Perspective and Perception on Educational Technology and Portfolio

1. What do you see in the future in regards to technology and educational technology?

I think the technologies will keep advancing; eventually, it will be a requirement for all the schools to use educational technology. However, from beginning to end, the progress of technologies still exceeds the educational reformation. The economical need in the people’s live and national defense pushes forward to make progress in technology at a tremendous pace or with giant strides, but not all the educators have high acceptability of the new technologies. I consider the reasons are:
(1) Some educators are accustomed to the traditional way of instruction, so they have low acceptability of applying new technology to educational technology.
(2) Technological accessibility needs reinforcing to let educators infuse technology into instruction.
Recently, the Ministry of Education in Taiwan has actively spread the infusion of technology into instruction to shorten the gap between the urban and rural areas, and the outcomes have been increasing remarkably.




2. If you were granted $20,000 to use in your school for educational technology, how would you use it?

We’ll evaluate what technologies that school has, and if they are still good, we will keep and upgrade the technologies. If not, we will review all the available new technology and use the grant to purchase new technologies to replace the existing ones.
If we have more grants, we’d like to buy some whiteboards and Wimba software as academic settings.




3. How would you use a portfolio (think about grants, raises, changes in position, like the
building techie, etc.

I would use a portfolio to get raises and change in present position. I am a subject teacher now, but I plan to be an administrative staff in three years. Being an executive is not that easy in my school. If I want to be an administrator, I need to get Master’s degree, be good at educational technology, have explicit target and great expectation, etc. Now, I am making efforts to make my dream come true, and that’s why I am studying here in Lawrence Tech. I think I would use a portfolio to present what I have accomplished in the past and in the coming three years. I believe studying here is a turning point in my life.
I would use Microsoft publisher to design the front cover of my portfolio, use word processor to create my personal resume, which records my personal progress of growth, educational maxims, my professional specialties, teaching experience, educational research and study, the certificates I have got, the scholarship, the prizes of winning high school teachers’ Chinese-calligraphy competitions, etc. Moreover, I would use the portfolio to show my strength and enthusiasm in education. Furthermore, I would also put professors’ or executives’ recommendation letters in it. Besides, I’d present my good achievement in evaluation of teacher’s professional development. Last but not least, I’d use the portfolio to present my special skills in educational technology to prove that I’m qualified to be a good administrator.




4. What would you or have you included in a portfolio -- think back to the one you needed to
create for Undergrad and/or to get your current job (this can be paper or electronic or a
combo)
I never created a portfolio during my university life, but after graduation, I found establishing a portfolio is quite important. When I interned in a junior high school, I collected students’ data, works, photos of teaching activities, records of students’ feedback, my resume, lesson plans, records of research and study, records of prize winning, drawings, certificates, teaching materials, handouts, reflective journals, etc. in my portfolio. All the data in it were designed by technology, as Word Processor, Spreadsheet, PowerPoint, and so on. When I took the junior high school public teacher examination, the portfolio helped me a lot because it presented my teaching achievements and the process of personal growth.

Assistive Technology Application in the Classroom

1. We have talked about how you can use some of the software tools (like WP, SS, etc) for your students with special needs. This chapter discusses some of the classroom tools. Now, please find one piece of Assistive Technology (AT), give the web address, and explain how it can be used in the classroom - This can apply to something you already use or something you would like to use or get more info about. This AT can be applied in the classroom for special needs students or for regular ed.

　Recently, digital diagrams, including concept maps and idea maps have been used in some of the schools in Taiwan and are verified to be successful and effective in students’ learning especially for those with learning disabilities. One of my colleagues recommended the use of the software, Mind 42, which is accessible from the web address http://www.mind42.com/. Mind Map, also called Graphic Organizers, makes use of lines, images, colors, key words and symbols to make students’ left brain and right brain work together simultaneously. It has some advantages: requires only basic skill, easy for teachers to apply to cross-curriculum programs, student-centered, helpful for cooperative learning, quite flexible and easy to use in academic settings because of its diagrammatic languages.
I’d like to use this software as an assistive teaching tool in my classroom to teach students how to classify ideas and group discussions by developing tree maps, circle maps, bubble maps, etc.


In the followings are some examples for Mind Map.
1.Brace Map：
http://www.mapthemind.com/thinkingmaps/themaps/brace/index.html
2.Bridge Map：
http://thinkingmaps.myteacher.dvusd.com/stories/storyReader$11
3.Bubble Map
http://www.mapthemind.com/thinkingmaps/themaps/bubble/index.html
4.Circle Map
http://thinkingmaps.myteacher.dvusd.com/about
5.Double Bubble Map
http://thinkingmaps.myteacher.dvusd.com/classwork
6. Flow Map
http://thinkingmaps.myteacher.dvusd.com/stories/storyReader$9
7. Multi-flow Map
http://thinkingmaps.myteacher.dvusd.com/stories/storyReader$10
8. Tree Map
http://www.mapthemind.com/thinkingmaps/themaps/brace/index.html




2. Give the web address of one piece of support software you currently use or would like to use.

The software I’d like to use in the classroom in the near future is shown below.
Freemind 0.9.0 B20 (Mind Mapping software)
http://tzoyiing.pixnet.net/blog/post/22523096

ConceptDraw MINDMAP Pro 5.0.5
http://www.104soft.com/software/50123.htm

How I Use Multimedia Tools

1. How can I/do I use MultiMedia (for example Powerpoint/Desktop Publishing/Video/Audio) in my classroom?

I use Powerpoint, which combines texts, charts, images, sound, and animation, as my instructional aid to present the content I’d like to show to my students. Furthermore, I use video and audio for teaching my students. For example, I can let students watch educational channel or listen to educational broadcasting programs. Last but not least, I can also use DTP to produce high-quality documents, such as class periodicals, newsletters, and other materials which can be a great assistance in my teaching.




2. How can I/do I/do I want to use Multimedia in my classroom?

I teach art, home economics, and basic English in junior high school. In art class, I’d like to use multimedia, including Video and Powerpoint, to show students the painters’ backgrounds, or artworks in different periods. In home economics class, I use Video to introduce some tips for making life better, and to present the process of knitting or making handicrafts, etc. In English class, I want to use animation to teach students grammar. The website I’d like to link to is: http://www.grammarfree.com/tw/ Besides, I feel like designing HyperStudio Cards to apply to my instruction, but I need training and configure my computer for hypermedia in advance.




3. How can I/do I use a digital camera/scanner or other mulitmedia devices in the classroom?

I often use authentic materials to interpret abstract or difficult information. But if I take real things to the classroom all the time, it must be a burden for me. So, sometimes, I’d like to take pictures of those things or find some animations via internet to show them to students. I also scan some data or photos from books for instructional purposes. Scanners are convenient for me to use because I can scan and convert all the document or photo to digital format for email or post online for students.

Database & Spreadsheet application to education

How do I use Database?

Frankly speaking, I never used database before. After today’s class, I find it very practical and useful though it’s kind of difficult for me. In the future, I consider I will use it to manage and organize students’ data. Besides, I will use it to record everything which is hard for me to memorize and organize. With the analyzing tools from Database application, I will be able to run the reports for the data stored in the database – report such as students ‘grade summary, average, and etc. I believe it will help me a lot on my school job.







How do my students use Database?

Students in Taiwan don’t learn Database in computer class in junior high. The software they usually use to do for their homework is word processor. Taiwanese students work very hard on schoolwork, and after school, they go to cram school to learn math, Chinese composition and English. I don’t think the students will spend their extra time learning Database that schoolmasters don’t teach, because most of them study for the tests, not for fun or enhancing their ability as well as technological skills for daily life.







What else would I like to do with DB - think in terms of student tools/assessment as well as teacher productivity.

Database is like a storehouse where can store many things. Even though those data are disordered or redundant, Database can make them well-organized and easy to be retrieved. For example, I will be able to input all of my student data (contact information, grades, etc) and course data (lecture notes, syllabus, exam, etc) in the database. This will help me to organizing my students’ information and teaching materials more efficiently and effectively. As for students, they can enter a collection of information on a subject, such as peoples, transportations, birthplaces, etc., and then use Database to reorganize, or to retrieve the information they need.







How do I use Spreadsheets?

I use Spreadsheets to calculate students’ grades, set up schedules, develop financial forms for statistics. In fact, I don’t use Spreadsheet deal with school stuff very often. Not that I love Spreadsheet less, but that I love Word Processors more. The main reason is that I am more familiar with word processing. However, I am willing to learn more skills about Spreadsheets in the near future to enable myself to deal with problems more effectively.







How do my students use Spreadsheets?

They use Spreadsheets to deal with arithmetic problems, to design charts, to create an address book, to record their favorite idols’ data, to set up schedules, etc. It’s useful for them to apply Spreadsheet to schoolwork and everyday life.






What else would I like to do with SS - think in terms of student tools/assessment as well as teacher productivity.

Microsoft Office Excel 2007 has a new function to turn data to elegant charts easily. If students or I need to present something with charts, we can use the software to make the charts with better superficial validity. Spreadsheet can be used to design charts for playing games or doing activities. Spreadsheet is also a good tool for home economic teachers to teach students how to record daily expenses and revenues in order to avoid making an overdraft. Last but not least, teachers can use spreadsheet to rank their students according to their grades or whatever could be ranked.

Word-Processing Application in Education

Q1: How do you use Word Processing Software?

Word Processing Software is a useful means to produce some printable documents. In the field of teaching, I usually use it to design worksheets to evaluate students’ learning. Besides, I use it to create teaching materials to assist my instruction. It helps me a lot and saves me much time because it’s easy to edit, revise and retrieve.





Q2: How do your students use Word Processors?

Not all my students have a computer at home, so most of time, I don’t ask them to use the computer to do their assignments. However, in some cases, such as when they take part in writing compositions and are asked to send an electronic file, I’ll request them to use word processors to write a composition, print it out and attach it to where the competition is held. If they don’t have a computer to edit the document, I’ll let them use the computers in the office to get their jobs done.





Q3: What else would you like to do with WP - think in terms of student tools/assessment as well as teacher productivity.

Since 2008, every student in my school has been asked to have his/her own portfolio. They have to put their works in the portfolio to record what they have learned every semester. I think the best way to create, edit and save their documents is to use a word processor, because it could be used to write composition, to edit, to format and to print. In addition to those I mentioned in Question 1 for Word-processing application in instruction, there are still other things I’d like to do, such as designing lesson plans, keeping a journal, making a list, writing letters to students’ parents, making flash cards, etc. Word processors are really great tools for me.