Assignment for November 9

Does this activity differ from much of the activities you engaged during your K-12 education? How? or How not? Give examples.
ANSWER: Even though it does not seem that I graduated that long ago (2007), the schools that I attended did not have the technology that these fourth grade students had access to in their classroom. Most of my experience in computer labs involved basic keyboarding and learning basic computer skills. Even in high school, the computer classes focused on keyboarding skills. It appeared that about the time I was in high school that the “new” technology in my county was introduced to the K through Fifth Grade students and not the high school students.
Is your learning style addressed in this activity? How? Give me an example.
ANSWER: I certainly feel that this is a learning style that would address the way I learn because I consider myself a very visual learner. In addition, the way each page in this Wiki was organized really appealed to me. I also do much better when the information that I am dealing with is concrete. However, this example started with concrete information and then gradually led the student to use higher order thinking and problem solving skills. By presenting the information in sequenced steps, I feel that this would help me to move beyond just focusing on concrete information. One other example involves the Voki. Even though this information was delivered auditorially, the visual representation held my attention as if someone was explaining the information to me.
This project was implemented without the use of textbooks. Are you surprised? Are you interested in teaching in a similar way when you become a teacher?
ANSWER: I was not surprised. But I certainly was impressed with the final product that the Fourth Graders produced. And I was also impressed with the organization of the entire project. My answer to this question is simple, yes, I would be very interested in being able to teach in a classroom that aligned the standards with innovative ways to introduce students to the concepts involved with digital media. This Wiki was an excellent example of showing how involved students become in a project that is of interest to them. Allowing students to participate in an authentic learning experience through the use of digital media was an effective way to encourage creativity and collaboration among the students.
What are your concerns and what do you anticipate as being barriers? (5pts)
ANSWER: I do have some concerns. Some of those concerns involve the following:
• The availability of digital media, some schools may be located in a county that does not have the resources available to provide technology for every school;
• If a school is fortunate to have the technology in their school, then the administration needs to make sure that the teachers receive the appropriate in-service training to be able to integrate the digital media in their classroom; and
• Teachers finding time in the curriculum to engage the students in producing a Wiki, with all of the interventions currently taking place in the schools, schedules sometimes are full of math and reading interventions.
Some barriers that I would anticipate may involve things such as an administrator that does not support the use of digital technology, breaking away from traditional methods of teaching, and teachers who are not willing to look at our CSOs and come up with creative and innovative ways to use technology in their classrooms. It seems that even though we are told that we have 21st Century Learning Skills to follow, some teachers insist on traditional worksheets and tests instead of utilizing project based learning and authentic experience, which I feel is more meaningful to students.