Sunday, October 25, 2009

Resources for Philosophy of Technology Portfolio

Here are some resources provided below that might be helpful for pre-service teachers to use when developing their philosophy of technology. The sources helped give me a better perspective about my own philosophy of technology and will help me in developing my own portfolio.

Adams, Dennis, Helen Carlson, and Mary Hamm. 1990. Cooperative Learning and Educational Media: Collaborating with Technology and Each Other. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.

Britt, Judy, Joe P. Brasher, and Lydia D. Davenport. 2007. “Balancing Books & Bytes.” Kappa Delta Pi Record 43, no. 3: 122-127. The techniques presented in Brit and colleagues’ article suggest that computers should not replace the need for students to read good books. However, sharing a book can employ contemporary strategies, such as project-based learning, that provide an exciting balance between traditional teaching and technology tools


Carter, LeAnn, William J. Sumrall, and Kristen M. Curry. 2006. “Say Cheese! Digital Collections in the Classroom.” Science and Children 43, no. 8: 19-23. Digital cameras offer great potential for incorporating technology into lessons. Camera provide creative uses of technology in the classroom and can be used for a variety of interactive projects as well as a source of documentation in the classroom.

Ching, Cynthia Carter, X. Christine Wang, Mei-Li Shih, and Yore Kedem. 2006. “Digital Photography and Journals in a Kindergarten-First-Grade Classroom: Toward Meaningful Technology Integration in Early Childhood Education.” Early Education and Development 17, no. 3: 347-371. To explore meaningful and effective technology integration in early childhood education, Ching and colleagues investigated how kindergarten and first-grade students created and employed digital photography journals to support social and cognitive reflection. These students used a digital camera to document their daily school activities and created digital photo journals to represent their experiences. The authors also discuss implications for meaningful technology integration in early childhood education.

Fox, Christine. 2008. “Elementary Schools: The Time Is Now.” T.H.E. Journal 35, no. 7: 10-11. Fox describes how various schools across the country are offering formative assessment tools to help teachers apprehend students’ learning difficulties early on in the learning process.

Kali, Yael, and Marcia C. Linn. 2008. “Designing Effective Visualizations for Elementary School Science.” Elementary School Journal 109, no. 2: 181-198. Kali and Linn’s research has shown that technology-enhanced visualizations can improve inquiry learning in science when they are designed to support knowledge integration. Visualizations play an especially important role in supporting science learning at elementary and middle school levels because they can make unseen and complex processes visible. They identify four principles that can help designers and teachers incorporate visualizations into curriculum materials.

Kovalchick, Ann, and Kara Dawson. 2004. Education and Technology: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Ohler, Jason. 2008. Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Sorensen, Elsebeth Korsgaard, and Daithí Ó Murchú, eds. 2006. Enhancing Learning through Technology. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishers.


Zawilinski, Lisa. 2009. “HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking.” Reading Teacher 62, no. 8: 650-661. This article describes instructional practices with blogs in elementary classrooms. Four common types of classroom blogs with accompanying examples are shared: classroom news blogs, mirror blogs, showcase blogs, and literature response blogs. This by Zawilinski provides teachers with a systematic way to integrate blogs, deepen comprehension, and teach the new literacy of online reading comprehension.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Educational PowerPoints

Here is a fun PowerPoint game that we found at http://teach.fcps.net/trt14/Power%20Point%20Games/power_point_games.htm.
Teachers can use games like this to help students review information in a more interactive way. Finding PowerPoints online can aid the teacher because she does not have to create a game from scratch.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Stress of Online Exams

So, this week I found myself putting off taking the online exam and online quiz that were required for our Comp 204 class. Why? Because I was wary about online testing and didn't want to deal with the hassle of a sporadic internet connection. When I finally decided to tackle the inevitable, I logged onto the Grove City network and entered the looming exam site. It was not a typical classroom setting because I was sitting in the commuter lounge in the SAC in a comfy, oversized chair listening to music as I read through the questions and searched for answers in the textbook. This was my first experience working on an online quiz so I was worried when my internet connection cut out. I was afraid that I would not be able to continue the exam. As luck would have it, I was able to answer the remaining questions when my connection came back and even had time to spare. The looming doom I had been so sure of prior to taking the quiz was no longer in sight.

After taking the exam, I thought about how this could be a useful tool in my future classroom. As a future educator, I would want to strive to incorporate technology appropriately into the classroom. By allowing students to take quizzes online, it would give students the opportunity to choose where they take the exam. This could relieve test taking stress that many students feel in a typical classroom setting. Can it truly be that the stress of online exams can actually be a stress reliever?