Katelyn+Karns



My name is Katelyn Karns, I am a freshman at the University of Cincinnati and I am majoring in Special Education with a concentration of Language Arts and Natural Sciences. I spent my first two quarters in DAAP majoring in Fine Arts only to find that it was not what I wanted to do. I decided that Special Education was the right path for me because I have always been interested in teaching and I babysit a young girl with autism and have many close family friends that have children who have Down Syndrome. Spending time with these children made me realize how fulfilling it would be to help others that have similar problems as these children do. I attended Troy High School and graduated in May 2011. At Troy High School, I played basketball and ran track for three years and played volleyball for one year. While in high school, I was a member of the Latin Club, I volunteered working track meets, senior events, and I also volunteered with art programs.

Yes, I believe that technology does make a difference in the learning process. It gives more opportunities to teach differnet things and gives a teacher better resources and it assists students in the learning process by helping to better explain topics. I do not think you could teach as well without it, I think you would be at a disadvantage if you had to teach without technology.
 * 1) Does technology make a difference in the learning process or could you teach just as well without it?

2. Are students today fundamentally different than students in the past? Yes, because now students know more about the internet and other types of learning websites to assist them. Techonology has become more important to students now than it previously was.

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__Kozma Article Notes__ -Lumsdaine- the benefits of media were primarily economic and that their use was “to develop the technology of instructional method” -Mielke predicted that adequately designed research on the learning benefits of various media would yield no significant differences between treatments. -Schramm- learning is influenced more by the content and instructional strategy in a medium than by the type of medium. -Media delivers instructions, but does not have any affect on how we learn. -Only certain aspects of media can help students learn and develop a “unique cognitive process” -If there is no single media attribute that serves a unique cognitive effect for some learning task, then the attributes must be proxies for some other variables that are instrumental in learning gains. -Instructional method- any way to shape information that activates, supplants, or compensates for the cognitive processes necessary for achievement or motivation. EX. Students need an example to connect new information in a learning task with information in their prior experiences. -Delivery technologies influence the cost and access of instruction and information. Design technologies make it possible to influence student achievement. -“claimed that media not only fail to influence learning, they are also not directly responsible for motivating learning.” -It is not what the students are taught with (textbooks, computers, etc.) but the way in which they were taught that helped them to achieve learning goals. -Students scores would increase if teachers taught as well as the computer programs. -There were a variety of equally effective ways to highlight details other than zooming, no one media attribute has a unique cognitive effect. -“Kozma agrees there is no compelling evidence in the past 70 years of published and unpublished research that media cause learning increses under any conditions.” -Necessary conditions are those in whose absence an event cannot occur, while sufficient conditions are those in whose presence an event must occur -Any treatment that is sufficient for learning must embody whatever is necessary to cause learning. -If learning occurs as a result of exposure to any media, the learning is caused by the instructional method embedded in the media presentation. -Only the use of adequate instructional methods will influence learning.
 * Explain-**

I would still tend to agree with my answer for the first question. I do think that technology makes a difference in learning today. Based on what I gathered from the Digital Natives discussion, there is scientific research that proves that our brains today are different from what they once were, meaning that we must be taught in different ways because we learn in different ways. We are raised with technology in our lives from a very young age, therefore it only makes sense for us to be taught using technology, it would make it easier for us to relate to it and it could even provide an incentive to do our homework since it is online and instead of in a text book. I would also still agree with my answer to the second question. This is because there is research proving that our brains do not work in the way that our parents did when they were growing up. We learn through different methods now. Young children can pick up a phone or get on the computer and figure out how to work it within minutes. This experience with technology only increases as our age increases, meaning that if we fundamentally different than we once were. We have technology and we take advantage of it in our classrooms and with our homework.
 * Evaluate-**

Constructivism is a theory about the way that people learn. The idea being that people get an understanding of things by taking the knowledge and relating it to their own experiences. The information will either agree with their previous experiences, in which case the student will add it to their understanding of that topic or it will go against their previous experiences, in which case the student must try to form a new understanding or they will reject the idea. Real world examples are often a used to help the students learn. This type of teaching allows students to ask their own questions, try to gather information on their own based off of previous knowledge and the knowledge of their peers, and it allows students to work together to come up with answers. It is a more "laid back" approach, in which you are less concerned with the answers and more concerned on the understanding and how the students get there.
 * Objectivist vs. Constuctivist**

Objectivist is a more strict approach to learning techniques. It is focused on the correct answers and repetition to get those answers. The teacher presents the information and there is little room for the students to apply any previous knowledge to the subject. Students are given a strict curriculum to follow and teachers enforce this. Right answers are positively enforced while wrong answers are negatively enforced until the student learns the material, or at least memorizes the material. The knowledge exists outside of the student and the student is blank until the teacher fills them up with the knowledge that they present to the students.

[] This first clip is an example of a constructivist teaching style. This is because the teacher recognized that her students were not really learning the material because they could not apply it to their lives, they just memorized it for the tests. Recognizing this, the teacher created a project that very much relates to the real world and has her students work together in groups to do this project. Students drawn off their own knowledge, such as what schools look like, how buildings are set up, and things of the like to create this project. The students work with their peers to do this work, not only do they learn how to work with others but they can also grow off of each other's knowledge.

[] The third video clip is another example of a constructivist teaching style. In this classroom, the teacher makes a point to ask a few questions that prompt the students to think about what questions they want to ask, what they care about knowing, and why something is the way it is. The students sit in groups and work together for projects in the classroom so they can work with their peers and combine all of their experiences and knowledge together. The teacher guides the students, but mostly wants them to learn on their own by asking their own questions that promote gaining new knowledge on the subject.

[] This last clip is about the objectivist teaching style. I could relate to this clip because it is how most of my classes work. Students in universities pay so much money on tuition, books, and resources for classes just to end up having teachers that are only interested in you memorizing information to answer questions correctly on a test. The video is saying that we are given tests, we are given homework, yet the teachers do not really care about who you are as a student, what kind of learning technique works for you, they are only interested in you passing their class. The video was about objectivist teaching style because the teachers are at the front of the room, there is no talking among peers, you must copy down what they write and know the information that they give you.

With my own experience, I think that I have had more teachers that taught in a constructivist style rather than objectivist. Many of my teachers in the past have had group projects, arranged the room in ways that let you talk to your peers and share information, and they asked questions that prompted you to want to ask questions yourself. I didn't have a single teacher in high school that did not support the students asking questions and even having other students answer those questions, they enjoyed us sharing our knowledge with each other. They allowed us to relate things to our own experiences. However, I have noticed that since attending college it is exactly the opposite. My teachers no longer seem to care how you learn the material or if you even care about the material, they just want you to be able to spit the information back out on a test and pass their class. I assume this is because the teachers know that you are choosing to go to school now and you have to take their classes to graduate, but I would still like to think that they should care that you genuinely learn the knowledge they are presenting to you rather than memorizing it.

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Solutions: -Better training with other teachers -Teachers assisting other teachers when one has more knowledge on a certain type of technology -Training strategies with techonology in the classroom

1. [] 2. This is a drill-type game because the games on this website all have to do with basic knowledge and it is getting the person playing the game to repeat this knowledge over and over until they understand it. I played the reading games and this is how they all were. 3. I think that the standards covered were Phonemic Awareness, word recognition, and fluency standard and the acquisition of vocabulary standard. The games I played were hangman, which helps to build a students vocabulary and it also helps with word recognition. I also played a game where you had to detect certain parts of the sentence as beign nouns, verbs, or adjectives. The games all helped in these subject standards. 4. I really liked using these games. They were easy to understand, you did not have to read how to work them before you played, you could just go right to the game and figure it out which is something that is very beneficial when it comes to younger children and children with learning disabilities. I thought the games all covered the topic they were based on in a really good and appropriate manner. They got the subject across and I liked that you could increase or decease the level of difficulty.

1.[] 2. We played a game where you had multiple players and a picture was shown on the screen and you had to select the right word for what it was out of four words before your opponent did. I think that this was more of a drill-type game. This is because it was low level knowledge, you just had to pick a word. It was drilled over and over again. 3. I think that the standards covered were acquisition of vocabulary and reading process: concepts of print, comprehension strategies, and self-monitoring strategies standard. This is because the words were increasing the players vocabulary, the more words they saw they more that they could add into their vocabulary. It was also helping with the reading process because you have to read the words first of all, and read them faster than your opponent. 4. I enjoyed this game and thought that it would be really helpful for younger students learning how to read. I thought that it was something they would enjoy the better they got at it. It would really help with reading, getting them to read better and it would really help to expand their vocabulary. **Standards:** 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity b. engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources.

Throughout this course I believe that we have been challenged to solve problems that would arise in our classrooms through digital tools and resources. We have been presented with issues that could arise in our classrooms and have had to fix them. We have many focused on solving issues that will arise in our future classrooms, which is something that I find extremely valuable. When we move on to teaching our own classes, there are many problems that will arise and we will have to figure out how to solve them. There are countless things that could go wrong, or we may just not have the right amount of resources to do a certain assignment how we planned and we will need to be able to figure out how to adjust to this to make sure the students are still learning their lessons. The use of digital tools will, I'm sure, help us to figure out to solve issues that will arise.

http://computertools12s.wikispaces.com/Classroom+Management This is a link to an assignment that covers this standard. In this assignment, we had a mock classroom that was set up with a certain number of computers and other tools. We had to figure out how to adjust the rest of the class around our resources in a way that would allow all of the students to actively participate and get the most out of this assignment. I thought it was very helpful because this is something teachers have to do often. They have to use what resources they have and make the lesson plans work around that. I think it is a valuable skill to learn how to solve problems using digital tools and resources.

2. Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments. b. develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress.

In this class, I have had many digital learning experiences as this course is technology driven. Though we do not all have the same education majors, there is the common grounds that we all will be using technology in our own classrooms when we teach someday. Given that we do not all want to teach the same things, this class provides a good selection of different computer games, lessons, and other activities for all of the different subjects and grade levels that we could be interested in teaching. This diversity allows us all to gain information on the topic that we wish to teach. In the class, we have a wiki and diigo group that we post on every week. This is something that allows us to manage our learning and assess our progress. Through the diigo group, we can see all of the lessons that other students have posted and we can meet educational goals through commenting on others with feed back on the lesson they have chosen. We can also manage our learning and assess our progress through the wiki because we can see what we did earlier in the quarter and where we have come now.

http://computertools12s.wikispaces.com/Games+Stations This is a link to our assignment where we went around the classroom playing various computer, smartboard, and ipad games. I think that this lesson connected well to this standard. This is because there were games in almost every subject and for every grade range. This allowed us to explore the games that related to our major and play those games which we were interested in. The assessment that followed this activity also helped us to manage our own learning because we had to write down what we gained from them.

3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats.

This is a standard that I believe is covered very thoroughly in this class. Since we only meet as a class once a week, much of the information that we need to know and assignments that we need to do are conveyed to us through digital media. We have a wiki group, a diigo group, and of course a section on blackboard. Emails are also used a lot in this class to inform students of what is coming up and how to access certain assignments. I think that having a wiki to post assignments to is extremely beneficial because we do not have to check a bunch of other sites or email our teacher all of the time, we can just go to our class wiki and all of the assignments and descriptions for them are right there, it is a very effective way to convey information. Through all of the class websites and emailing that we do in this class, I believe that this standard gets covered quite well.

http://computertools12s.wikispaces.com/ http://groups.diigo.com/group/computertoolsforteachers Those are links to the class wiki and the class diigo group. These are not so much lessons that we learn in this class, but they are ongoing throughout the entire quarter. We have to add lessons to the diigo group every week in which we learn more about online, interactive lesson plans that we can find and use when we become teachers ourselves. The class wiki is where we submit all of our other assignments. It is where we get information about assignments, comment on other students work, and submit our work. It is a great way to get information to our classmates and to us from the teacher. Both of these websites are great ways in which information is given to us.

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility a. advocate, model, and teach, safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

In this course I have learn the proper ways of using technology to ensure that it is used in safe and legal ways by me and my future students. We have learned a great deal about when you need to cite a source because it would otherwise be seen as copyrighting and so on. I have noticed that there are many things that I need to do as a future educator to make sure that the internet and other sources are all used in appropriate ways in my classroom. I realize from this course that it will require a great deal of personal time spent checking out websites to make sure they are safe, making sure my powerpoints or other documents are free of copyrighting, and making sure that my students are using the internet as safely as possible. As none of us are minors, I do not have any real experience with what it would be like to have to monitor what students put out there in class based on our class. This is because we are all in charge of this ourselves, however I realize that if my students were younger then I would have to make sure they did not put out personal information or anything of the like.

http://computertools12s.wikispaces.com/Internet+Safety That is a link to an activity that we did in class that relates to this standard very well. We got copies of a school districts AUP that the students and teachers have to abide to once they sign. After we read that, we received a mock letter from a parent of an issue surrounding their child and internet use in your classroom. We then had to respond to the parent and tell them if this was against the AUP and if there was anything we could do about this situation. I think that this was a very good lesson to teach us this standard because it dealt with the appropriate and safe uses of technology and future issues that we may run into as educators.

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership c. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.

I think that through the course of this class, a lot of the material has been based on evaluating and reflecting on current research and professional practice to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools. We have worked with new technology and had someone come in and talk to us on new technology involving the smartboard. Through that I feel like I learned a lot about this tool and would be able to use it in a lot more ways to support learning in my classroom and to create lessons on it. We have used a lot of digital tools and resources that support our learning, one newer digital tool that we have looked into are ipads. There are many interactive games that would work very well for younger children on this device and I think that I would not have thought of using an ipad in my classroom before this class. We have done lessons based on professional practice such as we had to respond to an email from a parent based on AUP's and if the student was using it correctly, we had to respond to their parent in a professional manner and address the situation.

http://computertools12s.wikispaces.com/Internet+Safety This is a link to the assignment where we had to respond to a parent's concerns over their children's internet use. We professionally responded to this parent's email addressing the situation. In this, we learned how to professional respond and react to situations involving internet usage and what is appropriate or not. This is an example of professional practice that made effective use of existing resources and digital tools. We had to email them back, which involved using an existing digital tool being a computer or some device that you could email from and it also helped us in the digital area as educators by having us look at what is okay for us to do involving the internet in our classrooms and what is is okay for our students to do in our classrooms on the internet.

Overview: Overall, I think that I have learned a great deal through this course, Computer Tools For Teachers. I have learned ways that I can better my lessons through using technology in the classroom and I have learned how much my students would be able to benefit from the use of technology. Through reading the articles and having conversations through our class wiki I have learned a lot about technology now. I did not really think about the benefits and the disadvantages students could be at with it. I did not realize that children’s brains are actually changing and learning in new ways meaning that some of them would be more geared towards learning through technology because we are now being raised around technology at such young ages that it is becoming a second nature. It would greatly help students to incorporate technology in a classroom because it excites them to see something that they are familiar with and if it is a website that is new to them they automatically want to figure it out and learn more. However, it is also a disadvantage for students that do not have computers or Internet access at home. I have never even considered that students would be disadvantaged if they did not have computers at home, but now I see that so much in a class is based around computers that they are at a disadvantage and it is my job to make sure that they can somehow get caught up. Another moment in this classroom that really helped me would be reading the topics that have been posted on our diigo group. There are lessons on there involving cameras, cell phones, and a lot of other technology that I never would have thought about incorporating into my classroom at all. It was really eye opening for me to see just how versatile new technology is. Throughout this course, I have learned a great deal about technology and how to better my teaching through it.