During Lesson One, we learned basically from the ground up about educational technology. Our readings were concerned defining technology, and the impact it can have on education.
A section that I found extremely interesting was about the factors of learning: cognitive styles, learning styles, and intelligence types. I had heard about some of these before, but since I have no prior background in education, some of it was completely new to me. Knowing what makes students’ learn more efficiently and effectively can really help to guide lesson planning to better fit your class. Although I am not yet a teacher, depending on what age I end up teaching, I plan on utilizing some of the style tests to help map out the best approaches for me to take.
In addition to helping learn about students, knowing about the cognitive styles of your coworkers is extremely helpful. These indicators (most popularly from the Myers-Briggs test) lend themselves to knowing how to deal with others in the ways that best suit their personality.
The ISTE National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (NEST*T) are set in place to set show the standards that teachers should be working towards in their classrooms to appropriately utilize technology. In my future classroom, I will be sure to regularly evaluate my technology usage to be sure it is in line with these standards.
What I learned the most this week was about the abundance of educational software and programs available. Since I am not yet a teacher and have just begun my education degree, I had not been exposed to educational technology. I think that using some things, such as projectors, smart boards, webquests, and web applications allows the material to seem more accessible and approachable, allowing for more than just lecturing or individual worksheets.
Some things I plan to implement in my future classroom include an “eblast” newsletter to parents that will keep them up-to-date on classroom happenings, upcoming events, and to highlight student achievements. This will help model the appropriate usage of technology and also help open up communication between the parents and myself. In order to get this started, I will have to come up with a format, and generate content for the newsletter.
The biggest challenge I see in this is getting parents to actually read and respond to the emails. I plan on trying to overcome this by making the newsletters in a user-friendly, easy to digest format. Sending them at a non-peek time for emails (not in the mornings, or right before close of business) to help get them more exposure.
