ETEC Technology Integration Project

This 7 week course is coming to an end quickly.............  I have attached the lesson plan along with the link that will take you to my Technology Integration Project if you have any issues with the video.Synonyms using Word Clouds  

 

Article Review #3

 RUSH, E. B. (2015). Genius Hour in the Library. Teacher Librarian, 43(2), 26-30.

When searching to find an article that was geared more toward the library I saw the title “Genius Hour in the library” and it intrigued my little brain.  The author begins by explaining what the Genius Hour actually is.  Genius Hour is a new movement in education “that allows students to spend time in school exploring, researching, and studying any topic of their choice.” (Rush 2015)  The author also goes into detail about what inspired her to create this and how she went about implementing it into her library.

Rush begins the article by explaining that Genius Hour is a new movement in education, “that allows students to spend time in school exploring, researching, and studying any topic of their choice.” (Rush, 2015) Rush details her inspiration and steps for implementing Genius Hour into her library. 

Rush’s first step was to get support from the school administration and faculty.  From there Rush outlined where to begin with, the students. She suggests a student/parent digital survey engage the students and parents in the project. The digital results will make it easier to keep track of the students’ topics and resources needed. Once the students have chosen a topic to research she teaches library skills such as how to use reference sources and how to evaluate websites.

I found the idea of the genius hour interesting. I love the idea of students learning about something they are passionate about while learning literacy skills. The article only skimmed the use of technology during Genius Hour. I was hoping it would incorporate more technology than using the computer to research. While I found this article informative, it did not increase my instructional technology knowledge.

Article Review #2

Trends in the Military consist of two challenges:

• International responsibilities of a national or multinational military force

• New Technologies      

The military has challenges when trying to keep up with the new trends that are out.  In this age we almost can’t keep up with technologies, so with the Military it’s a huge challenge for them to continue to keep us safe when technology in a sense can leave our military vulnerable.  The Military also faces many issues when it comes to IDT such as:

1. Funding,

1. Technological range, 

1. Deliver environment, 

1. Design constraints.

It’s hard to keep up with something when you are not on the same level playing field. Funding seems to be a issue in many context, there is never enough money to fund what we need.  Because all area of the military are not ideal training locations, they must ensure that training is adaptable to all environments.  

HealthCare Education

Healthcare Education is comprised of various program sets:

1. Academic Medical Center and Health Profession Schools
2. Government Agencies
3. Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies & Private Foundations
4. Professional Societies and Health Associations
5. Hospitals, Clinics, and other Care Giving Institutions

This context is so broad and covers many areas of healthcare.  This industry is very important but as stated in the Military context money is an issue as well.  We continuously hear debates about healthcare.  Staying with the trends and current with new cures, medicines, and other things that make patients well change with time.  When we think about the past technology in the medical field to current, we have evolved so much and will continue with time.

Business & Industry

Trends and Issues in the Business & Industry:

1. Cross Cultural Training
2. Better, Faster, Cheaper

When working in the business industry you meet and encounter many different people from many different backgrounds.  Companies must ensure that their employees are trained and equipped to deal with people from all backgrounds.  This is a task for companies to ensure they are able to train their employees when they come from different backgrounds.  The better, faster, and cheaper, stems from money.  Production being made faster at a cheaper rate to make the company more money.  This is the goal of companies, and many have not been able to figure how to balance all three. 

When researching these trends, they are similar in one context to the area I work in and that is $ (Money).  Money seems to be an issue with all areas when trying to keep up with the trends in Design.  

I think it will be a hard task to get your youth prepared to live in a world that cannot sustain what they are used to.  In the classroom without technology we see our teachers struggle to get students to understand the concept that is being taught.  Imagine them in a world where they are used to having technology and then it being taken away.  That is similar to taking a bottle away from a newborn baby and expecting them to sustain.  People always are quick to say we should do as other countries, but I am not quick to make those comments.  Let's take two middle school for instance, what may work for one school setting may not work for another.  Now I am all for taking bits and making it work but to take a whole concept and expect it to work exactly the same in another environment would be wishful thinking.  

References

Reiser, R. A. & Dempsey, J. V. (2012). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology, 18(2), 2-6

Article Review #1 - Education Technology-Special Needs

Glaeser, L. (2016). Breaking through: Using educational technology for children with special needs.  Education & Information Technologies, 21(5),  1243. Doi:10.1007/s10639-015-9378-4

Technology can be a great tool in the classroom with many different learner.  Teachers can find it very difficult to differentiate instruction for 20 plus students in one class, with different needs and different learning styles.  Education technology can often help teachers personalize lessons and skills enhancement to each students.  Students with learning disabilities often are drawn to computers and other gadgets, so using them in the learning process seems to be a wise choice. 

After reading the article, it became clear that this article is about using one tool and that is a tablet to assist with learning.   It is a huge disappointment that when reading this article you think you will find out different ways to engage students with special needs.  Even though disappointed using tablets can be very beneficial to come of the students we encounter with special needs.   There are a few questions the book attempts to answer: (Glaeser 2016)

1. What type of impact does tablet technology have on children with special needs?
2. How does educational technology factor into tablet technology?
3. What kind of results are documented on the positive impact tablet technology has on children with special needs?

·         Can Breaking Through be a tool for people who live and work with special needs children? 

The breakthrough example that was used was on the basis of an autistic child who discovered his Aunt’s IPad.  Once he discovered this Ipad it immediately started reducing the number of frustrations he dealt with. (Glaeser 2016)  I can see how this tool can work, but I wonder the range of students this tool will work with.  The research is very limited to the type of students with disabilities as well as the tools you can use.  The article to me is very misleading of what I originally thought I was going to get out of it, but it does offer a wonderful tool that can be used with certain students with disabilities.  

Final Wrap-up

Week 7

As this class comes to a close and I reflect on this long 7 weeks, I must say that I feel accomplished.  I was most proud of my Buzzer Circuit.  With this particular build I was:
1) able to pick one the one I wanted 
2) I was able to figure out how to get the buzzer to work
3) I was able to complete and extension and get it to play the tune of Happy Birthday!

When I started this class I was very excited, and as we continued into week 2 that excitement quickly turned into fear, frustration, and anger.  When I originally signed up for this class I was under the impression it would be totally different and that became discouraging to me.  Once I made myself move forward and determined that I would not quit, I actually began to understand more of the class and put forth a better effort.  Because of this I am feeling very proud of myself to even get this far in the course.  

Starting out, I knew nothing on the programming end.  I always thought of myself as being tech savvy, which is probably why I ended up being able to at least work through the course.  I have always known that I was not a quitter so I knew that I would get myself together and finish strong.  

When looking back each week, I could hear the defeat especially with week 3, I was totally defeated.  I am glad that I was able to blog this experience so my students could see that people struggle in life and its about the choices you make when you are confronted with those struggles and how you overcome them.  I was able to overcome and make the best of what I was faced with and ended up having fun with it in the end.  

Although I ended up enjoying this route, my next steps would not include the programming end of the maker space.  My focus is more activity oriented with crafts not robotics. This programming piece was good so that if I ever change my mind, or students want a different take on the space, I will have the experience.  

Happy Birthday to you.....

Week 5 has been a joy to work our own challenge.  I chose to complete Circuit #9-Buzzer.  With this task we would be using the buzzer to make a small click when you apply the voltage.  If you program it to turn the buzzer off and on it will create a tone. 

Starting this made me nervous a little, but luckily our adventure alone last week prepared me mentally.   for this task we needed the following tools

1-Piezo Element
4-Wires

Below is a picture of my diagram, code, and a picture of my complete board. 

Diagram

Code

Picture of Board

I am proud to say that I completed this circuit and also completed a few extension pieces and changes to see how advanced I have become with this coding thing :)  When working on the board I was able to get it to successfully play a tune.  Check out the video below!  I posted a few things I tweaked with the code to get it to play a different beat.  

After getting a hang of the code and how it works, I decided to see if I could play around with the code to see if I could get it to play the beginning of Happy Birthday.  Listen and see if it sounds a little like it.  LOL!!!!

Reflection:  This week turned out to be a great week.  I am so happy that I kept pushing in this course to see my real potential.  Looking forward to next week.  

Week 4.... Dice..... Game Time

With this weeks challenge, we were asked to create a code that would simulate a dice game.  Needless to say I thought this would be impossible for me, but after a little research, a few hiccups, and many nervous nights and days........I am proud to say that I finally got it to work.  Below you will find my video and coding as I continue to work on the final piece of the actual data, I will post as I finish......... When working with the coding the delay originally configured was too slow for my liking and time frame to complete, so I changed it to 2000, I may change it to 1000 before I finish the other tasks for time sake.

Code

Failures/Successes

I used this video as a way to document hoe my board looked before I finally figured out how to make it work correctly.  Below I completed the random trial and you will see my results in the data listed below.

Reflection: Week 4 in a nutshell left me with a great feeling in the end.  Now I feel that I can conquer the world it gives me hope moving forward in the coming weeks, and possibly to use coding as a maker space in my library.  My original thought of it was not to have any sort of coding going on.  I am not sure if that was because of my fear with it or desire.  I can truly say now that it might be an option.  It has been challenging but rewarding as well.