Assignment 5

Emily Walker

I am the chosen educational technology representative for third grade at this school. I am pleased to be part of a progressive school that is willing to budget for new classroom electronics. I have compiled a carefully thought-out list of the items that I feel would truly benefit our classroom. I can assure you that I spent care and time in choosing the items on my list.

The first item I chose is, in my opinion, the most important. This item is a desk top PC computer. I chose a package that includes an HP Desktop PC plus monitor. The monitor that comes with this computer is a 22” widescreen, full HD 1080p LED monitor. It has an AMD Quad-Core pantheon processor and includes a mouse, as well as built-in speakers. The computer has 6 GB of RAM and can expand to 16 GB. The hard drive size is 1 TB. Memory shouldn't be much of a concern - but if we need more we can always purchase USB external harddrives which currently cost around $75 per TB increment. The total for all of this is just $757.94 with free shipping on Amazon.com. Our class could benefit in countless ways from this computer. We will be able to bring the world to the classroom. We can introduce the 3^rd grade to many important programs that they will continue to use throughout their educational and professional careers. We want them to be prepared for the future and be on par or even ahead of other districts. I chose a PC computer as opposed to a Mac simply because of budgetary concerns, and because currently most people (ie, our children's parents) are using PCs and this will be most familiar to the students - enabling them to bring what they learn here into their homes for maximum benefit.

The next item I have chosen is an All-In-One Printer. I chose the Epson Workforce 630 Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer. The cost of the computer is just $79.99. I feel that for the money this is a great printer, scanner and fax machine. We can use this in the classroom for a variety of purposes. We will be able to print hand-outs for the children to take home. I will also be able to scan items from the textbook for presentations, etc.

The next item I chose is the Flip Mino 8GB – 2 Hour Video Camera for only $88.19. This camera would be wonderful to use for presentations, for recording our plays, etc. This could be a tool for improvement as they can watch their performances as well as give them something tangible to take from the lessons. I have created a few small group lesson plans with this camera in mind. Because some children have different learning styles , devices like this can be very beneficial.

The final item on my wish list for our 3^rd grade classrooms an Epson Power Lite Multi-media Projector for $399.00. The projector is HD TV compatible and can also connect to the computer or camera through a USB port. All of the items on my list are reciprocal. This last item will tie everything together for our purposes. We will be able to project everything that we want to teach to the class through this projector. This will really help to hold the short attention span of today's 7 and 8 year olds. The bulbs on this projector are easily replaced and each bulb has a 5000 hour life and the replacements cost around $100 each.

Those are the items that I would love to be able to utilize to teach the 3^rd graders at this school. I implore you to carefully consider this list. I feel that in order to provide a comprehensive and valuable education to these children, they must be working with technology from the beginning of their educational careers. Thank you for your consideration. Below you will find the itemized list with price and quantity that we are requesting for each 3^rd grade classroom.

Item	Quantity	Price
HP PC Computer	1	$757.94
Epson All-In-One Printer	1	$79.99
Flip Mino Video Camera	1	$88.19
Epson Multimedia Projector	1	$399.00
	4 Items per classroom	Total Cost: $1,325.12

Assignment #3

Emily Walker

For our most recent assignment we were told to take both a Cognitive inventory test and a Learning style test. The first test I took was the cognitive inventory test. I found this test on a website called “Personality Pathways”.

The cognitive test that I took was an abbreviated version of the Myers Briggs test. The test basically breaks down your personality into four segments: introverted or extroverted, sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, and judging or perceiving. My result was: INTP, meaning that I tend to be more introverted, intuitive, thinking over feeling, and perceptive. I feel that the results for me are pretty accurate. I have actually taken the Myers Briggs test a couple times and always seem to come out with the same result. As a teacher this information could be useful for a number of reasons, for example, an introverted teacher would probably prefer teaching an online class. As a student, these test results could be used to help me determine that I would probably do best with classes that require one on one pairing when doing group projects. I also need to have a theoretical understanding of concepts in order to grasp and even really retain information.

URL for my Cognitive test results: http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html#Inventory

The learning style test was a little different. I found the learning test on a website called “How To Learn” .

The test is comprised of 36 questions and you must choose check the boxes next to the questions that you feel apply to you. The purpose of this test is to determine your learning style. The idea is that everyone falls mainly into one of three categories: visual learner, auditory learner, or kinesthetic learner. Here are my results: 30% - Visual Learner
 34% - Auditory Learner
 34% - Kinesthetic Learner. It seems that my learning style is fairly balanced. I believe this makes me fairly lucky. Theoretically I should be able to learn in many different settings without much struggle. I suppose I think these results are fairly accurate because I think I am able to learn in many different environments with ease. This test seems like the most useful of the two tests in relation to learning and teaching. This information can help teachers understand how to get through to their students more efficiently and fairly. Teachers being aware of their own learning style could be useful in raising their awareness in getting through to their students. This can also help parents and students understand what works best for the individual student. This information can be helpful throughout the student's educational career.

URL for my Learning test results:

http://www.howtolearn.com/cgi-bin/score.pl

Assignment 1

I don’t personally have much experience with teaching or helping in schools. My work experience has been in the hospitality industry (restaurants and most recently spas). I do, however, have experience with training and teaching various computer programs to employees.

As a student, while in elementary school through high school, I saw technology used to enhance teaching and learning in many ways. It was used in libraries, learning games (Oregon Trail) and during classes as a teaching tool to make subject matter come to life for students. Since I have been out of school, educational technology has definitely grown.

Educational technology, to me, is the utilization of computers and other mechanisms to assist with the teaching of students. This is such an important field as the world is becoming more and more technology driven, and only makes sense that it should be used in educational arenas. When students leave school they will continue to use technology in their day to day lives, making it important that they are given a solid technological base in school. Teachers are competing daily with many forms of technology while trying to get through to students with short attention spans. The role of technology in education is as a tool for both teachers, who are transmitting information and students who are receiving information at a rapid rate. Technology in education gives teachers and students a boost by making teaching and learning more efficient and productive.

Some older teachers may be less comfortable or familiar with the use of computers and technology in the classroom which might discourage their use of classroom computers, etc. To be most effective several different methods should be used in teaching. Students should not be limited to using computers for learning. It is important for information retention to encourage students to engage with their class as physically write information down. The use of technology in society has definitely grown over the years. Many children have cell phones and most have been using computers since they were babies, which makes it more necessary to offer technology in the classroom.