2. Lifelong learning is not just a teacher preference; it is also a requirement for maintaining state certification. Technology literacy courses and workshops are some of the most popular learning experiences for certificate extension and renewal. Do you believe that taking additional courses in technology literacy is as important as those for your content or discipline? Is too much emphasis being placed on developing and maintaining technology competency? Defend your view.
Personally, I feel like technology literacy is just as important as content literacy. I don’t use traditional textbooks in my classroom. I try to use a variety of new sources of information, whether it be a podcast or Youtube video or a non digital book. Technology has revolutionized the way we learn and communicate. Technology can also create a different medium for students to learn. Maybe the student isn’t an auditory learner and a visual representation would help them better. If so, a visually stimulating and interactive program would be better than a boring old lecture. I feel that if our students are using technology to learn, then we should embrace that same philosophy and use technology to teach.
Chapter 2
3. You have learned about a variety of technologies useful to support learning in this
chapter. With which one of these are you most comfortable? Which are most useful in helping to prepare 21st century learners? Describe the technology and its potential applications in the grade level or content area you wish to teach and demonstrate why it is most appealing to you.
Of the technologies listed in the chapter, the only one that I have experience with is Rubristar, which I have used to create rubrics. I was planning on using EasyTestMaker near the end of this past school year, but I never got around to it. I do, however, use a website to create word searches and crossword puzzles for my vocabulary words. I would like to try LiveBinder and Wordle this year. I like LiveBinder because it creates a place for the students to place their work so that I can view it easily instead of having to track one of them down each time I want to grade a paper and cant find it. I like Wordle because it creates a visualization of a text. For example, when I teach Poe’s Tell Tale Heart, I want students to see repetition and understand what it represents. By using Wordle, the words that are used most often will be larger in the word cloud. When I look at technology to use in the classroom, it has to be beneficial and easy to use.
Chapter 3
1. Many teachers write objectives and focus their instruction at the three lowest levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Why do you think this happens? Do you believe it is an appropriate emphasis? How might it help or hurt the learners?
The three lowest levels are the easiest to get students to, so it makes sense that some teachers would stop there, say “Ok, they learned something. My job here is done”, wipe their hands clean, and pat themselves on the back. I feel like we are cheating our students out of a decent education by doing this. We need our students to be critical thinkers. We need our students to be curious about what makes things tick and why things are the way they are and is there a better way.