I haven’t taught or seen the SAMR model that Dr. Puentedura explains on his video. However, I think the concept of Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition model is a great way to adopt the efficient use of technology and paperless work for students as they will be using technology devices in their life at some point..
Currently, this model is not really use at the school where I am currently teaching pre-school/kindergarten students, but we do use some technical devices to teach our students. One reason that this level of technology integration is not happening is because our school is currently in transition to an International Baccalaureate program. I think our school will be moving forward to another level of technology integration in the coming years. As an early learners teacher, I would like to prepare my students on how to adopt and learn the proper use of technology so they can help themselves develop and prepare to adopt 21st century technological skills. When that happen I will surely apply the lessons and resources that I learned from EDUC 932.
The picture above summed up to what I think about. I choose this article from essential reading beyond laptops because I think its unique and for me its easy to understand with the picture illustrated and how they connect to each other. I like how connected learning infographic illustration shows the value of each component that aim for a successful outcome of every educators and lifelong learners like us that benefits our students.
The concepts I learned in this class that I will be able to use or incorporate in my teaching is first the movie unit project that I made. I learned how to make a movie using different avatars that I made of my students. I showed the movie to my students that I made for this class and I was surprised that they were able to recognize themselves and enjoy the video. I think making a lesson for my kids using video can be a more interesting fun way of learning. Secondly, the audio lesson I made was also a great way of teaching my class. Having an audio recording for story time with young learners is much more interesting for them. Thirdly,, by having a webpage that is more organized and easy to understand was a great concept that helped me communicate better to my students as well as to their parents too. This also served as a paperless way of communication to as currently we use a paper book to communicate and as a way to update the daily activities of the students in preschool.
EDUC 932 has helped me to equip my skills in using modern technology in my class. I enjoyed this class and learned new concepts on using technology better than before. Thank you Professor Steve Katz for taking us to this wonderful journey of E-learning.
The aim of this audio storytelling is to practice reading skills and the use of correct pronunciation of each word from the story. This activity is for K3 students that are able to read a short story.
Instructions for students
Objective
Make an audio recording of your favorite short story.
Requirements
Read a short story.
Speak clearly and smoothly.
Use appropriate vocal tone and pace.
Audio requirements
Make a short audio recording of between 50 and 180 seconds from a short story book.
The audio recording must be clear and avoid some noise background
Record the audio using Vocaroo and send to our class website.
I started using google site to communicate with my students parents a month ago. The reason why I created this site is to share some photos of my students with their parents rather than sharing on my personal facebook account. I am new to this type of application and I’m learning how to organized better my folders that works for the parents.
This movie project is aimed for 4th graders class who knows the basic concept of movie making. They are studying about different kinds of animals that live around the world. The aim of my class is to identify what animals survive in cold and hot places.
Instructions for students
Objective
Make a short movie about different kinds of animals from around the world.
Home school and online education concept. Internet technology, computer e-learning, studying student, learning in university, knowledge and book, distance web study college illustration.
Education in Today’s World
Education in today’s world is rapidly evolving. Unlike education in the past where it had the three basic foundational areas, reading, writing and math. Today with the internet, the countless smart phones in the hands of kids as early as preschool. Education is playing a catch up game. Trying to keep up with every new scientific discovery, mathematical system or geographical exploration. The books that were in the past could at least be expected to last five to ten years. However, now books are becoming obsolete within a year if not months. The question of education in today’s world is a difficult one because its hard to nail down where exactly the educational system is and where its going. Of course there are a lot of positive effects that come from the impact of today’ world…technology, availability of smart phones, computers, etc. However, if society, parents and the educational authorities don’t do something fast to put some type of parameters around how technology should be used, incorporate and involve in the educational system. It makes simply disappear. In the past in the USA, there were the basic grammar schools, junior high schools and high schools. Then in the late 80s and early 90s, parents started complaining that the standard school system wasn’t doing its job. So what was known as alternative schools start popping up throughout the USA. Some supported by the educational board of their district and some were not. My husband went to one of these alternative schools and he says it was the best learning experience he ever had…and he has gone to several schools, colleges and universities since then. Soon after they got used to the alternative school idea, then another new type of school started popping up. These schools were called Chartered schools. Initially they were not supported by the district education board because they were taking government educational dollars away from the standard school system which was already having financial issues. Now with all these none technological events knocking at the already failing educational system. What and how do you think about how all today’s technological advancements will impact today educational system both locally and internationally? There may even come a time when parents elect to keep their kids at home and let the internet educate them. So hello and welcome to the World Wide Web grammar, junior and high School…attendance 10,000,000 and climbing.
The article that I choose from Beyond laptops essential reading is 9 Essential skills kids should learn by Leo Babauta. Before I express my thoughts about the article let me give you a brief summary of the article. Leo talked about how to prepare our kids for a world that is unpredictable, unknown in the ever changing world we lived in. According to Leo it requires an entirely different approach to child-rearing and education. It means leaving our old ideas at the door, and reinventing everything. Leo and his wife are homeschooling their kids or what they call unschool their children. They want to teach their kids to learn on their own, without handing knowledge down to them and testing them on that knowledge. Part of this experiment, he talked about himself also learning along with his kids. He ALSO talks about what are the nine essential skills kids should learn:
Asking question
Solving problem
Tackling project
Finding passion
Independence
Being happy on their own
Compassion
Tolerance
Dealing with change
I agree with what Leo talks about in the first part of his article that kids in today’s school system are not being well prepared for tomorrow’s world. The reason I say this is because some students in developing countries, particularly in Asia, are not taught to ask questions and most students don’t know how to ask questions. In solving problems, sometimes students struggle a lot because they are not used to doing it on their own. Instead, they often rely on having the teacher solve the problems for them. I liked that Leo includes finding passion and compassion for essential skills that every kids should have. I think it’s very important that children should be taught not only how to value their interest but learn how to love it and how this will make them successful in any field that catches their interests. Teaching kids at a very young age to be independent is really important because this will shows them that they are capable of accomplishing things. Also preparing kids to deal with changes is a very critical part of their learning and development because we never know what holds for them tomorrow and with that said, it reminds me of someone who is close to my heart always telling me that it’s better to be prepare for something because if you are prepared for nothing…then expect nothing to happen. As parent and an educator I will certainly apply this skills to my son to prepare him for the ever changing world we live in.
Queenie Lively 