MAET Technology Showcase
Here are the exemplars of my coursework throughout the Masters of Arts in Educational Technology program. I have chosen my work based upon the careful examination of the needs of 21st Century teachers and learners, alike. My intention is to create a window into the technological opportunities through which our students can collaborate, learn, and retain knowledge in our ever-changing world.
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Learning by design in the CEP 800: Psychology of Learning in School & Other Settings course, I created a digital story to address my students proficiency in mathematical concepts. In this video, I used the educational need of teaching Fractional concepts in concert with teaching using multiple strategies and the implementation of technology. Through Digital Storytelling, I learned how to use Camtasia, Audacity, and Windows MovieMaker to formulate a developmental plan to assist students in their fractional inquiry. Throughout the process, students were engaged and quite excited to star in the movie! I also created a podcast to understand how students learn and understand what we believe we are teaching them. It was an eye-opening experience to view the many misconceptions students still hold, even after "learning" a lesson.
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In the CEP 805: Learning Math with Technology course, I created an extensive wiki that showcases mathematical educational games and interactives that are free to the user. I believe one of the best strategies to support mathematical understanding is through the use of technology. There are various technologies available, at numerous costs, and giving students access to these technologies can allow deeper understandings within the principles and standards of mathematics. The use of technology like these affords learners the visualizations they need to represent problems in multiple ways and create necessary associations.
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Although it is tough to decide which educational use of technology was the best in CEP 810: Teaching & Understanding with Computers, I believe the application of PowerPoint best exemplifies good teaching with technology. This presentation was developed to introduce parents and students to me, Advanced Technology Academy in general, the curriculum that we will be implementing and my expectations for classroom policies and procedures. I have also included examples of the educational use of Word, a science take home activity that involves parents in helping their student understand scientific possibilities at home and the educational use of Excel that explores a math measures of central tendency and data analysis exploration. Along with an example project, I have included the written lesson plan for the Excel math project as well.
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Our culminating project in CEP 810 was to create a project that designated both the pros and cons of teaching with technology. In this parody of "Star Wars" we delved into both sides of the issue, researching the many aspects that educators may believe about the use of technology in the classroom. We used Microsoft PowerPoint to create the project and embedded audio files to enhance the presentation. From there, we compressed the audio files in order to convert them to a Windows Media Video, or WMV. Then we uploaded it to YouTube to broadcast our project to our classmates on exhibition day. It was a rewarding experience to use technology in lieu of the more traditional persuasive essay.
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In CEP 811: Adapting Innovative Technology to Education, we utilized the constructs of PowerPoint to create learning objectives for individualized instruction. This project was developed to address the learning approaches students use to solve word problems. In teaching math, I have observed students who have tremendous difficulty applying mathematical skills when a problem is proposed to them in words and is about a given situation. In order to concentrate on these needs, I created the Stand Alone Instructional Resource (STAIR), Got A Problem? Here’s the Solution, to foster student achievement in problem solving.
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Also in CEP 811, we evaluated and created an educational WebQuest that focused on student-centered, inquiry based instruction. In my Acid Rain WebQuest, I focused on the enduring problems facing Earth today to coincide with the "Save Our Earth" Science Fair Project that our 6th graders have been involved in for the last three years. I have also included the lesson plan, complete with the teachers page linked to content standards, rubrics, and all handouts that could be distributed throughout the project.
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CEP 812: Applying Educational Technology to Problems, led me to discover several new technologies available for use in the classroom. Using Dreamweaver, I created a website that includes my philosophy of teaching, a technology plan, a copyright lesson plan, and videos and resources for each class that I taught. I also created a class wiki that has now become the information station for my 6th grade math class, the only subject I now teach. Using the versatility of a wiki, we created a Special Interest Group (SIG) presentation on the use of free educational games in all content areas. Also in CEP 812, I created a blog that captured my journey not only in this course, but in 2 other courses in my program as well.
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Currently I am enrolled in CEP 815: Technology and Leadership, so this course is still a work in progress. So far one of my projects was to create a technology survey that would increase parent communication with teachers, a major problem within my district. I created this survey using Google Spreadsheets and look forward to collecting data in the near future. We also created a leadership poster that could motivate or demotivate the reader. I chose to create a technology poster that makes one think twice about the technology we choose in our classrooms.
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With the overall vision of a paperless classroom, the final project in CEP 820: Teaching K12 Students Online was to create an online class using an open-source web-based instruction tool. I chose to utilize MOODLE and created a class to teach Fraction Relationships. During the creation of the course, I kept a Developers Notebook to journal my reflections as I created the fractions unit. I have also included the syllabus I would use for the course.
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Researching and creating effective action plans to further the development of educational technologies was the focus of CEP 822: Approaches to Educational Research. For my final project, I researched the implementation of educational games and their possible effects on student achievement in mathematics classrooms as well as on standardized tests. I chose two educational games, Zoombini’s Logical Journey and Cyberchase Carnival Chaos, to guide my research. Included in my final project is the annotated bibliography of my research.
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Learning effective ways to implement reading and writing strategies across the curriculum was the main emphasis in TE 846: Accommodating Differences in Literacy Learners. For this final project, I used the strategies of echo reading and roulette problem solving to guide my students to reading and writing in mathematics. I also used vocabulary graphic organizers to enrich mathematical vocabulary development as well. Using these strategies afforded my students with the opportunity to promote reading skills even in our math class. In my research, I included student artifacts and lesson plans as appendices.
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In the capstone course of my program, CEP 807: Proseminar Educational Technology , we designed our e-portfolios to showcase the work we have completed throughout the MAET program. Our portfolios also allow us to reflect upon what we have learned, envision the future of our educational goals both in and out of the classroom and synthesize that information to quantify our learning experiences throughout our journey in the Master's Program.
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