EDLD 5363 Reflections from Week One Assignment to Create a Personal Digital Story

To be honest, I struggled in the beginning with knowing what story to tell, what pictures I had available to tell a story, and the uncomfortableness that I felt in sharing a personal story about myself. As I begun to make the video, I reflected on memories that I had not thought of recently. I remembered my grandmother and the lessons she taught me and the ways she influenced my life. It was a great experience. I can see the value of Digital Storytelling. Kids today are surrounded by visual stimulus, it is what they are used to and part of how they learn. Having them create a digital story would be a great way to engage students in learning.

Digital Storytelling Project by Dena Williams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Technology Plan

Cast UDL Lesson Plan Builder

I found the Cast UDL Lesson Plan builder very helpful. It is a great guide to make sure the UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principals are included in your lesson. This was an interesting study of incorporating diverse learning styles to accommodate all types of learners and learning disabilities. The studies they have done on how the brain processes information is very interesting and I look forward to learning more and exploring their site further.

WEB CONFERENCE

I found the web conference experience pretty cool. I was able to put a face with a name for some of my course mates. I think this could be a great tool for educators to use in communicating with other classes, parents, and fellow educators. Just as we were able to ask Dr. Mason questions about our assignment, this could be done between a teacher and parents in the class in regard to future field trips or upcoming major projects.

I believe we were able to have 10 people with live audio and video at once. The other possibilities with the whiteboard and screenshot view are interesting tools that could also be used to help with instruction. I hope to be able to experience future web conferences and further my knowledge of its application.

EDUCATOR PREPARATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The title of this blog, Texas LRP refers to the Texas Long Range Plan for Technology. It is the plan for Technology integration into the Texas Education system. I have chosen to blog about the Educator Preparation and Development area of this plan because in my opinion it needs the most attention at this time.
This area involves the preparation of teachers pre-service and those who are currently teaching. Teachers are to become proficient with the technology tools available and use them effectively in their classrooms. The classroom is a learner-centered environment where learning is collaborative. It is project based with problem-solving and critical thinking skills as the main emphasis. This plan requires professional development to be provided that will help educators change their way of teaching to prepare the students for their future. It is necessary that schools at all levels work together to align education standards in order to ensure that Educator preparatory schools are preparing new teachers with the knowledge and tools they will need to teach their future students. One of the trends in this area is online or distance learning. Other trends are to provide online professional development as well as on-site development. I believe while there is definite progress in this area more is needed. Teachers need instructional professional development to help them make the shift to this new style of teaching. Instructional professional development emphasizes how to use specific technology into a lesson or subject. I feel also that teachers have to take steps on their own to familiarize themselves with the new technology tools available. The more hands on experiences that teachers are able to have the more confident they will become in using it in the classroom.

Star Chart Week 2 Assignment

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Star Chart Week 2 Assignment

View more OpenOffice presentations from tribama.