Question

As a teacher, if these multimedia tools aren't readily available, will I be penalized for not reaching my technology standards?

In relation to teaching

These authoring tools will be very handy in the classroom. My students will be creating final projects and they will also be using video tools for such projects. Brainstorming, for students in an English class, is also very important. With the use of technology, brainstorming will become hopefully more interesting for my class. Power Point, I beleive, is a very important tool in some instances. Although I think that some teachers overuse Power Point, I also beleive that it can be used very effectively in some instances. For example, when doing a brief overview on a unit to be covered, a teacher can outline the basic topics, filling the students in on what they are to learn.

Objective: Identify authoring tools that offer a multimedia environment for students to express and communicate their ideas.

The first tool talked about, the Concept Map Communications Tool, is very interesting and geared towards every learner. I say this because, whether the student has a visual/spatial learning style or a learning style centered more around listening, this tool allows for both. This tool also creates a map for the students, letting them brainstorm thier ideas, and lay them out in a comprehensive, orderly fashion. The second tool, Slide-based Communications, allows the students to express their creativity while they convey their information in an organized fashion. Specific tools, such as Microsoft Power Point, are easy to use and they have several settings that add to the creativity of the project. The third tool, Clip-based Communications, allows the students to stream audio and visual clips together. Rather than creating a video including both audio and visual elements, they can just video thier project, adding background music or any other sounds they find fitting.

Question

As teachers will we be required to assess our students with and through technology?

In relation to teaching

Technology based assessment will be important in my field of education. My students will need to use search engines to finish final projects and they will be using computers to type essays and papers. Formative assessment will also be another way to use gauge thier learning with technology. As they search thier topics and create drafts of assignments, I will be able to assess thier progress.

Objective: Describe the relationship of technology-enhanced instruction to assessment.
When using technology to instruct students, a teacher is adding an entirely new element to their learning. The fact that they are also learning about the technology means that they are adding the ability to use these tools to thier knowledge. While it is important to assess the students according to the subject material, it is also important to assess them in relation to the technologhy tools used to teach the subject.

Chapter 3 in connection to my teaching

I realize how important technology is in the modern classroom. As an aspiring English teacher I know I will be using everything from online journals to search engines. According to Chapter 3, which focuses mainly on general student learning, the form of instruction is always changing according to new demands upon students. As a teacher, I will always strive to maintain modern knowledge of technology and, to the best of my ability, implement it in my classroom. With technology as a tool to facilitate learning, I will be able to open my student's eyes to a multitude of resources they wouldn't have had years ago.

My question about the material in chapter three is: Isn't it also important for students to know the dates in history and major historical events? With the new testing samples it seems as if the students aren't encouraged to know the major historical occurrences.

Describe your understanding of what learning is and how students learn.

The process of learning is defined differently, according to different theorists. A behaviorist theorist would say that learning is the process of students retaining information by responding to external stimuli and relaying information must be facilitated by positive reinforcement. The theorists then observe the effect the stimuli has on the students. Cognitive theorists focus more on the mental process, which can't be openly observed. Rather, cognitive theorists test thier philosophy through assessment and testing. Constructivist theorists combine these two theories and create a student-centered learning experience, which focuses on how the students learn and how they best retain information. Constructivists would argue that how information is conveyed should depend on how the students best understand the information. Also, students learn according to schemas. If a schema is already formed, it is the job of the teacher to cause disequilibrium within the schema, that is if new information is being presented, and urge the student to strive for equilibrium. Once equilibrium is reached, the student's schema is reformed and the information is learned.