Final Reflection on the Course

I have a computer background, so I did not expect to learn nearly as much as I have in this course. We started off by creating a Google account. My thought was “Just what I need, another email account.” It turned out to be a lot more than just an email account. We used it for email, a place to save documents for use in other applications, such as the blog. We also used it to create a web page. We also used it to create, join and participate in group activities. We were able to make comments, start discussions and store web page references. I plan to explore the Google account further in the future, because I am sure there are other applications I have not yet discovered.


We started a blog for the class. I had previously started a personal blog, but had only updated it twice. By using the blog for this class on a regular basis, it inspired me to use my personal blog a lot more. I am learning on two fronts now. The blog was also a great way to keep up with assignments throughout the course.

We learned about some web tools which can be very useful for developing plans on teaching, evaluating and testing lessons. The tools helped to automate the processes. They would make it really easy, once you had developed a lesson to modify the tests and evaluations for other lessons. Throughout this class we learned many ways to automate tasks to make the job of teaching easier. We also learned ways to make the lessons more interesting for the students. Using tools such as power point, movie maker and web pages would enable the students to feel comfortable due to the utilization of technology. In addition, several of these tools would help to keep the communication channels open for the parents.

We also spent a lot of time discussing special needs students. There are many tools and organizations available to assist the teacher and the students. Tools which help the student be able to grasp the concepts, to participate and to motivate are allowing special needs students to be a part of the classroom rather than isolating them. These tools can also be used to engage the parents of the special needs students to help them work with their children for positive outcomes.

Over all, the class was filled with information that I am certain I will be using in the future.

Reflection on Assitive Technology

This week we were to create a power point presentation demonstrating the use of some Assistive Technology tools available with the operating system of our computers. I did have to do a little adjusting since the instructions seem to be written for Windows XP and I have Windows Vista on my home computer. I was aware of the assistive tools, but had never actually used them prior to this assignment. If I were to use them in the classroom, I would be sure to practice a lot more with them before trying to teach a special needs student how to use the tools. This was a very informative lesson. I haven't had to work much with special needs individuals and have become more aware of the fact that their needs will require a lot of planning, research and attention to fully include them in the lessons.

Please view my artifact here: Assistive Technology Assigment

Reflection on Plagerism Detection Tools

The lesson for this week was using a program called "Turnitin" as a check for plagiarism on papers turned in to teachers. We first copied and pasted items from web sites to answer the questions provided and then uploaded the paper to the Turnitin website. My submission scored 99% Similarity Index. This meant that 99% of my paper was similar to sources found on the internet. I next answered the questions in my own words and uploaded the new paper to the Turnitin website. The new submission scored 25% Similarity Index. This was primarily due to the questions having been previously posted. The content of my answers had very little identified as similar. Teachers using this tool will be able to determine if students are tuning in their own work or if the student took shortcuts and used someone else’s work and how much of the work was not original.




View my artifacts: Copy and Paste submission. Report on Copy and Paste. Original submission. Report on Original submission.

Reflection on Web Site Assignment

Creating a web site is definately a tool with a lot of applications. A teacher can use a web site to pass information to parents or students. Assignments, upcoming projects, class rules, supply lists and any other items which need to be passed to others.

I learned during this assignment, that it is possible to create a simple web site in a fairly short period of time. However, to try to make the pages look and act the way you want them too, may require a lot of work.

See my artifact: Quilt Class

Reflection on Movie Assignment

WOW! Now I can make a movie! This past weeks assignment was to use Windows Movie Maker and create a project. It was a lot of fun after getting through the steps of putting it all together the first time. There are a lot of steps, but taken in sequence they are not too difficult. I did have to go back to the tutorial to learn how to add the second audio string to the file.


I can certainly see how using this tool in a classroom for presentations would encourage students. They could redo it as many times as needed until the desired results and not even be aware they are leaning the topic they are presenting. I know I was always terrified of public speaking, maybe having a video to assist would have helped.

Movie maker could also enhance presentations from the instructor to the students. They could be saved where the students could access them anytime the student needed a review of the topic. I can see applications such as math. Each frame of the movie could be a step in solving the problem, or science; each step of the experiment. A teacher could use the same movie files from year to year with minor updates if needed or even share with other teachers. You could get a group of teachers together and pool expertise, each making some of the lessons.

Click here to see my artifact: The Mystery Quilt

Reflection on Group Project Collaborating on a Word Document

Our project was to collaborate on creating a concept map and a word document. We created the concept map without much trouble. Creating the word document we could collaborate on was more of a problem. Dr. Wang had to show us, to upload the document as a google document before we could both open it for editting. We then learned that we could both edit the document at the same time, however when one saved the changes the other editor's changes were lost. This project taught us we would have to cooperate to collaborate when working on a word document in google docs.

View my articafacts: Click here for the concept map and click here for the word document.

Reflection on Ways to integrate digital images into your classroom

Students today are used to being bombarded with images in every aspect of their lives. They encounter images watching television, on the computer, riding in a car down the street, and even in the school house. By adding digital images to presentations, handouts and room decorations we create a type of normalcy for them. The images help to keep them engaged in the current topic. Images are also valuable in showing rather than telling about events or items we are trying to get them to relate to or understand. The expression "A picture is worth a thousand words" is as true today as when it was coined years ago.


Images can be captured from anywhere. They can be scanned from documents, books, magazines, newspapers and countless other hard copy sources. Images can also come from photographs taken with a digital camera, a cell phone or even a video camera. The images can then be uploaded or downloaded to slide presentations, handouts, web pages or printed and put on the walls, ceilings, doors and windows. The images can be manipulated to look like anything you want them to. A little imagination, a few pieces of equipment (camera, computer, printer, etc...) and you have an attention grabbing lesson for your students.