final technology reflection

I think technology integration is more important now than I did in the beginning of the semester for the sole purpose of being able to see how much creativity and interest technology can foster. I do, however, still think that the integration of technology into classrooms will always be flawed as long as there are some schools systems who can afford certain technologies that other school systems cannot. That is the one thing I would like to be able to change about technology integration. I think I will design my classroom a lot like this one was designed, where we do projects using multiple different forms of technology; that way, hopefully every student will find at least one project that they really enjoy and put their heart into.

Megan Singleton

IWB reflection

From the reading materials, I learned that the smart boards help children learn by appealing to all of the learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. Because of this, I think smart boards are a great way for teachers and presenters. I already had a smart board in my dream classroom because I had one in my 8th grade science class and I saw just how beneficial they are. The use of it definitely held my attention and participation better than a lecture would have.

Smart boards can help foster communication and collaboration between teachers and students. Instead of the teacher just talking to the students, the students are getting up and working with the teacher. Each student can experience their own little bit of one-on-one time with the teacher as well as work with others when groups are called up to the board to work on a problem. The defects of smart board, from my own personal experience, seem to be that they don't always work the way you expect them to. I think smart boards are worth installing in classrooms, but I do think there should be a way for poorer areas to get them because it is unfair that the wealthy communities have them but the struggling communities don't.

Megan Singleton

copyright reflection

From reading this article, I have learned that there are options other than the one where all rights are reserved. I knew that some creators will share their work freely with no rights reserved, but that does not benefit all creators. It is nice to know that Creative Commons created a way for both creators and  users to compromise without going through the hassle of citing the insignificant. I also learned about Plagiarism.org, which can REALLY come in handy when it comes down to debating the specifics of what should and shouldn't be cited. 

I saw the importance of the subject of copyrights before making a stop animation video, when writing papers and such, but it was especially evident in making the video. There wouldn't have been a video to make at all if not for the website that explained the steps of the formation of a star, which was the subject of the video. Not citing that website would be equivalent to claiming that we knew the subject information on our own, when we actually learned it from a website. That website demands recognition. And that is how I will teach my future students. I will give them the websites that will help them in making decisions about when and how to cite, and I will explain that unless their information came from their own knowledge, they must state from where it came.

Megan Singleton