Reflection 4

Lesson Plan for TPACK integration

Application
Describe an instructional activity (e.g. part of a lesson plan) where you can incorporate this technology. Consider an activity that can be conducted in 15-20 minutes.

First, provide some details regarding:

• Learners: Who are your learners? What learner/age group should this activity be designed for?

Since I am going to become an ag teacher my learners would be those students who are interested in agriculture. These students are eight thru twelfth so their ability to use Edmodo should be very easy.

• Learning outcomes: What will learners gain through this activity? Be specific regarding the focus of content. You should be able state something like: “At the end of this activity, students will be able to…”

Edmodo allows the students to search and save new articles, take quizzes and do their assignments all in one place, on Edmodo. At the end of each activity the students should gain more knowledge about agriculture subjects by using Edmodo.

• Assessment: How would you know that students acquire the learning outcomes? How would you know that your activity is effective?

Edmodo is designed to upload each student’s grades at the end of each quiz or assignment to a grade book. This allows the teacher to go to the gradebook on Edmodo and see how the students are progressing.

Second, break down your activity into a timeline of planned events and procedures. Here you should describe what students and the teacher will be doing chronologically during the activity. Below is one of the good examples from previous reflections:

• First I will introduce Edmodo to my students and do a quick tutorial of the website.
• My students will then take the time to do any assignments that I have uploaded on Edmodo, just to get the feel of things.
• The students will then stay on Edmodo and search for an agriculture activity on spotlight and must share with the class why they chose this activity, and how it would help the class.

Reflection
Considering your learning activity described above, write two paragraphs or three for each section below addressing the questions. It may be helpful to keep in mind the followings when reflecting:

1. How well the use of this technology may support your teaching strategies in this activity.
2. How effectively the use of this technology may enhance students' understanding of and learning from your particular content in this activity.

The use of Edmodo’s technology is very helpful with teaching activities. I would teach a lesson over a subject within agriculture using the technology of the smart board. After the teaching lesson is finished the students could then log onto their Edmodo accounts and must complete an assignment and a quiz.

The use of this technology makes it much easier to have more time during class to teach students. Also students tend to lose their papers, this way they don’t worry about keeping up with folders and such, they shouldn’t have any excuses about not being able to finish an assignment. Also the kids will do their homework, because the parents can create their own account to keep up with their kids work.

--Pedagogical-Content:

Your pedagogical content knowledge refers to your understanding of teaching strategies that are specific to a content area. That is the knowledge about choosing appropriate pedagogies for teaching a particular content Example: Using drill-and-practice to teach math problem solving. This strategy however may not necessarily be effective for other content areas.

Now, forget about the technology for a while…..Just tells us about your teaching strategies that you employ in your activity (e.g., analogies, demonstrations, illustrations, examples, explanations, group work, drill-practice, simulations, role-play, lecturing, self-guided learning, inquiry-based learning, problem based learning or etc). Specifically:

• What are your strategies and why do you think your strategies are appropriate to teaching this specific content?  What makes you believe it would help your students comprehend this particular content? Give specific examples from your described activity.
• What would be some conceptions and pre-conceptions that students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them when learning this particular content? What would you be concerned about students' prior knowledge, experiences, motivation? Again focus on the content and your teaching strategy, not the technology!

My strategy is for this learning experience using Edmodo to be fun and easy, and not like a normal class. This gives the students the opportunity to advance their knowledge in agriculture by the use of technology to do their assignments. Using Edmodo gives the teacher a more time to lecture and more one on one learning experiences with the teacher.

--Technological-Pedagogical:

Your technological pedagogical knowledge refers to your understanding of technologies for particular learning tasks, your ability to choose technologies based on its fitness, your knowledge of pedagogical strategies, and your ability to apply those strategies for use of technologies Example: Selecting Edmodo/facebook for facilitating student generated debate. Edmodo here is the technology that supports the main pedagogy-group discussion/debate.

In the previous section, you talked about your instructional strategies. Keeping these strategies you stated in mind, now tell us how the technology is used in your activity.  Specifically:

• What main instructional strategies would this technology use serve in your activity? How would using the technology support the way you teach this activity? Please give examples and be specific to your described activity. Think about your main teaching strategies that this technology would support.
• What different classroom management strategies you might need to consider when using this technology in the activity? Give examples and be specific to your described activity.

Without the use of technology we would have a harder time as teachers trying to teach the students at their own individual pace. Technology as for the use of the smart boards allows the students to follow along with a visual instead of having to obtain the knowledge through listening. I would lecture using a power point slide then upload that power point to Edmodo so the students can reflect back the lecture as often as they needed.

--Technological Pedagogical Content:

Your technological pedagogical content knowledge refers to your understanding of how teaching and learning from content may change when technology used and is our knowledge about selecting technologies that suits, support, and enhances teaching strategies and learning activities in your particular content area. It is your understanding of teaching strategies to effectively teach the particular content and help student conceptual difficulties in this content by meaningfully incorporating technologies. Example: Using a flash card app on iPad as a means to aid students memorize words and definitions in language learning. iPad app is here chosen as a tool to support the pedagogy around instant feedback, quick repetition, and individualized learning. These are some of the strategies used in language learning content area.

Now, let’s focus on the content you’re teaching in your activity. Think about your decisions to incorporate this technology and the teaching strategies in relation to your particular content area. Tell us specifically about:

• How would using this technology enhance the way the content is represented in your activity (e.g. demonstrations, explanations, examples, illustrations, analogies, and etc.)? That is why you think the selection and the pedagogical use of this technology may enhance what you teach (the content in your activity). Give specific examples from your activity to support your answer and keep in mind the learning objectives that you stated previously. 
• In what different ways students practice or understand the content in your activity that would otherwise not be possible without the use of the technology? In addition to motivational benefits, what else can students do with this technology as they are learning the content?

Without the use of technology the students would begin to lose focus and stop paying attention to the teacher during the lecture. Technology can bring each student closer together by using the smart boards to play educational games that each student can participate in. I believe that if you don’t involve the students into your lecture and make the learning process fun for them. That they will begin to slack off and not care about the topic being taught to them.

Reflection 3

Taking a product straight from the internet and bringing it to life is something that I had never seen or heard of before. The 3-D printer in my opinion is something that all schools should have access too. Teachers of all subjects can use this item to better demonstrate their lessons.

Students can become very side tracked and loose focus, but having something in the class room that you are physically able to touch and hold is much more exciting for students. Rather than another paper they have to read. Teachers are always ordering new models to show the class that are not always what they had in mind, this allows them to create their own models. The 3-D printer I think could eventually save the school money on materials.

Allowing this technology within schools will benefit ones learning capability by being able to see the finished product. This printer would help improve those students that struggle comprehending things. Shapes and formulas in geometry can become very stressful and confusing, the teacher can use models to show the students what exactly they are looking at. 3-D can be used in many different ways from projects to lessons.

Reflection 2

At Oklahoma Union where i attended school from pre-k thru 12th, we didn't have the luxury of much technology within the classrooms. Going into my senior year they began to  install smart boards, from their they got new i pads for the classrooms. I always thought this was a good idea at first, but then none of the teachers would use them because they didn't know how. I never was fully introduced to a smart board until my freshman year of college. Now I understand the benefits of having technology in the class room whereas without it the students are less engaged within the lecture.

All schools that have installed some new sort of technology such as online grade books to new programs, smart boards, printers and more, need to be offered a class or seminar that shows them an idea of how to use it. I think that the teachers know the material but can better explain to students thru technology within the classroom. 

The transition from high school where we still wrote our essays on paper to college where I had to learn how to type and what MLA was. I have experienced the change of technology thru the school programs, I think that technology has had a huge impact on my learning capabilities throughout the years.

Reflection 1

In my opinion the average person will never be up to speed with technology, as it is changing and growing more each day. These four articles made me think about our future and what type of technology that we may be facing one day.

Teacher Technology Usage Survey is one that I have seen as I observed a middle school math classroom. The kids were using computer programs to further their education in math. This program was a treasure hunt so they couldn’t move to the next quest until they answered the equation correctly. As they answer the questions it told a story to keep them engaged of what was to come next. I believe schools and teachers will begin to use more technology in the future.

Equivalency of Paper Versus Tablet Computer Survey Data seemed to not have much of a difference as to what people preferred. I think that more surveys will be performed using a program on a tablet for the convince of tabulating results quicker with less error.

The Home of the Future should become very useful to those with disabilities. Some people are unable to access drawers, this calls for someone to constantly follow them around helping with their every move. I think the technology in these home could be very beneficial to those with special needs allowing them to become more independent.

The Twenty-Five Best Inventions of 2015, almost all of them I didn’t know they were invented. A neat one was the desktop DNA lab, saving lives and finding cures is one of the most important things in life, this could eventually help reduce the number of lives lost to diseases. The gen baby monitor could allow more single parents to have more time doing other task than always having to check in on the baby.