I have learned so much with the certificate classes I’ve taken through Michigan State University.  I have learned that including many different types of teaching strategies is essential in order to provide a successful learning environment for children.  The teaching strategy that I found to be my favorite is the scaffolding where students keep building upon knowledge obtained. 

Integrating web-based technologies in the courses for my Education Technology certificate helped me really discover the endless possibilities that are out there.  There are so many things available to teachers to enhance student learning. It is almost overwhelming.  I also discovered that you need to be choosy with the types of web-based technologies you do choose to implement because quality teachers only want to provide their students with learning experiences that are worth while in the little time they have to teach.

I have met my learning goals so far about technology integration.  I have found so many different ways to present materials and information to students in a very engaging way.  Children are interested in technology.  It excites them.  I am very excited to have this new knowledge to improve my teaching and expand learning using technology, especially when I know the students will be motivated and enjoy it.

I now have new technology goals now that my Michigan State University Educational Technology certificate has been acquired.  I want to further my knowledge using technology in the elementary classroom and share that knowledge with colleagues and peers.  I want to improve my districts overall outlook and management strategies using educational technology.  I would love to help my district investigate and research the benefits of having a specific technology course available to all elementary aged students.  I plan on going on to the Masters Program in Educational Technology and I look forward to it!

Our SIG came up with many great resources that deals with differentiated learning.  All four of us compiled a list using del.icio.us.  Here is another copy of those resources!

Beth- Differentiated Reading with On-line Support

1. The Official Brain Gym Web Site

2. Brain Pop Jr

3. Brain-based learning, ideas, and materials

4. Arin- Meeting the Needs of Tech Savvy Students: Game Based Learning

Jen- Fostering Enthusiasm for Writing

1. Sites that help classroom teachers adjust their teaching process to their learners needs

   links to di sites
   to Brain-Based Bloggers-Jen … saved by 275 other people … on may 17

2. RTEC Exchange

   tips for technology and differentiated instruction
   to Brain-Based Bloggers-Jen … saved by 23 other people … on may 17

3. Free Online Graph Paper / Grid Paper PDFs

   … saved by 4975 other people … on may 17

4. Creative writing activities for kids, teachers and parents by Bruce Van Patter

   ideas for creative writing
   to Brain-Based Bloggers-Jen … saved by 17 other people … on may 17

5. Kids on the Net

   creative writing, how-to, etc.
   to Brain-Based Bloggers-Jen … saved by 22 other people … on may 17

6. Story Maker – Get Writing – LearnEnglish Kids – British Council

   kids create stories with help
   to Brain-Based Bloggers-Jen … saved by 37 other people … on may 17

Pam- Alternative Format Text

1. This is a quick two minute video that presents a definition of differentiated instruction by Tomlinson and in a creative way tells us why it is important.
2. to Brain-BasedBloggers-Pam, NewTechnology … saved by 4 other people … 3 days ago

3. CAST: Center for Applied Special Technology

   Cast.org provides research and development, professional development, policy and practice, publications, and products dealing with Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This is a great resource for those new to UDL, but also for those who have been working
   to Brain-BasedBloggers-Pam, … saved by 56 other people … 3 days ago

4. Bookshare.org – Digital Books for People with Visual or Physical Impairments and Dyslexia

   This site provides information on Webinars for BookShare.org. There are two Webinars available Bookshare.org 101 and Bookshare.org: Ready, Set, Read! The first introduces Bookshare.org and the second teaches you the how-to’s. There is no cost to students
   to Brain-BasedBloggers-Pam, … saved by 314 other people … 3 days ago

5. Bookshare.org – Legal Information

   “A recently enacted exception in the U.S. copyright law makes Bookshare.org possible under the law in the United States, as long as the copyrighted digital books are only available to people with bona fide disabilities.” This site deals with the legal asp
   to Brain-BasedBloggers-Pam, … 3 days ago

6. Reading Rockets : Benefits of Audiobooks for All Readers

   Denise Johnson discusses the benefits of audiobooks with all students, not just the disabled reader. Audiobooks allow for the participation of disabled students at their grade level.
   to Brain-BasedBloggers-Pam, … saved by 5 other people … 3 days ago

Watch the following video about differnetiated instruction:

 YouTube – Differentiated Instruction 

How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

I would make sure to allow more time to use the software with the students to really analyze its capabilities, strengths and its effect on academic success.  It got towards the end of the school year and we only had a chance to use “The Zoombinis Logical Journey” twice in the computer lab.  The students needed more time to become familiar with this game.  Only a few kids were able to experience all twelve logical puzzles to complete the Zoombini character journey.

What are the lessons that others might benefit from knowing about?

In my research for this TechQuest project, I discovered that some experts believe that not all education based video or computer games are beneficial to students.  Games that are repetitive and arcade like may be exciting for a little while, but students may lose interest in them after awhile. The educational value of something that eventually becomes boring doesn’t seem to be the best practice to promote successful learning. The software game I chose for this TechQuest called “The Zoombini’s Logical Journey” keeps students engaged offering a variety of logical puzzles that make them think in new ways, and every time they play there is something new to consider.  As a teacher, I will be sure I am including learning games that will be engaging, interesting and have the most educational value in my classroom.

In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

I will implement the Zoombinis software into my curriculum frequently next year.  I will allow plenty of time for the students to explore this game and time for me to analyze and assess any educational results or advancements in their logical thinking process.  Next year, when I incorporate this educational game, I will also use the activities in class that are available online that goes with this game series.  I found printable activities that could even enhance this program further.  Also, I would love to get my hands on one of  the newer versions of the Zoombini’s games.  Since the publication of the logical journey game that my school owns, they have produced more with the same characters, but new mathematical and logical thinking games and puzzles. 

My First Podcast

I found many resources that may help guide my TechQuest project.  I was astounded at the amount of information I could find about educational gaming.  Here are some examples:

Speak Up 2007 National findings from Project Tomorrow.  Project Tomorrow is a national education nonprofit group that collects data about education using surveys.  I found out many interesting facts about kids in the United States and video-gaming.  For example: “Only 3% of elementary students say they don’t play electronic games on some kind of device, 9% of middle school kids and 17% of high school kids.  On average across all grades, k-12 students are playing games approximately 8-10 hours a week.”  Also when asked about the value of gaming technologies when learning, the students surveyed are very interested for a variety of reasons like:  “Games make it easier to understand difficult concepts (51%), They would be more engaged in the subject (50%), they would learn more about the subject (46%), and it would be more interesting to practice problems (44%).”   These statistics told me that educational videogaming can be a great way to engage students of today and it is something that the students want in their education!  You can see more of this cool Speak Up project at: http://www.tomorrow.org/docs/National%20Findings%20Speak%20Up%202007.pdf

A great article I found in an Educause Review magazine article, which is an award-winning magazine for the higher education IT community said that the public in general is developing an interest in games as learning tools because of three factors. Those factors are that the research has been done, students of today’s generation are becoming disengaged with traditional instruction and there has recently been a huge increase in the popularity of video-games. This article titled, “Digital Game Based Learning – It’s not just the Digital Natives who are Restless” said that there have been many studies that show that games promote learning.  It also said that games can be an effective method of teaching because learning takes place within a meaningful context.  The most profound information I read in this article stated,“Interacting with a game requires a constant cycle of hypothesis formulation, testing, and revision.  This process happens rapidly and often while the game is played, with immediate feedback.”  I thought it was great when this article also said that not all games are good and we need to be selective in what we choose our students to play. “Games that are too easily solved will not be engaging, so good games constantly require input from the learner and provide feedback.”  I will be sure to choose a game that meets these requirements for my TechQuest project.  You can read more of this article at :  http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0620.pdf

Another great resource I found was:http://www.gamesparentsteachers.com/.  This website is available for parents and teachers to inform them of the existing video-games out there with recommendations for age levels and what each game is about.  I found a game called, “The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis”  under the elementary recommendations that I would like to include in my classroom for my TechQuest project.  This software is already available at my school, but I have not tried it yet. 

I found awesome educational computer video-games at this website: http://www.games2train.com/ .  These game templates can be used to build your own video-games to include the content that you want.  I love the quiz show one!

Overall,  I learned a lot with my Internet research for educational video-games.  I have found the technology that I can implement in my classroom to engage all learners, especially the ones that seem to be lost with traditional instruction.  When researching on the Internet I used the Google search engine and just typed in, “educational video games” which led me to several resources and those resources led me to others etc.  It was easy to get lost looking over item after item of information out there on educational video games!

Group’s SIG Focus:
Differentiated Instruction- meeting the needs of all students in the classroom

Group Members:
Beth- Differentiated Reading with On-line Support
Arin- Meeting the Needs of Tech Savvy Students: Game Based Learning
Jen- Fostering Enthusiasm for Writing
Pam- Alternative Format Text

Major Categories of Resources:
Professional Organizations such as: IRA, MITS, CAST, MRA, NAEYC, brains.org
On-line articles
Tech Help Forums: techlearning.com, edtechtalk.com, podcastingforteachers.com, techandyoungchildren.org, rtecexchange.edgateway.net
Websites: bookshare.org, rescue.wikispaces.com

It amazes me how passionate kids these days are about video-games.  They never lose interest and would play for hours if they were allowed.  In video-games, children are exposed to fast moving and a vast amount of stimulation.  They receive immediate satisfaction and feedback while playing these games, and they always have a thirst to play more!  As I teach in my classroom and see students yawning and tuning out (even though I think I am being as entertaining as possible), I think to myself how I wish there was a way to grab these students’ attention like a video-game could and at the same time improve content retention.  Instruction for this new generation of video-game players needs to be more attention grabbing, face paced and interactive. 

I plan to address this educational issue by finding a computer program or some type of software that is similar to a video-game.  It would be very beneficial to locate a program that touches on many subjects in the elementary curriculum that can be used on a frequent basis.  I would like to find a learning based computer program that is exciting, offers many choices , and can be used by a large variety of age levels.  If such an innovation exists, having it available and useful to all students in the elementary building could be considered cost effective.

According to an ABC news-article written in 2005 titled Do Video Games Make Kids Smarter?, the author states, “Children who play such video-games exhibit what experts call fluid intelligenceor problem solving.”  Jere Brophy says this in his article about effective teachers, “Their activities and assignments feature stimulating variety and optimal challenge, which help students to sustain their task engagement and minimize disruptions due to boredom or distraction.”  I believe finding a technology innovation that provides stimulation simular to videogames  will provide students with a fluid intelligence and will definately help with engaging students in an educational way.

Finding a stimulating video-game like technological innovation will effect the following four common places of education:

Teacher:  will be a guide on the side as the students play with interactive program.

Learner: will be engaged in an interactive, exciting stimulus that allows them to discover information on their own and make choices of how they learn the material.  They will also receive immediate feedback and immediate satisfaction.

Subject Matter: program should have subjects across the curriculum that is suitable for multiple age levels.

Setting:  program should be able to be implemented in an educational setting such as classroom computers and/or computers in a lab.

I have learned that including a variety of teaching strategies to my instruction is essential for student success. Learning about and producing the web-based technologies in CEP 811 gave me a great foundation to be sure all teaching strategies can be integrated in to the classroom.  While working on my StAIR project and WebQuest I have discovered that there is a vast amount of possibilities and a huge variety of ways to introduce and teach students the content required in the curriculum. 

Finishing the projects for CEP 811 was basically a sufficient enough goal for me to accomplish within the last few weeks.  Managing my time as a busy teacher, mom and student has been a challenge!  However, I gained so much motivation to learn and experiment more with technology after finishing this course.  I look forward to 812 to advance further.

One new goal I have obtained during this course is I want to try to get teachers in my building and in my district to be on board with technology.  No one seems to want to integrate technology and it gets so frustrating!  Technology is a great way for students to learn because kids enjoy it.  Technology is going to be mandatory for teachers to use soon, and I strongly think many teachers need to get out of their comfort zones and take the initiative to use the resources available to improve our children’s education!

I believe that the constructivism inquiry strategies would fit well with using blogs in the classroom because It encourages students to discover things themselves.  It also helps students gather and evaluate information and interact with others and their conclusions. 

One idea I think would be neat to incorporate blogs in my classroom would be trying to conduct literature circle meetings through blogging.  The students can blog about connections they made personally with the text with their group members and respond to each others connections.  Because I have not exactly witnessed a huge benefit for blogging in the elementary classroom, I think that if I were to do this I would do it in moderation.  It would be a great experience to try once, but I value the face to face literature discussions much more!  I could adapt this Web 2.0 technology to support this educational need, however why fix something that doesn’t exactly need to fixed?

While I was looking at my podcasts that I’ve put on my netvibes page, I saw the neatest thing that NASA is doing.  They are taking names to the moon and your students’ names could be included!  How fun, right?  They just type thier name in the boxes provided and they can even print out a certificate!  I thought this would be a quick fun activity in the computer lab that could also spark interesting conversations about space travel.  The site is: www.nasa.gov/LRO