Reflection
-Marshall McLuhan
If anyone would have told me that by the end of my student teaching I would be comfortable implementing and using a wide variety of technology I would not have believed them. Coming into this project I had very little knowledge of how I could use technology to further enhance student learning, let alone how to use technology beyond typing a paper and checking e-mail. This project has showed me how to do this and much more.
When Lois and I first started thinking about this project our ideas included programs that we were comfortable with that were inside the box. As we were presented with past participant projects our ideas became more in depth, with our thinking beginning to go outside the box. As we came up with ideas that we were not sure how to implement, we tested them on different programs. With each test that we did we learned more about computers and the programs that they contained. Our project became a hands-on learning experience for us, as well as, the students. As the students' ideas changed about the power and ability of computers so did ours. We were amazed at the teaching capacity that some of the programs demonstrated and at the determination of our students to learn how to use each and every program that we introduced.
I feel that the quote on this page sums up my ideas about the importance of technology use in classrooms today. Students who we saw struggling in the classroom during traditional instruction were able to excel during our times on the computer. They are growing up with computers and they need to be comfortable in using them. I think more students had an understanding of our science unit by our use of technology. It seems that more students can express their thoughts on the computer than if just asked to say or write them. The use of technology is allowing these students an opportunity to achieve at higher levels.
In each lesson that was taught, I was faced with excitement as well as obstacles. In implementing each lesson I learned a great deal about using technology as part of the curriculum. Below I will reflect, lesson by lesson, what worked well, what could have gone better, what I will do differently when implementing technology lessons in the future, and what I learned after completing each lesson.
In lesson one I used Kidspiration, Word, and World Book 3D Atlas. The activities done were to allow students to understand the importance of magnification and tools such as telescopes for studying space. The computers were an excellent way to demonstrate magnification and it allowed for each student to participate in the activity at the same time, instead of needing to share a handful of binoculars. This meant that every student was involved in meaningful learning for the entire lesson. The students successfully found the tools they needed to use in each program in order to demonstrate magnification. This lesson helped to make students comfortable using Kidspiration and Word, as well as, allowing them to see just how much computers were capable of doing in World Book 3D Atlas. I allowed students time to explore the new found tools on their own for a few minutes before continuing to the next part of the lesson. That helped the students focus fully on the next lesson more fully because they were no longer distracted by the last program. As we entered the computer lab some of the computers were not on so it took a few extra minutes to find a computer that worked for each student. I realized after doing this lesson that not all the computers worked in the lab, so even though there were 30 computers they may not all work when I plan to use the lab. I also realized that it is harder for students to make up computer activities that are done as a whole class in the lab. There were about six students absent that day and they were unable to do the first technology lesson.
During lesson two we used Kidspiration again. This lesson was to help students review the concepts that they had learned from an activity we had done in class. The web had four main areas that the students needed to fill in on their web. Before doing the activity I let the students know that we would be using the computers to record what we found during the activity. I provided the questions that they would need to answer when on the computer, so that they could look for those answers when doing the activity. This helped when I took them to the lab to work on the web because they could refer back to their notes. The web proved to be a great assessment tool for the activity and it reinforced the main objectives of the activity. During the typing of their responses I ran into some trouble when students' web boxes became enlarged and I was unable to reduce the size. I had the students continue their work leaving the box how it was. They were still able to print their entire web on one page, but it was smaller. I am not sure what caused this to happen and I think I would spend more time researching the program before using it again. I did find that this technology lesson was very draining. It took much time and energy to implement, but by the end of the lesson I could tell that every student had a better understanding of what was learned from the activity. I am unsure of how a teacher could implement this lesson if they do not have another person to help them as I did, though. It proved to be a helpful tool for the students and I plan to use it for activities still to come.
The purpose of Lesson three was not only to improve the students understanding of how much one million is, but also to help them become familiar with Excel. The Excel program at the school had a cursor that looked dramatically different depending on what function I wanted the program to use. This was helpful when teaching the lesson to the students. I think that when giving some of the verbal directions I should have also written them on the dry erase board for the students to see. This would have lessened some of the errors that were being made and allowed for a smoother lesson. At one point there was numerous hands up waiting for help, but some students had already completed the task. I then had those students help ones with their hands up. This allowed me to manage the classroom better and allowed for students to feel successful. I learned that a program like Excel is not intimidating to students when they are walked through different ways of using it. The lesson also helped to gain excitement about Excel. I did find out that on the network once a few students went as far as they could in Excel for numbers of rows, other students were not able to go as far because of memory.
Lesson four went really well. The student using the camcorder had already had experience using hers at home. The students were also comfortable and excited to be using a microphone during their play. I met with some technical difficulties when it came time to show the play to the students, though. It had been burned onto a DVD from the tape it was recorded on originally. I thought it would be neat for the students to see it played on the monitors in our classroom. When I tried it before school, though, no picture came on the monitor, only sound. I had played it on my home DVD player the night before to ensure it would work. I deducted that the DVD player at the school must not play burned DVD's. I was flexible, though, and decided we could put the computer burned version in the computer in our classroom that was connected to the monitor. When I did that the picture came out on the monitor, but the sound came out of the computer. I found out that it was because we did not have the sound connection from the computer to the monitor. I did show them the play using the sound from the computer and the picture from the monitor. The students had to strain to hear the words, though, because even at full volume on the computer it was fairly quiet. The students enjoyed seeing themselves on television and did not seem to upset about the sound. I learned that although I think I may have covered every error that may occur there may still be one that I have not thought of that I need to be ready to address. I am beginning to see that when using technology in the curriculum I need to be one step ahead of where I am to try to prevent situations like this one.
I started lesson five by demonstrating on the computer, which was shown on the monitor, how to start their web. Many of their questions were answered as a whole group and alleviated unnecessary time answering the same question numerous times for numerous students. This also showed the students what was expected of them during their time in the lab. I split the students into four groups for this lesson. While three groups stayed in the classroom one group came with me to the computer lab to work on their web. This helped with management and allowed each group 20 minutes to work. I was able to spend more time with each student and it seemed that the students were able to be more productive. I learned that smaller groups in the computer lab proved to be successful for the majority of our students and allowed me more time with each individual student.
Lesson six was a fun lesson for the students. I found kid-friendly websites that they could use to learn more about space. This allowed me to address the concerns about using the internet and what are appropriate sites for them to view. The students were excited to use the sites that I found, but when we were in the lab some of the computers would not recognize the site. I then had to have students share computers if theirs did not work. It was disappointing for these students because they could not readily explore the site like the other students. I still do not know why they did not work, but I learned that this may be a problem that I encounter again. If I do I may have those students try alternate safe sites so that each student can independently explore the site.
I had the help of a parent during the implementation of lesson seven. I do not think that I could have had three activities going on in the computer lab without the added assistance. All three of the activities went well. The students in each group worked hard to complete their task. I did not realize how much longer it would take the group creating the lunar calendars. If I had known I would have had something more prepared for the other groups. The one glitch that we ran into was how to print the moon phases that the students had created. The parent helped me to solve the problem and I was able to learn how to print from Appleworks.
I think lesson eight was one of the most successful activities on the computer that I did with the students. All the students were able to pick up easily on how to use PowerPoint. They stayed on task while working on it and students were showing other students what they could do with their presentations. One thing I had to do was make sure that the students included enough written reflection instead of just graphics and animations. The students enjoyed sharing their presentations with each other. I should have been grading them as we were sharing because now I will need to log in individually under each student and pull up their work.
The last lesson that I did using the live broadcast technology cart was a good learning experience for the students in terms of what technology can do. It also encourage the students to be good speakers. This lesson turned out to be more work than I had anticipated originally. The students created their scripts prior to our taping and I had planned for a dress rehearsal the day before the live broadcast. The students were in charge of the entire broadcast. They each had a designated part in the production, with the head of the production being their technical directors. The technical directors were in charge of using the items on the cart for the broadcast and directing the "announcers" and "experts". The day of the live broadcast our directors decided that we needed one more rehearsal before we were ready. During this rehearsal the students practiced reading their script from the computer screen, keeping the noises down from the microphone, and showing their work. We realized after that the pictures and time on the camera were displayed during the entire broadcast and are on the taped version also. It was wonderful to see the students working so cooperatively to produce the broadcast and to hear and see how well they presented themselves on camera. I think that the hardest part was having the script on the computer. The day of the live broadcast students were switching when they appeared during their panel, so on the computer were names in the wrong order and scripts that were out of order. This confused some of the students, even though they had an idea of what they should say. Overall the production went well. I think that for most plays or productions the school camcorder would be easier to use.
That's A Wrap!!!!!!