Course Description:
This class is designed to introduce basic technology skills to enchance teaching and learning.
The focus is to produce teacher-created materials for effective technology integration. Class participants will work
collaboratively to develop curriculum and design projects that integrate technology for effective teaching or learning.
Students will create projects that are: content driven with essential technology integration,
effectively organized, multicultural and gender-fair, appropriate for the intended audience; aesthetic and creative in its
design, and written with proper source documentation.
Reflection on Course:
One of the first important content was the use of a digital camera and its use in the classroom.
It can become one of the most valuable classroom tools. It can be used to motivate students to write and to improve
student portfolios, classroom newsletters and report cards. One fun assignment was to download pictures from the Internet
and write about a memorable vacation using pictures. This assignment brought many wonderful memories, which can enchance
a student's writing skills. Using a digital camera can become an autobiography book while a student is in a certain
age and grade.
Another fun assignment was to download a self portrait and draw an item that represented my
family, where I came from, and something that I valued most. The last part was to draw an item from a paint program.
This assignment told all about me. This I could have students do.
I have learned to use different types of tools on the computer to help my classroom like using
the program: Inspiration. This uses graphic organizer which will be easy for students to write their stories or other
assignments.
Another lesson that I learned is using WebQuest for assignments or for researches. This
is a very useful tool to use in the classroom. Finally, I learned to be safe on the Internet because there are people
who could abuse you on the Internet. You have to be careful.
Practicum Experiences:
I went to two classrooms to observe how technology was being used in the classrooms.
(1) this was a mid-school using WebQuest. Students were to create a travel brochure for an assignment. (2) this
was a kindergarten classroom. The teacher had a smartboard where students see and also be able to write on it.
The teacher was teaching the letter "h" with its sound. Students got a turn to draw something that started with that
letter. Also the text could be changed to a different color. Students enjoyed this a lot and I did too.
