Blog 7

     My experience on twitter prior to being in this class mainly consisted of interacting with friends and updating followers on various activities I was up to. With this class I have learned what else could be found on twitter and it altered my viewpoint of what social media platforms can be used for. Such as an institution, like Florida State, using twitter to post updates on different events going on around campus and it allows a closer connection for students to get faster updates on what they are interested in. My main issue I experience with twitter is forgetting about it. Since I never used it before or saw all of the opportunities it can provide I often find myself not remembering the importance of it and posting updates.
     With the web design assignment the hardest thing I had to deal with was figuring out how to make one of their preset layouts look the way I wanted it to and edit all of their words/art work to be my own. While designing my website I gathered new skills such as the ones went over with "CRAP" to make sure it was visually appealing and easy to use at the same time. In the future this assignment will help me know different tools to design a website for different classroom needs.

https://eme2040rachaelwilliams.weebly.com/

     Although I do not personally know anyone who has used an adaptive learning tool they are very beneficial to people who have disabilities. Such tools include an adaptive keyboard which varies depending on how the person needs to be assisted. They can have limited input options on the keyboard and provide visual aids. Challenges that could arise would be multiple kids needing different variations of the keyboards and not being able to afford all the different sorts.

Blog 4

https://voicethread.com/share/11468368/

ILP 1 - Participation

   For this assignment I decided to complete one of the tutorials through Lynda.com. I really enjoyed the way each lesson within the tutorial is broken down and it shows the content to the side. I selected to learn more through the tutorial "PowerPoint for Teachers: Create Interactive Lessons" because for the field I wish to be in after graduating I felt it would provide useful tips for being successful. I have taken notes on the certain ways they explain is best for writing a "perfect paragraph" or keeping the interactive presentation consistent for students.

Blog 6

     When looking up a school website I decided to go back to my High School's, Freedom High School in Orlando, Fl,  website to compare what I know now about how other websites are formatted to the information I had available to me. Some of the information they have available through their website is the different classes offered, the clubs/ sports programs, and different events coming up involving the school. They have personal updates from faculty to provide more in depth information about certain topics such as the menus and what each area is up to with dates and other important things that people may want to know.

Freedom High School Website

    I plan to use technology to accomplish my responsibilities more efficiently by using certain tools available to me online such as a planner and reminder tools combined to constantly have what I need to get done all in the same place and accessible at my fingertips. Also as a teacher I can use these tools to relay information to my students and keep them up to date with what they need to know.
    The visit to the technology sandbox was very interesting and exciting to see the new technology that is being used in classrooms to enhance the learning environment for students. I really enjoyed the interactive augmented reality tools they used to help understand different aspects of science or other subjects because it allows the materials being taught to come to life in the place they are familiar to.
   

Blog 3

     One of the ELA standards that I am most prepared to with is the key ideas and details. It is one of the basic standards that gives the backbone for all others. If students do not understand how to understand the main idea of the topics places before them it will be difficult for them to go more in-depth with their learning through the other standards. As I am still learning new ways to become a teacher some of the standards I could still work on would be integrating the knowledge and ideas and showing students the main ideas through various formats to ensure their understanding of the material. I decided to read into the second grade tool kit for CPALMS as I am majoring in elementary education I thought it would be interesting to see what I could possibly use in the future specifically.      One of the tools that I would use in my classroom would be describing how an author uses reasons to support specific points in a text. This would be a good way to engage the students with the text and help them understand what is being said rather than memorizing the text. It is something that can start off simple and get harder with time which is a good way to teach kids and get them to think harder about certain things that they read.
      While working on the newsletter design it allowed me to use a template on word I had not had the chance to use before. I used different tools such as making a two column list and how to get this done without showing the table that was used. The hyperlink was also something new for me that I was always curious how to do. Many of the skills, such as the header and date features, would be beneficial to me as a teacher when relaying different information to the students and/or their parents.

Blog 2

     Microsoft word is probably the most common online tool that I have used for classes as a student. Whenever I had an assignment due, such as a paper, I would always use MS word to help me complete it. I always used the basic features that word could offer and never realized how much it could actually be used for. I have seen teachers before using the different templates which I thought was a very helpful feature for multiple uses. It can allow you to write memos, or newsletters, and resumes that can even provide certain hyperlinks if sent online which will be very useful knowledge for applying for jobs and also teaching students.
     As a student, I never had much experience with copyright issues. I would use certain materials found online for different projects in school but always assumed that if I was able to get access to it and properly show my sources then the fair use of materials would not be an issue. As a teacher I would have to be more careful while accessing certain materials online because it would be for more than just a one time project and would be used by multiple people and sent out to others. I would make sure that all the tools I use were fair rights to everyone accessing them and it was stated that I was allowed to use them for my classroom use.  I would also make sure that my students were aware of what was fair use and what was not when searching the internet for different materials to use for their work and how to legally use it without creating a copyright issue.
     A solution that I feel would be efficient with academic honesty would be starting from a young age showing students the consequences that dishonesty can bring and reminding them the positive outcome of being honest can bring. The same can be said for finding a solution with cyber bullying; Students should know the effect what they say to someone can have and as well as all the bullying seminars given to younger kids I think it is important to remind them that even if it is online and not physical it is still considered bullying and can be harmful to the victims of it. So often it is never brought up or discussed but if students were aware how big of a deal it actually is it could decrease the amount of times it happens significantly. A solution to copyright, which I started to discuss above, would be teaching students how to know when something is copyrighted and in what ways that material can or can not be used.






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Blog 1

     I think that the idea behind there being endless tools to different ways of learning is what influences teachers and students to use technology in the classroom. It allows for all the information they need to be in a single place rather than having to search in multiple sources to find a single answer. When education is made easier it allows for students to take the time to learn more at a single time.
    One of the standards that is most meaningful to me is the 'learner' section for educators. I think it is important to understand that as teachers we are still constantly learning new techniques because even though our education may have stopped the world of technology is constantly advancing and it would be beneficial to the students who are familiar with each new advancement that their teacher knows how to utilize it and incorporate into their learning. A standard that seems outside of my current skills is being able to design new activities and environments to further education with technology. I am able to learn about new skills so as I am learning them I hope to gain new knowledge into creating techniques through them to help with teaching students.
     I agree with the term "digital native" for today's youth because it is the generation that first was becoming accommodated with the technology that is newly being formed. The title is given to mean that they are the people who will be using it first and getting to know it before most because it is what they are encountering rather than what other generations were using. As a student, I see many professors trying to give a lecture and being unable to figure out how to start a presentation on the screen or turn on their microphones. When these troubles arise I often see them clicking multiple buttons on the panel in front of them hoping one of them will do the job they wish and not before long a student will have to go to the front and can figure out the button to use within a few seconds. As technology continues to advance, I can see myself having similar issues as a teacher and relying on students' guidance at times because so often as technology advances people will still stick to what has been known to them rather than trying something new and that is why new generations are often the natives because they have nothing else to familiarize themselves with other than the new advancements placed in front of them.