Final Reflection

WOW! It has been four busy weeks. I have to say that this has been one of my favorite classes because I learned a variety of things that I can definitely use with my students. I have been showing my website to everyone, and I feel very proud of my work. I learned a lot and my expectations were really met. I think I can improve as a teacher and as a parent after doing all the projects and all the readings. They were very informative.
I just wished we had more time to absorb all the information we received. It was a lot of new stuff, but I am surprised how we accomplished so much in such a short period of time. I also would like to thank Dan for his great help after class. He is very patient and competent.
And thank you Jennifer for showing us all the cool things we can do with a computer! :)

The Computer Delusion

It was interesting to read this article and how Todd Oppenheimer put on the table the different points of view about the use of computer not only on education, but at home as well. I have been very excited with the endless possibilities on how I can explore technology in my Spanish classes, but I know that for everything there is a limit, a balance and certainly an objective. While I was reading this article I kept thinking about some other reading we did that mentioned that we need to know what is the learning outcome to better plan the activity we will be implementing. For sure the use of computers can be a disaster if the teacher is not skillful and doesn't have a detailed plan on how to combine technology and student learning.
There is nothing that can replace the activities that require hands on and imagination, because those activities develop a deep learning and a connection between the learner and the content. However, the appropriate use of the technology can definitely help students to enhance their learning if it's used as a supplement not as the main tool. We have been learning so many different ways to embed technology in instruction and how we can reach out for the different learning styles in our classroom. This is great, but the teacher needs to balance the amount of technology is being used. I am definitely against cutting funds to programs such as art and music to the benefit of buying more computers. I think that ideally each school should have a computer lab,but most important than that, teachers should be trained on how to get the best from this great machine. I loved when he compared the computer with a "amplifier", that is, it can encourages both enlightened practices and thoughtless ones.
Two other points that made me think is how very young kids are already being exposed to computers and how the excess use of computer is taking the time from the kids to seat and have a "real" dialogue with a friend or their parents. I see that in my home and many times it's a struggle to get my daughter to stop using her computer and just be still. Once again, for everything is necessary to have a balance. Good teachers should still use student-centered activities and hands on activities but also take advantage of the technology because it can definitely brings a lot of spark in the classroom.

Personal Reflections

I am loving this course. One of my goals with my students last year was to integrate more technology and interactive activities in the classroom, but I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted. Most of the time I used the Smarboard and some online sites. I feel that all the activities we have been doing so far can definitely be used with my students. I believe that teachers can accomplish a lot through technology. We can teach, practice and assess using different tools that relate to the kids and that make learning more interesting, interactive and fun.
I just finished my digital story and I decided to take my own pictures instead of using online materials. Well, I just used a few, but I have to confess that I really enjoy taking my own pictures, using the resources I had available and developing my creativity. I was very proud of my work and I think the students will love to do something like that to enhance their writing and speaking skills.
I just wish we had more time. It has been very challenging to me because we have a lot to cover in such a short period of time. I am afraid that I will be forgetting half of the things we learned, but I am glad we have your website available in case we need to review what we practiced in class. I think you and Dan have been very helpful and prompt to answer my questions in class and via e-mail, and I think your website is very organized and have all the tools we need to put many projects in practice.
Thanks!

What are the implications of copyright issues for educators?

I have to confess that I am still not so sure about what is right or what is wrong. It is a very important topic that need to have more clarification because teachers and students use the Internet and all that is available online every single day. On the article "Copyright Law and Technology", I was reflecting on how we give all the credit for a student who "created" a very detailed and illustrated work, but perhaps don't realize that half of the work was copied from the Internet and there wasn't any credit for the origin of images or sounds used in the project. I feel very fortunate that my school has a library media specialist and she is usually on top of things, but I don't remember being informed about the copyright laws and what can be used or not.
I feel a little confused about the four factors that qualify for the "fair use" of online materials. It seems a little ambiguous after checking some of the websites related to these topic. Apparently it seems that is fine to use those materials if it's for educational purposes, but then we see that there is a huge list with a lot of conditions, which we need to know to avoid future troubles.
I definitely feel the need of talking with our library media specialist to see if she can provide more training for teachers and students about this current and important issue.  As educators, we need to be aware of the copyright laws and we need to make sure we are doing the right thing and modeling to our students. We also need to make sure our students know what those laws are and we need to make sure they are accountable on this process as well.
I think the Internet provide a lot of resources and learning opportunities, but we need to be educated on how to use those tools and, at the same time, respect the content created by others.

UDL (Concept map)

I enjoyed creating this new map and I used a more recent version of the Inspiration program. It was a lot of work and there were a lot of information to use, but I liked using those links instead of the bubbles in this case.The use of different colors helps to understand better the connections between the links. Once again, the use of pictures illustrates beautifully the different aspects of traditional media and UDL. I think this activity is a great way to organize ideas instead of using the traditional graphic organizers. It was time consuming but it helped me to go over my readings and reflect more deeply on what exactly the author wanted to say.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

The article about UDL explains very well all the pros and cons when teaching using traditional instructional media and digital media. It is true that most of the teachers rely on traditional methods, especially printed materials and their traditional lecture. However, I believe the most schools are shifting to a more student-centered environment, which focus more on student’s learning and the development of higher level thinking skills.

After reading the 2 chapters and checking Lisa’s website, I felt overwhelmed with the amount of activities that can be developed to help teachers to create that “flexibility” which is essential to address learning differences.  I definitely want to do that, I want to be a teacher who reaches out for all my students; I want to help the ones who are struggling in class but also the ones that can walk the extra mile. Many times in my classroom I have students who are in different levels. Some never had Spanish before or have a hard time to understand it. On the other hand, some other kids even download music in Spanish to their iPod’s and are eager to learn more. I feel frustrated because I know I am not supporting all my students. Also, the article defines very well the role of recognition, strategic and affective networks for the speech, for reading a text and for understanding images. We know that many students have special needs and if they are not able to identify and understand information in one way or the other, they will feel frustrated and powerless. Their school performance will be poor and their level of commitment will decrease. Besides that, students may come to school with emotional problems which interfere with their engagement in class. Establishing a class with relevant and meaningful materials is essential to foster a successful learning environment.

I loved when the author mentioned that teachers don’t need more media, but they need better media. If we look closely to the four aspects of digital media’s flexibility (versatility, transformability, the ability to be marked, and the ability to be networked), it is impressive the different ways that students can assess content and how teachers will be reaching out all individuals with different backgrounds and needs. The UDL principles align with the e-Tips article we read which discussed how teachers need to define the learning outcomes before planning a certain activity. UDL can help teachers to differentiate instruction using specific goals, materials and assessments.

When I was reading this article, I took advantage of the vocabulary links available in the text since English is not my first language, which showed me how important is that individualized learning support that so many kids are desperate to have.

Going back to Lisa’s blog, I was surprised to see all the links and educational sites to be used with the students. I feel a little lost on how to get started. I am looking forward to learn more about digital media and how to use in my class. I checked some links used in Lisa’s blog and most of them relate to the main content areas, but hopefully I will be able to create links and sites for Spanish learning.

Manipulating a digital image (Piknik)

I frequently use the Kodak Easy Share program to edit my personal pictures, but most of the time I just adjust the color of the pictures, crop them a little bit and do the minimal work. I haven't been manipulating digital pictures with my students as this idea never occurred  in my mind. I liked the Piknik website and it was really easy to manipulate the picture. After doing it, I started thinking about activities I could do in my classes such as we did in our class, but then ask the student to write a paragraph in the target language describing their picture. It can be a fun project for them to do. I found a little complicated the other website (Photoshop) but I will try to explore more how to work with layers. However, for my learning outcomes I believe the Piknik website was good enough. It is simple, practical and give good results.