Teaching with Technology Blog- Wrap up and Closure

Two insights that expired me while taking this course is not being afraid to try something new like blogging. Another thing that inspired me  is to do my research on the different technologies that could be used in the classroom, even if I view it as boring because it just grasp a certain students attention being that everyone is unique.

Two insights related to andragogy that inspired me is to know the student population that I teach. It is important to know what tools to use to teach students. Another insight that I have gained is to take time and plan my lesson around the learning objectives to make sure the students learn the course content.

I will incorporate these insights into my future teaching practices by exploring different teaching and learning practices to make sure the students are grasping the learning material. I will also use different technologies to accomplish the learning objectives of the course.
                                                                                     Terry Mc Quay M.P.A.

EthicalCosiderations and Positive Social Change

The technology that I selected is Blackboard Learning Management Systems. I have always enjoyed working with Blackboard while teaching my students. Introduction to Government is a fun but boring course. I make the course fun by posting videos on each chapter that will help the students understand. I engage the students by creating discussions that are mandatory.  Two research papers are due in the semester that I have the students to submit through Safe Assignment via Blackboard. Safe Assign is a “anti- plagiary software like TurnitIn that detects forms of plagiary” (Mozgovoy,   Kakkonen, &Cosma, 2010, p.513).

Ethical issues to consider in the POLS 101 is that everyone has right to voice their opinion, but respectfully. Cain, Fink, and Sparm (2010) identified such  rights as freedom of speech which I value and  encourage to use respectfully.

Social change can be seen by the diverse population of students collaborating together and learning from each other. As a minority, I find it wonderful that different cultures can engage, learn from each other while being professional.



References:
Cain, J., & Fink, J. L., III.(2010). Legal and ethical issues regarding social media and pharmacy education.American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 74(10), 1–8.

Mozgovoy, M., Kakkonen, T., &Cosma, G. (2010). Automatic student plagiarism detection: Future perspectives. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 43(4), 511–531.

Sustaining Technology Use

                                                                 Sustaining Technology

The technology that I choose was Learning Management Systems Blackboard. Blackboard is not new in the field of education and is normally used in addition to f2f classes, well at the community college I work at. Students normally can log into their classroom and access additional learning material that the teacher has posted.

The benefits of backboard is that it provides a learning atmosphere on-line where the teach and students can collaborate. It is designed for that particular class. Sometimes student seem afraid to try blackboard and I make it a requirement to log in to see their grades, check announcements, take quizzes, upload and download documents for the class.

I use blackboard in POLS 101 Introduction to government. I post research material that the students need in order to complete the two mandatory research papers that are due to successfully complete the course. I post announcements every week with videos to supplement the chapters. I also post power points for each chapter that the student can use to really the test that are kind of challenging.

Blackboard can be used to foster learning by the availability of the classroom away from campus. With blackboard students can work with other material that the instructor has posted that would have learn the material related to the course.  I also post links to You Tube videos that the student’s love. Videos supplement learning and students retain information longer from watching these videos ((Buzzetto, 2014).

Blackboard can be implemented with the “same requirements as a face to face class requiring the students to log on a specific amount of times while allowing flexibility” (Guillermo, n.d, p.62).

Strategies that I would use to sustain blackboard in my course is making discussions mandatory, downloading and uploading of material to past the course. I would also create quizzes and test within blackboard.

References

Buzzetto-More, N. A. (2014). An Examination of Undergraduate Student's Perceptions and Predilections of the Use of YouTube in the Teaching and Learning Process. Interdisciplinary Journal Of E-Learning & Learning Objects, 1017-32.

Guillermo. (n.d.). A Study of the Effectiveness of Blackboard Collaborate for Conducting Synchronous Courses at Multiple Locations. Retrieved from files.eric.ed.gov/full text/EJ1035850.pdf

Using Technology to Foster and Assess Student Learning

Using Technology to Foster and Assess Student Learning

The technologies that I chose were Blackboard and You Tube, I chose those technologies because You Tube is very popular and Blackboard is a popular teaching tool used to teach on-line and F2F .The benefit of Blackboard it that the instructor can maintain the grade center, email, post announcements, create discussion, create links to other websites like You Tube that have a selection of videos. 

I would use this technology to engage students face to face and on-line by developing goals and objectives  that aligne in order to be successful and would include strategies such as: 

(a) involving key stakeholders (students, faculty, 

administrators, parents, etc.); (b) ensuring that all goals and 

objectives reflect the individual and organizational values; (c) 

making it clear why they are critical to student success; (d) 

making sure the goals and objectives are measurable; (e) 

having the resources to meet the objectives.


I would use the technology to to engage students by 

having Students have “increased availability, quick 

feedback, improved two-way interactions, tracking, and 

building skills such as organization, time management and 

communication” (Writing Goals and Objectives. (n.d.)

I would use this technology to to asses student learning by 
establishing. In order to accomplish these objectives the students will be assessed in multiple ways by “establishing clear, attainable, measurable outcomes of students learning, providing opportunities for the student to achieve these outcomes and revising teaching practices to meet these objectives” (Gibbons,2011, p280).

References:

Writing Goals and Objectives. (n.d.) A Guide for Grantees of the Smaller Learning Communities Program. Retrieved from www2.ed.gov/programs/slcp/slc-wgandobj-book-f.pdf

Gibbons, B. (2011). Improving graduate students’ writing abilities: An analysis of a formative outcome-based assessment technique. International Journal of Learning, 18(3), 279–292.

MD4 Using Technology

One technology that I have used to engage my students was You Tube. I know people think of You Tube as just for fun but You Tube is very educational. My students seem to love it. I teach POLS 101 and it it really helps to get subjects across. Say for instance I am teaching on Shays Rebellion, there are many videos that I can consider from You Tube. 

I have noticed that majority of my students love to watch videos. Afterwards, they are eager to engage. Students spend so much of their time watching videos, using their cell phones, and ipads until I feel that it is a must that they are engaged the same way in class. 

 One disadvantage of You Tube is that there is so much debate on just about everything. Also, you have to watch the videos because they can get away from what you may be trying to teach the students. A benefit of You Tube is that a student can understand things from different points of views. In the future, I may consider uploading educational content, especially when class is cancelled because of bad weather, which is frequent in the winter. The students can look at the videos from their mobile devices allowing me to still get my lecture to the students ( Fuegen, 2012).

My children learn so much from their mobile devices. I remember one time I received a tweet from one of my students. I thought, hmmn "How can I use twitter to make POLS a fun and learning experience for my students. Although I teach F2F incorporating  You Tube, twitter, and blogging will also a sort of blended content experience for the students ( Greyling, Kara, Makka, and Van Niekerk, 2008).

 I have really enjoyed blogging although it was totally new to me. So many people blog and now I one of them. I am going to continue to blog. 

References:

Fuegen, S. (2012). The impact of mobile technologies on distance education. TechTrends, 56(6), 49–53.

Greyling, F., Kara, M., Makka, A., & Van Niekerk, S. (2008). IT worked for us: Online strategies to facilitate learning in large (undergraduate) classes. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 6(3), 179–187.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases

Blog 3 Teaching with Technology

 
 Five online technology sources that the community has where I am an adjunct is Blackboard, Instant Messenger, email, Microsoft Office templates, and links and videos that are in You Tube that helps the students with just about anything. I really love Black Board and I am certified to teach on-line. Blackboard  reaches students from diverse setting (Greyling, Kara, Makka, & Van Niekerk, (2008). The templates are great because sometimes students do not have word, power point, or excel to complete their school work.
   
     I am pretty good at using lots of technology. I live to learn new things!!!!! I am always curious when I see my children doing something that I have not tried on the computer, I pad, I pod, or even when playing games on their play stations. My biggest fear is being left being as technology advances. To keep my skills up I take advantage of professional development course at the community college. Also, I continue to further my education at Walden pursing my Doctorate in Education. One professional development course that I loved was the completion of my on-line instructor certification. Also, I attend the yearly conference that is sponsored by the community college.
 
     I use many techniques to teach and learn. I value You Tube because so many people use it and share their beliefs, leanings, and teachings. You Tube is very educational because professors upload their lecture which help people to learn. I love Blackboard, especially the grade center. I can also have my students email me through their class in blackboard. If I have my students download IM, I could communicate with my instantly creating a chat time. Kock and Garza (2007) argued that people need body language such as facial expression, and body language in order to learn. With this in mind,  creating voice links and uploading lectures really help students who need this sort of interaction to learn.

References:

Greyling, F., Kara, M., Makka, A., & Van Niekerk, S. (2008). IT worked for us: Online strategies to facilitate learning in large (undergraduate) classes. Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 6(3), 179–187.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases

Kock, N., Verville, J., & Garza, V. (2007). Media naturalness and online learning: Findings supporting both the significant- and no-significant-difference perspectives. Journal of Innovative Education, 5(2), 333–355.
Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Blog 2 Technology

I work at the community college as an adjunct.  Five resources that are available at the college are Learning Management systems, Microsoft Office, texting, YouTube, and twitter. I am comfortable working with all five resources. I love the internet so I am always learning how to use various applications. 

There are many faculty development opportunities at the community college where I work. There is a training portal where faculty can log on to take advantage of training's that are available. Professional development course that I use to enhance my skills are seminars and training classes. I am a Mental Health Case Manager. I attend training's to keep up my certifications. For each seminar that I attend I receive credits. I also take advantage of YouTube videos. My reading and writing skills are much better since I have started my doctoral journey. My professional practice can be improved by continuing my education, taking advantage of seminars, and taking advantage of employer training. 

One suggestion for improving support of classroom technology is maybe students who work as emergency technicians who can come to the class rooms to assist the instructors when technology fails to work in the classroom like the overhead projector, or sound issues.

Learning management systems such as discussions boards, email, and blogs allow students to learn collaboratively ( Wichadee, 2014). I enjoy using the discussion boards where all of the students can join in. Social networking is great way to engage students because nowadays everyone is on some sort of social network. Social networks that most student use are Face book, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest, and Linked In (Buzzetto-More, 2014).

References

Buzzetto-More, N. A. (2014). An Examination of Undergraduate Student's Perceptions and Predilections of the Use of YouTube in the Teaching and Learning Process. Interdisciplinary Journal Of E-Learning & Learning Objects, 1017-32

Wichadee, S. (2014). Students' Learning Behavior, Motivation and Critical Thinking in Learning Management Systems. Journal Of Educators Online, 11(3), 1- 15