Reflective Blog 2 with Concept Map

http://www.iste.org/welcome.aspx

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) stated mission is to advances excellence in learning and teaching through innovative and effective uses of technology. I align myself with the ISTE not only because I agree with their mission statment but also because one of their four strategic goals is to be and advocate for resources and policies supporting the effective use of technology to improve teaching, learning and leadership.  An agreement with-in the educational community that educational technology is important and effective is not enough to change the reality of the education process as it is today.  Policy makers need to be informed of the success of educational technology.  Elected officials will increase support for technology utilization in schools as they begin to hear more from educators about the positive impact technology has in curriculum, student success, and educational opportunity.

http://www.oetc.org/about/

The Organization for Educational Technology & Curriculum (OETC) mission is three fold. 1)To provide low-cost purchasing programs, 2) Provide professional development, and 3) Influence dedicated to the integration of technology in education.  In my limited time observing in a class room and throught the readings we have had in this course I have come to appreciate how benificial educational technology would be when done right.  The key point is when done right.  The OETC helps teachers do it "right" by reviewing what technology is availabe and providing teachers and administraters with this information.  The OETC also helps schools organize and coordinate cost effective, cooperative purchases and partnerships related to the application of educational technology. 

My definition of Educational technology is the use of any technolgy to teach, or improve the teaching, of any subject.  My educational philosopy is pragmatism.  As such I believe education is a necssity of life. Any tool that improved the education process is valuable and to not use it would be foolish.

Reflective Blog 1

The area that stood out to me most in Creating a Culture for Teaching and Learning was the first and second.  The reason for this is that it reflects the vision I had for using technology in the classroom.  It is a concrete example of how to use technology.  Exposing and directing students to different teaching styles and processes with the use of internet links and items.  In studying for my material competency exam I have been amazed at the amount of lectures and material available to students.  


To put it bluntly, if a student views their teacher as being a bad teacher (rightly or wrongly) or they are unable to concentrate given the multiple distractions in the classroom they can review the same material the comfort of their own space.  No longer will a student be limited to absorbing instruct for the 50 minute class period.  The student will be able to learn at the rate that is best for them nor be embarrassed to ask the same question over and over.   ...pause, rewind,  fast forward.  

Educational Philosophy

What is my Educational Philosophy?  If you had asked me that before reading our assignment I would have said something very simple like; I believe education is critically important.  I understand now that this is only my opinion of the value of education and not my philosophy.  So, what is my current Educational Philosophy?

I do believe education is a necessity of life, or at least a necessity for a fruitful life.  Education is not learning facts and then regurgitating them on command.  But rather education gives you the ability to tackle the problems in your life.  One can learn how to tackle one problem and then apply what he learned to future problems.  Even if a "student" fails at the problem he has learned what does not work.  The process of  mastering a problem is more important than the result.  To that end I believe a teachers main objective should be to identify and help a student develop the process which best fits their abilities.  Not everyone will use exactly the same steps or need to.

I am a beginning teacher, I have a vision in my head about the type of teacher I will be or rather the type of teacher I think is most effective.  I am currently a Pragmatist.   

Given my newly understood Philosophy I see technology being a great help in my students reaching the goal mastering the processes that will best work for them.  With access to multiple view points, i.e. processes, a student is more likely to succeed not only in the class but in life. 

Expectations For Class ETEC 524

My expectations for this class have changed greatly between the time I enrolled in the class and the time I read the class syllabus, this weeks reading and the assignment.  I wanted to teach because I enjoyed the time I tutored students in Physics at the college level.  I felt a sense accomplishment when some one I tutored felt better about themselves when the left because they had finally started  to grasp a concept that eluded them only 10 minutes. 

I had expected to learn software-hardware  tools that would help me convey information (example problems, example tests....) to the student and allow them to access this information more easily and outside the school walls.  I had no "Philosophical School of Thought" let alone know there were 6 of them.

I now expect to be uncomfortably challenged in this class.  I expect to have to change my approach from an Automate to more of an Informate