Ch. 21 Instructional Designers and P-12 Technology Integration

   I read the article about instructional design in the schools and during the reading it talked about how the technology that was used changed student and teacher behaviors. One thing that I read in this part of the article talked about how even though teachers are implementing this in their lessons and classroom it was having small or no impact on the students learning. The thought of this was surprising in some sense but also hit home, not so much for me but for things I have seen. Some of the reasons that the authors of this book thing that this occurred is because, students used computers for high-order use as well as low-level tasks. This caused a mixed approach which was thought to have impacted the students approaches.
   Another thing that they found was that teachers only used the technology because they had to, based on money given from educational technology grants. This means that they didn't put forth the effort towards it and only did it because they we expected to. Lack of teacher training is another issue that comes about. I think this especially falls for teachers that have been in the school system for years and are now getting trained on using items that they are not familiar with. This can cause the use of the technology to be ineffective. The last part that they mentioned in this part of the article, that can cause low impact on education is, that the assessments is used for low level learning. It doesn't work towards the high level learning activities, which in a lot of ways is something that you would want to work for. I would want my students to be challenged and taught higher level learning activities.
   These issues are something that I never really considered. However, I have seen some of these issues. I think that teachers with no background and that have no experience with technology can have an issue with not enough training, I have seen this happen, I have even had it happen with me in this class. I have not been familiar with some of this technology, but I am glad that I have had to do these activities, instead of just being trained on them. These issues are something that everyone should be aware of and think about when they are using technology in the classroom.

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Business and Industry Readings

  After reading the Business and Industry readings I found some things that could be helpful in classrooms. I took the skills as things that I could do in a future classroom of older children. One of the things that the article talked about was about designing instruction for a cross-cultural workforce. This part of the article talked about making various word choices and to have illustrations that convey different meanings for various cultures. I think that this would be helpful in a class setting that has many English language learners. They can use it to help them do homework and classwork. It would give them a chance to make comparisons with things from their culture and things with the culture that they are currently living in. It would also make things more understandable if they are learning new things. Another thing about designing instruction for a cross-cultural workforce is that it would give students an idea about various cultures. For instance say that you were learning about the Mexican culture in a Spanish class, this type of program could help students to view things that are common in that culture, they could make comparisons as well between the two cultures. It would also give students a first hand look into some of the culture.
   As I was reading more into the chapter I read about technology based training. I thought that this would be a good tool for students who are absent often due to an illness or injury. This would let them view lectures, practice classwork, do homework and get feed back from the teacher. Another thing that this could be used for is homework or teacher/parent communication. This could be a site that parents went on to see what their child has been up to in the classroom. They could see some of the skills their child has been learning and practice them with their child. I think this would be a great tool to get parents involved in their children's education.
   This article gave me some great ideas on things that I could use in the classroom or to keep in constant communication with my families!

Gobles Google Map

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Google Map Lesson Plans

For my lesson plan I decided to use something that I have done in the past, and to use the new tool of Google Maps to make it better. Something that I always study with my children are the local business around the school I teach. Most of my students are from the area and visit these businesses frequently. I made markers on the map of the various businesses in the area that we talk and learn about. In the description I discussed what those places are used for.

Pod Casts and Human Performance Improvement

After reading the article there were some things that I thought that would be helpful. I liked the idea about how the HPI talked about being organized and having requirements that are strict and to the point (discussed in the stimulus part of Gilbert's Behavior Model). This is important because in order to run a successful classroom and for children to know what to do and to get good grades, they  need to know what is expected of them. I think in order to be successful it is important to know what is expected of you, and this is something that I try to do with my preschoolers. Another thing that I try to do, but need to do more of that is talked about in the stimulus section is feedback. I am constantly giving high fives and verbal praise to my students when they do something that is showing their knowledge of the expectations. Even thought this is something I work on, it is something that I can always improve on.
The podcast that I chose to highlight was the educational section of the website npr.org. This website is National Public Radio, it has podcast and topics that are current in the world. I looked under the educational section and found a podcast that talked about No Child Left Behind, giving funding or cutting funding to failing schools, using smart phones in class and so much more. I think that this website is helpful for teachers to see what is going on in the world and to hear from different people discussing their opinions on the matters. Whats nice about this site is that there are multiple other topics for you to see, hear and look at!
I think that pod casts could be something fun and educational for children in upper elementary, middle and high school grades. It gives them a chance to express their opinions and to present information that they have studied and learned about. Another thing that I think would be cool is to have a podcast that is represented by students that is presented to the school. They can use this to talk about certain subjects like bullying, drug and alcohol abuse, upcoming events, news events and other subjects. It could be a weekly thing for the students to listen to at the end of the day. I think this would be a great thing to incorporate, especially in a middle or high school setting!

Educational Blog

http://www.npr.org/sections/education/


This website will take you to the National Public Radio website under the education heading. These pod casts talk about current events in the educational field. It also talks about the hot topics and controversial items that come up in the world of education. This website also lets you listen to pod casts from other subjects that may interest you!