Technology Tools Assessment

**** Awesome Technology Tool

*** Good Technology Tool

** It's an "Okay" Technology Tool

* Terrible Technology Tool

1. Moodle- ***

In my special education courses this website is required to be signed up on in order to access school assignments and other important information about my courses. There are some pros and cons that come with this website. The pros are: Many of the courses require a password given by a professor, the information flows in chronological order (you are able to see the dates and what is due) and it has a blogging and chatting capability in which students can interact with the professor and one another. The cons for this website are: dull and plain appearance, it does not have an ability to remind students when assignments are due ( it can be inconvenient when students have more than one moodle class). I give this website tool three stars...

2. Google Apps- ****

As an everyday technology user, Google has always been my # 1 choice for browsing and e-mail. However, I never really utilized many of the other features (applications) it had to offer. Some of the applications I never used was: Calender, Documents, and Google Reader. I truly enjoy Google's email, "Gmail" in such that I could customize my gmail with creative templates. It gives a greater excitement in checking e-mails, especially if they are school related. The calender feature is extremely helpful and I found it to be a wonderful tool in reminding me about important dates and events that I had to remember. The Documents app was a great feature because it allowed me to use an excel feature to save my many passwords and usernames. But ultimately my most favorite trait of Google Apps was a thing called "Google Reader Play". It is an application that is quite enjoyable and a stress relieving tool. All you do is view spectacular and interesting photos and like or favorite them. I give Google Aps "4 Stars" for being a well rounded technology tool.

3. Delicious- ****

I cannot stress enough how grateful and glad I am to be introduced to this wonderful technology tool. The ability to access your favorite websites or helpful websites on any computer at any time is splendid. I definitely tend to favorite alot of websites, and in the case of using someone else's computer I stress when I cannot remember the address of a website I need to get onto. This website diminishes that worry by allowing you to "bookmark" the website, add a description and tags online! That way all you have to do is remember your username and password, and your bookmarks are readily available when signed into your Delicious account.It also gives you the ability to share with other people within networks, as well as organize your bookmarks that is far more extensive than the regular bookmarking tool on a personal computer. I give this website "4 stars" for being awesome!

4.Firefox- **

As a MAC user I am already fond of Safari, and its ability to make "top sites" really pulls me in on using it as my internet browser. Sometimes being such an instant person I just want to "click" and get onto my favorite websites. However, I do love how I am able to change the template of my browser when I am "Firefox". Overall, I did not come across any phenomenal features that pull me away from using my "Safari" browser. I give this technology tool 2 stars...

5. Blogger-****

Ever since I was in the 7th grade I've had a blog. I have tried many different blogging websites: Xanga, Livejournal, Melodramatic, Geocities etc. , but "blogger" is the apple of my eye! You can choose many different interesting templates and customize your layout to your liking. The formating tools are friendly and appealing. I find this blogging tool to be one of the best out there in the cyber world. I give "Blogger" 4 stars for being awesome!!!

6. Prezi- ***

I love creating technology presentations as long as it gives me opportunities to be creative. "Prezi" is a really interesting type of presentation tool in which it allows the presentation to be dynamic with an intriguing moving transition. Mind-blowing zooming and minimizing capabilities to capture the audience, and a rather pleasing appearance with some of the templates it has to offer. However there are some minor downsides with this tool because it has a limitation on types of font to choose from, video uploading capabilities and it can be difficult to work when first introduced to this website. However, it is not behind the pack of presentation tools. I believe this is a great tool to rebel against the usual "Powerpoint" presentation which tend to be dull and uniform.

I give this presentation tool 3 stars.

7. Voicethread-***

This is an interesting website that students and teachers can utilize and spice up presentations. It allows you to upload pictures and documents and create a "voiceover". You can explain the concepts or ideas of your work or simply give a presentation "life". The website also allows you to share your files with other educators and students within the website and give "voice" feedback. What I find very convenient about this website in comparison to other voice over websites is that you don't have to necessarily use a phone to create a voiceover, you can use a computer mic. One of the major fallbacks about this website is that you are not able to have the presentation with voiceover saved onto your computer. I give this website 3 stars for being a good technology tool.

8. Camtasia-****

Camtasia has got to be one of the most spectacular technology tools I have used. It is a website that allows you to: make on-screen tutorials, take pictures of your desktop, narrate photos, etc. This technology tool is quite expensive, but you are able to download a 30 day trial that has all the wonderful features to use. This software allows you to be extremely creative with tools that can zoom into a particular part in your screen, blur out backgrounds and add various touches to make a tutorial dynamic. This is a fabulous technology tool that deserves 4 stars...

A Terrific Technological Teacher Experience!: Multimedia Lesson Plan Reflection

Before writing my 2-way multimedia technology lesson plan, I was quite frustrated and nervous about what I was going to teach students while integrating multimedia technology. It actually was not so much the fact of integrating multimedia technology, but how to have my students meet my objectives using the technology. I am still pondering as to why I chose the first grade level, because I found it a little difficult. I had to really reflect the process in how I was going to step by step incorporate the different multimedia into the lesson, without having them miss the meaning and significance technology has on academic work. I chose to have my students create a “Fun Digital Sentences!” project that over all was a type of curriculum assessment; to see how well my first grade students were able to construct complete sentences. The lesson plan was also geared to identify whether students were able to successfully pronounce the words they chose in their sentence, and also express sentences effectively according to their punctuation marks. The multimedia of choice was to have my students use a digital camera and an online slide show/voice recording website called “Voice Thread” that would have them motivated about the assignment (Voice Thread). I believe from observation of young children experiencing technology is that they will be completely engaged in multimedia lessons. Although, I found this assignment neck breaking (challenging), I feel confident in teaching this lesson plan if I ever decided along the road to teach first grade.

In writing this lesson plan, there were a set of standards that I was required to refer to in the case of integrating technology: NETS*T standards (National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers). I utilized these standards to make sure I was following the proper guidelines of utilizing technology in the classroom.The first NETS*T standards I applied was 2A “design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners”. In my lesson plan I indicated that I had a student who had a disability that fell under “Orthopedic Impairment-amputation of arms”. I decided that since the student had no arms, and by using the “Voice Thread” website it made the main multimedia technology part of the assignment completely functional for him as well as the other students. The second NETS*T standards that I used was 3D, “manage student learning activities in a technology-enhanced environment”. As stated in my lesson I was in full assistance with helping my students use the digital camera and website. I wanted the students to experience the technology at hand but at the same time because of their age level I had to strictly monitor and assist them in working the technology.

I learned a lot in planning out the activities in this lesson plan. I learned that when teaching first graders you have to completely simplify a lot of aspects of the curriculum you plan to teach. I wanted to teach “writing” complete sentences so I had to refer to the GDOE standards and make sure my objectives and plan were meeting the requirements of the school system. I also learned that you have to go into every minute detail in your lesson plan, especially when it comes to the types of technology students have not been familiar with. In my case, my students were not familiar with the “Voice Thread” website so I had to make sure their experience with using this medium was positive and conducive to learning. I believe that if you leave any steps out in this lesson plan, the delivery would most likely fail. The teacher must know 100% all the multimedia materials he or she is teaching, using and allowing the students to use.

What I liked least about the assignment was the ultimate challenge to stretch myself. I found it quite hard because my life ultimately revolves around technology. I felt like I was stretched to my maximum potential with the internet, blogger, camtasia, imovie etc. But of course, with the simple, yet wise piece of advice from my professor, Dr. Jacqui Cyrus , “EXPLORE!!!!”. As painful as I thought it would be to do so, I had a lot of fun! I helped myself by finding an awesome website on her delicious list called “Cool Tools for Schools”, and I was flooded with opportunities to stretch myself. I felt so tiny and compact just looking at the incredible amount of websites to use and integrate into my lesson. I realized as a teacher who felt I knew a great amount about integrating technology; I surely over-estimated myself. The best thing about this assignment was simply that I “I learned”. And I LEARNED A LOT! I realized that even such a simple lesson plan such as “Writing complete sentences” that may come off as boring to students can be shaped and transformed into a totally enjoyable learning experience with the help of multimedia technology. I overall, stressed and panicked about this lesson but it gradually shifted into a wonderful and fun assignment. I am definitely going to create more 2 way multimedia lesson plans in the future….

References

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). NETS for Teacher 2008. Standard 1A. Retrieved February 18, 2010. From International Society for Technology in Education. Website:http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/ 2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

Websites:

Voice Thread- http://www.voicethread.com

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Multimedia Lesson Plan

ED 451- Magdalen Uson Multimedia Lesson Plan