Pinterest Educational Tool

Pinterest Educational Tool.....

Animoto is an amazing Educational tool, you can create a video, post it, and share it.

https://www.pinterest.com/brindley7/educational-technology-tools/

Future of Educational Technology

The rapid progression of technology in our world has made and will continue to make a huge impact on education.  The trend that are noticeable to me and will continue to rapidly move through the educational field are:  Virtual learning, mobile capabilities, open content, ease of information access, and global or cloud access. (NMC. 2013)  The school districts should pay close attention to these trends, they are impacting schools, families, and communities already and will only become more prevalent in the next few years. 

The use of computers is in every home, workplace, and personal use and will continue to be an accessory in all of the above areas.  The schools must embrace and engage the students in learning the different technology tools out there.  Classrooms will become more virtual than they already are and in most high schools will be completely virtual in the upcoming years.  If the student is old enough to stay home and care for themselves, the need for physical classrooms will diminish.  The world is a mobile society, with devices in our hand to access content and information from anywhere, at any time, as long as there is wireless or data capabilities. (OEBd. 2013)  I see the wireless and data capabilities becoming an anytime/anywhere soon.  The areas that will be most affected by this will be rural areas with agricultural base and little or no service connection. 

Virtual learning will enhance the classroom environment and bring the world to their fingertips.  The teacher will be able to lead the students anywhere and at any time through online searches.  The accessibility of content and information being just a search away will bring a more engaging learning environment for all learners.  The idea of a flipped classroom is not new to many school districts and the idea of being able to attend school anywhere is going to increase in need and in functionality.  The students will desire to learn at their own time and in their own environment, such as this class does, and have the flexibility and to have the mobility and freedom to take their class with them anywhere.  Any curriculum can be enhanced by the virtual, mobile, ease of information and content access, and the global aspect of incorporating any culture, topic, and interest into the classroom to engage and teach the lessons needed to be taught.

References:

NMC.  2013.  Horizon Report.  Retrieved from:  http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-report-k12.pdf

OEDb.  2013.  7 Ed Tech Trends to Watch in 2014.  Retrieved from:  http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/7-ed-tech- trends-watch-2014/

Technology Standards in Education

No this is not a picture of me... I do not look quite that enthusiastic at this moment in my life.  

Many of my friends and family know I am completing my coursework for my Library Science Degree.  

This is one of the reasons my Blog has sat empty for the last few months.  You will see some action in the near future with my current class of Foundations of Eductional Technology.

This week I am assigned to blog on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the standards teachers use as a guideline for their class.  

Unless you stay home and not go anywhere, you will need to utilize technology in some form or another. How soon is too soon to start promoting technology with our children?  I heard on the radio that no age is too young to teach how to use a digital device.  Then I was talking to a friend and she said her two year old granddaughter knows more about the iPad and how to navigate through it than she does.  Now she is 70 years old and kudos to her for trying her hand at the iPad, let alone keep up with the two year old.  I know many in that age bracket who would not touch an iPad, let alone desire to learn to use one everyday.  

Teachers today are taught and encouraged to incorporate the ISTE Standards for Students or Standards*S into their classroom.  

The standards are:

1.      Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity.

2.      Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments.

3.      Model digital age work and learning.

4.      Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility.

5.      Engage in professional growth and leadership.

With all of the newer standards being introduced with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), incorporating the Standards*S into the lessons should be a positive and enriching practice for the student and teacher.  When a teacher chooses a goal for the unit from the CCSS and then selects one or more forms of technology to teach with and use for practice and assessments the lessons can flow positively and improve learning in all students. 

When I was in school eons ago there were no computers, calculators were a new concept, and white boards weren't even a thought yet.  We had overhead projectors and teachers were still learning the uses for them.  We had chalkboards and much of our assignment tasking was listed on them.  We used the chalkboards for mathematics computation, vocabulary, and spelling words and not much else.  I do remember using a driving simulator for our practice driving exam.  It reminds me of the Atari driving game with the steering wheel between your lap and the controls to manuever.  I do not think it really helped me learn how to drive, though.  Nothing compares to the actual behind the wheel. 

For me I think the ISTE Standards for Teachers are great for today.  There are so many tools that a teacher can use to promote creativity, engage the students in the lesson, explore the world through digital tools and resources, increase in knowledge faster than ever before.  With the backward design of lesson planning the teacher can select the standard they wish to teach and for the students to master, then they can choose their tool to design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning and assessment for all learners in their class.  Students now are more educated and technologically advanced than I was in school for sure.  I think the standards now taught would have brought the digital age to the forefront, with faster thought processes, and deeper thought processing in my education and enhanced my education.  

References:  

EDU 352 Classroom Instructor Guidance.  2015.  Retrieved from:

      http://classroom.ashford.edu/re/DotNextLaunch.asp?courseid=11921658&userid=33531020&sessionid=89e436bac3&tabid=nNOqV0ANUpOFochjnA1lLsQ74rSEAKG5aHOLuO+tOBzEG2yjIIGp5uF9HTqw2skNpOTUKyJH52AogrJsXlU+1rIpLZEB/7jKgTaHSX096Gs=&sessionFirstAuthStore=true&macid=spbYa+d7DjF6dptJ2lZb/gGApI7GQPufyNtRV2PJ8D1/1Bv+NA6DcuGB/R52jHMYl2k8b7iQBSQGTKy4mMtszXDJARRE9tyj7GR6mocTUKHLFJR8Nt8mUKJOkcDpIZDEBy+0az4NJNFH++6CZM8V/jiTrE5MMnWiAunziQbFwD3QJ8Ps/W3AdFieAzfF2Z0mKOIOEP8ttE85uq/Y2INMfvuwCJQ2UHifZfRxfKX654rFu2yIV3JPclJRXHr+tTliRLmHElFuGRFeLY2+sWGZ+iziU35L/Zi7r1+bJ9Ubhg8= 

ISTE. 2015.  ISTE Standards Teachers.  Retrieved from:  http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-T_PDF.pdf