Web quest

I chose to pick webquests from the elementary section. I read through all of the choices. The one I picked to be the best was Unraveling the Underground Railroad. I really enjoyed the set up of this webquest.I thought this was  very interesting and really caught my eye . The colors and pictures make the site interesting and fun. The set up and information on this site allows the teacher and students to have a fun learning experience.  This site also allows the students to learn in a fun and exciting way. Overall I thought this site was well organized and very beneficial to the teacher and the students. In my opinion this site was my favorite of the five sites that were provided in the elementary section.

I found this site to be kinda thrown together in my opinion. It was sort of interesting but it kind of lacked a little bit of structure in my opinion. The site also kind of lacked interesting things for students. Nothing on the site had a real impact that would benefit students and allow them to learn. The site also stated information and didn’t really make it interesting for the students. The site didn’t really encourage problem solving or even higher thinking for the students. The site also did not really catch my attention. Nothing on the site really stuck out or popped, except for the title. Overall, this site in my opinion was the worst of the five sites that were provided.

Academic Software Evaluation Criteria

The five software evaluation criteria I would pick would be cost, grade level, technical support, active learning, and save features.

First of all, cost is a big issue. A teacher wants the most bang for his/her buck. The cost of the product decides how many other programs can be bought since teachers are usually on a tight budget. Grade level is also important because the wrong grade level can mean to easy or hard for the students. If the software is too hard for the students, then they won’t be able to keep up. If it is too easy , the students won’t be able to learn anything new. Technical support is also important, because if something goes wrong with the software a teacher needs to be able to know it can be fixed by themselves or a professional instead of having to buy new software. Active learning is important because if students are not involved with the program then they will not learn anything. The students need to be involved in active learning because it keeps their interest and allows them to learn more. Save features are also important because it allows the teacher and student to save work and then return to the same work at a different point in time. Without a save feature the software would not help very much. It is easier to learn when you can refer to something you have done before to help as a guide. Also with a save feature you do not have to worry about losing all of your hard work.  I chose Microsoft Word, because it allows students to write papers to get a better understanding of how to write a proper paper. I also chose Microsoft Excel because it allows students to make spreadsheets and helps them with tables and documentations. I also chose Websters dictionary/atlas, because it allows students to lookup meaning of words, synonyms and antonyms of words online.

Digital Technology

While reading chapter 6 I was thinking of how I could use or incorporate each item into my teaching. I realized that I can use most of these items, but not all of them. The five pieces of digital technology I would want most would include, mini laptops, projector, tablet PCs such as ipads, touchscreens, and headphones. Mini laptops are important to me because it would allow the students to be able to expand their knowledge and work at different paces. I would use mini laptops by giving one to every student. I would also use a projector. This would be important to me because it allows me to project an image so that all the students can see it which also saves time and would allow me to teach more in a day. I would use this by mounting a projector and projecting images, slide shows, and more to teach the students in a faster and more effective way. Tablets are important because for one ipads are really cool but they also allow students to have a multipurpose device. It also allows books to be downloaded on the tablet so the students would always have their books. I would use this pretty much the same way as the laptop. Touchscreen computers are also important because the student physically interacts with the screen. I would use a touchscreen to do lessons like pointing at places on a map for example.  Headphones are also important because students can listen to music while doing work which keeps them from talking and distracting other students. I would use these by allowing students to listen to music at appropriate times or when doing a lesson on the computer involving a video. This would allow students to be able to hear the lesson without distractions from outside noises.

Theoretical Framework

I believe that student’s best learn when they are exposed to different teaching techniques. This includes a mixture of visual, verbal, and hands on teaching. Students also learn best with the incorporation of technology such as computers. I feel the best way to communicate with students is to befriend them and be as kind as possible.

I believe all students have different learning characteristics and the best way to assess them is to incorporate all the learning styles. Students shouldn’t have the same expectations and with that being said all students shouldn’t be taught the same way. The best way is to incorporate all learning styles to reach all the students.

I am not sure what my learning style is at this point, mainly because I haven’t had the chance to interact in a classroom much. I hope to find out soon what it is so I can work on it and really capitalize on it. I am very adaptable so hopefully I can adapt to my student’s needs quickly. I will learn how each student learns and try my best to help each student as much as I possibly can.

I feel that technology will have a dominant role in my teaching style. I will use technology to teach the students and to help them since they are part of the digital generation. I am very comfortable with technology and very adaptable to the technological advances. I think technology fits into the students learning styles because they are comfortable with technology since they have been raised with technology.

My multiple intelligence strengths are Kinesthetic, Naturalistic, Intrapersonal, and Interpersonal. My multiple intelligence weaknesses are Musical, Linguistic, and logical. Visual/Spatial is in between.  I believe the test was fairly accurate because most of my strengths and weaknesses are true about me.

Digital Generation

I definitely think I am part of a digital generation. I have several reasons to support this. One reason would be I am only 19 and I have grown up with and around technology. My whole life I have sort of depended on technology such as cell phones, computers, and much more. Technology was also used in in my school to teach me throughout my life. I also use social networking in my everyday life to stay in contact with people I know. The portraits compare to me and my peers because the kids are heavily into technology just like my peers and I am. The kids use technology every day and depend on it. I have noticed that even people I graduated with are always on social networks such as Facebook. The kids in the portraits also use social networks in their everyday lives.  These kids are also like the K-12 students I have encountered because they are around the same age as the students. The students also use technology about as much as the students in the portraits. I also have two younger brothers so I have realized how much they rely on technology. The kids in the portraits compare to my brothers because of the heavy use of technology. My thoughts on how I can use technology in the classroom has definitely changed. I have realized that kids use  technology more than I have realized. This means that students might actually learn more with the help of technology more than they would with just old techniques. I can incorporate more technology into my teaching and in return benefit the students more. I think this exercise has definitely been beneficial to me. I have learned more about the digital generation and I have also got an idea of how I can use technology when I am teaching students.