Blog Post 10 - the final one

--       As a future educator in the making, I find it extremely important to know how to navigate and effectively utilize Data Collection tools. Not only will these tools make my job one-hundred times easier, but they will assist me in staying organized and thorough while keeping track of my students grades. I am interested in teaching elementary aged students, K-5, so there is no particular subject matter I would be delegated to. This is where data collection tools can come in hand because since I will be teaching more than one subject throughout the school day, I will need a reliable to source to enter grades into and to keep track of my students and how they are doing in my class. Overall, data collection tools will make the grading process, and mathematical aspects of calculating class averages and final grades much simpler.

--       While reviewing my classmates blogs from EME 2040 I was taken back by how creative some of my fellow classmates got in terms of formatting their personal blog. I could tell a majority of the class really took this semester assignment seriously and aimed at make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Not only were the aesthetics on point, but the content of the writing in the posts and the graphics included exceeded my highest expectation. Through looking at these blog posts and blog sites, I’ve gained knowledge on who my classmates are as people and it seems to me they will be excellent at whichever profession they choose to pursue - * fingers crossed that it’s education *

--       The week prior to Thanksgiving break this semester I was granted the opportunity to take an educational trip to New York City with Florida State’s advertising club where we toured a multitude of advertising firms in the heart of Manhattan. One thing that really stuck out to me about this trip was the heavy emphasis my potential future employers put on being able to actively and effectively navigate Excel and Photoshop. Yes, as a high school graduate and current undergraduate college student I know how to work Excel… But do I really? Do I know the ins and outs on how to formulate something though this data collection site? I don’t think so. Therefore, I would like to learn all there is to know about Excel and Photoshop so that once I land an internship or job I can impress my superiors with my tech skills. I’ve done some research and found online classes that aid you in becoming a master of the arts in Excel and Adobe Photoshop and I plan on completing this course before this summer rolls around. I am thankful to EME 2040 for helping me develop both basic and advanced tech skills that I will be able to put to use for the rest of my life not only as an educator, but in any profession I choose to pursue.

blog post nine

- The “flipped classroom” is an innovative blended delivery model that currently has a following in K-12 and postsecondary education. This particular model is an outgrowth of educational vodcasting (educational video casts) of content first broadcasted by teachers, Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergman at Woodland Park High School, Woodland Park, Colorado. This instructional approach began by making lectures available to absent students and expanded to “flipping” the way students and teacher spend classroom time. Rather than students using the time spent in their classrooms listening to a teacher lecture on content and then working with that content for homework, in this model, the student listens to prerecorded video lectures for homework before coming to class. Thus, in the “flipped classroom” model, what traditionally occurs in the classroom (lecture) is prerecorded and delivered as homework outside the classroom setting via technology. This changes the students’ role from passive receivers of content to active learners engaged in exploration and discovery within the content’s framework.

* LINK: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/100-videos-lessons-flipped-classroom-joe-hirsch 

- I could not locate which podcast that was specifically referenced in blog post nines’ prompt. But, after looking searching “what is meant by ‘open’ terms in education?” I received numerous answers that I hope will suffice. The terms include open education, open access, open universities, open educational resources, open textbooks, open research, and so on. So, what do all these “open” terms mean/ refer to in education? Open education or education for all describes a free or very low cost school, college, or university where education is available to everyone within a particular jurisdiction, and it is usually funded primarily through the state. Open access to programs that lead to full, recognized qualifications – this is offered by national open universities, or more recently by the OERu. Another example is open educational resources that instructors or learners can use for free, like MIT’s open-courseware, which provides free online downloads of MIT’s video recorded lectures and support material, as well as open textbooks that are free for students to use. Overall, these “open” terms make learning more efficient for a digitally divided classroom.

 

-During our last class session for EME 2040 we worked on the Powerpoint for Information Dissemination assignment. Honestly, this task took me much longer to complete then I had anticipated and allowed me to brush up on my Powerpoint skills. Prior to this assignment, I had not known how to access the shapes tools and add cool lines and forms into my Powerpoint presentation. My assignment was on the Planets in our Solar System, so the addition of cool shapes and lines leading to one another was aesthetically pleasing, and quite informative to students who would be learning the content. I enjoyed re-learning how to effectively use and implement a hyperlink into an assignment because I am aware as a future educator I will need to know how to use that tool. I had no particular dislikes about this assignment, I felt as though it was very open, creative and easy to complete.

blog post 6

-        -For this task I decided to stay close to home and use the high school I attended, Southside High School, located in Long Island, New York. Since I am no longer a student at Southside I had very limited access to the content on the websites homepage and course-related sites. Despite this minor setback, I was able to find a multitude of helpful resources under the Instructional Info and Web Resources tabs without a log in. Specifically under the Instructional Info tab I came across a list of departments ranging from physical education to math and sciences with helpful links, tips and resources on each page. On the social studies page there were review materials offered for the state-wide regents exam, general course and teacher information, citation guidelines and many more helpful tools. Overall, my almamater’s website is very easy to navigate and provides a helping hand to students and parents alike. These subject specific web pages are available for freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school.

 Attending Florida State University has truly helped me come into my own and discover what I would like to do with my life. My passion for working with children shines through in almost every aspect of my day-to-day life, yet sometimes I become overwhelmed with educations rapidly changing structure as it becomes more technology-based. Will I be able to keep up with the advancing technologies and teach my students effectively? In order to be a successful teacher in the future I will strive to utilize the technology software available to me such as productivity software, classroom management software, and apps all of which will make my job as a teacher much more manageable. These technologies have the ability to assist teachers in preparing memos, lectures, reports, and in reporting required student information. The apps are useful in that they offer mobility while providing many of same functions as productivity software in order to efficiently get things done.

In today’s class we visited the Technolgy Sandbox located on the 3^rd floor of the College of Education building. This was my favorite class period thus far because we, as students, were able to interact with virtual technology that we can use in our classrooms as future educators. Not only did I learn useful tips on how to function and navigate the abundance of technology offered to us, but I also learned about new technologies that are offered in schools that I didn’t even know existed such as the 3D printer and 3D pen. My favorite technology I came across in the Tech Sandbox was the Oculus Rift. Although this virtual reality tool is very expensive, if a school were to budget to have at least two located in the library or a tech lab where all students could access them it could do wonders for students and increase creativity within the classroom. I also thoroughly enjoyed the SMART Table. I’m interested in working with younger kids either in pre-school or early elementary so I think the SMART table would be a great tech tool in the classroom to immerse kids in games all while learning at the same time.