Digital Badge #J - Chapter 11

Created by Connie Roberson on Wordle

I was interested to learn more about digital portfolios in Chapter 11.  I had heard about using them with students as a form of performance assessment, but I had not heard of using them to make teacher portfolios.  I think one of the many advantages to them is the ability to store vast amounts of a variety of different work in a tiny amount of space.  I thought the authors made an important point when they talked about how personal refection is a must in teacher portfolios, or else the portfolios just turn into brag books and little valuable information can be learned from them ( Maloy, et al, 2014, p. 281).


 I definitely agree with the importance of student involvement in learning and assessment (Maloy, et al, 2014, p. 283). I know how effective this can be from my  experience with my own children's education.  Some of my children's teachers gave their students a choice of different assignments they could do to practice their spelling words.  Getting to decide what homework they completed really made my children more eager to participate.  For this reason, I like the idea of democratic schools and classrooms where students get to have more of a voice in their education.


I really like the idea of "clickers," or student response systems, because of the interaction they bring to the classroom.  As stated in Chapter 11, clickers increase student involvement by making them active participants (Maloy, et al, 2014, p. 288).  Clickers are also great for teachers because they can get real-time feedback and can use that information to alter the lesson if necessary.


Chapter 11 was very informative and had many great ideas on using technology in the classroom.  I learned a new use for digital portfolios with teacher portfolios.  There were also many useful ideas for ways clickers can be used in the classroom to encourage involvement and participation.


References
Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2014). Transforming learning with new    technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc. 

Digital Badge #I - Chapter 4

I was very interested when I read the article on Thinkfinity (Maloy, et al, 2014, p. 75). Apparently it has changed, because I couldn’t find anywhere to enter a keyword and have amazing resources pop up.  They do still have links to all the content partners’ websites.  This was disappointing because it sounded like a very helpful website. I liked the idea of being able to easily find lesson plan ideas and primary sources since designing great lesson plans can be time consuming for new teachers.

Photo credit to CanadianAEh on Flickr
I could really relate to the “Voices from the classroom” section (Maloy, et al, 2014, p. 75). The teacher explained that the “knowing” is easy, it’s the “understanding” that is a challenge.  I agree with her that technology helps us get to the understanding by offering numerous ways to make learning meaningful.  Technology allows us to present the same material, but in ways that are more likely to grab and keep students’ attention.

Speaking on grabbing attention, the section on “New Approaches to Assessment” really grabbed my attention (Maloy, et al, 2014, p. 86).  I couldn’t agree more with the statement that, “Tests are driving the curriculum instead of the curriculum driving the tests.”  This seems to be a real problem in some areas, and I have heard many parents echoing what was said in the book.  Schools and teachers are so focused on the required tests, there is no time for fun anymore.  I think it is a very sad day when school is never fun.

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I found this chapter to be very informative.  It was interesting to learn about the roles technology can play in assessments.  I believe that technology will continue to expand and  play an ever greater role in the classroom and in assessments.

References

Maloy, R., O'Loughlin, R., Edwards, S., & Woolf, B. (2014). Transforming learning with new technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc. 

Roberson, C. (2015, March 10). Standardized Assessment. Created with ToonDoo http://www.toondoo.com/View.toon?param=8601542