Technology Reflection Blog

Technology Reflection Assignment

Description/Experience

            In the last seminar we learned information about Edmodo.  This is a website that looks a great deal like Facebook and it allows teachers and students to stay connected online.  It is not blocked at schools and is safe for students to use.  It is also free.  This website seemed very useful because the teacher can post assignments and the students can go on, complete the assignment then submit it right there on Edmodo.  Another good thing is that if students have questions about it they can answer and ask each other on the wall post which is more useful sometimes then just getting a response from the teacher.  The student’s grades can also be put on the site and are private so the other students cannot see them.  This site allows the students to have their own picture and write some things about themselves which makes each one more personal.

Application   

My PDS is in a first grade class, so using this would be a little difficult because the students are so young.  I do think that it could possibly be incorporated though if the students were put in groups.  Children, even that young, are very good at picking up on technology.

            Learning outcomes:  With this activity, students will learn how to use the computer and the internet.  They will also get to have interaction with one another.  The lesson will be about rhyming words.  They would go onto Edmodo to find the link to another website which will have words and pictures.  The students will have to drag and drop the appropriate word to the rhyming picture.

            Learners:  This lesson will be for first grade which is about 6 years old.  All of the students will be working in groups to help one another and teachers will also be helping each group so that they understand how to navigate the website.

            Assessment:  After the lesson was completed the students or the helper teachers would save it and submit it onto Edmodo so that it could be graded to see if the students completed it correctly.  If the student chose the correct rhyming word with the right picture they would have completed it correctly.

First 5 minutes:  Explain the Edmodo website and have it already up for the students to see.  Have teachers go around and click on the link for the Activity.

5-10 minutes:  Have the students complete the activity on the computer in groups, with help from the teacher if it is needed.

Last 5 minutes:  Have the teachers go around and save the answers to the computer and submit it onto the Edmodo website.  Later grading it to see who completed it correctly.

Reflection

Pedagogy-Content:

I would try to represent the content by doing it first on an overhead projector so they could see exactly what I was doing and where I was clicking.  I would also have on the board the step by step directions, while also going around and helping them to get it set up properly.  Students of different ages and background could be helpful with the lesson.  If there were older students or even students with older siblings at home they might better understand the computer and how to use it.  Some problems that could occur from a cultural stand point could be that not all of the students have computers at home, thus they have had very little experience with them.

Technology:

Some functions of this technology are posting assignments, posting grades (that are private), and posting blogs to your students and vise versa.  I think these functions are very helpful because it allows the teacher to see who is asking questions, who is helping by answering them, and who is staying on task.  There is a start and stop time for assignments to be in so it is easy to tell and remember if anyone turned it in late.  It is also nice that there are the “badges” that the teacher can give.  If the students do something well, the teacher can go on and give them an electronic badge that shows up on their profile page, which makes them feel special.  The teacher can also have all of their classes separated by students and periods during the day.  That is helpful if different assignments are going to different classes, it can help to keep it all straight.  This website is also very accessible.  It is free and shows up at schools because it is a safe site.  You go onto www.edmodo.com and sign up.  Once the user name and password are figured out the teacher just needs to add the code so the whole class is together, and that’s it!

Technology-Pedagogy:

This technology would be used in my activity by going on Edmodo to find the link to the activity. This is helpful because the students aren’t required to have to find the correct link by searching the internet; it’s already there for them.  Technology changes the way this activity is used because it lets them get right on and brings them to the activity.  It then allows them to submit it on Edmodo which is helpful for the teacher to grade it right then and there.  Classroom management could get a little messy when using this with such young children, which is why I had the students put into groups so that they could help one another and the teacher, would be right there.  I think for older students this would actually help classroom management because they would be helping each other out if someone had a question and they would be seeing that everyone else submitted there assignment so they should probably do there’s before it closes.

Technology-Content:

Using this technology would change the representation of content in this activity because the students would be working with the rhyming words on the computer instead of with a pencil and paper.  I think this could be a good thing for them because they are likely to think of it as more of a game and have more fun with it.  I think it will also help them more with remembering the correct answers because it’s a different type of skill that they aren’t used to working with on a daily basis.

Technology-Pedagogy-Content:

The content would be taught effectively because the teacher would still be teaching the students the original way; they would just be practicing it differently with technology.  The students would have already learned and felt confident with the information so doing the lesson online would be more of a fun review where they get to do something new.  I think this technology will enhance what to teach by having different options and having the students see the same information from a different perspective.  I think it would still be taught the same way but the teacher could give different examples and would have to be very helpful with the use of the technology with the students.  I would choose my teaching strategies to suit this technology by using it with lessons that I think the students really understand.  I don’t think I would teach a brand new lesson to them with this technology at such a young age, but I would definitely use it for review.