Module+2+-+NETS+and+TPACK

Activity Chart Text message response || Catch GoogleDocs ||
 * ACTIVITY || LEARNING GOALS || POSSIBLE TECHNOLOGY ||
 * Anonymous polling/quizzing || Students are more willing to participate if they know they will not be called out in front of the class or recognized for getting a question wrong. || CPS clickers: clicker questions
 * Creative presentations || Collect all necessary information in one place (a canvas) and organize without following a template or a guideline; create your own transitions from main ideas. || Prezi ||
 * Learning with flashcards || Teacher makes a classroom set of online and shareable flash cards with images, words, concepts, or videos that the entire class can access and practice with. || Flashcard Machine ||
 * Students keep textbooks || If the students had their books online, they could go in and highlight important parts or underline and circle things they might need. They don’t ruin their book and they get to keep it for future reference || Adobe Reader ||
 * Distance learning || Students can stay at their home school and learn via video message from another teacher or from a university for post secondary schooling. || Skype ||
 * Collaborating with other students || Students can work on a project together without exchanging papers or email, just saving documents and pages to a cloud. || Dropbox

NETS and TPACK Reflection

Module 2 is called NETS and TPACK and the acronyms stand for the National Educational Technology Standards (for Teachers) and Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge. TPACK explores the overlapping themes of the three different types of knowledge that the acronym stands for. The materials used to explain this module are "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Teacher Knowledge" by Mishra and Koehler, an excerpt from "Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) for Educators" by Mishra and Koehler, the video "Thinking Creatively: Teachers as Designers of Content, Technology, and Pedagogy", and the "International Society for Technology in Education" website. For this module, it was required to start a discussion on Springboard about learning experiences that included technology and those that did not. Another task was to create an activity chart that listed at least six types of technology that could be incorporated into the classroom and the reasons why they would be beneficial.

It is important that teachers have knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content. If a teacher understands that new technologies exist and how children learn but do not know the subject matter, they will not be an effective teacher. If a teacher knows how children learn and what they need to learn but not any new technologies to assist in learning, they will not be an effective teacher. Each component has to be present in order for student learning to advance in the twenty-first century. The purpose of NETS and TPACK is to improve education by using technology in "an increasingly connected global and digital age." In order for this to happen, teachers must continue to know their students and their content area while expanding upon their knowledge of existing technologies.

I will incorporate NETS and TPACK into my classroom in many ways. There is no question that I will not know the content or course material. If I find myself having trouble with the material, I will take courses that will fill in the missing pieces or read old textbooks to find the concepts I have forgotten. I will get to know my students and understand how they learn before incorporating advanced technology into the classroom. Once I reassure myself and the students that I know them and the material, I will allow them to explore the new technologies themselves while starting them on some basic programs, like clouds for storage, Dropbox for collaborating, Prezi for interesting presentations, etc. As the students become comfortable with the inclusion of technology, I will incorporate WebQuests and Online Portfolios. It is important for educators to learn and teach of existing technologies in order for students and educators to keep up with the rest of the World as we all become more digitally connected.