Chapter 11: Technology in Mathematics and Science Instruction

Chapter 11 discusses technology in relation to both science and math. For both subjects, the text suggests ways that a teacher could integrate strategies related to technology with either math or science instruction. I liked how the text suggested using technology as a way to access virtual manipulatives. When I took the early childhood math course, my instructor introduced the class to a website that had manipulatives for just about everything you could need. We used the website for base blocks when we were learning to count in different bases other than 10. It was really neat because we were able to pull the website, the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, up on the smart board. Since it was on the smart board we were able to move the base blocks around and work on problems together as a class. The website allows you to enter your own problems in, or it will give you problems to solve.

I think that technology can very easily be integrated into science instruction. There are a number of different microscopes that can be used in classrooms. Microscopes are used all the time for science. Also, using the Internet to take virtual field trips could be really fun in a science class. A lot of students learn better if they can see what they are trying to learn. By being able to pull up videos or simulations using the Internet, students could gain a much better understanding of content while having more fun than just listening to lecture. Integrating technology into any instruction can be pretty easy with the vast amount of technology there is today. Learning what resources teachers can use and how to use them will be very helpful for the future.  

Chapter 8: Integrating the Internet into the Curriculum

There are so many different ways that teachers can integrate the Internet into the classroom today. When teachers plan to integrate a web-based lesson or activity into their curriculum, it is important to first evaluate how the Internet will be beneficial or not beneficial to the lesson, and what the real purpose of the lesson or activity. According to Roblyer and Doering ( 2010), teachers should answer the follow questions when integrating the Internet into a lesson or activity.

• What is the curriculum-related purpose of the activity?
• Does the Internet enhance the activity?
• How will students use online resources (as opposed to just locating them?)
• Do students have the necessary information analysis/information synthesis skills, or am I including these in the instruction?
• Do I have the necessary time and support for the activity?

By first answering these questions, teachers can begin to fully understand how exactly their lesson will be enhanced by using resources such as the Internet.

One example of a Internet based activity mentioned in the chapter is webquests. Webquests, if structured well, can be very beneficial to a lesson. Webquests promote exploration and investigation. Students can work at their own pace and have the opportunity to learn independently. From personal experience, I find that webquests add to the class by providing information in a different format. Webquests can be a break from lecture. I have had bad experiences with webquests though. Some webquests are very boring and frustrating. It is never fun to do a webquests where you spend the whole time trying to find certain links because of poor instructions, or where it is so difficult to find the answer you want to just give up. Integrating technology can be very beneficial, but it must be well thought out and well executed.  

Chapter 7: Distance Learning Tools and the Role or the Internet in Education

As you know, the use of the Internet is popular in today’s society. Using the Internet is an everyday occurrence for a large majority of people as well as businesses. Education has also come to rely on the Internet. Teachers incorporate a wide variety of resources found on the Internet for lessons. Some students attend distant learning schools, where Internet is essential. While using the Internet can be very beneficial, there are a number of downfalls to when using and relying on the Internet. As educators who plan to use Internet resources, it is important to be aware of these issues and how to prevent such downfalls as much as possible.

Student access to inappropriate material can always cause problems for educators. Schools install firewall and filtering software as a response to this issue. Teachers should also always preview assignments before the students are required to complete the assignment. Teachers need to know what is on the websites they are assigning to students. Safety and privacy issues are also a concern when using the Internet. Online predators, sale pitches directed towards children and student identification are all a risk when using Internet. Fraud, viruses and hackers are also potential problems that occur when using the Internet. Educators should also be aware of the potential increase in plagiarism and copyright issues when students have access to online resources. Students have easy access to a huge amount of information, documents and images, all of which can easily be copied and used illegally. Going over copyright laws with students is one way to address this concern. There are also programs where students can submit work and the program will help detect any material that is plagiarized. Teachers need to be aware of what students are doing on the Internet and how to keep the safety of the students in tack.      

Chapter 6: Teaching with Multimedia and Hypermedia

Chapter 6 discusses multimedia and hypermedia technology. Multimedia is defined as “multiple media” or “a combination of media”, while hypermedia is defined as “linked media” or “interactive media”. The two terms are often used interchangeably due to very similar definitions. There are five different types of multimedia/hypermedia resources that are used in education. The five resources include...

- Presentation software  like Microsoft PowerPoint.
- Video production and editing system.
- Hypermedia design and development software such as Adobe.
- Virtual reality environments.
- Web 2.0 authoring tools such as blogger.

Of the commercial multimedia resources mentioned in this chapter, interactive books and ebooks caught my attention. Interactive storybooks are typically geared towards younger students. Storybooks allow students to read various texts with the help of a narrator. Students can follow along as the story is being read and they can even select certain words or selections they need repeated. Interactive stories can also have pictures that students can click on to hear/see sounds, phrases or other interactive features. A study by Grimshaw (2007) found that students often found more enjoyment and increased levels of comprehension when using electronic books when compared to the traditional paper text. I feel that anything that will help young students enjoy reading is always helpful. Often students do not like reading, get bored reading or get frustrated when trying to read. Having the interactive features can help students enjoy reading and provide some immediate help when trying to read difficult words. Students also have the capabilities to create their own interactive storybooks. Students could turn their personal stories into stories other students can read. Multimedia/hypermedia technology can definitely enhance the learning process and increase student’s motivation and enjoyment.

Chapter 5: Teaching with Software Tools: Beyond the Basic Programs

A number of different software programs, other than the basics discussed in Chapter 4, were addressed in Chapter 5. The different tools offer benefits that are very similar to the benefits of the basic tools. Benefits include, improved efficiency and productivity, improved appearance of product, better accuracy and timeliness of information and more support for interactions and sharing. Some of the software tools that really stood out to me as a future were the electronic grade books and form makers. Having access to software that helps create forms can be very beneficial to a teacher, especially when a teacher is trying to gain information from students, parents or co-workers. Having electronic grade books is very common in today’s school systems. Teachers need to be prepared to use programs to record student scores and create documents to help analyze student progress. As an early childhood major, the draw/paint programs also stood out to me. Young students love to create artwork. Young students could use their creativity and imagination to create a number of different art pieces. Students could be learning about art principles or elements,. They could also do activities where they create the art work, then make a story to go along with the pictures, making the lesson English based. Tools such as clip art, photo, animation, sound, video, and font collections can be very useful in an early childhood classroom. Children need stimulation whether it be visual or audio. Using these different tools to incorporate photos or sound into Power Points, lessons, worksheet, etc. can help to keep students interested as well as make documents or worksheets more kid friendly. There are a number of different software programs that go beyond the basics. Learning to access and use these different tools can be very beneficial to both teachers and students.

Chapter 4: Teaching with the Basic Three Software Tools

Chapter 4 discusses the three basic software tools, word processing, spreadsheet and database programs. Within the chapter, the authors give arguments to why teachers use word processing in the classroom. They argue that word processing has been the greatest impact on education when considering technology resources. Word processing is the mostly commonly used software in the education. It is used for a number of reasons. Word processing saves times, enhances document appearance, allows sharing of documents and allows collaboration of documents. I could not imagine being a teacher and not using word. As an early childhood teacher, Word is used weekly, if not daily, for newsletters, worksheets, lesson plans, annual reports, posters and having students work on keyboarding skills as well as story writing and so on. While reading this section of the chapter, I thought about what I have learned about making accommodations for students. Having electronic documents created in software like word or spreadsheet, can be very beneficial if (or when) you have a student in your class with a disability that requires modifications to how material is presented. For example, if you had a student with low visibility, it may be necessary to make worksheets in larger print, or in different contrasts. You can easily go into a word document and make these changes. For a student with a disability like ADHD, images may be needed to give prompting cues to the student. Images can also be easily inserted into a word document. Before having word, it would have taken much longer to recreate a suitable, individualized document. Basic software tools have definitely transformed the education field, including saving time and allowing for individualized documents/worksheets.

Chapter 3: Teaching with Instructional Software

Chapter 3 talks about different kinds of instructional software that can be used in classrooms. Instructional software, as defined in the text, is “computer programs designed specifically to deliver or support one or more kinds of learning activities”. The text addresses five different categories of instructional software. These categories include...

- Drill and practice
- Tutorial
- Simulation
- Instructional games
- Problem solving

Last semester, I tutored a preschooler twice a week. The student was four years old, so we worked a lot with letter recognition. She could sing the alphabet song, but she was only able to recognize maybe ten letters. We started off by using flashcards but, a few visits the student got very bored and uninterested. I think that it would have been very beneficial in this case to of had access to instructional software. Using drill and practice or instructional games related to the alphabet would have most likely caught the attention of the student. The software programs are usually more visually stimulating than just regular flashcards or worksheets. They also usually have sound, making the programs more fun for children. Other benefits to using software in the classroom, such as drill and practice, include having access to immediate feedback. Students can enter in their answer and instantly know if the answer was right or wrong, and what the right answer was when they use these types of programs. Using software can also help the teacher with time. Usually, once students know how to run the program, they can complete tasks or games on their own, giving the teacher time to work one-on-one with students in the class who may need a little more help. One of the biggest benefits to using instructional software, and would have been very helpful when I was tutoring, is that it makes learning more fun and seems like play. Younger children often love to play games on the computer and do not realize that most of the programs for children are really learning. It is always good when students are having fun learning, especially when dealing with young children.

Chapter 2: Theory and Practice

There are a number of learning theories that are addressed in Chapter 2. The theories can be categorized into either objectivist learning theories or constructivist learning theories. Objectivist learning theories are those that are based on the idea that “knowledge has a separate, real existence of its own outside the human mind”. Objectivists believe that learning is when knowledge is transmitted to individuals and stored in the mind. Constuctivists on the other hand believe that “humans construct all knowledge in their minds by participating in certain experiences”. Based on constuctivists, learning involves both mechanisms as well as an individuals own knowledge, which is constructed by someones background and past experiences.  

B.F. Skinner, Atkinsons, Shiffrin and Robert Gagne are all considered to have created objectivitist learning theories. John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner and Howard Garner have more of a constructivist learning theory. The two theorists that really stood out to me while reading the chapter were Howard Garner and John Dewey. I like John Dewey’s theory because I agree that curriculum should have some reflection of the student’s interests. If students have no interest in the subject, why would they want to put forth effort to learn the material. I also really like how Dewey believed that learning occurs through hands on activities. Personally, I learn best through hands on activities, especially with science. I love doing science activities and want to use hands on activities in my future class to get students involved and have more fun learning. Howard Garner suggests that there are a number of different ways that people learn best, or different intelligences from student to student. It is important as teachers to understand that students learn best in different ways and that we must incorporate different learning styles to most effectively teach our students. Incorporating technology can assist in this process. For example, students may use a smart board to learn fractions, using the math pie charts for students who are more of visual learners. Kinesthetic learners could use the pie chart and physically move pieces of the pie to make different fractions. Having some background in the different learning theories is important to help teachers understand how individuals learn. It also helps to direct teachers to different methods of teaching so we can help students with the learning process.

Chapter 1 Reflection

Chapter 1 posed a number of supporting arguments for the use of technology in the classroom. Technology can be used for educational purposes in a number of ways and it is important as teachers to use these strategies to enrich student learning. The text addressed that technology can be used as a motivating factor for students. Teachers can use technology to gain the attention of students and get students more engaged in the content. Using technology, such as a smart-board, can allow students to physically manipulate objects on the board as well as allows for more color and visual stimulation, as opposed to just lecturing, which can help make learning more fun. Using technology can also help teachers to address the different learning styles in the classroom. For the example of the smart-board, students who are visual learners, as well as students who are kinesthetic learners would benefit. Technology can also be used to assist students in your classroom with disabilities. For example, a student with cerebral palsy may need to use an AAC device to communicate. Technology can enhance instruction and it can also save time and money. Teachers can use technology to keep records of students progress and use technology to assess students knowledge. Instead of having to copy a bunch of papers, teachers can use computers so students can access worksheets or educational software, cutting down on costs of workbooks, paper and ink, as well as saving time at the printer.     

Although there are a number of benefits to technology, it is also important to understand the problems related to technology. Technology can be very costly, especially since it is always changing. Using Internet also poses threat to teacher and student privacy. Plagiarism is also a concern, since work of others is more readily available and easier to copy. Although there are disadvantages to using technology in the classroom, I feel that it is important to use technology to help enrich the learning process.