Web Tools

 

Web tools are a really useful and nowadays crucial aspect in education.  They make things quicker, easier, and more accurate.  While I was using the few that I had done, I thought about all the endless possibilities that these can be used in the classroom.  These web tools can make learning a bit more interesting and interactive.  These tools like blogs, photo sharing, video sharing allow the student to be creative and work on communication.  Some types of these web tools give teachers easy access to be able to create tests, worksheets or rubrics and makes a frequent thing a lot faster to do.  With that, the teacher can have more time actually teaching the students.   The web tools definitely goes with the second standard of the NETS , which states that teachers should develop and design digital age learning experiences and assessments. All the different web tools out there allow a teacher to incorporate technology to teach students.  In these days, time is everything and a teacher needs something to make some tasks a bit quicker in order to use that left over time toward helping children.  I never would have thought that making tests and worksheets would have been that easy.

Concept Mapping

  I thought that concept mapping is a very good idea in order to get the breakdown of a certain subject and to understand it fully.  Using this tool just made concept mapping fun and innovative.  By doing this it will allow the students to be creative and be involved and actually learn something from it.   The student is learning the material and how to use certain functions of a computer as well.  This tool is great to accomplish the first standard of the NET-S because it is about inspiring student creativity and learning, which is what the concept map does by allowing students to organize content in a creative way.  I would definitely consider using this tools again, especially for the classroom.  It had taken me a while to get a hang of things and understand exactly what all the gadgets meant and did.  In the end, it allows for creativity and learning.  My favorite feature of inspiration was all the different pictures that were available for selection in the program. I enjoyed this activity and was able to learn about a whole new type of technology because I had never even heard about inspiration or kidspiration before this assignment.

NETS-T Standards

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments.

a. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness

b. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources

c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes

d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments

2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S.

a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity

b. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress

c. Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources

d. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.

a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations

b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation

c. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats

d. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility

Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.

a. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources

b. Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources

c. Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information

d. Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools

5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.

a. Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to

improve student learning

b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others

c. Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning

d. Contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and selfrenewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community

NETS·T © 2008 International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE

® is a registered trademark of the International Society for Technology in Education.

I think that these standards are good. They explain what the student should get out of the class and not just listing content that needs to be learned. 

About Me

My name is Ashley Appel.  I am 20 years old.  I have lived in Mississippi for most of my life.  I love to read and watch movies, but also play volleyball whenever possible.  I am pursuing a career in elementary education.  I hope to teach upper elementary math.  I hope to move on and get my master's degree.  I have been always quick to learn new technology.  I know my way around a computer pretty well.  I am use to using new versions of Microsoft and other software. Technology in classrooms is a great way for students to learn because the children love it.  It is innovating and lets children have fun while learning.  http://www.4teachers.org/
http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/index.shtml