Blog 13 - Assessments

This week in class we talked about and worked with the idea of assessments. There are two main types of assessments which we covered. The first is a formative assessment. A formative assessment is some assignment, quiz, activity, or other learning tool which is used to help students gain an understanding of content.  The other is a summative assessment. These are tests or quizzes which are usually assigned at the end of a unit or class which measures a students understanding of material and thus tracks their proficiency. These relationship between these two types of assessments is that the formative assessment is more of a tool to prepare students and help them learn the material that they will be accountable for during the summative assessment.  This relationship is the guidepost by which we understand how we might use these tools in the classroom. One or several formative assessments could (and should) be used throughout a single unit to help the student grow in understanding of the material. For example, a science instructor might include lab activities or take home worksheets for which students explore concepts and see how they play out practically. Then, at the end of a unit, a summative assessment, such as a test, is a good way to hold students accountable for the material, and to make sure they have reached a proficient level to be able to move deeper into the course. Instructional technologies are very beneficial when creating assessments. They provide many options for interactive activities which can be made into excellent formative assessments, as well as many platforms by which to form and administer a summative assessment. As a future teacher, I believe that this is one area where instructional technology will be of one of its most impactful benefits in the classroom.

Blog 12 - Professional Organizations

As the name suggests, a professional organization is simply an organization for individuals within a certain profession. There are numerous organizations available for teachers from local and state levels to international. The purpose of these is to aid professionals in their development within their career and provide them with resources (publications, conferences, connections, etc.) to do so.

As an aspiring high school science teacher and coach, there are many organizations which are available. For example, the American Educational Research Association (www.aera.net) is a national organization for educators. More specifically, there is the National Science Teachers Association (www.nsta.org) and the Nebraska Coaches Association (www.ncacoach.org). While these all require fees for membership, they all contain valuable resources within their specific realms. They all provide publications and yearly conferences for their members to grow professionally. Personally, should I end up in the teaching profession, I will seriously consider joining both the National Science Teachers Association and the Nebraska Coaches Association.

Blog 11 - Importance of Portfolios

Creating a personal portfolio is a vital endeavor for any aspiring future educator. There are two main reasons for this. First, it is important to use when applying for further schooling or a job. Having a portfolio - complete with resume, philosophy of teaching, etc. - will allow you to have all that you need to apply for positions in one place, and could even be submitted all together. The potentially will give applicants the edge when it comes to beginning a career. Secondly, it allows the student to practice and prepare for different aspects of education. They will be able to think about the kind of teacher they wish to be, and how they plan to go about achieving that. They will also be able to compile all of the resources and projects they undergo in one place, to be referred to later. These could prove extremely helpful, especially during teachers first few years. There are many benefits to creating an ePortfolio, but I feel that these two are the most impactful and noteworthy. I would highly encourage any student who is aspiring to be an educator to begin working on and updating a personal portfolio online.

Blog 10 - Lesson Plan and The Digital Divide

Link to my lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XFrHT9I0Y7mCYpClLHnwAFADvEvyvOLHWKQjCXEZcGQ/edit

I see the digital as a real issue, which could be better addressed in schools. For example, at UNL, the primary mode of online content is through the "BlackBoard" system. While this does expose students to digital forms of learning, it is very limited. I didn't really notice this until the beginning of this Instructional Technology class. We've discussed a multitude of online resources for teaching and learning, most of which I have never used or possible even heard of. Before the class, I would have considered myself at least somewhat digitally literate, but the further we progress through the content, I realize that I was not. This is potentially the case with many college students, both present and future. This could be addressed by incorporating more of these resources into the other classrooms of UNL or even possibly including a orientation course for first year students on these resources as they will pertain to classes down the road.
My goal as a possible future educator would be to weaken this divide simply by including digital resources at least as an option for students, and orienting them on how to use these. However, not all classrooms will have the means to do so. In response, the lesson plan I created is tailored to meet those availabilities. It includes activities and assignments which can be done without digital aid, should that be the case. It also includes ideas for how any available technology could be used within the plan. The goal is to capitalize on any opportunities to expose students to digital forms of learning, while still providing outlets for if the technology is not available and sources of the invaluable face to face interaction with students. Hopefully this lesson plan can fully meet these goals in a way that will weaken the digital divide and help students to grow both in knowledge of the material and how to approach it in todays digital world.

Blog 9 - Bloom's Taxonomy and Mind Mapping

Above is the mind map I created, concerning a possible lesson structure on the systems of the human body. It is organized using the concepts of Bloom's Taxonomy, and contains applications of each concept to the central idea, that being the human body. I was able to instill the use of each to create a sort of building block model to the teaching of the systems of the human body. Bloom's Taxonomy was the basis by which I created the plan, and the mind map was simply the system I used to organize these ideas in a tangible way.
While I was creating this map and considering Bloom's Taxonomy, I realized that they have a lot of relation. It seems that creating a mind map such as I did was the create step in Bloom's Taxonomy. In terms of the human body, I have completed all the steps in learning, and now to take those ideas and put them in a plan for teaching it is a prime example of creating.
Another more noticeable relationship between the two is simply the fact that a mind map is a great way to organize the concepts which go into the idea of Bloom's Taxonomy and apply them to some subject area.

Blog #8 - Digital Citizenship

I chose to focus my Glogster on the ideas from the badges on the Mike Ribbles article. I did so because they seemed to be important guiding factors which direct the rest of his concepts concerning digital citizenship. I combined them into three main points: Ethics, Literacy, and Safety. These three sections seemed to encompass Ribbles' twelve badges fairly well and illustrate the main things that must be considering in terms of digital citizenship. Some ways that these can be presented in the classroom would be via a visual illustration similar to this one, and simply make these issues known to the kids. It would also be helpful to allow them to practice in some way. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to use sites such as the Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network examples to allow the kids to learn these concepts by actually using the technology. These resources could also be given to parents so they can help their kids learn as well.
One big issue that arises as a result the increasing digital citizenship is cyber bullying. This put simply is bullying which occurs via the interactive social websites. The main weapon to use against cyber bullying is knowledge and awareness. To do so, I would instruct the kids on the dangers, guide them to resources such as the Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network sites, and inform the parents on the issue. Also, I would not allow the use of those social network sites in the classroom, aside from instructional purposes. This will ensure that anytime they are on the site, they are using it for education and not personal, bullying purposes. I am hopeful that these strategies will be beneficial in preventing cyber bullying among my future students.

Blog #7 - Universal Design for Learning

http://bookbuilder.cast.org/view.php?op=view%20&book=57434&page=1
(If this link doesn't work, then you can go to www.bookbuilder.cast.org and search for the book "The Scientific Method." It should be under the publisher tag TEAC259, UNL.)

Above is the link to the book I created. I created a book that takes science students through the process by which an experiment is conducted. This will allow students to have guideposts as they conduct an experiment of their choice. This fits UDL, primarily because of its universality among different types of experiments and interests. It can be applied to any experiment the student wishes to conduct. Also, as I noted in my answers to the reaction questions, the principle of previous knowledge is an important factor of UDL's. This is because, without the prior knowledge which your instructional content is built upon, the students cannot succeed at grasping the material at a very high rate. So, I applied this to my book. To do so, I included a page which listed some important prerequisites that students should cover before going through the book and conducting an experiment. This way, they will get the most possible out of the project, and will not harm themselves or others by conducting an experiment in an unsafe manner. There are several other important principles to consider when working with Universal Design for Learning, but this is just one example which I chose to focus on, discuss, and apply.