Thursday, January 31, 2013
Chapter III
Focus Question: How can teachers use technology to make decisions about meeting educational standards in their lesson plans?
Technology could be used to to review the educational standards which I'm sure are available online. Furthermore, technology could be used to hold polls online in which students, teachers, and parents could answer and make a majority decision on a question that needs to be decided. Lastly, technology can put teachers in contact with students outside of the classroom, ensuring that students are prepared enough to meet the set educational standards.
Tech Tool: Gliffy
Gliffy is a neat little website that provides web-based programming that teachers can use to create diagrams and graphs. This could be used to create seating charts, graphs, student gradebooks, and other visual media. Gliffy is free to try and also offers a standard and a pro package at 4.95$ a month and 9.95$ a month respectively.
Reaction:
The chapter starts with a vignette about a teacher who plans her lessons during the time she spends cooking. The story is much better than the previous ones used and is actually readable. The chapter goes on to explain academic content that teachers must teach students. The book explains that although the content that you teach is dictated by the district, the way you choose to teach the content is not. I've always believed in teachers having flexibility when it comes to the way they choose to present the information to students.
Another cool bit in the chapter is a comparison between two different types of testing assessments. Norm-referenced tests compare students with other students and Criterion-referenced tests compare students to standards or objectives. Before this chapter I had no idea these two terms existed. It goes on to talk about electronic grading and the perks of using it. This got me thinking back to my days in high school when my grades were posted online and I could check them whenever I pleased. I'm curious as to why colleges don't employ this method as well. Granted, there are certain teachers who do, but for the most part our grades our a mystery until after the semester ends.
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Good point about the posting of college grades v HS grades. Part of that goes back to the more 'freedom' that college professors have re: instruction and assessment. And, many/most professors have not been trained in education - they are experts in their content area but often don't understand the nuances of assessment. Not having feedback on your grade until after the semester ends is another good example of summative assessment (versus formative which includes the feedback cycle).
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