Educational Technology Standards

When reading over the Oregon Educational Technology Standards (OETS), you will noticed that there are six primary categories. The six primary categories are Creativity and Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Research and Information Fluency, Critical Thinking,Problem Solving and Decision Making, Digital Citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts. Many of these concepts show that we need students to be well rounded and understand the different technologies. Many of these categories stood out to me but the three that stood out to me the most were the first one which was Creativity and Innovation. The next category that stood out me was also the Communication and Collaboration and the last that stood out to me was the Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision making. Each of these categories can be incorporated into the classroom and even the outside of the classroom as well. Below I will explain how these categories can be used in the classroom and how they can improve the classroom setting.

Creativity and Innovation- Technology has become a very useful tools for the classroom and can be used in many different ways. This can help the students become more creative and use different technology tools to create more creative presentations, etc. This can also help the teacher create presentation using Google docs or PowerPoint's that can make the classroom more exciting and have more creative presentations. Students or teachers can use technology to also learn more information about the topic being taught or the teacher can show clips of movies that help create more meaning to what is being learned.

Communication and Collaboration- There are many ways that technology can be used to communicate with students, teachers and classmates. One of the ways they can do this is by using Google Docs this allows students and teachers to be able to write down their assignments and write comments on each others work. Also when you have a group assignment this allows each of the group members to participate and collaborate with each other to create one product using Google Docs. Another way students and teachers can communicate and collaborate with using technology is using Blogs. Blogs are great way for students to do assignments at home and be able to have your teacher see your work from their own personal home. This technology allows you to work on any computer and stores your work online which makes it easy accessible. This technology can be very useful for being able to communicate with your students and in the end really help them collaborate with their other classmates as well as the teacher.

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making- Using the Internet can be very useful to find information on topics that students are researching. It can really help figure out problem solving by looking up different websites to figure out the end result. They can use technology like blogs or Google Docs to work on critical thinking. By having others implement their ideas and seeing different points of views on things can really help a student’s critical thinking by using this technology. Using technology can really help students work on their critical thinking and see different views of their classmates or the information provided on the Internet. Problem solving can be used by different activities that are provided online as well as using tools such as Google Docs that can help you figure out data information, percents, etc. Overall the Internet and technology can really help with the students critical thinking, problem and solving and decision making.

All of these categories can be incorporated somehow into the classroom setting. Each one of these can be used to help the students and the teacher. Although each of these can be very useful in the classroom there are still challenges that the teacher and the students will face with technology. Technology can be a very complicated tool to use for both the teacher and the student. Sometimes understanding everything about technology can be difficult. Not only is technology difficult to always understand but it is also always changing and trying to keep up with the new versions can be difficult especially if you are still trying to figure out the old version. Also technology can be expensive and trying to keep up with the updates can make it very expensive for the schools.Some schools have the funds for the new technology while others schools are not able to come up with the funds to provide this new technology for the teachers and students. Although funds can be limited for each school and technology is rapidly always changing, these challenges can be overcome. Some ways you can overcome these challenges is by one trying to get grants and do fundraisers that can provide more funds for the schools to be able to provide computers, new updates, and other sorts of technological tools. Another way we can overcome these challenges is by trying to keep updated on the new technology that way you are able to stay on track with everything. This will give you more time to figure out the new technology. You can also ask other teachers, students, parents to help you if you don’t understand the new technology because seeing different views on how to use something always can help you better understand how to use the new technology. Even though we may face challenges down the road with technology this something that is a big part of our society and we need to work through these challenges because the technology that we have now is very useful to provide a good experience in the classroom. In the end technology is only a benefit to the classroom and will always be useful for both teachers and students.

Analyzing Student Data in a Spreadsheet

In the past I have used spreadsheets in excel but still found this assignment hard at first. Although I have used spreadsheets in the past I never did averages, modes, etc. Once I watched the tutorials several times working on the spreadsheet became easier. Even though it was hard to understand at first, I do believe that spreadsheets can be very useful and once you have a good understanding on how to exactly use it, it can be very helpful in the classroom. Here is a link Student Data Spreadsheet.

For this assignment we were given a raw data chart. The information that was given was the names of the students, what grade they were in, what score they received on the pre-test, then scores on the 3 formative assessments, score on post-test and last the attendance of each student. Our task was to take this information and find the averages, medians and modes of all the information that was provided.With the data that was provided I did step-by-step on creating the averages, medians and the modes for all of the facts. First I would take the scores of each student and than find the percentage and then I did the overall class. Below is the chart of the students progress. The first chart represents the comparison of the pre-test and the post-test. The second chart represents the comparison and progress of each formative assessment and the last chart shows the Percentage Growth rate.


First I took a look at the pre-test and post-test scores. When looking I noticed that many of the students improved from the first test. This shows that the teacher provided effective information and the students really did learn more. When you take a look at some of the students who had lower scores than others like, Victor and Karen you noticed that after the post-test they improved a lot. What makes things interesting though is you noticed Joel who had the highest score for the pre-test scored lower on the post-test. When you see this kind of information you will have to look more into why these students had different outcomes. One reason may be that you noticed that Victor and Karen attend all classes, were as Joel missed two classes. This can show that maybe the two days that were missed, the teacher shared very important information that may have helped Joel's score on the post-test, if he were to have attended all 10 classes. By looking at this information can really help you figure out why certain outcomes occurred by looking more into detail of each individual and really show how you can fix these bad outcomes.

Second I looked at the comparison of each of the formative assessments that the students did. This can show the teacher some good information on which assessments worked for some students and which didn't work for the students. This can really help see were each individual student has their strengths and weaknesses. As a teacher this will help you plan accordingly to help your students have success in your classroom.

The last thing that I looked at was the percentage growth of each individual as well as the whole group. As we can see the whole group scored an average of 239.05% on percentage growth. This shows that the teacher provided effective teaching skills as well as the formative assessments helped the students improve greatly. Although the class had a high percentage growth, I would still take each individual percentage growth and see why each one had the outcome that they did. But overall I find that this average shows that the teaching was effective and will help for future planning for your classroom. Overall I think this is a very effective tool for teachers and can really show the progress of your students. By breaking down all the information you can really see what works for your students and what doesn't. By having this information will only help you as a teacher provide the most effective learning experience for you and your students. Not only will it help you with planning but it will allow you to create certain lesson plans that help all your students succeed.

ScreenR-TinyURL

This week we worked on three different tools and described how to use them and why they were useful. We also had to create a tutorial on one of these tools. The purpose of my tutorial on TinyURL is to really show people how easy and useful this tool can be. There is no need for long url's to be used and this tool will only make it easier for both the student and the the teacher. I will show each step on how you use to TinyURL and by the end you will understand why this tool is useful and how easy it is to use this tool. Below you can check out my tutorial on how to use the TinyURL tool.

Personal Productivity Tools

TinyURL is a service that is provided to make a long url into a shorter version.This tool is simple to use. All you got to do is take the long url go to the website http://tinyurl.com/ plug in the url and there you go you now have a shorten url address. This is a very useful tool because sometimes when we need a student to visit a website we don't want to give them a huge url because this can cause confusion and make it uneasy for the student to get to this website. Here is an example of a very long url,http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Globally//dp/B003FSUDM4/ref
=amb_link_353259562_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKXoDER&p _rd_s=center10&pf_rd_r=11EYKTN682A79T370AM3&pf_
rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1270985982&pf_rd_i=B002Y27P3M , as you can see this can create problems because sometimes the url can be written down wrong or many other problems could occur. By using TinyURL this is what would happen if you used the url above in the TinyURL tool, http://tinyurl.com/KindleWireless. See how much easier it is to read this url now and give to other people. By having TinyURL tool can make for less confusion and easier for both students and teachers.

Dropbox is a service that allows users to store and share files. This will allow you to store any of your documents and you will be able to access them from any computer. This tool is all great for sharing files with other people. This is a great tool for students because it allows them to store there documents and be able to access from any location. This can be helpful because sometimes students want to work on a project at school but want to be able to finish at home. This will allow them to work at both places. This also can be a great tool for teachers because teachers can access it and share it as well. This can also create less paperwork for the teacher as well. Another great thing about this tool is that you don't have to be online in order to use the dropbox and also if you delete something you have the ability to undelete it. This way you can never lose your work and its always just one click away. Using Dropbox is a useful tool for both teachers and students.


Teamviewer is a tool that allows someone access to another computer without even having to be there. This can be very beneficial to teachers and students because it will allow teachers to have access to students desktops if for some reason the student needs help. For example if a student is having technological problems this allows the teacher to see what the problem is and really diagnose what is going on. This is a great tool because this allows the teacher to help with assignments or help find out issues that the student may be having. Using Teamviewer is a great tool for both students and teachers because you don't have to be in the classroom in order to help your students. I think overall all three tools are such useful tools for teachers and students. Each tool has some great features that will only create a better experience for both you and your students.

What is Cloud Computing and Web 2.0?

Cloud Computing and Web 2.0 are tools that can be used via internet. Cloud computing is where you are able to store documents, music, pictures etc. and be able to recieve them from any computer. Cloud Computing involves delivering hosted services via Internet. There are three different clouds one being a private, the second being public and the third being hybrid. A public cloud sells service online and this is websites like Amazon and a private cloud is used between certain people. Hybrid is open to the public and the private. Cloud services include the delivery of software, infrastructure, and storage over the Internet.

Web 2.0 is were you can have stored documents, mucis, pictures etc. and are able to use them at home, work, etc. Web 2.0 uses services like Google Docs, Blogs, Facebook, Youtube, etc. This makes it easy for anyone to view and depending on the security anyone can edit or you can chose certain people to be able to edit or view as well. This is a very useful tool and makes it easy to know that you don't have to always use your home computer but can access all this data from any location. This tool of being able to view videos or pictures allows love ones from afar to be able to check on their grandson or check on a friend you haven't talk to in awhile. Web 2.0 is a very useful tool for anyone to use and is very easy to learn how to use.

Google Bookmarks Project

I was part of Group 1 and our task was to inform our class information about Google Bookmarks. As a group we created slides that described key features of Google Bookmarks, how it improved productivity, our own opinions/reflections on Google Bookmarks and last placed links to more information about Google Bookmarks.

I think that Google Bookmarks is a very useful tool for anyone. This creates an easy access for people to bookmark favorite websites and create labels that will organize all your websites. This tool can be very useful for students and teachers because teachers can share what they have bookmarked to their students. This creates an easy way to access material and keep things organized. Some examples the group gave that makes Google Bookmarks improve productivity is its as easy as one click to any website that you need access too. Another point made from our group was that instead of just having all your bookmarks on your own personal computer you have access from other computers which makes things very convenient. I think this is a very good tool for teachers and can really help enhance the learning process.

I personally contributed to each slide with my own opinon on key features, how it improves productivity, my own reflection on also included a website for more information. I think overall the whole group contributed to this project and having this organization and easy access is what makes Bookmarks such a useful for tool.

Click here for Google Bookmarks Presentation

Reflection Welcome Activity

After watching both the two videos we watched this week Shift Happens-Social Media Revolution and Vision 2011. Both videos were very interesting and really showed how far we have become with technology. There were many statistics that were provided that really only reassured how big Facebook and YouTube has become and how much apart of our lives it has become. We rely a lot on this new technology to provide us with the information we need to know. I think that Vision 2011 provided many great points and really help show how technology can be useful for teachers in their classrooms. Using Google Docs and blogging have become a big part of teaching and you can really see how both can be useful. I believe that we all need to have a good understanding of this new technology to only better help serve our students to the fullest, by having us understand and incorporating this new technology for learning purposes and also having the parents understand will create a better experience for the students. I think overall both of these videos provide such interesting information and I hope you enjoy my very first Yodio on my reflection of these two videos.