EDLD+5364+-+Teaching+with+Technology

__**EDLD 5364: Teaching with Technology Assignments**__

[|My UDL Lesson] [|EDLD 5364 Collaborative] ||= [|Week 3 Reflection] || [|Final Reflection] ||
 * = **Week** ||= **Assignment URL** ||= **Reflection** ||
 * = 1 ||= [|EDLD 5364 Collaborative Doc] ||= [|Week 1 Reflection] ||
 * = 2 ||= [|EDLD 5364 Collaborative Doc] ||= [|Week 2 Reflection] ||
 * = 3 ||= [|My ebook: Multiplying Madness]
 * = 4 ||= [|EDLD 5364 Collaborative] ||= [|Week 4 Reflection] ||
 * = 5 ||= [|EDLD 5364 Collaborative] ||= [|Week 5 Reflection]
 * = Final ||= [|EDLD 5364 Collaborative] ||= [|Week 5 Team Reflection] ||

[|Week 1 Reflection]

 I have long been enamored of technology. Gadgets, processes, and information have been to me what sports and recreation are to most people. I got excited about taking this course because it is about two topics close to my heart: teaching and technology.

 Technology – specifically computers and the internet – have proven to be the great equalizer of our age. Success stories abound of otherwise ordinary people living mundane lives who have utilized technology, not to mention innate and unique talents, to further their careers and attain fame and fortune in their respective fields and interests. In the classroom, it can enable the unable and those with limited abilities and "teachers who have brought technology into their classrooms are aware that it provides an opportunity to differentiate instruction and change their classrooms into dynamic learning environments." (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). An added benefit of using technology in the classroom is that it not only enhances any lesson and augment abilites, but it also motivates the indifferent as well as address individual differences.

 Constructivism is a topic I have long been familiar with being an Education major in college and in graduate school. However, though this course I have come across two more theories: connectivism and the science-fiction sounding cyborg theory. Constructivist theory holds that students come with a set of knowledge gathered from information around them upon which they build new knowledge from information while deciding what information fits their own set of knowledge and that this occurs in “multiple ways, through a variety of tools, resources, experiences, and contexts.” (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999).

 Connectivism, according to Siemens, is how students make connections to information they already have. The author believes having the knowledge of what and how things work will not be as important to be able to master as having the knowledge of where to look for the information will be. (2007) This is becoming more and more true in this day and age of the ubiquitous information access via the internet. No longer do we need to memorize large volumes of facts and other data because we can all retrieve information online. Now what we need to learn is how to look for pertinent information and how to use it accordingly.

 The cyborg theory according to Warwick will increase human’s ability to sense items unattainable now with the help of computers and other components attached to or implanted in the human body. He himself has experienced this ability and believes that all humans will want to be cyborgs some day. Being a fan of science fiction, this theory appeals to me but not as a learning theory that stands on its own. Though it may become true one day, the human brain is far more capable and more complex for humans to rely solely on attaching robotic parts to develop. Watson, the super computer that beat two Jeopardy! champions, took 10 server racks with 90 servers, 2880 processor cores equivalent to 1440 dual-core computers, and 500 gigabytes of data storage just to perform this task, it will take a lot of time and resources to truly supplant a single human brain, which is estimated to be between one and 1,000 terabytes which is equivalent to twice up to two thousand times more storage than Watson. (IBM, 2011).

 Regardless of whichever theory one prefers, no single theory has fully summarized and encompassed human mental capacity. We need to explore and understand all of these theories in order to have some sense of appreciation for what human beings are capable of when it comes to learning and any other endeavor.

 IBM. (2011). //What powers Watson?//  Retrieved from http://www-943.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/watson-for-a-smarter-planet/watson-schematic.html  Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). //Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.  Siemens, G. (2007, September 2). //The changing nature of knowledge.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Retrieved on February 25, 2011 from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Warwick, K. (2008, April 14). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Cyborg life: Kevin Warwick.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_l7SY_ngI

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|Week 2 Reflection] <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">On my first day in my job as the campus instructional technology specialist, I went to the AV room and was instantly flabbergasted at the sight of all the devices that are stored there and left to gather dust. The quote that rang true this week, “One of the enduring difficulties about technology and education is that a lot of people think about the technology first and the education later” (Stone, M. as cited in Schacter, 1999, p. 10) reminded me of this day. Needless to say, one of my self-imposed goals is to have all or most of said devices used. Furthermore, I also promise that whatever purchase we need to make should involve a lot of thinking about education before the technology. This morning I was in a meeting with the District Instructional Technology Specialist, the Special Initiatives Director, and the other elementary school campus technologists. There ensued an intense discussion on whether to get iPads or laptops for the students, and it was quite a divided room. It was apparent that the two directors favor iPads along with some campus techs, but their reasons were specious. All they could bring up were, “But there is an app for that,” which only reminded me of the advertisement. I did not hesitate to air my arguments against getting the iPad, to wit: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. The teacher cannot use it for whole-group instruction as it does not have native VGA-out support. Small group, yes, but this instantly diminishes its educational value by this limitation. Whereas the teacher can still deliver whole-group instruction without needing an iPad, demonstration and modeling are still ideal for better instruction and this can be done with the use of a computer connected to a projector. The iPad currently has nothing that can contribute to this process. 2. It has limited creation capabilities. This device has access to 65,000 iPad-native apps and hundreds of thousands of iPad-compatible iPhone apps but none for real productivity comparable to computer programs. 3. Lack of creation output options. Let's say we have some apps that our students can use to "create" a project. How will this output be reproduced for the child to show off, demonstrate, and most of all, keep? This device does not even support printing or other form of output. Whereas with a laptop, the student can print and/or publish their work locally or even online in a format that is agnostic of platforms. 4. When the child goes home, there is a big chance that he does not have an iPad for skills reinforcement opportunities. If we have/use laptops, the child can go home and quite possibly use a home computer or the library's for this purpose. 5. One of the APEX magnet goals is to train the students towards "attainment of tangible and marketable skills." I am quite confident and highly certain that you will agree with me when I say that iPad usage cannot be considered a "tangible and marketable skill," especially when compared to real computer skills. 6. (As added by another teacher) "iPad applications do not allow teachers to track, assign, or monitor progress. When we access the software we have via iPad, like Study Island, many of the features and graphics don't not display on the iPad." 7. (As added by another campus tech person) "Most of our kids won’t go to college so the jobs they will have will involve regular computers, not technology like iPads or tablets. This is a sad but true fact." 8. Lack of Flash support. As it stands, we use a lot of web apps that run on Adobe Flash. If we were to purchase and use iPads, we would have limited access to these web apps. 9. iPad usage does not address most of the Technology Applications TEKS. 10. The iPad’s battery is not user-replaceable and this is just one example of being locked-in. Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski enumerated the following applications that can be used to set objectives: “word processing applications, organizing and brainstorming software, data collection tools, Web resources, and communication software” (2007) and even though the iPad has apps that perform these very same functions, whatever apps we purchase for it will not be accessible with any other device nor will they be accessible online. Besides that, there is the issue of saving and publishing a copy of student work. It is not easy to save and publish whatever they create on the iPad to an external site or folder accessible outside of the device. <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"> I sincerely believe that this was an example of thinking about the technology first instead of education and beyond. While it is true that iPads provide some educational value, its limitations go far beyond the eye candy and the ease of use. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Schacter, J. (1999). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//The impact of education technology on student achievement: What the most current research has to say.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Santa Monica, CA: Milken Exchange on Education Technology.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|Week 3 Reflection] <span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium; white-space: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were forewarned that this week’s assignment is writing-intensive. True enough, we had to make an ebook and a Universal Design for Learning lesson in addition to this reflection... and it is only week three of five. For the ebook, we were supposed to make it in the Center for Applied Special Technology’s (CAST) Book Builder. I have to confess that I used a different tool for the job for the simple reason that the Book Builder does not provide much in the way of creating per se. There were no drawing tools nor an archive of art and other materials. It provides only a way to upload images that you have already created, which I have not nor do I have the talent to do so. I used Storybird to write my story -- for which I also used their artwork. (Note: My book can be found on <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://storybird.com/books/multiplication-madness/__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.) Another issue that I faced is the lack of audio creation tools or mechanisms on the Book Builder. There was only an “upload” button, much like in the way of artwork. I could have recorded narration to make the book truly multimedia to accommodate auditory learners, naturally, but there is no way to create or record on the website. The website is truly spartan in every sense of the word, and if I could make a wish list of features for them to include it would probably be worth an ebook. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Throughout the process of writing the book and uploading it to the Book Builder, I had the principles of UDL in mind (so to speak): Recognition Networks, Strategic Networks, and Affective Networks-- the what, how, and why of learning, respectively (CAST, n.d.). My book has pictures and words that are related to a specific topic to address the Recognition Networks; the scenario and the organization address the Strategic Networks; and the pictures, the whimsical “coaches” and the jokes were added for the Affective Network. If the Book Builder only had the features I enumerated above I could have made a true multi-sensory/multimedia book, but it was not built that way. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By now, after teaching for ten years, writing a lesson plan should be second nature to me. This activity, however, had an added requirement: that it had to follow the UDL principles. I have long held the belief that Mathematics is the best subject for multi-sensory teaching/learning and differentiated instruction. For this reason, I decided to design a UDL lesson introducing multiplication. I have another confession: for roughly nine of those years teaching, I have only had to make weekly lesson plans where I did not have to detail every single aspect of the process -- from planning to implementation to evaluation. I started out a little rusty, but I quickly adapted and finished my lesson plan. This lesson is one that I can proudly say is multi-sensory and caters to a multitude of learning styles. It has visual, auditory, tactile, and even kinaesthetic components built in. It can be found on <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1ecZyB04xhVyL-dW2kYm5RaKgHuuEs7e45IziSgY7Zuk__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CAST (n.d.). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Three primary brain networks of the universal design for learning.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|Week 4 Reflection] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> As educators, we all are too familiar with assessments and their benefits as well as their pitfalls. CAST pointed out four flaws of traditional assessments thusly: one or a combination of individual student learning differences, test media characteristics and student support provisions can confound results, and that the value of assessment data is limited by poor integration with curriculum limits (“Teaching Every Student,” n.d.). The Universal Design for Learning claims to address these by being familiar with the three brain networks which allows for providing flexibility in presentations (i.e., varying assessment delivery to cater to various learning styles and/or abilities), expression and strategic supports (i.e., varying ways students can respond to assessment questions as well as providing for metacognitive strategies), and engagement (i.e., addressing the affective network by making tests appealing, less stressful, and individualized in terms of content). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Being involved in a conditional grant initiative upon which my current position and livelihood depends, the quote that struck me the most this week is that, "Professional developers have tended to design programs that attempt to implement strategies to change practice; unfortunately, when the support and funding disappear, frequently so does the change in practice" (Solomon & Schrum, 2007). As we lay out our programs, recommendations, and staff development sessions, we always try to keep in mind that our grant monies run out after three years but we want to train our teachers to be self-reliant and self-sufficient on our magnet theme as well as instructional technology beyond that. We have barely started and I am still trying to wrap my head around this seemingly herculean effort -- which becomes more evident every single day, but I am very optimistic since all of our teachers are very dedicated and forward-thinking. I only need to point out the benefits of instructional technology in their practice and in student learning and they become very receptive, cooperative, and even eager to listen and learn. Some of my teachers have walls that need to be broken down especially when faced with technology, but all they need is to realize the potential long-term benefits and they will gladly change and take up anything, especially when it is for our students. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Center for Applied Special Technology. (n.d.) Using UDL to accurately assess student progress. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age (Chapter 7).// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Retrieved from <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter7.cfm__] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

[|Week 5 Reflection] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Seeing one of my heroes Howard Gardner aroused in me the idealist educator I was in college. I consider his work on Multiple Intelligences to be one of the major milestones in pedagogy and educational theory, and one which I have a personal connection to since his theory really influenced and helped me understand myself and more importantly, my students. In the video, Gardner talked about ethics in digital media and found that the ethical issues fall into five categories: a sense of identity, a sense of privacy, ownership/authorship, trustworthiness/credibility, and what it means to participate in a community. His project, Good Play, aims to understand and explore how young individuals and ethical challenges in their participation in digital media and virtual communities (2009). He mentioned that ethical challenges arise as soon as one becomes a member of a community -- which is not new, but digital tools have made this easier and more convenient so the challenge is to teach ethics so that these digital participants can reflect on “the ethical implications of their online activities” (“Good Work Project,” n.d.).

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most useful sections of the book “Web 2.0” are all the examples of things teachers can do in the classroom instead of big sweeping ideas without specific steps or places to look. This week I have found Harry Tuttle’s “Authentic Assessment Made Possible by Web 2.0,” wherein he lists very specific examples of such along with subjects and grade levels and Helen Barrett’s “Authentic Assessment with Electronic Portfolios using Common Software and Web 2.0 Tools,” wherein she defines what an electronic portfolio is, how “the Web 2.0 metaphor” applies to electronic portfolios, comparing portfolios used for assessment <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//of// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> learning with portfolios used for assessment <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//for// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> learning, and comparing Web 1.0 ePortfolios with Web 2.0 ePortfolios. Also, being a Special education teacher, I found the section, “Students with Special Needs” tugging at my proverbial heartstrings. I agree with Hasselbring’s sentiment that in many cases, “students with disabilities have a greater need for accessing technology than do their non-disabled peers.” He adds that “the multimodality of these tools allow students to learn in ways that best meet their learning styles” (as cited in Solomon & Schrum, 2007). Indeed, multi-sensory learning materials have long been the biggest tool in the special educator’s toolbox, and technology holds great promise in delivering personal, just-in-time, and individualized teaching/learning experiences that are, in fact, multi-sensory.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We often mock the saying, “A for effort,” when glancing at work of obvious poor quality, but Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski (2007) posit that of people’s innate abilities, assistance of others, luck, and effort, it is the “wisest choice of someone who intends to achieve success or maintain it as it is the only one within an individual’s control.” Again, being in special education, I for one appreciate effort like no other because I see it everyday in the child who can barely name all 26 letters of the alphabet yet try his best to remember the sounds of each one he knows. The child who has barely learned how to count up to 100 yet try her best to multiply by repeated addition. The child who can barely compose a paragraph that follows a logical sequence write five paragraphs practicing for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Writing test. I could go on, but I cannot state enough how much we value effort and how we take that into heart every single day.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edutopia.org (2009). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Big thinkers: Howard Gardner on digital youth.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Retrieved on Oct. 5, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-howard-gardner-video

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Good Work Project. (n.d.) Research profile: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//The goodplay project.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Retrieved from <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[|__http://www.goodworkproject.org/research/goodplay/__]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

<span style="background-color: transparent; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**Week 5 Part 3 Course-Embedded Assignment:**

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have long been enamored of technology. Gadgets, processes, and information have been to me what sports and recreation are to most people. I got excited about taking this course because it is about two topics close to my heart: teaching and technology. Although I confess that I was initially disappointed when I eventually realized that the core topic or aspect of educational technology was different from my idea, the special education teacher in me basked in every single topic pertaining to that field.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Technology – specifically computers and the internet – have proven to be the great equalizer of our age. Success stories abound of otherwise ordinary people living mundane lives who have utilized technology, not to mention innate and unique talents, to further their careers and attain fame and fortune in their respective fields and interests. In the classroom, it can enable the unable and those with limited abilities and "teachers who have brought technology into their classrooms are aware that it provides an opportunity to differentiate instruction and change their classrooms into dynamic learning environments." (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007). An added benefit of using technology in the classroom is that it not only enhances any lesson and augment abilities, but it also motivates the indifferent as well as address individual differences.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are numerous new learnings from this course, but then there are also some that are not so new yet I gained a new perspective. Constructivism is a topic I have long been familiar with being an Education major in college and in graduate school. However, though this course I have come across two more theories: connectivism and the science-fiction sounding cyborg theory. Constructivist theory holds that students come with a set of knowledge gathered from information around them upon which they build new knowledge from information while deciding what information fits their own set of knowledge and that this occurs in “multiple ways, through a variety of tools, resources, experiences, and contexts.” (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1999).

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Connectivism, according to Siemens, is how students make connections to information they already have. The author believes having the knowledge of what and how things work will not be as important to be able to master as having the knowledge of where to look for the information will be. (2007) This is becoming more and more true in this day and age of the ubiquitous information access via the internet. No longer do we need to memorize large volumes of facts and other data because we can all retrieve information online. Now what we need to learn is how to look for pertinent information and how to use it accordingly.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The cyborg theory according to Warwick will increase human’s ability to sense items unattainable now with the help of computers and other components attached to or implanted in the human body. He himself has experienced this ability and believes that all humans will want to be cyborgs some day. Being a fan of science fiction, this theory appeals to me but not as a learning theory that stands on its own. Though it may become true one day, the human brain is far more capable and more complex for humans to rely solely on attaching robotic parts to develop. Watson, the super computer that beat two Jeopardy! champions, took 10 server racks with 90 servers, 2880 processor cores equivalent to 1440 dual-core computers, and 500 gigabytes of data storage just to perform this task, it will take a lot of time and resources to truly supplant a single human brain, which is estimated to be between one and 1,000 terabytes which is equivalent to twice up to two thousand times more storage than Watson. (IBM, 2011).

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless of whichever theory one prefers, no single theory has fully summarized and encompassed human mental capacity. We need to explore and understand all of these theories in order to have some sense of appreciation for what human beings are capable of when it comes to learning and any other endeavor.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Throughout the process of writing the book and uploading it to the Book Builder, I had the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in mind (so to speak): Recognition Networks, Strategic Networks, and Affective Networks-- the what, how, and why of learning, respectively (CAST, n.d.). My book has pictures and words that are related to a specific topic to address the Recognition Networks; the scenario and the organization address the Strategic Networks; and the pictures, the whimsical “coaches” and the jokes were added for the Affective Network. If the Book Builder only had the features I enumerated above I could have made a true multi-sensory/multimedia book, but it was not built that way. In the future, should I have the opportunity to make another book, I will definitely make every effort to include other media and deliver a product that will address the needs of learners of all abilities.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By now, after teaching for ten years, writing a lesson plan should be second nature to me. This activity, however, had an added requirement: that it had to follow the UDL principles. I have long held the belief that Mathematics is the best subject for multi-sensory teaching/learning and differentiated instruction. For this reason, I decided to design a UDL lesson introducing multiplication. I have another confession: for roughly nine of those years teaching, I have only had to make weekly lesson plans where I did not have to detail every single aspect of the process -- from planning to implementation to evaluation. I started out a little rusty, but I quickly adapted and finished my lesson plan. This lesson is one that I can proudly say is multi-sensory and caters to a multitude of learning styles. It has visual, auditory, tactile, and even kinesthetic components built in. It can be found on https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1ecZyB04xhVyL-dW2kYm5RaKgHuuEs7e45IziSgY7Zuk

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Howard Gardner was one of my heroes in college, and seeing him in one of the videos aroused in me the idealist educator I was back then. I consider his work on Multiple Intelligences to be one of the major milestones in pedagogy and educational theory, and one which I have a personal connection to since his theory really influenced and helped me understand myself and more importantly, my students. In the video, Gardner talked about ethics in digital media and found that the ethical issues fall into five categories: a sense of identity, a sense of privacy, ownership/authorship, trustworthiness/credibility, and what it means to participate in a community. His project, Good Play, aims to understand and explore how young individuals and ethical challenges in their participation in digital media and virtual communities (2009). He mentioned that ethical challenges arise as soon as one becomes a member of a community -- which is not new, but digital tools have made this easier and more convenient so the challenge is to teach ethics so that these digital participants can reflect on “the ethical implications of their online activities” (“Good Work Project,” n.d.).

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The most useful sections of the book “Web 2.0” are all the examples of things teachers can do in the classroom instead of big sweeping ideas without specific steps or places to look. One of these is Harry Tuttle’s “Authentic Assessment Made Possible by Web 2.0,” wherein he lists very specific examples of such along with subjects and grade levels and Helen Barrett’s “Authentic Assessment with Electronic Portfolios using Common Software and Web 2.0 Tools,” wherein she defines what an electronic portfolio is, how “the Web 2.0 metaphor” applies to electronic portfolios, comparing portfolios used for assessment of learning with portfolios used for assessment for learning, and comparing Web 1.0 ePortfolios with Web 2.0 ePortfolios. Also, being a Special education teacher, I found the section, “Students with Special Needs” tugging at my proverbial heartstrings. I agree with Hasselbring’s sentiment that in many cases, “students with disabilities have a greater need for accessing technology than do their non-disabled peers.” He adds that “the multimodality of these tools allow students to learn in ways that best meet their learning styles” (as cited in Solomon & Schrum, 2007). Indeed, multi-sensory learning materials have long been the biggest tool in the special educator’s toolbox, and technology holds great promise in delivering personal, just-in-time, and individualized teaching/learning experiences that are, in fact, multi-sensory.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We often mock the saying, “A for effort,” when glancing at work of obvious poor quality, but Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski (2007) posit that of people’s innate abilities, assistance of others, luck, and effort, it is the “wisest choice of someone who intends to achieve success or maintain it as it is the only one within an individual’s control.” Again, being in special education, I for one appreciate effort like no other because I see it everyday in the child who can barely name all 26 letters of the alphabet yet try his best to remember the sounds of each one he knows. The child who has barely learned how to count up to 100 yet try her best to multiply by repeated addition. The child who can barely compose a paragraph that follows a logical sequence write five paragraphs practicing for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Writing test. I could go on, but I cannot state enough how much we value effort and how we take that into heart every single day.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> These are but a few things I have gained in this course. As I submit the last few assignments, I realize that I not only become a better student and teaching professional, but that I become a better learner as I go. All the readings, the various digital tools and multimedia, the interactions with my classmates on the discussion boards, and the work we have done as a group when we collaborate online have inspired me to pass on to my students and fellow teachers about the plethora of resources, ways, and means that we can use to our advantage and pass on to the next person.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -36pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CAST (n.d.). Three primary brain networks of the universal design for learning. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edutopia.org (2009). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Big thinkers: Howard Gardner on digital youth.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Retrieved on Oct. 5, 2009 from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-howard-gardner-video

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Good Work Project. (n.d.) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Research profile: The goodplay project.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Retrieved from http://www.goodworkproject.org/research/goodplay/

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">IBM. (2011). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//What powers Watson?// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Retrieved from http://www-943.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/watson-for-a-smarter-planet/watson-schematic.html

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Using technology with classroom instruction that works.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Siemens, G. (2007, September 2). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//The changing nature of knowledge.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, (1999). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Learning as a personal event: A brief introduction to constructivism.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/intro2c.html

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Warwick, K. (2008, April 14). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//Cyborg life: Kevin Warwick.// <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_l7SY_ngI