Blog post D. Chapter 5.

In the book, fluency is defined as approaching a task or a topic as an expert would. I think of fluency as knowing it that topic well enough to teach it. "Connecting fluency to learning using technology offers children and adolescents ways to practice higher levels of thinking about topics." (Maloy,2013) Being fluent in teaching is important, in any subject or grade, in this case the book talks about being fluent in technology. As teachers I agree completely, technology is a fun way to motivate and involve the students in the classroom activities.

Electronic note-taking personally is one of my favorite tools to use. One app that is talked about in chapter five is Evernote. You can access this from a computer, tablet, and smartphone, the multiple  ways to access your notes can be very handy for me as a college student and would be especially helpful to a teacher who is always moving around the school. Evernote is personally my favorite, but there are many other websites for digital note taking as well, such as; One Note, and if you are nit wanting to pay you can always use a word document, which is also an effective way to take digital notes. 

While giving students the use of technology is a great, fun way for the students to learn, you are also trusting that they are using it wisely and respectfully. It is very simple to expect students to know what to do and how to do so. As a student myself, I know that accurate explanation as to why I'm doing the work or for example citing something in a paper.  In this chapter it gives a list of creative ways to connect service, curriculum, and technology, by asking students to:

• Review books, media, and websites 
• Add content to school or community websites 
• Create web products for the school or the community 
• prepare others in the school or community to use technology  
• Do community oral histoires (Maloy,2013)

Resources: 

 Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Blog Post C. Chapter 3.

Unique. Powerful. Transformative. Each term conveys how digital technology can affect the attitudes and behaviors of teachers and students in ways that propel new learning and organizational change" (Maloy, 2013) Unique suggests that electronics cannot impact students the same way as non-electronics can. Depending on the certain subject.
The term Powerful points out how technology's in schools and society will be important and long lasting in our time period. Transformative case is that the way we learn and how we teach is altered by the technology we use.

Group-work and cooperative learning are discussed in chapter three, after reading I see how group-work and collaboration can be used with technology. The textbook gives an example of how an elementary school teacher had a group of children working on one subject, while she instructs reading, writing, math, etc in other parts of the room. "Well-organized group activities give students control and responsibility over the learning process." (Maloy, 2013) While being in these groups is a good way for the children to learn, I would also think they are also learning the importance of organization, responsibility and accountability that they'll complete the work given to them.

Digital Citizenship was something I found interesting in this chapter. To explain, digital citizenship is meant to teach everyone from children to adults what teachers using technology must understand to teach it appropriately. The goal is to teach the students "how to use technology productively, honestly and safely in there current and future lives."  (Maloy, 2013)


Resources:
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Blog Post B. Chapter 2.

Most teachers have one thing in common, which is to better educate their  students. How they do that is solely up to the teacher, and the curriculum of course. Often school kids have the mind set of "can I just get this over with" mindset when it comes to homework. I know when I'm not interested in a topic it makes it a great deal harder to get the work done. While reading about teaching with technology I see pros as to how technology might help school kids want to be more involved, and have fun while learning.

Like with everything there are barriers with using technology to teach. In some cases a barrier could be time, not all teachers have the time it takes to teach the students how to use the technology then continue for them do the homework. Another drawback is lack of access, not all schools have the budget for the extra iPads, tables, TV's...etc. An obstacle that I would constantly worry about would be how technology is constantly changing. With these obstacles I understand how bringing technology into a classroom could be overwhelming, however, I believe that with a little help and understanding, technology can be used for good in a classroom.  

Your teaching philosophy are "your ideas and assumptions about how to teach so students will learn." There are two different types of teaching philosophies discussed in this chapter. The first is referred to as, being teacher centered. These types of teachers rely on test scores to determine where the kids are in the class, who has and hasn't learned. The second philosophy called student-centered. This way is a more hands on kind of learning and can be called " constructivist, progressive, or project-or problem- based teaching. I feel like I would gravitate more to the student-centered philosophy of teaching, because in my experience I could have an A in a class but choke up on a test and get a bad grade. Also by getting the students involved I think it would keep them entertained and wanting to learn more.

References:
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Blog Post A. Chapter 1.

Chapter one was filled with new ideas and information, I found very interesting. With the upcoming generation I think its important to understand technology for not only our own uses but also for the purpose of educating the generations to come. " Today's 8-to-18 year olds are a member of the iGeneration of youngsters who have grown up using computers, social media...etc."

For me technology was never very easy, I obviously can get around my phone and all the apps, but creating a website, or making a blog for instance, is totally new for me. Reading through this chapter at times was overwhelming, but it mentioned strategies for learning new technologies, which I found to be very helpful. It gives examples such a, in science they might use a virtual chemistry lab, or how in language arts a teacher might use digital storytelling and student-made digital videos for writing autobiographies. These are just some of the ways I learned can be used in a classroom.

I never realized how important your digital identity, (which refers to your technology talents and competencies) by showing this with the students we show them how technology can be used creatively, and most importantly for learning, in and out of the classroom. I feel like this is very important especially in todays society, with the iGeneration, to know more or just as much as the students to be able to properly help them.

Resources:
Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.