Two Weeks of Reflections

Last week's class on assistive technologies was very informative, because there are so many devices out there that my future students may be using in my classroom. I realized how helpful it would be for me to be aware of these technologies in the event that I need to fix or troubleshoot something if a student is having a problem. Learning about assistive technologies is amazing anyway, just because it's so wonderful to see the kind of help they can provide students with disabilities. It's wonderful that these devices are out there because they can help make life as typical and easy as possible. I look forward to learning more about these technologies in the future.

As far as the videos that were shown today, I was blown away by the quality and entertainment factor of the three groups who presented today. I enjoyed every single moment of each of the videos that we saw, and I am so impressed that these groups were able to put their videos together in such a short amount of time. I'm inspired to improve my group's video after seeing these, and I hope that I will be able to have the opportunity to do so in the future. I think the videos shown today reflected modern and relevant teaching practices, because each of the topics was extremely important to today's teenagers, and the delivery was both humorous and informative. I can't wait to see what the groups next week are going to present.

Chapters 8 and 9: Practical Uses of Technological Tools

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I am sad to say that I did not find chapters 8 and 9 as informative as I wished they could be. I found that chapter 8 was very repetitive of chapter 6, although it did go into some greater detail about sharing information via Wikis, blogs, and teacher-created websites. Similarly, chapter 9 spoke about many types of multimedia technologies that I am already aware of, and I was disappointed to see that I did not gain much new knowledge from either chapter. However, there were a few relevant points made in the chapters that are certainly worth expounding upon.

Chapter 8 discusses teacher-created websites as a way of maintaining open lines of communication between teachers, students, and parents. Although they are time consuming to make, it is really an investment in the rest of the year, because teachers end up saving time in the long run when students need reminders about upcoming homework and assignments. I imagine that it is difficult to keep these sites updated consistently, but they prevent students from having the excuse that they did not know what the homework was or what the requirements for a project were. This chapter also mentioned how important it is for teachers to analyze the clarity and ease of use of these websites, which I believe is an important consideration when creating and maintaining the websites. If students cannot find the information they need easily, they are less likely to utilize the service provided for them.

Chapter 9 mentioned many different multimedia tools and the importance of multimodal learning. The author brought up an extremely valid point when discussing the multimodal learning – it is crucial that teachers create interactive, rather than passive, lessons. No matter how much media is included, many students will tune out boring lessons, thus making the effort the teacher put forth to create the lesson worth very little.

A final point made by the author in chapter 9 concerned the use of PowerPoint presentations in class. With such widespread use in middle and high school and especially college, PowerPoints have become, in some cases, little more than a digital representation of notes that would just be written on the board. Teachers, as a result, must be cognizant of the way they use PowerPoints in their classrooms. Theorist Edward R. Tufte states that PowerPoints “usually weaken verbal and spatial reasoning” and promote a “cognitive style that is contrary to serious thinking.” (p. 247) Although I don’t agree with Tufte wholeheartedly, I can say from experience that I have been taught with PowerPoints that do just that. The question is, then, how do we create PowerPoints that are interactive. Which promote critical thinking? Are PowerPoints always “contrary to serious thinking”?

I believe that teachers of all subjects could utilize this tool in a way that enhances the learning of their students, just as long as they keep in mind exactly what they want their students to get out of the lesson. The author makes an important point in chapter 9 by saying that teachers may get caught up in the appearance of the PowerPoint, without enough focus on the desired outcomes. Do you think that teachers should focus on the appearance of the PowerPoint, or should they focus only on the content?

Tonight's Takeaway

Up until tonight, I was very concerned about doing the group video project. However, with our groups formed and ideas thought out, I am actually looking forward to all of the shooting that we will be doing.  Our group seems to be on the same page, and all of us are enthusiastic about shooting our Irish Soda Bread video.