Week 7: What was learned in EDUC 552?

A. Going into this course I hoped to be exposed to and learn about different educational tools that could be utilized in my classroom. In EDUC 552 I learned about becoming a connected educator. Through exploration on Twitter I was able to build a PLN that I would not have had if not given the time to explore. A lot of the programs that we were asked to try like Zaption, Mystery Skype, and NearPod I have had some exposure to. In this course we created original pieces of work that could be used in the classroom and I was suddenly able to see other ways in which the programs could become of use. Through discussion board posts, I was able to learn what other classmates had found and how they intended to use it which was motivating as well.

ISTE Goals met:
1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity 1a 1b 1c 1d
2. Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments 2a 2b 2c 2d
3. Model digital age work and learning3a 3b 3c 3d
4. Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility 4b 4c 4d
5. Engage in professional growth and leadership 5a 5d

B. The most useful tools I found were NearPod and the screen-casting tool Show Everything app. NearPod is useful because it allows the teacher to create teacher guided presentations that display on each individual tablet or computer. The presentations are great for formative assessments to monitor individual student needs. NearPod will be used moving forward in math instruction for students to demonstrate their work and also for reading vocabulary to preview and review vocabulary.

The second tool is Show Everything. This app allows you to create presentations and narrate over them. This tool will be perfect for my math instruction for my students to demonstrate their work and explain their thinking. For instance, in our current geometry unit, students could could draw and label parts of a triangle. Then explain how to find the area of the triangle.

C. I plan to continue to be active on Twitter as I found that this has been a great resource to finding more technology tools. Moving forward, I will integrate the tools that I have learned in to more of my instruction so that my students become familiar with them and more fluent. The biggest problem that I typically have when discovering new resources is that I never have the time to explore them so I will make a point of doing that with parts of my plan time. A lot of the resources at the beginning of the course were targeted towards flipping classrooms. If I can make time to create presentations using the tools like Show Everything, PowToon, and NearPod, I plan on trying an in-class flip.