Spotlight on Emerging Technology

Screen cast of Moodle

Using something like Moodle in our school would be a great benefit to not only us but to our students as well.  It will allow us to supplement our classes in a variety of ways, from building up classroom discussions to taking different assessments.  The reality is that our students are from a new digital age and they are more comfortable with technology then most of us ever will be.  There are so many different resources available to us through technology that it is up to us to stay ahead of the curve and do what is best for our learners.  One of the best things about Moodle is that it is free to use for us and our students and it accommodates any subject.  There are a lot of resources available for us to use and modify to our particular class.  We can have students use this site to work collaboratively on projects or homework that sometimes would be difficult for them to do so.  We can have old lessons posted on here so that students or parents or even administrators can go look up on. This is good for students who may have been sick and do not want to be behind, or for parents and administrators to see what is being taught in class.  Older lessons would also be there for review purposes later, like when we give our mandated semester exams students can easily go back to a certain lesson to refresh their memories.  This is what learning is coming to and this site makes it easy for us to be ready for how things are going to be.  When we look at how much technology has changed it is up to us to be prepared for using it to help us and our students and not be afraid to have classes online or at least supplemental learning available to us.  

Reaching and Engaging all Learners Through Technology 6714

When this course began I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with the idea of Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learners.  The idea of DI and UDL isn’t anything new for me but its something that I just tried to avoid and concentrating only on my plans to try to get the most out of my learners without really taking steps that really aren’t that difficult to do to ensure that all learners are going to do well in my classes. 

            The biggest misconception that I had about DI and UDL is that I assumed that I was to make an individual lesson plan for each student.  This course opened my eyes to the fact that DI and UDL are methods or steps that I can take to ensure that almost all students are comfortable with the material that is being taught.  The belief that I have always had was and still is that everyone has the ability to learn but just not in the same way.  In my classroom I have a poster hanging that reads: “Everyone learns, but not everyone learns in the same way.”  DI and UDL make it easier for all of my students to learn and understand the material that I am teaching them. 

            The first adjustment that I am going to make I am going to make in my instructional practices is to use the different resources that I have found and my classmates found to help in my planning.  There are a plethora of resources available with regards to technology, but using these resources properly is the most important thing.  I have heard that the most dangerous weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his/her rifle.  That is to say anyone can have a rifle, but only the person who has proper training and thoroughly understands what they have and don’t have is more dangerous than someone who uses something without really understanding it.  The technological resources that I have available to use may be difficult to use at first, but with practice and proper implementation these resources can be used effectively in the classroom. 

            I am looking forward to trying to use the interactive concept map that www.glogster.com allows me to create.  I am excited to create different Voicethreads that will allow me to narrate and illustrate different assignments for all of my students.  I am anxious to try to implement WebQuests that give students different tasks in their groups so that they can do their part in a manner that they are most comfortable with.  The ability to allow students to chose the path that suits their needs the best is a great thing because it allows students to learn in an environment and in a method that they are the most comfortable with.  When the students chose the method that they are the most comfortable with they are more likely to learn and express themselves more confidently.  

Over the past several weeks I have been working on the GAME plan that I developed for this course. I do believe that it has helped me a great deal to make a plan and follow through especially when it comes to incorporating technology into my general lessons. I have found that the biggest problem I have is actually sitting down and putting together a plan and then following it through, I have a general idea of what I want to do and then go and do it. Having a plan that has me think out what I need to do before I go and do it works much better than having a general idea and working from there. Lesson plans are one thing for me to follow; they are intentionally left with a lot of wiggle room so that I can adapt the plan based on the atmosphere of my students on any given day. Trying to have technology into certain lessons does not work if I do not have a solid plan because it allows my students too much wiggle room in the computer lab and if they do not have a plan to follow then they will stray away from their task very quickly.




The best thing that I learned from my GAME plan is the website, www.questgarden.com, which allows me to create WebQuest’s for my students in a much more efficient manner than before. There are a lot of different WebQuest sites out there that have ready to use activities on any given subject, but when you create your own WebQuest for you students to complete you know what works best for them. Creating the WebQuest allows you to add in things and take out things that can be customized for the class. Making the plan following through and letting my students express themselves in a manner that they are more comfortable in is something that I can implement right away. I have made a WebQuest for them to complete in the next couple of weeks that will take place of their traditional final exam. I know that they are relieved to be able to complete a digital project instead of the traditional pencil to paper exam.



The abundance of technology that is available for me to use is amazing, but when it isn’t executed properly then it can be counter productive. The GAME plan allows me to focus on how to properly implement this technology with my students so that they can use it in my Spanish class. The first thing that I am going to have them do is to have a digital journal, where they have the option to blog, use a wiki or a voice thread to talk about their normal journal entry on Friday. I think that the switch from writing in a composition notebook to a digital format will excite the students about their journal entries again.

GAME Plan for Students

Thinking about ISTE NETS-T and NETS-S and how we have looked at the GAME plan over these past seven weeks there are a lot of things that I would like to use with my students.  I think that that biggest thing for me to make sure that my students understand is digital citizenship.  This simple phrase can mean so many things but I think that when it is broken down into a few simple meanings.  The first and foremost is giving credit to intellectual property with resources that they have found on the web.  A block or two in any direction from my school leads to a place that sells bootleg movies and music and the students are used to getting things that they want for much less than what the person who created them is entitled to.  The owner of the property does not benefit from the sales of pirated music or movies.  My students are also well versed in working around firewalls and streaming shows and movies that they should not be able to do. It is no different than stealing, but because they are used to it and its on the internet they do not see it as stealing.  I would like to implement a plan to show my students the importance of giving credit to the owners of intellectual property so that when they use images or quotes that they have found on the internet they give credit to the person who they are citing.  The other thing that I think is part of digital citizenship is cyber bullying.  I saw that there is a seminar being offered by Walden that centers around bullying and one of the topics is cyber bullying.  I think its funny how some people like the idea of having some sort of secretiveness of their posts and comments on the blogs or social networking sites but the fact is they still have consequences.  I think it is important for students to understand that even if they do not do things when face to to face with someone, the things that they say int he cyber world have real world consequences.   

My GAME plan has moved along nicely and there are many things that I can use in my instructional practice.  I am constantly in awe of just how much information is available to people with the a few simple strokes on a keyboard.  There are so many ways that I can have my students communicate and collaborate with each other using technology.  Being a life-long learner and the advances of technology there are so many things that I will always have to learn.  There are so many goals that I could set for myself and my teaching, but I can’t think of anything that is truly realistic, like I’m going to find all the different types of tools that I can use for foreign language teaching.  The goal that I think that I will set to try and improve on is to find at least ten reliable resources for teaching Latin.  I have started a Latin program at my current school and the principle basically told me to be sure to stay at least one step ahead of the students and I’ll be fine.  That isn’t what I would call sound advice, but I have found three great sources that help refresh my memory of learning Latin and methods of teaching it to my students.  If I were able to find at least a handful more I think I can become that much more effective in teaching my students.  The best way for me to extend what I have learned so far is to find easier ways to use technologies and site creators more efficiently.  I am still working on my WebQuest for my Spanish students, I am done with the bulk of the information, but I know there has to be an easier way to take that information and publish it to the web.  I can practice, but there should be faster ways to make and publish sites.  The best learning approach that I think anyone can have is to simply have an open mind.  If you go into something with your mind already made up then there is no way for you to genuinely get anything new out of that situation.  

GAME Plan Evaluation

This week has been very busy, I always thought Spring Break was a time to relax and recharge, but I decided to finish remodeling my basement and complete my GAME plan by creating a WebQuest for my Spanish students. I have completed the "hard" part of the WebQuest in writing the script for all of the pages and have hyperlinks to all of the different resources that my students are going to need to complete the task.  All I have to do now is to do the tedious work of making the webpage for the WebQuest. It isn't difficult, just very time consuming and mentally taxing.   The best part about it is that once I am finished I can use the WebQuest yearly and do not have to re create it (of course I will have to go back and make sure the links that I use are still active and replace them if they are not).

There are some things that I can use in my instruction that I have discovered.  In searching for different resources I can have students do some of the heavy lifting for me.  They can find three places of a certain topic then give me the link and a detailed description of the site that they have found and why they want to use it.  This is a way for me to use the students to to the vetting of websites for me, and I know that they are okay to use because the school's firewall does not block out the pages that they find (they will use school computers to do their research).

The question about what do I still have to learn is kind of silly if you ask me.  There is A LOT that I still have to learn.  As Socrates said, "I know that I know nothing," is how I live my life.  I am always going to have questions and I am always going to have something to learn, its just the way that life is.  I think my mom put it best, "teachers are life long learners because we are actively learning everyday."

There really isn't anything that I need to adjust to my Plan to make it fit my needs.  If the plan could finish my basement for me that would be great, but I know that it can't so I just need to stay diligent and go ahead and finish the WebQuest for my students to vet when we get back to work after spring break. 

This past week has been hectic as the end of the third grading period is fast approaching and a lot of my students are doing what they can to get in any assignments that they are missing. I give them half credit for work turned in late, which they have figured out is a lot better than getting no credit at all. I have been getting their input on what they want to accomplish with the WebQuest that I will put together on Spring Break. I am in a difficult situation at my new school, since I was surplused at the end of the calendar year (Happy holidays to me!) and then I got placed in a school where the teacher could not handle the students, and could not speak or teach the language. I have been in a rough spot trying to get through a years worth of instruction in a limited period of time. The students all respect me and I established guidelines from the start and all of the students are enjoying my class, but the problem that I am encountering is what the students do not know but should know if I had been here since the beginning of the school year. I have decided to allow for “Spanglish” in their final presentation in the WebQuest because I can not hold them accountable for what they did not receive through no fault of their own.

I have already found an abundance of resources to implement in the WebQuest for my students for one part of the project which would be the foods from other countries. The problem that I am finding is good and valid sites that are in English for specific parts of the culture elements that I am looking for. I like the WebQuest because it is essentially a self guided project with the links to specific information already there for my students. I make the foundation and then they build the house for this project. I just need to make sure that the resources that I find for them in English are viable sources of information that is to be used for their project.

My action plan is going fine and there isn’t anything that I need to modify to complete my plan. I just need to stay focused and get the foundation build so that I can have my colleagues go through the WebQuest to see if it all makes sense before I give it to the students to complete.

The best thing that the GAME plan has taught me is that it is a lot easier to do things when there is an actual plan instead of just “winging it.” I have always had this problem of not organizing my thoughts on paper before I jump into doing something. I try to think things out in my head first then write it out, but a lot of the time I skip over something that I want to cover and then have to go back and add it. Some times I put my thoughts in the wrong order and have to go back and edit the paper to have it make sense. I know that these things can easily be avoided if I simply outline a plan then follow it so that I know everything is covered and in the order I want it to be in.

I am having a lot of fun making another WebQuest for my students to complete. They really enjoy working on digital projects that allows them a different type of assessment than they normally would do. When talking to my students about this WebQuest and explaining to them what it is, their eyes start beam with excitement at the possibilities to express themselves in a unique way for their final exam.

GAME Plan Resources

For me to be successful in my GAME plan, I will need to find a variety of links that will help my students complete their WebQuest.  This Spring Break I will create a new WebQuest for my students to complete in lieu of the traditional pencil to paper exam for their final exam.  The WebQuest is going to let my students explore a Spanish speaking country of their choice and then they will learn about that country's culture and cuisine.  The resources that I will need for them to be successful I have found and posted on my "digital library" that gives the students access to many links that talk about cuisine and the culture of the Spanish speaking countries in Central and South America.  I have also found many things that my students can use from Spain.  The best resource that I have at my disposal is Google since it is the search engine of choice in my school.  Through this I can vet resources and then have my students use them for their project.  There will also be more traditional resources such as travel guides and text books that I have gathered from the local library, but the best bet is by using a computer and utilizing search engines to find information that is essential to complete the final project. 

GAME Plan

There are two ISTE standards that jump out at me when I look at them and they are:

2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.

What I will do to make sure that I utilize the second standard is to make sure that I use the technology that is available to me and my students.  It is easy for me to fall into the same trap of following the same lesson plans from years past and using the same books and videos as resources, but there is so much more available for me to make class more interesting and for my students to interact with so that they can understand Spanish in new ways.  My goal to do this is to have my students go on a virtual field trip or complete a WebQuest every quarter so that class instruction is fresh and different. 

The next thing that I want to make sure that my students understand that all of the materials and things that I or they use belong to someone and that they need to give credit to the people who created the resources that are used.  My goal is to cite everything that I use in my lessons if the ideas are not mine.  I also will cite pictures and works that I have created if I use them in a WebQuest so that students understand that things found on the web have a creator and that person is the owner of that “digital property.”  I want them to understand that it is okay for them to use other people’s ideas, but they need to give credit to the people who came up with those ideas. 

I will monitor my progress by making sure that I keep my personal responsibility to give credit to owners of intellectual property.  It may not seem like stealing, but it is and I have to be honest to myself since I am to be a role model for all of my students.  The other way for me to monitor my plan is to make sure my students know of my plan and hold me to giving them a digital project each quarter.

My learning and growth will be continuous, because technology is continually evolving.  The computer that I am using to write this is less than a year old, but it is already almost obsolete compared to the computers available in my local stores.  I will be able to evaluate my learning by looking at the products that my students produce during their digital projects, but I know that I will find better and faster ways to make sure they are learning and I am learning with them. 

Reflections

Throughout this course there many revelations that I had when it comes to new Literacies and online inquiry.  As Warlick (2009) said, there is such an “abundance” of information available that it can sometimes be overwhelming.  Trying to teach students how to navigate through all of that information and then how to properly use it can seem daunting, but with practice it will become second nature. 

I think that the most important thing to try to remember when using someone else’s intellectual property is to give them credit.   The burden falls on the teacher to remember to use proper citation using intellectual property so that a good model is set for the students.  I have found in this generation and their ability to find things on the web that they are used to not giving credit to the owner.  What I mean by that they are used to finding video games, music, shows and movies on the web and using them for free.  If the students see that the teacher gives credit to everything that they use that isn’t of their own making, or maybe for the purpose of driving the idea home, and things of their own giving credit to what they do.  If I were to use pictures that I took on a trip to Spain or Peru, then I show in the bottom corner that it is my picture then they will understand the importance of citing information.  

Something that I think I will always keep a watchful eye on is making sure that my students always give credit to what they are writing.  The best and easiest way for me to know if my students are borrowing information from somewhere is simply how it written.  If the information from them is well thought out and written with very few grammatical errors then I will be led to believe that they are borrowing someone else’s work.  Then I would simply type in their topic in Google and chances are that it will be one of the first items that the search engine finds.  I will then have to make sure they know how to use someone else’s ideas and then summarize that information in their own words.  They would still have to cite whose idea it is, but at least they will begin to learn how to use other people’s thoughts to support their own beliefs.    

One thing that I would like to explore from this class is to refine my searches on the internet.  Like Warlick (2009) said there is such an abundance of information that it is easy to get lost when you are looking for something specific.  Making searches as specific as possible to find what you are looking for is important so that time is not lost going through many different links finding things that are not important to the search.  With practice and patience I can find ways to navigate the World Wide Web to find relevant information for my inquiries.  This class has been helpful and it will help my guide the students that are from a new digital age use the technology available to them.  

Warlick, David. (2009). “Skills for the Future” [DVD]. United States: Laureate Education, Inc.