Paperless Classroom Presentation

I found the presentation regarding the "paperless classroom" to be very interesting. I had heard about paperless classrooms before but I did not know much about how learning would take place. The available links were very insightful and provided even more information. I am sure that many classrooms will become paperless in the future, and I hope that it is sooner than later. I really like the idea of the paperless classroom and I would love to observe it taking place in the classroom.

Educational Blogging Presentation

I absolutely love the layout of the presentation, it is very eye-catching and informative. The hyperlinks are great resources, I really liked the "Blogger Preparedness" and "Blogging at School". These two links provide great information that would be beneficial to share with school staff and parents before implementing the use of blogs.

ISTE

ISTE is a organization that is dedicated to improving the learning and implementation of technology in the classroom setting. ISTE provides on-line information as well as professional development opportunities in order to better the quality of technology integrated instruction that is being used in the classroom environment.

I believe that ISTE would be a great organization to be a part of in order to have access to up-to-date information concerning the various sources of technology available, as well as to learn more about various was to integrate technology into my classroom in order to differentiate the quality of instruction for each of my students.

I found many ways that I as well as the school could benefit by joining ISTE. For starters it would provide more insightful information to everyone as to different activities that could be used within the classroom that would integrate the use of technology such as by using a blog, robots, etc. in order to teach and enhance the core concepts that we are already teaching in the classroom. Also as I already mentioned being a part of ISTE brings with it professional development opportunities which could help individual teachers to enhance and improve their instructional methods and differentiation techniques through the use of technology in the classroom. ISTE would be beneficial to everyone since we are living in the age of advancing technology in order to keep us up-to-date on different strategies as well as how to use the technology that we have to improve not only our teaching but the learning of our students.

Book for Library

The book that I found listed in the ISTE bookstore that I thought our library should have is "Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms" because it seems to include a lot of insightful activities that can easily be implemented into the average classroom setting in order to accommodate the various needs our students. The book has activities and lessons that can be used immediately but it also describes how the teacher can design their own technology based instruction depending on the needs of individual students.

Universal Design for Learning

I had never heard about UDL until reading through the articles, and I learned a lot about what it is and how it is used in the classroom. Specifically I learned that UDL is a way to differentiate instruction for students in a way that is engaging and promotes student success. Also UDL is a way to develop curricula that goes along with the No Child Left Behind Act.

I would define UDL as a tool for designing a technology enhanced curriculum.

In order to make what I already do UDL compliant, I could create my own UDL lessons using the lesson builder tool in order to allow for more differentiated instruction for my students.


Technology plays a huge role in UDL. Technology is a way to enhance the learning process for each student in order to encourage to them and assist them with the lessons. For example, eReader is a technological tool that can read a passage for students who struggle with their reading skills. By listening to the computer read to them helps the student build their listening comprehension skills as well as be exposed to what a good fluent reader sounds like. eReader is not the only technology tool that can be used. My perception of the readings is that technology is the driving force of a UDL lesson in order encourage students.

Copyright/Fair Use Issues

I was unaware of the many issues that surround the idea of copyright policies. The article about the "10 Myths concerning Copyright" was a real eye opener and helped to clear up a lot of the misperceptions that I had about copyright issues, especially the use of web based documents.

Also the article about schools and the issues of copyright. I was under the impression that since our school paid for the licensing of the software that it was fair game to use and make copies, etc. but apparently that is not the case. I did not realize how much some people violate copyright laws through the use of e-mail. I foresee a lot of changes to take place with the future because authors are not getting the credit they deserve for their work that is found on the web.