Course Reflection on Foundations of Educational Technology and Some Things I've learned Too...

I cannot believe how fast the eight weeks have flown by! I went into this course with a lot of anxiety because I didn't know how juggling my home, work and graduate school would go. I have to say that the amount of work in this class, is exactly what I remembered from when I went to get my masters in Educational Leadership. Technology has always been something that got my interest when it pertains to integrating it in Physical Education. Through this course I am finding that some of the discussions have been difficult. The reason I have had a hard time relating with other members of the cohort is because my class is very unique compared to a general education teacher. One of my main goals as a physical educator is to get students moving. Technology can be a motivator for kids to help get them to move, but it can also make them sedentary. I like using heart rate monitors as a way for kids to use technology and help them create goals for movement in PE. I have also noticed how technology can make things easier for me during class. Students are so savvy with technology and having students scan a QR code for a Google Form quiz allows for grading to happen a lot quicker. Now, enough talking about what I already know...what have I learned in this first course?

The global networking in Educational Technology is what I believe is one of the most important things I have gotten better at. I had a Twitter account before the class started but really didn't know what to do with it. Now that I have learned how to have a Twitter chat I feel this could be a great way to network with other educators. Twitter Feed Here is where I have learned how to engage in a chat. Before this class, I only would post random lessons or try and learn lessons from other teachers. Now I feel comfortable enough to engage in a chat with my professional PE organization. I feel like in my busy home life with 3 kids, Twitter chats are an easy way to be engaged but still be able to manage getting kids to bed!

Another small but great thing I learned in this class was how to do a screencast lesson by using the QuickTime player. When I started learning about this important instructional tool, I did not know how to create one. So...I used one of my favorite resources, our Librarian. She is very knowledgeable on technology and is able to help a lot faster then putting in a helpdesk ticket with out district. Using the QuickTime player screencast tool will be beneficial for my classes because I will be able to send my students lessons ahead of time to optimize my short 25 minute class. If I am able to provide videos as resources to using technology then I found that it takes less time during class troubleshooting with students. One issue I have found is that not all students do their homework, which means I still have to cover material the next day during class. Below is a link for a YouTube video I uploaded that shows how to do a screencast. After doing the screencast, I uploaded it and then put it in viewpure so there were not ads.

http://viewpure.com/26f-iO-hAUE?start=0&end=0

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EEND680Y - 21st Century Ed Leadership (Fall 2019)

Late Start Professional Development In my over ten years in the district the biggest frustration I have had is the lack of professional development. This is because unfortunately Physical Education gets thrown on the back burner in admins list of to-do's. So...most institute days and staff meetings are unplanned for PE teachers and open ended. As great as this might sound to some, it's a curse to others. Most of the time we end up debating on assessments, teaching new lessons to each other, revisit fitness standards, and so on. This project was really useful to me because in the near future I would like to start planning and developing more useful professional development for our department.  Not only will this be useful it can be three solid days of persuading others to start using more technology in PE. Walk-Through Putting on administrator's hat in education is hard to do but when your neck isn't on the line can be fun! This activity allowed me to see education...
Read more

Genius Hour Post 3

Image
The picture above is what my wife showed me after we moved into our new home. She said, " I just bought this for the boys room, can you build it?" My reaction to this picture was...sweating, anxiety, anger, and of course why did you want me to build it! Couldn't we just buy one on craigslist pre-built and put it in a truck to bring home? These are the feelings and questions I ask every time a new project is introduced to me that needs tools or building. I would rather play sports, watch sports, or go for a run then build this thing! So...I called my handy brother-in-law over to help. He said this won't be a problem and will be easy, until he got to my house. There were boxes full of wood, boxes with hardware, and directions that looked like they were in a different language  Here are two of the six boxes that included the materials for this project. Someone that can do projects like this easily around the house to me is considered a "handyman". I ...
Read more

Technology Integration Blog Summary

The article I will be summarizing was the one  about news and entertainment media in the classroom: Using media as a means to interest students is essentially what the article is about. Using context to me is like a "hook" of a story. Media can be used as a means to get your students excited to learn and also visualize what component you are trying to broadcast to the class. Using current problems or issues in the media are ways to get students to learn historical events that mirror what is current. This is important to me because how many historical events do students say, "it's already happened so it doesn't affect me." When in reality a lot of events in our history are very common with current events in the media. Comparative media studies are assignments that have students study how media can influence their lives. The addiction of scrolling through news feeds and social media is studied and then used to help students gain an advantage in the co...
Read more