-to-use, customizable, and available to everyone. Yola makes it possible for even the novice at website building look like an expert. Some of the great features of Yola include drag and drop inserts and already-made layouts. It is a helpful tool for teachers to make their course available to students online. Although it is not interactive, it is always possible to update your personal website and add new things.
http://www.yola.com
RATING: 4 out of 5



MULTIPLY

-Multiply is an amazing tool that allows users to share anything and everything from blogs to photos to music to even videos. You can customize the way your personal site looks like and you also get your own URL. It is a great social networking tool that is safe and easy to use. One of the best features of Multiply is the ability to add friends and family from your multiple email addresses.
http://www.multiply.com
RATING: 4 out of 5



TOKBOX

-Tokbox is a free online service that allows users to video chat with friends and family. When anybody signs up for a TokBox account they are automatically given a personal URL. This URL acts like their online phone number. You can give anyone your URL and all they would need to do to video chat with you is paste the URL into the address bar. Another great feature of TokBox is the ability for users to embed their ToxBok into any personal website such as Facebook or Myspace. With this feature, users can video chat directly on their Myspace page.
http://www.tokbox.com
RATING: 5 out of 5

Learning and Evaluating with Multimedia

While trying to think of an interesting activity for lesson plan two, I was challenged to include the use of two multimedia tools. At first, I thought it would be easy, but when it came time to write my objectives I found myself revising and changing the lesson. I finally came up with an activity for middle school students in a science class. Although my content area is English, I wanted to do something different, which is why I chose to use science as the lesson. I found the topic of seed germination to be extremely interesting. I thought this would be an exciting topic for students to learn.

I wanted to include multimedia that most students have experience with—the digital camera and computer. In addition to these tools, the students would need to learn how to use Windows Movie Maker to create a slide show. This lesson would “promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness” in the students. The students will have to use their creativity to create a slide show with unique pictures they take on a field trip. I chose to have students use Windows Movie Maker as the software to create their slide shows because it was an easy tool to learn. Students with special needs can also take part in this activity with the assistance of the teacher or other students.

I found it very fun making a website for my lesson plan because I could put my own creativity into the website. I think that the lesson plan website is also a good tool for students to use if they want to see what is expected of them for the lesson. The website includes the whole lesson plan, along with the grading rubric. This Multimedia lesson plan was also challenging because of the Evaluation and Revise part that had to relate to the Objectives. The objectives included the students being able to create a slide show and present this to the class. Therefore, I had to make sure that this was evaluated as well as the effectiveness of the media that was used. I had a challenging and fun time creating this multimedia lesson plan. I hope that one day I can actually use it in one of my classes.



References:

ISTE. (2008). ISTE/NETS Standards for Teachers 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2009, from ISTE International Society for Technology in Education: http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

Koning, Ross Seed Germination. Retrieved April 15, 2009, from Seed Germination Web site: http://plantphys.info/seedg/seed.html

Assistive Technology: Learning Through Differences

Technology is a great tool for many students; however, some students do not have the physical abilities to utilize helpful equipment such as computers. Assistive technology helps these students to achieve independence in performing tasks such as using a computer without the constant monitoring and assistance of another person. Teachers need to be aware of students who might need assistive technology in the classroom. In order to truly “mainstream” a disabled student in a classroom, lesson plans need to be revised to include opportunities for disabled students to be successful participants. Some important features of a revised lesson plan that includes such opportunities are pairing up disabled students with other participants in the classroom to assist in activities and other assignments. In addition, teachers should incorporate the use of assistive technology in the classroom if resources allow. When preparing a lesson plan, the teacher should never have to isolate the disabled student(s) from the rest of the class. Instead, the lesson plan should benefit both the disabled student and other students. Some ways a revised lesson plan can benefit both students is by allowing more time to have assignments completed. I believe many students would appreciate the idea of more time to have assignments completed.

Revised lesson plans or activities vary from regular lesson plans in many ways. First of all, teachers should recognize the benefits of partnering up students for group work instead of individual work. With regular lesson plans it is easier for teachers to plan their lessons to accommodate individual assignments and activities. With revised lesson plans accommodating disabled students, teachers will have more opportunities for students to excel in group or partner work.



Teachers can create many different activities that include the use of assistive technology. One example would be for students to complete a learning activity on the computer in pairs or as individuals. The teacher can accommodate the disabled student by having the appropriate technology available, such as an ergonomic keyboard. In addition to physical assistance, teachers can also use age-appropriate software to accommodate disabled students. If I were to have an exceptional student in my class, I would not isolate him from activities that are meant solely for a specific age. Instead, I would have a variety of age-appropriate software available for all of my students in the class.

Lesson plans that are revised to accommodate disabled students are extremely important because not all students learn the same. Teachers should give each student the same opportunity to learn and excel, even though it means revising lesson plans. Even though a teacher may not have a disabled student in the class, the lesson plan should reflect on the different types of learning—audio, visual, spatial, hands-on, and so forth. I think lesson plans that incorporate disable students reflect on the teacher’s passion to make sure each student has the opportunity to learn in a meaningful way. It is not easy to revise a lesson plan to incorporate disabled students because many things have to be considered. However, a teacher who does so realizes the importance of each opportunity the student has to learn.

ED 451 Internet Safety Group 2

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by Lorraine3488

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by aSGuest14109

Planning through Experience and New Knowledge

Lorraine R. Catienza
Reflection Paper on Lesson Plan 1
February 22, 2009

Planning through Experience and New Knowledge

While conjuring up my ASSURE Lesson Plan I had difficulty trying to find a subject that students would be interested in, yet also and extremely valuable learning experience. I chose to include the NETS*T 1b[1] which is “Teachers engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.” This standard applies to this lesson because students are engaged in identifying feminist movements in literary genre. This is a real-world issue that has effected much of society. In addition to identifying this knowledge, students are to demonstrate this awareness by plotting in the information into a digital spreadsheet. This activity will offer a visual aid to the time trends of female authors and genres in the assigned textbook.
I learned many things while doing this lesson plan. First of all, it is harder to put something down into writing than it is to talk about. Making a physical lesson plan that details all the information needed is extremely difficult. Not only is it time consuming, but it is also hard to meet all of the requirements. In addition, a teacher has to take in the their students’ interests. I want my students to value the lesson I put so much work into. I tried to think about a fun activity that will meet the requirements, however, I realized that much revising has to go into the lesson plan. Although I found it necessary for teachers to have their day planned out, it seems difficult to include spontaneity in the class structure.
During my high school years, I never learned about female’s literary movements. I also never noticed any trends in female authorship in my textbook. However, after looking at my college literature text[2] just at a glance there is an obvious trend in female authorship. I believe it is important for students to learn about these movements and how they affected literature as a whole.
What I really enjoyed about this assignment was the learning experience. I always took for granted the teacher’s lessons. Now I know how much work goes into a day’s worth of lessons—nonetheless a whole semester. I think I learned to appreciate teachers who really put an effort into planning their classes so that time is not wasted. Although a lot of students would rather choose the teacher who only lectures for 10 minutes of the class and gives the rest of the class time “free recess,” I think this is a disrespecting style of teaching. Teachers should teach students as much as they can—no time should be wasted. I enjoyed this assignment because it opened my eyes to the difficulties of “quality” teaching.

[1] http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/ NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm
[2] Kennedy, X.J. “Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing.” Fourth Edition. Pearson, 2006.

ASSURE LESSON PLAN 1

Lorraine Catienza
ASSURE Lesson Plan
ED-451 Audio Video
February 11, 2009

ANALYZE LEARNERS

General Characteristics

Participants in this class are ninth grade high school students who are currently enrolled in freshmen Language Arts. The class is limited to 30 students to ensure personal attention and adequate guidance.

Entry Characteristics

Students should have prior knowledge of significant literature studied in high school as well as basic computer skills.

Learning Styles

This lesson will use methods that appeal to verbal/linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and visual/spatial learning styles using a combination of reading, presentation, writing, individual work, group work, and small and large group discussion.


OBJECTIVES

Following this lesson, students should:
Identify female authors in the 9th grade Language Arts textbook.
Identify the genres the female authors write.
Plot the female authors into groups according to their respective decade.
Identify the trend of female author publication.
Identify the genres trend within the female author community.
Demonstrate awareness of female writing movements in respect to the time trends.


METHODS, MEDIA, AND MATERIALS

Methods
The teacher will explain the basic objectives of the lesson. Students will then be put into groups of four to accomplish the tasks given by the instructor. After students have finished their group work, they will present to the class their findings through different methods they can choose from (i.e. power point presentation, posters, or other types of visual aids)

Media
Students will be using the textbook to find the appropriate information. In addition, an LCD projector and laptop will be provided in case students would like to present their information with the use of the equipment.

Materials
Laptop
Master of Literature Ninth Grade Textbook
LCD Projector
Handouts.
Pens.

UTILIZE MEDIA AND MATERIALS

Preview the Materials

The instructor should be fully aware of how to utilize the laptop and LCD projector, as well as connection and set-up procedures.

Prepare the Materials

Handouts will be given out to the students instructing them on how to use the text and what to look for. In addition, a separate handout sheet will be available for students who wish to use the laptop and LCD projector.

Prepare the Environment

The class should be prepared by putting the desks in groups of four to accommodate the student groups. In addition, the LCD projector should be set-up and ready to be connected to the laptop.

Prepare the Learner

The lesson will begin with instruction from the teacher and introduction to some important female authors that the students may be aware of. Handouts will be distributed in order for the students to follow along with the student.


REQUIRE LEARNER PARTICIPATION

Initial Activities

After introducing the lesson to the students, the instructor will assign students into groups of four to complete the assignment. When assignment is completed by all student groups, the teacher will allow students to create a presentation (i.e. power point, or poster). Each group will present their findings and afterwards the class will participate in a group discussion that will include students’ input on the lesson.

EVALUATE AND REVISE

The lesson will close with a brief summary by the instructor. In addition, students will be informed that a quiz will be given the next class day to assess what they have learned from the activity. Questions of the quiz will include:
Why do you believe female authors were less known in the 1900’s?
Who were some of the significant female authors found in the textbook?
What was the trend of female authors in the textbook?
Do you think that it is important to know about important female authors? Why?
How do you think authors have influenced the world today?

Country

Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.

http://www.uog.edu/

University of Guam

My First Blog

This is the very first time to create my personal blog...It looks like a fun thing to do. Great way to keep in touch with classmates, teachers, friends, and family.

Thanks for sharing Dr. Cyrus.