Ed Tech Class (EDUC 520) INTASC Standards Met

The following is a summary of how I met INTASC Standards 4.13 and 6.35 through my work in the above course:

TaskStream-Final

How to Use tinyURL.com--a Video Presentation Using Screenr

Anyone who has done research and has located relevant articles that are accessible only via the web has struggled with the long, unwieldy URLs that are often associated with these articles.  If these articles are to be shared between teacher and student or among students working together, shorter URLs with more intuitive descriptions would be a time-saving alternative.

A free application called tinyURL.com has proven to be a useful tool to convert the long URLs into shorter, logical URLs.  In this video I will demonstrate how easy it is to use tinyURL.com.

[The video can also be found at:  http://screenr.com/M8k]

Reflection on the Ed Tech Standards

Looking at the big picture, I believe that the aims of the Ed Tech Standards can be summed up as follows:

The overarching goal of the Ed Tech Standards is to ensure that all students are technologically literate.

More specifically, students must have access to technology and develop proficiency in its use in order to

• Improve their academic performance, including critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and decision-making.
• Develop their creativity and foster innovation in the generation of ideas.
• Network, collaborate, and participate with the broader community.
• Access, research, and communicate ideas and information.

And they must learn to do all this in a legal and responsible fashion.

Teachers must

• Promote the technological competence of their students.
• Use technology to facilitate student learning and creativity.
• Design digital learning experiences for students and digital assessments.
• Model digital learning and responsible digital citizenship in their own work.
• Engage in professional growth, including the improvement of their own technological competence.

The following are some strategies that I could implement in my high school classes in order to accomplish the above aims:

I would promote technological competence in my students using strategies such as the following:

• I would make sure that students are well-versed in standard word-processing and spreadsheet applications.
• I would promote their use of free web-based applications such as GoogleDocs.
• I would promote the full use of web resources in their research and projects.
• I would promote networking among students, teachers, and parents to facilitate learning and communication.
• I would teach and model appropriate uses of technology and proper etiquette.

In my teaching, I would

• Make full use of presentation software, incorporating visual materials and bulleted outlines to sum up, for example, developments in a particular historical period or to sum up features of our federal system of government.
• Assign group projects that would require students to collaborate on a document that would ultimately be a group product, but with an equitable division of labor.
• Use technology to offer instant feedback on students’ individual or collaborative projects, helping to guide their efforts toward further improvements.
• Make appropriate use of video clips and other multimedia aids to make learning a more interesting and engaging experience for my students.
• Make full use of technology in student assessments to determine where students are at in terms of mastering the material so that I know who needs extra help and when it is appropriate for the class to move on to other themes.

When it comes to technology in education, I would try to keep in mind the cover of the March 5^th draft of the National Technology Education Plan 2010:  “Transforming American Education:  Learning Powered by Technology.”  Technology can be a powerful tool indeed for both teachers and students!