Ms. Reyes' Blog

Welcome parents to Ms. Reyes’ blog!

I am very pleased and excited that you have taken the time to view my blog. I have designed this blog to make sure that you are informed about getting involved in your student’s class. Here at Garfield High School, our students are raising money, along with the PTA, in hopes to incorporate technology in our classrooms. Enhancing our students’ enrichment opportunities is our main goal and we hope that you will become part of this great opportunity for your child.

The educators here at Garfield High School understand that technology in the classrooms raise some concerns for you all. We want to ensure you that technology will not replace traditional instructional methods, but will act as a supplementary tool to engage and enrich our students knowledge. Our computers in our classrooms will not serve as an instrument simply for our students to play games on, but it will act as a learning tool to enhance learning. With the technology field growing and becoming an everyday tool in the lives of us adults, we will not only prepare our students for their future careers, but we will give our students opportunities to research and learn skills from our technology in the classroom.

According to CARET’s Reviews of Research, technology in the classroom can:

· “Influence student academic performance;

· Develop higher order thinking and problem solving;

· Improve student motivation, attitude, and interest in learning;

· Help prepare students for the workforce; and

· Address the needs of low-performing and at-risk students and those with learning handicaps” (Doering, 15)

Learning Theories (Directed Learning vs. Constructivist Learning)

Directed Learning

· “Skills and content to be learned are clearly defined, concrete, and unambiguous, and a specific behavioral response can indicate learning” (Doering, 36)

· “Students need individual tutoring/practice to lean and demonstrate prerequisite skills” (Doering, 36)

· “Students need to acquire skills as quickly and efficiently as possible” (Doering, 36)

· The Systems Approach implies that “computer applications an provide a sequence of information, practice, and assessments, and can give fast, accurate information on each student’s progress” (Doering, 36)

· B.F. Skinner’s Behaviorist Theory states that “learning is an activity that occurs inside the mind and can be inferred only by observed behaviors” (Doering, 35)

· B.F. Skinner Foundation

Constructivist Learning

· “Concepts to be learned are abstract and complex; teachers feel that hands-on, visual activities are essential to help students see how concepts apply to real-world problems and issues” (Doering, 42)

· “Teachers want to encourage collaboration and/or allow alternative ways of learning and showing competence” (Doering, 42)

· “There is time to allow unstructured exploration to motivate students and help them discover their own interests (Doering, 42)

· Lev Vygotsky’s Scaffolding Theory states that “learning is cognitive development shaped by individual differences and the influence of culture” (Doering, 39)

· Lev Vygotsky’s Scaffolding Theory in Education

Our Wishlist

Two types of technology that we want to incorporate into our classroom are:

· Computer system with internet access and a printer

· SMART Boards

What can we do with these technologies?

Computers allow for our students to access research methods for homework and project assignments. With access to the Internet, students are able to search for topics related to their assignments and print out supplemental information for their projects. For example, our lesson on the four equations of motion can be supplemented by researching Newton’s Laws of Motion on the World Wide Web.

SMART Boards are interactive white boards that allow teachers to incorporate hands-on activities with their students by using the interactive whiteboard technology. SMART Boards can be hooked up to the computer and allow our students to be interactive with the lesson plans designed for the classroom. SMART Boards capture the students attention and are much more engaging that the traditional handout method of teaching. For example, a lesson on the four equations of motion on a SMART Board can allow students to compare and contrast gravity and friction that effects motion in objects.

How are we connecting technology to our lessons?

Directed Lessons: Allowing our students to research topics like the Newton’s Laws of Motion on the World Wide Web gives the students supplemental information that they can review and print out for further enrichment.

Constructivist Lessons: SMART Boards allow teachers to incorporate hands-on learning with the students to not only keep their attention, but also to engage them in the lesson topic.

In conclusion, technology can be very beneficial to our students at Garfield High School. With technology becoming a very prominent tool in our society today, it is important to teach and prepare our high school students for their future careers and in order to do this, we need the help from you, our parents. We are asking for your ideas and suggestions on ways to fundraise for our future leaders here at Garfield High School. Please feel free to post any comments and questions directly on the blog!

References

Doering, A. H., & Roblyer, M. D. (2009). Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching (with MyEducationLab) (5th Edition) (5 ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an educational technology course at National University. It is not a real fundraising blog.