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Write 3-4 paragraphs about how you would be able to incorporate the techniques learned into your situation (media specialist, teacher, etc.).

I am a high school teacher of mathematics who is committed to the use of media to facilitate learning. The technologies that were shared throughout this course have meanibgful uses in the subject that I teach. In particular, a website, blog, and inspiration will be incorporated in the near future to my lessons.

A website provides a snapshot of a course as well as a detailed road map of a given learning journey. A navigation panel assists students in finding relevant course material with relative ease. Students can have the benefit of keeping abreast of events, activities,projects,assignments and due dates through various pages on a website. A website can also provide links to sites that can offer additional help and or resources. Additionally, websites offer a means for communication and feedback by providing e-mail links and chat rooms.

A blog is a great tool for real time as well as asynchronous communication. Students can visit blogs and post questions as well as have discussions with peers. Teachers can post review questions and students can share responses as the teacher monitors the discuusion to ensure that the content is valid. A good practice in Mathematics would be to have students post weekly blogs in they summarize or review what was learned during that week. This provides reinforcement and feedback for teachers that can be used to clear up misconceptions or adjust lesson plans to reteach if necessary.

I have had Inspiration and Kidspiration installed on my laptop for years and shamefully never ventured into doscovering its uses. This is an awesome review tool. Students can create any form of block diagrams,tree diagrams and even Venn diagrams. In mathematics, students can create block diagram to demonstrate processes or procedures in problem solving . Venn diagrams can be used to compare the properties of geometric figures. Blank tree diagrams can be also given to students to fill in while learning(reviewing) vocabulary.

-Ingrid

ps Did I say I was glad to be back home? I am glad to be back home!

Weekly Post

So we are finally here and I have some catching up to do. I inadvertently did (and spent too much time) on assignments I was not suppose to do. It is said that everything happens or a reason: We have had a funeral or two every week at my church for the past six weeks! I actually put what seemed like wasted effort on assignments to good use.

I am workig on the only course. Blackboard is a very sophisticated software because of the capabilities that it has. Instructors are able to automate just about every aspect of a course. It does take time to set up but it is well worth it in the end - at least tha has been my experience. My powerpoint and flip charts for my lessons take a lot of prep time but I seem to cover more material during instruction.

This has been and interesting journey...I am on a very short home strecth.
-Ingrid

Weekly Post

Hello,
Not much to add this week except that I am working on the video module. I havea bit of experience since I have been practicing to create worship clips at my church. The cost of these clips can add up quickly. I am hoping to be able to produce clips for training purposes at school for new teachers. I have ventured into creating clips to demonstrate techniques to my students - maybe an entire lesson in the near future? I am looking foward to use this media more often;it is engaging and students learn more in less time as well as have unlimited access to lessons.

-Ingrid

Weekly Post

Wow! What a few weeks it has been. I managed to get through the las journey picking up some very useful tools along the way. The most challenging was creating the website. That was a bit frustrating considering that I was at one point a decent web page builder - as the saying goes "use it or lose it". I tried what I thought would be the simpliest way to host the website through wikispaces and discovered that there were some limitations that came with that choice. The limit on files sizes, page layout/design. However, the pages where simple to build and the tools were very userfriendly. the end result was a site with good content,appearance and ease of navigation - precisely what I have been wanting for the courses I teach.

I am looking forward to the video module. I really enjoy working wit this type of media and have played with some techniques as I create short video clips for church and to a lesser extent for school. I am also discovering the possibilities of video in instruction - I like the idea of not being there but being there for my students through recorded lessons.

Until my next installment,
Ingrid

Weekly Post

The past two weeks have been long and difficult;I found myself wishing for 36 hour days. Last night I participated in my home phone chat and realized that online chats are an excellent resource for student discussion at their convenience. Chat rooms can be very useful for collaborative or group efforts/projects.

The video commanded my attention. Students seem to be less than satisfied with the current educational system of delivery. There is a sense of wasted time and irrelevant content. Educators have failed to keep up with the needs of today's students.

The article was a bit disturbing sometimes because of the implications for educators. It is apparent that students have set the tone for learning and teachers find themselves having to please the customer. Granted, I agreed with most of the implied changes that need to be made in terms of embracing and not ignoring the use of technology in education. I ended my thoughts with "I wish that they would make up their minds"; the student population today adopt and discard new fads at a pace that we as educators find very difficult to keep up with.

-Ingrid

Week 6 Blog

This week was a short one at school because I took Friday off as I traveled to New Jersey and Monday we celebrated President's day. Today I participated in an all day training for the Promethean board that was installed in my "digital classroom". The training was very useful as we were taught how to use the software for the board as well as several tips and tricks. I discovered that creating lessons (flipcharts) for use with the board is very similar to creating lessons (presentations) with Power Point. The process involves looking for tools and resources,using some creativity along with content to produce a lesson. There are many effective instructional tools that encourage student engagement through interactivity.

As a teacher, I am enjoying the discovery of the board's potential. Working on my projects for this course allows me to create my own resources - digital images and sound. The support for the Promethean board is impressive and can be found online through forums, chats,and a sharing community called Promethean Planet. The website is absolutely helpful to all level of users and provides a wealth of flipcharts in several content areas. I am glad people like to share best practices!

Well,I continue with my "journey" in this course and I hope you have been learning as much as I am. Wish me luck - a new version of the software has been launced and I am so far away from mastering the last verson.

-Ingrid

Weekly Post

So here I am - week 5! As you can tell, I am still around despite the bomb threats. Last Thursday was the last threat: a text message stating the date and time (Thursday 5th during 2nd period) and place (third floor, boys' restroom) which happens to be about five classrooms away from mine. I was literally in anguish since our very "able' put the building on lockdown (nobody in or out); I decided to take the day off last Friday. We have not had any since and have been told that they have held two possible suspects and still looking for a third.

I was very excited as we made through active worlds. What a trip! Despite my getting lost a couple of times, the experience was worth every minute . I can see how we can create worlds for our students to learn through discovery. I have spread the word to some teachers in my department - we will be collaborating to build an algebra world using a pyramids theme - as the student masters certain skill they move up the pyarmids until the lesson is completed by reaching at the highest level 0n the pyramid.

Smartboard is coming along - we will be receiving formal training next Wednesday. Yey! Until then.

-Ingrid

Weekly Blog

I got through week 4 just fine considering that we had five bomb threats in six days. I got to see technology in use by everyone. Administration on the radios, teachers and students alike on their cell phones communicating with the community.

I took out my iPod touch and answered trivia with other teachers. Some students played their mp3 players while others surfed the net to try to get information about what was going on.

I can just imagine the amount of e-mails that were transmitted to family and loved ones. I was very happy to have technology with me on those days!

Oh! I needed to add that I am exploring my smart board with great success.

-Ingrid

Emerging Technologies Post

The technologies that I see on a daily basis are not limited to the ones that are approved for classroom use. In the classroom, I use a laptop, LCD projector, student response systems (clickers) and a Promethean smart board. I have integrated this technology for the delivery of my instruction. My lessons are on Powerpoint and are projected unto the smart board. Students respond/interact using their remotes. The laptop is also used for housekeeping purposes – e-mail, taking attendance, inputting grades as well as consulting the internet for resources. The sound system in my classroom is used for microphones to project my voice during teaching. Additionally, the sound system is used in connection with the projector when viewing teaching clips. Of course the classroom phone is used to place and receive calls.

Other technologies are also very visible outside the classroom. The ever present phones with multimedia capabilities are widely used for texting, recording (video and sound), internet browsing and file sharing and storage. The flash drive (thumb drive, usb drive) is another piece of technology used for the purpose storage. Students use portable media players mainly to watch video clips and listen to music. School administrators use PDAs during classroom visits as well as radios for security purposes.

Upon reflection, it seems that just about every tool that I use to enhance teaching/learning is technological. I then ask how effective I would be without technology? It seems that once you start using technology there is no turning back; you keep looking for more technology to improve student learning.

-Ingrid

Weekly Blog

This week started off very smoothly. Today, I realizes that the tip of pen to my new Smart board was broken. I just started playing around with the board and was really looking forward to using the pen as a writing/drawing tool while teaching my geometry class. I tried to use the pen as is and discovered some other functions/control of the pen. Tomorrow I get a new pen and will be able to do much more because of my little "accident".

I read though the Emerging Technologies material and I find it very interesting; the assignments seem pretty straightforward or I should say that I do not envision any major problems. I really appreciate the exposure to the information on the emerging technologies. Here's my confession for the week: I find myself day dreaming about the exciting ways in which I can try these technologies in my classroom.

Well, I leave to dive into the assignments. Until my next installment.

-Ingrid

Troubleshooting Reflection

Last summer I decided to “bite the bullet” and purchase an immediate response system (clickers) for my classroom. The software that accompanied the system was very easy to download and install on my personal computer. I did a few successful practice runs with some remotes and was ready to implement this system in my classroom.
I tried installing the software on the school laptop but only two of the three components were installed. I closed all programs, checked the available disk space, installed an updated driver for the system and use a different version of the software before I made several unsuccessful attempts. I deduced that I did not have enough administrator privileges (permission) to install the software. The technology facilitator gave me access to an account that would allow for me to install the software. I had a few lessons and then the software stopped acquiring student responses. I noticed many USB port conflicts that got worse the more I disconnected the system and restarted or rebooted the laptop (just in the event that the software was not responding). The software recorded student responses during a practice but fail to do so during class time. This time nothing I did would work.
I resorted to the company support. I was walked through several scenarios and I managed to solve the USB conflicts. The software stopped working after two lessons. I tried the previous solution before calling for support again. After spending time troubleshooting with the software developer, it was discovered that the USB conflicts resulted because the acquisition module cannot function simultaneously with another module. The solution was to load the operating module that “activates” the remotes; close this module and then open the acquisition module. Consulting support earlier would have really spared me the frustration and wasted time. I learned that being technically inclined can be a obstacle in trouble shooting because we tend to believe we can solve it all. Friendly help is out there; use it!
-Ingrid

Just a little bit about me...

I am a high school math teacher in Hollywood, Florida and I am in my sixth year of teaching. I was captivated by the Instructional Technology program because of the potential in my classroom and opportunities that may arise in the private sector/industry. My engineering background gives me an added appreciation for this particular use of technology. I will be completing the M.A. in Instructional Technology this fall.

It's been a long week getting back to teaching as well as giving exams and preparing for new students in a few days. The assignments for this course have been manageable so far and believe that they will continue to be. The material presented is of great interest to me and I look forward to acquiring a few much needed and desired skills.

I am grateful to be a part of this great group!

-Ingrid