During
the same week we received instructions to collaboratively create a inventory of
technologies used in the educational setting of our specific content areas for
CURR 316, my READ 411 class was assigned to find an article that discusses how
technology is used in our content areas. I found different sources for both
assignments, but was surprised to see how similar yet different the results
were. While the website I mainly used for the inventory and the article I used
for READ 411 listed several of the same technologies (ex: Web Quest,
Powerpoint), the website offered greater possibilities by including mediums
such as comic-generators that go beyond the standard classroom technologies.
The more creative technologies found on the Teaching English with Technology
(tewt.com) website that I included in the inventory really struck me as useful
for keeping classroom content engaging. The technology inventory has definitely
helped me in READ 411 by enabling me to expand beyond the more basic
technologies discussed in the article I used for class to more creative ones.
While the topic of content-area
technology has not yet arisen in my CURR 314 class in the form of a formal
discussion, it has been subtly present in our discussion of the performance
task. When creating a performance task, technologies included in the inventory
can be used for student projects in producing something (brochure, video,
comic, etc.) that helps demonstrate understanding and analysis about a topic.
Additionally, plagiarism-detecting software and content managers like
Blackboard are two of the technologies included in our inventory that can be applicable
to assessment as plagiarism-detecting software aids the evaluation of formal
papers while Blackboard allows instructors to provide students feedback as well
as allow students to view their grades and know how well they are performing in
the class. Overall, the inventory has proved itself to be fairly useful
already.
Since I am also in the same READ 411 class, I agree that the technology inventory has expanded my idea of technology as well. This also goes along with what we have learned in READ 411; literacy is no longer solely referring to print literacy, but the definition has been expanded to include digital literacy. I am also in your CURR 314, but I attended a workshop on Saturday sponsored by ASCD about lesson plans that elaborated more on technology in the classroom. During that workshop I learned more about Common Core standards and the push to integrate technology, which was only briefly discussed last class in CURR 314. This inventory will help us in our future classrooms because it is part of every content area's standards to integrate technology.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the importance of incorporating more “creative” technologies in the classroom setting. In our Curr 314 class, we discussed what exactly constitutes creativity and how difficult it is to actually grade it. While I do agree that creativity can be a tricky quality to measure, I also believe it mostly comes down to a student’s originality, how he/she incorporates his/her personal style. By incorporating technologies such as comic-generators, we grant students the opportunity to express their originality in different forms. They are not just limited to pen and paper (or like nowadays word documents). As English majors, I think we can agree that sometimes it is very difficult to find that particular word that expresses exactly how we feel. Pictures provide different mediums of expression. I guess to a certain extent it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words.
ReplyDeleteI also found that my three teaching classes were overlapping at the point when our group was working to develop an inventory of technologies that can be used in the English classroom. I found that a lot of the technologies that websites were listing were repetitive, and somewhat generic. I think that it is important to constantly be on the look-out for newer technologies that have the potential to be incorporated into our own lesson plans one day.
ReplyDeleteOne of the technologies that you mention in this post is about the use of plagiarism-fighting websites and databases. As English teachers, these are technologies that are going to be crucial to fighting plagiarism in our classrooms. Plagiarism is, especially in English, always a huge concern for teachers and professors. By utilizing these technologies, students will have to carefully learn how to cite their sources, which is a very important skill to have.