Things 15-21 Capstone Reflection

A. How will you use these technology applications to improve learning experiences for your students and/or improve your own practice?

After completing all 21 Things within this class, I am excited about the possibility of sharing/developing awareness about many of these applications with my fellow staff members. I've been thinking of how I might be able to maybe do a session on some of these "Things" during one of our teacher in service days next year, D.V. Furthermore, I am thinking about developing my computer class in such a way that my students would also become familiar with several of these available resources.

The technology applications within Things 15-21 provided with me several additional ways to incorporate technology within my instruction. Thing #17 on research and reference materials along with Thing #20 on graphic organizers are especially helpful for having my students perform research. The graphic organizers such as Bubbl.us should help them with organizing their thoughts while the MeL databases provide an abundance of material for their research. I have not done a lot of research with my students throughout the past years, but these new technology applications have sparked my interest in developing this area of my teaching. I would like to not only teach my students about the availability of these tools, but also get them familiar with using them even if it is just at an introductory level.

Google Calendar, Virtual Classroom, and the Screen-casting "Things" were helpful in giving me more ideas in how to improve educating and communicating with my students while they are outside of my classroom. I am still a little uncertain if I should go over to using a CMS or just use a website to put my things on-line. Either way, or perhaps through a combination of both, I am excited about the increased tools that I have learned about through this class for providing the opportunity to publish more of my teaching materials on-line.


B. What effective teaching and learning strategy(ies), based on the work by Marzano (http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008/ ) will these technology applications address, to make a difference in the learning experience for your students?

The Marzano teaching and learning strategies that will be addressed by Things 15-21 include the following:

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences - Students will have the opportunity to recognize the similarities and differences between various tools if they are given the opportunity to try two different pieces of software that are designed to produce similar results. For example, in Thing #20 students could be taught to use both Bubble.us and Webspiration and then they would be able to note the similarities but also the differences between the software. This could also be done with Wordle and Tagxedo.

2. Summarizing and Note Taking - The summarizing and note taking strategy is addressed through the use of research and reference tools. While students are performing research, they have to summarize the content of articles and often will take notes on the material. Visual learning tools such as Bubbl.us and Gliffy are also helpful for summarizing.

4. Increasing Value in Homework and Practice - The research and reference materials are helpful tools to assist students in their work. These reference materials should be a help for increasing the quality of their work.

5. Using Non-Linguistic Representations - Thing #20 on Visual Learning addresses the use of non-linguistic representations. The Visual Learning tools provide opportunities for students to organize thoughts, words, and ideas in a way that will benefit visual learners.

6. Incorporating Cooperative Learning Effectively - Marzano's strategy on cooperative learning is addressed through the use of professional learning networks and through staying informed by using Google Reader and iGoogle. Students could also work cooperatively through Moodle or another Course Management System.

9. Utilizing Questions, Ques, and Advanced Organizers - This effective learning strategy of Marzano could be addressed through visual learning tools such as Gliffy or Wordle.



C. Choose one of the seven things and describe an activity or lesson you could use in your classroom. Include in the description how the lesson meets either a Michigan curriculum standard or another Educational Technology standard.

Students could make a PowerPoint presentation on a certain topic such as the history of one of Kings of Israel or Judah. Then, while each student is presenting their topic to the rest of the class, I could have their presentation recorded through the use of Jing or Screencast-o-matic. This would allow them to them to afterwards listen and critique their own presentation and it would allow the opportunity for them to publish their presentation as a screen cast on their own Weebly website.

One of the NET-S technology standards that the above project would meet is 2.b regarding Communication and Collaboration. The standard states that students are to "communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats." Through presenting their PowerPoint and making it available on-line to friends and family, students will have the privilege of communicating information to multiple audiences and through using a variety of technology tools.