Reflection for week 5

To teach in a constructivist way make sense to me. However, I can also see where some teachers would find it difficult to incorporate into their classrooms. (This weeks reading really forced me to acknowledge positive and negative sides of implementing a constructivist approach in the classroom.) When I reflect on my undergraduate career, none of my professors/TAs taught in a constructivist way. I feel to try and learn I had to “hunt and peck” for information/facts that they wanted and feel I really didn’t digest and reflect on information because I had four to five other courses for which I was doing the same. At that time I just tried to remember what I thought would be on midterm and final exams. Then as soon as a semester was over, that information was purged from my head. Professors/TAs didn’t ask me to reflect on the information in their courses because they seemed to be preoccupied with focusing on information they felt was important.

Now in my M.Ed. program, I feel that almost all of the courses I have thus far incorporated and embraced constructivist theory, on some level, and have asked me to reflect on current and past experiences—professional and educational. I feel that I am really understanding and learning information for the first time in my college career. However, I also wonder if because I am taking courses geared specifically to my personal interests, art education, if that is the reason why I am retaining and learning better. Could it be because I am focusing on specific information I find intriguing that makes me feel that I am learning better?

Reflection for week 4

Do people surround themselves with technologies so they don’t have to “think” and “question” as much, or do technologies encourage people to “think” and “question” more? I’m on the fence with these questions because while I see current and potential benefits of technologies, I also see how they have made people lazy. Additionally, is it really laziness or do people expect technologies to be developed ongoing because they like the novelty of them? In my opinion it is both. I do feel computer-based technologies have the potential to serve as mindtools. However, I also see minivans with DVD players and children being taught to “zone-out” so Mom and Dad can drive. My point is that I think technologies, no matter their form, are motivating and debilitating at the same time. What has become main-stream to people today, was implausible over one hundred years ago. To think that my great-grandparents would not have had an automobile is inconceivable to me now. For the children I may have in the future, I can see them not able to image a world without laptops, cell phones, podcasts, and internet. People have come to rely heavily on technologies. While I applaud the innovative thinking, I also think that people are ultimately to blame for their own demise/laziness because of it. I believe my interactions with technologies are well balanced. I know enough about the technology areas in which I have interest and utilize them accordingly. However, if I do not have a real reason to use a type of technology, I do not go out of my way to buy it, use it, or pay attention to it. Is that wrong?

Reflection for week 3

I found the website presentations very insightful, in particular the http://docs.google.com/ site. What a useful tool students can use when collaborating on a group project. Not only would it be useful for K-12 and college students, but I could see utilizing it’s capabilities to team on a group project for work. I already told some of my colleagues and my student worker about it. Overall, I’m pleased that each week a couple people in our class will present on various websites they use. What a great way to see “what else” is out there and what people are using via the internet.

Inspiration is a wonderful visual learning resource; one that I never knew existed before this course. I am a person that learns better using visuals and audio versus just reading material in a textbook. I strongly desire graphics, text, charts, etc., when trying to learn new information, and see Inspiration as a tool that can deliver just that. However, after I read Tufte’s article regarding Powerpoint, I can see some individuals who may “over” use Inspiration to a point where students become distracted by an over abundance of visual/audio material. The individual creating a diagram in Inspiration definitely needs to achieve a balance between essential information and visuals/audio. Inspiration also reminded me of Microsoft Office Visio, a program I have used in my job at the U. However, I see Visio as more of a tool used in the corporate versus educational world.

I have enjoyed the threaded discussions in WebCT regarding the weekly class readings. Although it can be intimidating sometimes to let others know what you think, especially through writing, it seems like everyone has been engaged in them. They say “practice makes perfect.” I say “practice allows for improvement.”

Reflection for week 2

A BLOG! What an interesting tool! Admittedly, I was not overly excited about having to create a blog and then have to keep submitting posts, but actually it is fun. I realized that to create and post to a blog required a fairly sizable time commitment. However, the amount of time depended on how detailed the blog became. Being a visual person, I really took the time to “play” with the look and formatting of my blog to get it to a point that I felt good about its aesthetic quality(ies). I even added a photo, a list of favorite art education websites, and RSS feeds to each CI 5351 students’ blog. I thought “Blogger” made it fairly easy for someone who had never experienced a blog, yet along blogging, to figure out how to create and maintain one. I googled “blog layouts” and found an array of website that have cool features that can be downloaded to assist with the design of a blog. One such website was “My Spacefetti” (http://www.spacefetti.com/). I was overwhelmed with all the page layouts, “glitter graphics,” and “generators.” I kept thinking how amazing it was that people actually create this kind of stuff for their careers and how fun, yet challenging, that would be. Additionally, I realized that blogs and blogging can be great tools for teachers to use in their classrooms. Technology has become an integral part of how society communicates/interacts. I can definitely see blogs and blogging as a great way to expose students to different ways of connecting with other students studying similar subjects. They can create forums to contemplate and debate subjects, and also engage in deep, reflective thought. I believe that they might not feel as intimidated conversing with other students, versus teachers, about their questions or thoughts.

Inspiration (concept mapping) was introduced during class period 2, and for the brief time I worked with it, it seemed like a practical and manageable tool. I look forward to working with it further.

Blogging

I'm really starting to get used to the idea of blogging as a means of communication--friends, family, staff, students, faculty. It's pretty fun! My main concern is about listing too much personal information on the blog. This might be "the glass is half empty" kind of comment, but it is inevitable that someone will negatively take advantage of people/information--especially through the Internet. I know individuals who post all kinds of personal information on MySpace. While I think it's a great tool people can use to keep in touch or make new friends, I would not feel comfortable posting that kind of information for the world to see. Additionally, people can totally misrepresent themselves. To me it seems that people are using the Internet more to socialize, which is good, but there comes a point that they should get off their computers and try to physically interact with real humans. (Don't get me wrong, people can misrepresent themselves in-person, but it doesn't seem as easy as through the Internet.) However, the Internet can open up the entire world for some people who may not live in a large city, which is a positive. They can then experience people, places, and things they didn't know existed before.

Hmm... Just stuff I think about.

Reflection for week 1

I can honestly say that I am excited about this class and the topic. From reading the class “introductions,” it seems we all have general technology knowledge—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.—and it is interesting to learn that people have experimented themselves with and within their classrooms with more complex technology (in my opinion). I am generally interested in using technology and its capabilities; however, I’m embarrassed to admit that there is a mountain of information on technology out there with which I am unfamiliar. Although I work in education, my role is as an administrator verses K-12 teacher, so I do not develop curriculum for the classroom, but support U of M staff, students, and faculty. I see it as a necessary and on going part of my job to be familiar with and literate of technology, no matter the format—podcasting, Interactive Television (ITV), WebCT/Vista, FileNet. I do see many similarities between K-12 and my job as far as how technology can be incorporated and its limitless possibilities.

This is the sixth class I have taken in the M.Ed. program, and the first that has requested all assignments and feedback be dealt with through WebCT. I am a bit intimidated, but look forward to learning how to work with the technology. I can then take my experiences back to the instructors I work with to see if they are interested in incorporating it in to their curriculum.

I found the Jonassen reading and the Greenhow reading interesting and thought provoking. With regards to Jonassen’s piece, to think of computers as Mindtools that facilitate learning for students, I found myself in a topic and using a term I had never experienced. I felt particularly drawn to the use of computers as Mindtools because I am a person that can not just read to learn. I have to engage with content—read, write, discuss—to fully develop and understand meaning. It is exciting to think there are various computer applications that can assist learning and knowledge development for people such as myself. With regards to the Greenhow piece, I was drawn to how the constructivist theory stresses that the teacher and/or learner be an active part of the process to make meaning. I believe that teachers serve an integral part of the learning process, but agree that if they take the constructivist standpoint in their classroom, they will help to support “a learner-centered classroom.”

Overall, I look forward to learning and experimenting with various technology tools/software/programs in this class.

First blog ever!

Wow, this is my first blog!