During this course I have gained understanding of technology operations and concepts that I knew very little about before I began this class. Such knowledge I feel I have an understanding for is the basic difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web. I now have a general understanding that the Internet is like a connecting road to the whole world, but it doesn't bring me any connection to a particular location, which I desire to explore. Instead that is the sole purpose of the World Wide Web... it functions as the car on the connecting roads. Through the World Wide Web I can visit any desired location I want to, that is if I have a road to travel on which is access to the Internet. I have gained a sound understanding for other concepts of technology such as the knowing the creation of digital images are made up of tiny pixels of colors which are placed in a order by a number. I have also gained an understanding of a basic use of hypermedia technology such as a creating a power point and brochure.

I feel I will continue my growth of gaining more important knowledge and skills about technology through my membership with ISTE. I currently, have received over ten emails from them, which will encourage me to stay connected with the latest technology. I look forward to continuing my membership yearly with ISTE just to maintain that technology advancement awareness! I also feel I will want to attend another technology conference as I did in the fall. I realize I will have teacher in service days to possibly attend those conferences.

Exhibit 2
I created a brochure for my Communities Learning course

While working in this course, I discovered what a web quest was and how to develop one. I have discovered that a web quest will allow my students to fully engage in learning through the use of technology. I decided to create a web quest on one of my work samples because I might try to actually use it within my placement! I am taking a risk and attempting to instruct first graders through a simple animal web quest. I feel they could achieve the steps of the process since they will be able to work in partners and be assisted a variety of aids. I believe this form of teaching students truly uses technology to support their individual learning. It facilitates an environment that will actively engage many students while working on the computer through a cool and interesting web site.
If a variety of interesting technology tools are implemented within a classroom then today's current brain research will most likely be implemented as well. For recent brain research has proven that students are more likely to store new information in their long-term memory, if they expand upon what they are learning. I believe teaching students through the use of such tools as power points, WebQuests, digital cameras, and / or websites will increase their engagement which could in turn increase their mental expansion on any newly given information. Therefore, I believe current research does and should apply to teaching through technology.
I am looking forward to planning a variety of technology strategies for my students in order to raise their level of interest and higher learning (Blooms taxonomy). I am planning on having a class website which will have photos of the class posted on it to encourage students and parents to visit it. I am looking forward to start teaching with fun and entertaining power points. I had no idea on how many was you could create a power point to look like a mini imovie! If I teach upper elementary grades then I hope to try and teach the process of creating a website to my students, if the materials are provided.

WebQuest

Exhibit 2

Brain research evidence: www.enhancelearning.ca

Through this course I have become familiar with a program called GoLive. On this program I have discovered how to create my own website. As I discovered this process I realized how a class website could truly enhance any classroom environment by setting a strong basis for classroom community connecting through the use of technology. I could apply my current teaching philosophy to my website so my parents and follow staff members could easily detect my style of teaching.
Beyond the ability to create a website for my classroom I could encourage them to email me if they have any questions on a particular assignment or something related to school activities. I feel this will not only enhance the use of technology between my future students and I, but it could enhance the community building within my classroom environment. Another source of technology that I could apply in my classroom to enhance technology and build a sense of community is a digital video camera. I could take pictures of my students and then display them around our room or own are website. I could also video tape them learning or performing an activity. Then I could create an imovie out the video clips.

I could assist my students in understanding how to check the accuracy and suitability of any web site by teaching them to always scroll down to the locate the sites source and click on it to check it. This will reveal the company or author of the web site and it will immediately bring to your awareness if it is a good and accurate web site. I can inform them that when they do research type reports they should always check the source of their web sites that they are retrieving data from.

I plan to implement technology within my student's day by having a 'weather bug' checker job position on our classroom job chart. This person will be able to use one of the available classroom computers to look up the day's temperature for us. I think delegating jobs to certain people to access the computer would make it even more exciting to be able to jump on the computer.

Exhibit 1 WebSite

Exhibit 2 GoLive home page (informative)

I believe that I could assess my students learning through the use of technology that is implemented upon my webquest. I have posted my student's assignment rubric on the webquest so it gives them a clear understanding of what I am expecting out of their final project. I could assess my students learning through the use of having them submit assignments to me in a word document that is either emailed or handed in on a disc. I feel I could assess my student's ability at math and reading through having them perform the tasks and save their work. I could then go back and see how my students did on the technology activity that was provided through the World Wide Web. A link to one of the websites I would use for a math lesson is listed under exhibit one; it is geometry with Turtle Math.

Exhibit 2 Turtle Math - Logo

I will continue my membership to the International Society for Technology in Education as to have a resource for keeping up with my needed technology advancements. I will practice communicating my findings of those advancements that will improve others and mine instructional practices within the classroom. I will use my gained awareness of what is out there in technology for the field of science. I will contribute my knowledge from the OTEN conference I attended in the fall. I have hopes of attending another technology conference when I become a teacher to continue my learning in this advancing field.

Currently, I am student teaching in the Beaverton school district. I am already on the districts huge email account and communicate with staff from both my school placements on that. I hope to be able to do this no matter where I work! I will continue to use email to connect with family, staff and friends. I will most likely use the Internet to link on to websites to book field trips. I have already performed tasks similar to this within both of my school placements.

Exhibit 2 Oregon Technology in Education Network home page for Conferences

I intend to model appropriate use of legal and ethical practices while using technology at all times. Before this course I was unaware of the ways I could be checking websites for their security and ethical make up! I have now discovered to ways of thoroughly checking a WebPages source link to discover who or what created appearing informative site! Take a look at the website listed under exhibit one and scroll to its source link, click and observe what you see while sitting down. To apply technology resources that empower learners with diverse backgrounds and abilities I would obtain visual resources for our class to learn from that included diversity in all areas.

I will promote safe and healthy use of technology as a resource with my students by informing them of the stranger dangers on the Internet, security theft, and unethical websites. I would inform the students to make sure of what they are putting in their search bar. To make sure that they are carefully typing in the accurate URL so that it is exact. Depending on the age of my students I might not disclose that there are bad, or distasteful sites you could end up at. Instead I will just suggest it will slow down your research quite a bit if you type in the wrong URL address. I will also inform them that good technology users double-check their URL inputs. I feel this might be a better way to insure the safe and healthy searching online of my students. I suggest this because I feel that if I were to say to a child, "don't go here it is bad!" He or she might then be curious of it and want to see what the fuse is about. Therefore, I intend to be extra caution with my wording while teaching my students of such a serious matter.

To facilitate equal access, between my students, with the use of our classrooms technology resources, I will have a steady class schedule posted up by the computers. I will rotate the students through the line on the schedule daily so every student will receive at least one opportunity to work on the computer per week (assuming we have at least three to four computers in our classroom).

Exhibit 2 Standards from ISTE will be applied in my classroom