Kari+Hustrulid

EDU 240 Kari's FINAL ** 1.    As **//COGNITIVE MEDIATOR//**, the educator helps students to become independent learners who construct meaning by combining new information with their own background knowledge. **Discuss two assignments that you completed using a South Dakota State Standards topic in your major area of study. Describe each program and then tell how you could use that program with your students to enhance their technology skills when you start teaching.
 * TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

A.** The scavenger hunts help students become independent learners by doing the activities individually. These hunts can teach the students about almost any topic in a way that relates to many different learning styles. By using a scavenger hunt, students become more familiar with Internet navigation and interactive websites. Students can also become teachers by helping their classmates with various aspects of the scavenger hunt, such as where the activity is located on the site or what the objective of the activity is. This can increase confidence and understanding of Internet navigation.

2.    As **//RESEARCHER//**, the educator seeks to improve educational practices within the school setting, using an inquiry approach to serve students more effectively. **How has completing research in this class (reading the textbook, researching sites on the Internet, creating a presentation for class) helped you to become a better teacher candidate?** By being an effective researcher, teachers can discover many different ways of teaching one topic. This is very important in order to reach students of all learning styles. A researcher is always eager to learn and to help others in their learning process as well. A teacher who enjoys research will show the students the joys of learning for learning's sake. Students who then learn to ask their own questions and find the answers will be much better suited for later years of education.
 * B.** Powerpoints are also a useful tool in education students. Both teacher-created and student-created powerpoints can enhance learning of a given lesson and understanding of what technology can do. By creating their own powerpoint on a chosen topic, students learn the fundamental ideas of their topic as well as how to put this information together in an organized way. Students, if paired in groups, learn to work together to accomplish a task on time. On the other hand, working alone encourages individual creativity and ambition. By presenting their powerpoint to the class, students again become teachers and can speak on a level their classmates most understand.

3.    As **//COMMUNICATOR//**, the educator is skilled in modes of communication that will enable effective communication and collaboration with other educators, parents, and families. **Discuss one Internet site and one technology program that will help you to communicate to your students and their parents when you become a teacher? Describe how you could use each one to communicate to either students or parents when you are teaching.

A.** The Microsoft Publisher brochures and newsletters can be very useful for communication. Teachers can relay to parents what is going on in the classroom for that month/week/section. Parents who do not have time for conferences or classroom visits rely on newsletters to see what is happening in the classroom. Newsletters can also be a reminder to students about upcoming events: field trips, tests, project due dates. Other teachers can also learn new methods or activities from what a teacher relays in a newsletter.

4.    As **//EVALUATOR//**, the educator maximizes students’ learning by using a full range of formal and informal information-gathering processes in order to respond appropriately to student individual differences. **Discuss one web site and one technology program that you used and evaluated this semester? Why did you find each one useful and how might you use them in the classroom when you start teaching?
 * B.** Wiki pages can also be useful in communication. Although this communication is restricted to those with computer access, wikis can be much more effective in relaying detailed information than newsletters. In a wiki, teachers can explain classroom activities or lesson plans and post links to websites and powerpoints relating to the current lesson plans. Students who missed class time can also educate themselves using the wiki postings for that day. Parents can also receive information about the classroom and notes directly from the teacher to the parents.

A.** The make-your-own-rubric site was very helpful and practical. Teachers, especially those in upper levels, can use this for almost any presentation or project to give the students a better idea of the assignment. The preset qualifications are a great timesaver for teachers but also allow for editing. Rubrics are important because they discuss the expectations the teacher has for the students and provides the students with a check list for what their project should include. It also allows for easier grading by the teacher.


 * B.** Blogging about each chapter from out class book was very useful in making sure we understood the material. Such assignments can give teachers a good idea of how much students understand and where to give more time and focus. Students must also look deeper into the text than simply skimming the section in order to create an effective blog. By allowing students to comment on each other's blogs, students make learning a group experience as well as an individual one. Using blogs in a classroom encourages students to be creative in expressing themselves in writing.