Digital Storytelling Reflection

I have used iMovie and many other digital storytelling applications in the past.  However, I have usually used them for personal use.  I do enjoy using these applications and believe they are great tools for students to use, however, I do not see them as a great resource for a math class.  I would actually prefer to use Power Point.  I think that using these applications would be a good resource to create tutorials with, however, I do not see myself having students use digital storytelling in my classroom.  I have had them use Power Point and create movies, but it is very difficult to take pictures of math problems and it make sense.  I feel that students would be spending more time trying to figure out were they could find pictures and what music to use, rather than spending time learning the concept itself.

Blog Entry 8: Emerging Technology that Supports Creativity and Production

Technology is a great way to promote creativity and production.  All of our students are creative or have the capability to be creative.  Technology allows students to be creative in so many ways.  Some activities that would promote creativity would be creating a blog, creating a VoiceThread, creating a ComicLife, creating surveys or polls, etc.  There is an endless array of technology resources and applications that promote creativity.  Most of our students are familiar with technology and many times are more comfortable to express themselves through the internet or other technology device.  Teachers should take advantage of this and incorporate technology on a regular basis so that their students can work on their creativity and show off their ideas and thoughts.  Students also seem to be much more productive when using technology.  They do not see working on a computer, cell phone, mp3 player, etc to be work.  Rather they see it as a fun activity and are willing to do much more work than they would do in a regular paper and pencil classroom.

Blog Entry 7: OPEN

Cognitive Tutor.  The other Math 1 teachers and myself use an online math support program in our classes.  This is a mastery-level program that is a great tool if it works properly.  However, our network is so incredibly slow, that our students spend more time waiting for each problem to load than they actually do working on the problems.  Hence, we have more behavior issues and feel that we are wasting a lot of time that we could use more efficiently.  Therefore, the other Math 1 teachers and I have decided to stop using this program and use this time to work on reviewing and targeting problem areas.  I do still encourage my students to use Cognitive Tutor at home.  I am hoping that our school will address the network issues so that we can take advantage of this program. 

Blog Entry 6: Emerging Technology that Supports Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

The main purpose for educating our students is to prepare them with the tools to suceed in the real world.  These tools include critical thinking skills, problem sovling skills, communication skills, etc.  It is important that teachers do not get too caught up with specific curriculum, but use the curriculum to help students build these skills.  Technology is a great tool that can promote critical thinking skills.  However, if technology is not used properly, students will not gain anything from using it.  Educators must take time to create activities that promote higher level thinking skills, instead of activities that just call on memorization.  Asking students to simply type up a paper is no different then asking them to write it and would not be considered supporting critical thinking.  However, there are many internet tools that can be used to support these skills.  For instance, blogs are great tools, if used correctly, for promoting communication skills and critical thinking skills.  As teachers, we must be sure to not give the students too many guidelines, but rather given them an activity and see where their minds take them.  Our students are much more capable and creative than we give them credit for.  When we give them too many guidelines, we hold them back from reaching their full potential.