TEL 313 Reflection

                This semester has been an eye opening experience for me.  I have grown so much in just this class alone, and it has changed my entire perspective of what incorporating technology into my future classroom.  I am happy to say that I feel like I have enough tools and materials to bring technology to life in terms of my future classroom.  The “light bulb moment” came to me when I was in the middle of doing my Digital Storytelling Video project.  To be completely honest, I was feeling terribly overwhelmed and dreading the project.  But as I was starting to edit my video, I began to realize how simple it really was!  I was teaching myself and it was a great feeling to be learning a new technique.  Although this was the most difficult part of the course for me, I am really proud of my final product and feel confident that I could easily do it again!  As a future teacher, I will be able to instruct, lead, and direct my future students into a process of exploring new ways to use technology.  Showing them how to use something as simple as power point in new ways can be a very valuable experience.  I now know that it is very important to work at a school where technology is important enough for students to have access to many forms.  I will be looking for a school that puts technology at the fore-front of its curriculum.  In order to keep up with the ever changing and always growing technologies, I will try to keep up to date with the latest in technology, and especially how to implement it into the classroom. 

                I found it interesting in the reading by Sprague and Dede how beneficial constructivist classrooms are.  “In a constructivist classroom, students are more actively involved than in a traditional classroom.  They are sharing ideas, asking questions, discussing concepts, and revising their ideas and misconceptions” (Sprague, & Dede, 1).  This is the perfect classroom for students to dive into new ways to integrate technology into their lives.  Students can be engaged in learning how to improve their technological skills and how to be involved.  When teachers allow students to explore different avenues of technology, their roles change.  The teacher lets go of the control and permits students to become engaged in their own learning.  This is so exciting when school becomes more about student learning than a curriculum that needs to be taught.  “Teachers sometimes are concerned

about such a shift; they worry about losing control, not fulfilling their role, or being seen as less effective by parents, principals, or supervisors” (Sprague, & Dede, 2).  But it is when the teacher relinquishes that control and lets the students explore.

                 “American schools aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks. Kids spend much of the day as their great-grandparents once did: sitting in rows, listening to teachers lecture, scribbling notes by hand, and reading from textbooks that are out of date by the time they are printed. A yawning chasm (with an emphasis on yawning) separates the world inside the schoolhouse from the world outside.” (Wallis 1).  It is so important for schools nationwide to be a part of the technological revolution and hop on board and encourage students to do the same.  According to Dennis Pierce in the article, Educators wrestle with digital-equity challenges, “Students who lack this access to technology are at a disadvantage, ed-tech advocates say, because they are missing out on opportunities to learn and to become participants in an increasingly digital workforce and society” (Pierce, 1).   Students who are actively involved with technology and who are encouraged to use it in the classroom start to feel good about accomplishing something on their own. 

                In conclusion, this course has been such a growing experience for me.  I truly believe that students have a positive reaction to the use of any form of technology in the classroom.  It really can benefit them in so many ways and is helpful for them to connect to the world. 

REFERENCES:

1. Pierce, D. (2008, July 8). Educators wrestle with digital-equity challenges. eNews, Retrieved from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=54429

1. Sprague, D., & Dede, C. (1999). Constructivism in the classroom: if i teach this way, am i doing my job?.

1. Wallis, C. (2006, December 10). How to bring our schools out of the 20th century. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html

Digital Storytelling Reflection

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIGITAL STORYTELLING REFLECTION

By:  Rachel Nathe

TEL 313

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            The ever-wise Albert Einstein said it perfectly when he stated; “It has become appallingly obvious our technology has exceeded our humanity.” There is so much that can be learned as well as taught when technology is brought and used correctly in any classroom.  I learned this while I was working on making my Digital Storytelling Video.  My eyes were truly opened to the potential there is for any K-12 classroom in America today.  Before completing the Digital Storytelling Project, I thought that technology in a classroom meant going to a school’s computer lab once or twice a week for an hour or so.  There, a student works on power points, tool around on the internet, send an email or two, and maybe just maybe, learn something new.  But I have realized that it does not have to be like this.  The above description was how I went through the K-12 system.  My computer teachers really enjoyed playing on the computer and showed us how computers worked, but it was nothing more than the bare basics.  But I am now learning that there is more out there!

            After reading the Wallis and Steptoe article, I noticed a part that I found to be particularly interesting.  “American schools aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks. Kids spend much of the day as their great-grandparents once did: sitting in rows, listening to teachers lecture, scribbling notes by hand, and reading from textbooks that are out of date by the time they are printed. A yawning chasm (with an emphasis on yawning) separates the world inside the schoolhouse from the world outside.” (Wallis 1).  This really stuck out to me as such a sad picture of today’s classrooms all around our country.  How disappointing that we have not grown as an educational society!  Many other industries such as the car industries, businesses, and even colleges and universities are moving more toward technology being a main focus to concentrate on.  It seems that we as educators are doing a disservice to our students if we do not move with the ever-changing technological based society that we live in.     

There are so many virtues to bringing technology to one’s classroom.  Students can start exploring many types of technology.  For example, the Smart Board, Skype, voice thread, and even discussion boards can be easily integrated into any K-12 classroom.  Many students who do not feel like they are a part of society or the school can really engage in technology and learn new ways of communicating – like discussion boards.  Technology has the power to impact and affect anyone. 

There are also a few drawbacks that could occur within the world of technology in the classroom.  It is sometimes difficult for school districts to compete with the ever growing and ever changing waves of technology.  Some schools in low SES regions may not have the funds to pay for computer labs or computers in each classroom, or a projector, or even a Smart Board.  According to Dennis Pierce in the article, Educators wrestle with digital-equity challenges, “Students who lack this access to technology are at a disadvantage, ed-tech advocates say, because they are missing out on opportunities to learn and to become participants in an increasingly digital workforce and society” (Pierce, 1).  It is sometimes difficult to keep up.  It is sad that many students will be at a disadvantage in many other areas of their lives when technology does not have a presence in his or her classroom.

Technology can speak to anyone.  It is a powerful tool that should speak with a message.  That is also what I learned through working on the Digital Storytelling Project.  During class one day, Professor Foulger showed my class a video with a very powerful message.  It was a message that grabbed me right away.  The hook was Sarah McLachlan playing a guitar singing.  It made me curious at what was to transpire next.  The entire video was completely captivating.  I was overwhelmed with the amount of information (which what part of the message wanted).  I wanted to learn more after the video was finished.  It was so powerful to watch, and I found it to be very profound.  I wanted to convey something like that in my video.  Instead of it being intense and a bit overwhelming like the Sarah McLachlan video was to portray a certain message, I wanted mine to convey simplicity and importance.  I wanted the audience to only hear the words that my mentor teacher was saying because that was the most important thing in my video.  I did not have any background music or anything flashy that could have possibly distracted from the important points of my speaker. 

In conclusion, my eyes were greatly opened while going through this journey of working on my Digital Storytelling Video.   It was such an educational experience.  I would love to try to incorporate something like this into my future classroom because I think my future students would get a great deal out of it.  Using MovieMaker was a lot easier than I thought – it was fun!  I am really glad I was able to do this assignment – it was more than just a project, it was an eye-opener. 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

1. Einstein, A. (n.d.). Technology quotes. Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/quotations/technology/
2. McLachlan, S. (Artist). (2006). World on fire [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SkdyRcK9KM
3. Pierce, D. (2008, July 8). Educators wrestle with digital-equity challenges. eNews, Retrieved from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=54429
4. Wallis, C. (2006, December 10). How to bring our schools out of the 20th century. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html

Comments on Today’s Opening Video

After watching the video at the beginning of the class, I noticed a few interesting parts.  I first liked how, at the beginning, there were clips of people talking and conversing with each other, but no voices.  The only sound was that of the up beat music playing in the background.  I also liked how all of the footage was in black and white.  There was also the same music throughout the entire video, which is good because it is a main theme throughout the video.

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