Lessons with Technology

Below I will include links to three lessons I have developed or adapted to suit the needs of my Spanish classes. Each lesson is a framework model for how I would like my students to interact and learn through the use of technology. These lessons are bound to change when getting to know my students, their proficiencies, and their attitude towards the use of technology. I have found something very interesting during my student teaching experience. I realized that not all students use technology or have been exposed to it, and even if they do, there are many students who have developed a strong apprehension towards using technology. My lessons integrate differentiated instruction techniques that touch upon the needs of each learner. Some of those needs ask for the supplemental use of tehcnology to help students better understand the course material.

Lesson #1

Lesson #2

Lesson #3

Recursos Vitales

Google Docs
I think it appropriate to discuss how I have integrated Google features with my teachers. While I was attending the last workshop, Grizznet in the Classroom, we discussed how things such as Google Docs could be integrated with Moodle. Instead of hosting documents solely on Moodle, you could easily host those documents on Google Docs, allowing students to even edit documents together, make comments, and a plethora of other features that serve to enhance learning.

Google Docs offers a large variety of different types of docs one could create. One type of doc that I really enjoy using is the Forms doc. This doc is fantastic for quickly creating surveys for your students. It could also serve as a method of creating pop-quizzes or any other sort of multiple choice assessment. Even better is that the Form will aggregate the information for you in nifty graphs. In fact, the options of what you can do with the data is almost endless!

Click HERE for an example version of a survey. This is a learning inventory survey.

Education Technology Summit - Workshops

I figure I would create a new post for the workshops. I attended three workshops during this conference. I have to admit that I am slightly disappointed by the set-up of the workshops. Not what kind of conferences, but rather how many wonderful conferences were available to watch. The conference would be much better if it went over the course of two days. That way, as an attendee, I would be able to view more presentations.

Clicking the links below will provide you with notes I had taken during the workshops, as well as a final reflection of each workshop:

Google Earth in the Classroom

Amazing Activboard Applications

Using Moodle in the Classroom 

Southern Oregon 1st Annual Ed Tech Conference

Some time has passed since I attended this conference, but I can still remember the wonderful things I learned there as if it happened only yesterday. Southern Oregon University held their first-annual conference that focused on one of my biggest passions as an educator: technology. There was no such way I was going to miss such a wonderful opportunity to not only share my knowledge with my peers, but also learn an immense amount about how to implement more use of technology in my foreign language classroom.

I must admit that I am a HUGE technology buff. Before I started in the MAT program I had already gained extensive experience in web development, graphic design, digital photography, internet research, digital music production, and anything else I could get my hands on. When I started my student teaching I immediately dived into the technology available, including document cameras, interactive whiteboards, learning management systems, and other tools that serve to enhance student learning.

It was with great pleasure to find out that Southern Oregon University was going to host its first annual Educational Technology Summit. I wound up being able to attend with five of my colleagues at my school, two of which are in the same department as myself. This was a bonus becuase after each workshop we attended, we were able to discuss what we learned and how we could implement various technologies within our current curriculum. I was so excited to be able to collaborate with others who have had years of experience teaching. Their technological aptitude is low, novice even. This is where I fit in to the best. I was able to provide feedback on features or potential uses of technology. They were able to share their knowledge of the curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching practices that could be adjusted in such a way that technology could begin to be implemented.

The keynote speaker was phenominal, and a great start to what was a great conference. Esther Wojcicki showed the power of technology and how it can connect directly with student interests and needs. From her experiences, it seems that students are so engaged there exists a sense of autonomy in the classroom. Her students have taken ownership of what they produce, and in my investigations post-conference, I was absolutely amazed at the quality of published materials that the students produce. The keynote speech was very engaging, and got me, and no doubt my colleagues, excited about what was going to come up next.