Technology Education Self-Assessment Assignment

 James Schmeits

Technology Education Self-Assessment Assignment

EDUC-630

Article 1: 10 Free Apps and Tools for Starting Out (and Staying) Organized (Burns, 2017)

1. Why did I choose this article? This article was chosen by me initially because of the word ‘organized’. I know that my main weakness is my life going to school and my life at work (now that my job involves much more paperwork than it used to) is organization. Another key phrase that stuck out to me from the title of the article was ‘(and Staying)’, this is actually my biggest issue about organization. I can start a job or task with the best intentions and plans for keeping organized, but by the end of a class or after performing a task for a while I just fall off from my intentions and plans. File folders, excel trackers, apps like ‘trello’ or ‘Microsoft Teams’ just never last in my routine as I wish they did.

2. One concept I learned from this Article was that I need to get better at remembering to explore this article. What I mean by that is that my first thought when reading through this article was “Oh, those are some good ideas and apps, I should remember this article” That was where I realized one issue I have is that I need a better way to organize my resources. I have articles and websites bookmarked here, emails saved over there, screenshots cluttering up space on my phone. I need a better way to organize all of the information that I see and want to re-visit. There are actually two apps in this article that help with just that, so what I am learning, and I know it is extremely cliche, but for almost any issue or weakness we have…there is an app for that…

3. Something that I can apply to my future career as a P.E. Teacher (after I retire from the Air Force) is those apps that collect all the links and screenshots and everything into one. The apps ‘Participate’ and ‘Pocket’ both allow you to create collections and put links, pdfs, pictures, etc into different buckets to organize all of those resources that I keep tagging for later. My goal as an Elementary School P.E. Teacher will be to introduce the students to as many different games as possible. Both the traditional games like basketball and soccer, but also as many weird-ruled & different games as possible.

Article 2: How to Integrate Tech When It Keeps Changing (Finley, 2014)

1. I chose this article because it identifies one of my biggest weaknesses with technology, I just kind of gave up keeping up with it. I am 33 years old, old enough to have grown up with writing everything on paper, then using a computer in school and for fun, when I first went to college they started introducing the idea of online school or hybrid classes through sites like blackboard and canvas. I remember getting emails and instant messaging, then myspace, then facebook, then instagram, but somewhere around pinterest and snapchat I just decided “nope, I give up, I’ve got computers figured out and a couple apps to keep in touch with people, I am done with new tech and kind of wish everything went back to how it was before apps”. One of my biggest blind spots when it comes to my eventual teaching plans is that I am getting old and curmudgeonly about new tech.

2. One concept that I am learning from this article is that there are many apps and devices that have almost no downsides that I can think of. I always thought of new technology coming with some type of ‘con’ or something that you are giving up by implementing a new tech. But there are a couple ideas that come with basically no down-side. Some tech like interactive whiteboards and google docs help connect the instructor to each student. The instructor can give quicker feedback in-time to students to help with writing and each student can have more chances to answer questions and ask their own questions without a fear of getting something wrong or looking dumb in front of their peers.

3. One idea that the article identifies that I plan to implement for work is to be proactive about learning new tech. I typically just wait for it to get shoved in my face before I consider it. This article recommends setting aside 30 minutes every week or so and trying to learn a new type of tech to see if anything can be of use in your classroom. The author also recommends some websites and some other authors who do a good job of keeping up with new tech and creating articles, videos, and online collections of new tech that they find worthwhile. 

Article 3: A Guidebook for Social Media in the Classroom (Davis, 2015)

1. I chose this article because it focuses on Social Media. I don’t particularly like social media, even the apps I do have I rarely, if ever, use them anymore. I think that when you weigh the positive/negative aspects of social media, that social media has had an overall negative effect on society. Between time-wasting, negative self-image and worth, cyber-bullying, and a myriad of other issues that our society would be better off if social media had never existed. So I am extremely interested to see what ways they recommend using social media in the classroom, since my feelings toward social media do not represent society as a whole, especially young students. 

2. The biggest concept from the article is that it is important for students to learn how to use social media appropriately. It is here to stay (against my wishes) and there are many ways that students can use it positively and there are many ways they can use it negatively. The best way to fight the issues I discussed in the first question is to be proactive and teach social media. Teach students how to write an email correctly. Show them ways that a social media and online presence can help their future and the ways that an online presence can really harm their future. If students post about the wrong sorts of issues or bully people online, that presence can last forever and future employers and college screeners can find that information. That online presence can be the difference between getting into a college you want or them deciding that you are not a good fit for their school. So we need to teach students the importance of that online presence. 

3. My favorite example from the article was students using videos and podcasts to talk about their assignments and work. While I was in school most subjects came pretty easily to me. But aside from being able to learn easily what I prided myself in most was my ability to help others. I have always had a knack for taking a concept that a peer doesn’t understand and being able to word it or present it in a different way that allows that student to be able to better understand that topic. On top of being a P.E. Teacher, my other goal is to help in the Special Education department of whatever small-town elementary school I work at some day. I believe that students making videos, podcasts, and blog posts about their assignments can really help those students in special education become more involved and help each other learn. Sometimes it is really hard to understand how a student with a disability would best learn a topic, the idea of the students being able to better help each other is very exciting for me. 

References:

Burns, M. (2017, August 1). 10 free apps and tools for starting out (and staying) organized. 

Edutopia. Retrieved August 26, 2022, from 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/apps-tools-starting-staying-organized-monica-burns

Davis, V. (2015, February 19). A guidebook for Social Media in the classroom. Edutopia. 

Retrieved August 26, 2022, from

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/guidebook-social-media-in-classroom-vicki-davis 

Finley, T. (2014, August 27). How to integrate tech when it keeps changing. Edutopia. Retrieved 

August 26, 2022, from 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/integrate-tech-keeps-changing-todd-finley