Brooke Miller

Hi! I am Brooke Miller, a freshman studying elementary education, welcome to my page!

What I Love

On the right side I have added some of the things I love the most, volleyball, my friends, my animals (three dogs and two cats), working with kids, and my family.

The EdTech Top 3 Post

This page includes my week 1 reflections and top 3 notable learnings.

Active VS. Passive Use of Technology (tech.ed.gov/netp)

The first notable learning was learning what the difference between active and passive use of technology use and how it effects what we learn or what we don’t learn. Active use is when students are using technology to do things they could not achieve without technology such as: coding, immersive stimulation, media production, interaction with experts, global connections, design, and peer collaboration. On the other hand, passive use is when students are using technology as a replacement of something non-technology examples include: consuming media or completing digital assignments. I have a personal connection to this take away because while in school my teachers rarely had us using technology in the active way, instead I would use my computer for assignments or taking test strictly.

Digital Divide and Digital Use Divide (education superhighway)

My second key take away this week is knowing the use between the digital divide and the digital use divide. The digital divide is the gap between schools due to the lack of funding to supply technology to their students, while the digital use divide is the the gap between students due to the lack of knowledge on how to properly use technology. The digital divide can be seen in students who are using technology in active way to transform their learning vs. the students are only using technology to complete assignments. This is important to be aware of because if we as educators understand how to properly teach using technology we can close the digital use divide and transform every students learning.

Teacher Impact (educators technology)

The last take away I have chosen, I think, is the most important for educators to be aware of, the impact teachers have on the future of technology and the skills teachers need to have to be accurate in their teachings. To being, teachers who refuse to accept technology in their classrooms are hindering their students ability to adapt to the future of technology. On the other hand, teachers need to be aware of what skills are required to understand technology in its full. These skills include: technological knowledge (the understanding of technology and the tools that are available), pedagogical knowledge (the knowledge of how to teach and how students learn the best), and content knowledge (full and complete knowledge of the subject you are teaching).

The Notable Quotable Post

week 2

The quote I have chosen that stood out to me the most is “It’s a shift from differentiating instruction to personalized learning.” I found this quote in the video titled “The shift from engaging students to empowering students” by John Spencer. This quote stuck out to me because I truly believe that every student deserves to be seen as an individual in all aspects. Individualized learning is important because it allows the student to be interested and engaged in their work and learning the content instead of just doing it because they were told to. I also believe that it is important because the students can gain a sense of identity by learning how they learn best, what they enjoy learning about, and etc.

How it will Influence my Final Project

While constructing my final project I will keep this in mind to remind myself that I need to make my learning experience personalized to each of my future students. I will do this by allowing choices, a multitude of resources, and options to my students. I will not make them feel like this project is set in stone and they are welcome to make their learning experience as personalized as they would like it to be while still staying in the learning expectations.

The Future Self Post

Reminder 1:

I think the most important reminder for my future self would be that I need to remind myself my students are digital natives, but that does not necessarily mean that they already know all the skills needed for technology to be successful. In the module Digital Natives & Digital Skills I read “One issue is clear about Digital Natives: despite having grown up around technology, most students do not inherently have the skills they need in order to function in this digital world.” I think this is important to remind myself of because although my students might believe they know everything when it comes to technology it is important for me to go in depth on how to use technology properly.

Reminder 2:

The second thing I think that I should remind my future self about is the Tripe E Framework. This framework is used to make sure teachers are not wasting their time on a technology tool that is not enriching their students learning. The 3 E’s are Engagement, Enhancement, and Extension, with each of these having questions you can ask yourself to decide if it has all of these traits. I think this would be a good reminder for my future self, especially my first year teaching, because as I am learning what works and what doesn’t I can keep this in mind to help my students learn the most they can.

The FAQ Post

What is Backwards Design?

Backwards design is a way for educators to make sure when they are planning a lesson that they are focused on what students will learn instead of the tool that is being used. This approach to planning allows for ultimate student success and allows for the teacher to not get distracted by trying to figure out what tech tool to implement. The backwards design has 3 steps: Identify the results you want – set the vision on essential understanding, determine acceptable evidence – describe how students will demonstrate learning, and plan learning experiences.

How do I Start?

To start planning your lesson you need to focus on what the end goal is. Ask yourself what your students should be learning from this lesson, evaluate the content standards, know the big ideas that students should thoroughly understand, and know the essential questions you want to ask. If you focus on what students should know before creating assessments and learning experiences you are setting yourself and your students up for success.

What is WHERETO?

WHERETO is an acronym used to help educators be sure that they implemented key instructional designs into the lesson. This acronym was designed to have educators think about every little detail that needs to be included into a lesson and even has the teacher reflect and rethink at times. This acronym is important to use and keep in mind when planning because it sets everyone in the classroom up for success.

The ISTE Standards Compass Points Post

I chose the ISTE Standard Creative Communicator (1.6) for this post

E = Exciting

I am excited to help students achieve this standard because students can really express themselves through being creative. This is exciting to me because it allows me to get to know the students on a deeper level.

N = Need to Know

I think I would need to know what tools my school offers teachers already and what tools teachers are required to use (like what LMS the school uses).

W = Worrisome

I am get worried about achieving this standard for every student because not all students know how to be creative. Many younger students either love being creative and it comes easily, but some students don’t know how to begin and don’t like expressing their creative side because it is boring to them. This is worrisome because it can cause some push back from students who don’t want to do it.

S = Suggestion

I would suggest the app “Puppet Pals” to help educators help their students reach this standard because I think it promotes excitement in the classroom and it shows how creative students can communicate what they’ve learned. I found this tool when reading the Creative Communicator module and then I went to the website “What Are The Best Digital Storytelling Sites and Apps” where this article summarizes the best apps for storytelling and story creating.

Week 6: The ISTE Standards Resources Post

I chose the Computational Thinker (1.5) standard for this post.

3. Resources

Scratch Jr. (Scratch Jr Link )

I chose Scratch as a resource because it allows students to think in a problem solving way, but on their level. It also allows students to develop better coding skills while staying on pace to what they know. This helps students develop the skill of taking a bigger problem and breaking it down into simple parts, as that is what coding focuses on.

Kodable (kodable link)

I chose Kodable for a similar reason to Scratch JR. I think that both of these apps help young students develop analytical and problem-solving thinking skills in a fun exciting way. Also, like Scratch JR, Kodable helps students develop the skill of breaking down bigger problems into smaller problems while coding.

Beebots and Probots (probots link)

I chose this tool because it allows students to embody this standard by identifying a problem, how to solve that problem, breaking down the problem, and then using algorithmic thinking to get the robot to where it needs to go. I also think this tool is a good choice because it is a break from on screen tools and it is a way for students to get hands on expirence.

2. Examples

Probots/Beebots: I could use this in my future classroom by making an assignment where students have to move the bot around obstacles to get to a “treasure chest”. This assignment will challenge students on their problem solving and analytical thinking skills by having to come up with a solution to getting around the obstacles and then having to program the robot to follow their path.

Kodables: I can use this in my future classroom by assigning my students to have to complete certain levels by a certain time and then checking to make sure they are making progress.

1. Action

I plan to keep these resources in mind during my LEPR assignment and also keeping these in mind during my teaching years.

Question:

Are there apps or features that allow for personalized pacing to keep students engaged at their own level?

Answer?

I believe there are many apps that I am aware of that allow students to work at their own level while also keeping them engaged! The two apps that come to mind when thinking about this topic are Scratch Jr. and Kodable! Both of these apps are used by educators to help their students achieve the computational thinking standard. I found both of these apps under the module “Computational Thinkers” and on the website “collection of computational thinking apps ” by Anthony Chuter. I believe that both of these apps allow students to start on their own level and work through the process of coding as it makes sense to them. Both of these apps achieve this by starting on such a basic level of coding and as they achieve levels or complete the task they are given they move to a slightly harder level, but none of the levels are ever timed or rushed. I believe all these aspects make it personalized pacing because it gives them the structure to take things one by one and to never feel rushed to complete it just to complete it.

Week 8: The Personal Growth Post

Have I grown in my knowledge, skills, or understanding of technology?

I think that yes, I have grown in my understanding and skills of technology through this course. I think that my understanding of the usage of technology/AI in the classroom has shifted based on the knowledge I have gained. Before this course I believed that AI had no place in the classroom and that it was only going to hurt the education world if students have access to it, but now I understand that with the correct use it can be a helpful tool in learning. Also, I think my skills with technology has increased with the little things like exposure to building a blog, new software apps, and etc.

Example 1: Better understanding and grasp of tools avalible

I think the comfort in asking questions about technology in the classroom has increased because of the better understanding I have of the tools available and what to do with all of them. I think that before this course the idea of technology is so vague and scary, but after taking the time to really research and deeply look at the tools provided by technology I feel like I have a better grasp of what is out there.

Example 2: Knowing the iste standards

My comfort in answering questions about teaching with technology has grown over the time of this course because of how much I know about the ISTE Standards. With the ISTE Standards being so important in the classroom it is very comforting that I actually know how to navigate and to base a lesson plan off a these standards now.

EXAmple 3: Knowing when and how to use technology

I also think that my comfort has grown with technology in the classroom questions because I have a way better understanding of how technology is used in the classroom. In the early weeks I felt like there was pressure on teachers to always be using technology in the classroom, but now I understand it’s not how many it’s making sure you use the right ones. Also, I know understand that every lesson will not be in the realm of redefinition section of the SAMR model and that is okay. I think knowing that moderation and good usage of technology is all that really matters makes technology in the classroom easier to manage.