Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Welcome to the Web Page of James A. Petke

Mission Statement

Assignments

Final Project

Interests

Introduction To Instructional Technology

Etec 500

*Mission Statement

It is my goal as a teacher to attain knowledge in Instructional Technology so I may improve my students’ academic achievement in all areas of the curriculum. Through the use of technology I plan to build my students’ self-esteem, academic growth, and provide productive and exciting learning experiences.


*Questions and Answers


Why you are pursuing a masters in Instructional Technology?

I am pursuing a Masters in Instructional Technology as professional growth to enhance my knowledge, resume, and salary schedule. I am also looking for new instruments for learning to teach my students. I am also working towards a Gifted And Talented Education certification. I will use the knowledge I obtain to teach those students needing a differentiated instruction as required by state and district mandate.


What do you hope to learn in this class?

I hope to learn new strategies and innovated techniques through the use of computer technology. As our text Learning With Technology states, “Within a few years, virtually all technical information will be stored online. Literacy for the next generation will require knowing how to use and manipulate these tools to locate and access multiple forms of information.” When the time comes and the doors open I want to be there with the ability to handle the future with confidence.


*Assignments


Chapter Reflections


Classroom Instruction that Works


Chapter 1

Applying the Research On Instruction: An Idea Whose Time Has Come


The readings of this chapter had some ups and downs when it came to interesting information. I did highlight the sections that I felt important towards achieving my goals and accomplishing my missions statement. Teaching is being considered a science. The students which teachers make contact with are being studied along with the methodology of instruction. Factors like socioeconomic status and home environment are acknowledged as being causees for low academic performane. I work in one of those low deprived areas. Studies have also shown that teachers have a powerful effect on their students. As stated in the text “The myth that teachers do not make a difference in student learning has been refuted’ (p 3; p 370), and the ‘[...] the most important factor affecting student learning is the teacher” has given my self-esteem a boost.
I am excited about the promise that the authors offer nine instructional strategies that will maximize student achievement. The authors are honest when they conceed that different strategies may work better in different subject areas and with different aged students. I feel I have already been on the right track in my teaching because I have utilized the following strategies: student-centered instruction, teaching of critical thinking skills, and use of hands-on laboratory activities. Along with these strategies the text states effective pedagory also involves classroom management techniques, and the curriculum is designed by the teacher.
I have been through the Fred Jones Classroom Management Training which has been as aided me greatly. The curriculum is designed by the state and district at my school. I do pick an choose what material will be most benefical to my students. I am looking forward to the further reading of this textbook.


Chapter 2

Identifying Similarities and Differences

The key notes in this chapter are the teacher’s role “ teacher-directed” in presenting explicit guidance in identifying similarities and differences is the most striaghtforward way to help students. This form of instruction should be filled wiht discussion. The second form of identifying is “student-directed” to enhance students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge. Comparing, classifying, creating metaphors and creating analogies are the four forms of these activities that are highly effective.

The key to effective comparing (comparison) tasks is the indentification of important characteristics of similarities and defferences. In teacher-directed comparison tasks the goal is that all stuents obtain a general awareness of th esame similarities and differences for the same characteristics. Student-directed comparison tasks on the other hand are selected by the students for identification. Tools that are recommended for these analysis are the Venn diagram and the comparson matrix, All types of topics can be classified using the Venn diagram.

Metaphors are used to create higher order thinking of the students. The example use in the text is “Love is a rose.” There are three divisions to this term: literal, the rose: abstract, the self awareness and meaning: and literal, love. Teacher-directed metaphors are those which are presented by the teacher and completed by the student. Student-directed metaphors are fulfulled by the student once they understand the task. Analogies are used in my classroom everyday as part of what I have called mental science. Analogies help students to see how seemingly dissimilar things are similar, therefore increasing ones understanding of new information. The text calls them “relationships between relationships.” What is interesting is even after students complete the tasks in class under teacher-directed format the students will take the test at a later date and make up new analogies that make sense and credit must be given to them when they can explain their reasoning as defined in the text as student-directed analogies.


Learning With Technology: A Constructivist Perspective,


Chapter 1

Learning With Technology Technologies For Meaning Making

The key words and phrases in “Learning with Technology, Techniques for Meaning Making” are constructivist, experiences, meaningful learning, and technology. The constructivist approach to teaching breaks away from the traditional conceptions of learning. Experiences are related to the constructivist view and education should engage students in meaningful learning. It is my observation that the five parts of meaningful learning are interdependent and necessary for students to learn and succeed. “Active” learning gives the students the opportunity to reflect upon their activity and develop sophisticated skills. For the past nine years of my teaching career the push has been for cooperative learning and I have implemented that strategy into my classroom. My teacching is planned for the students best benefit. Through the use of technology, computers in my classroom and in our technology lab studemts are engaged with hands-on constructive learning situations. Through the use of collaboration of the cooperative learning groups students can obtain many resources in a short period of time and later reflect upon those resources in discussion. The text brings up a term “Intentional (Reflective/Regulatory)” which is intended to fulfill a goal set by the teacher and the students. Students reflect on the processes they understand and are able to construct knowledge in new situations. This area seems to relate to the self-fulfilling prophecy of the teacher and students. The “Authentic (Complex/Contextual)” strategy presented in the text relates to the real world and not meerly facts. This strategy has been most useful while learning math, social studies, and science in the classroom. I still find that no matter how one introduces the English language structure students fall back on what they learned at home. As I stated the previously in my reflecttive response “Cooperative 9Cp;;abpratove/Conversational) has been used regularly in the classroom. At times this is difficult to monitor because it easy for children to talked about activities unrelated to the classroom.

The text does give some very benifical technology examples for fostering learning which will become part of my meaningful learning and student thinking. Coming from a low socioeconomic area I need to teach my students to read more proficiently and have greater exposure to computer technology to become advanced technicians in the computer sciences.


Chapter 2

Learning By Exploring With Technology


This chapter begins with information about the Internet. It explains that each computer has a name which can be thought of as an address. The terms that are introduced are Universal Resource Locator (URL), browser software (Netscape or Internet Explorer), link, hypertext transfer protocol (http), www to indicate that they serve information to the World Wide Web (www), and Hyper Text Markup Language (hmlt). An example of an address was given has http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/schools/art.html. The address then descirbes the type of data, server name, domain code, state code, country code, and pathway to file.

The text explains that the Internet is a world wide tangle of cables, modems, computers, and other hardware. (page 23) It has the ability to access electronic mail, interactive conferences, information resources, electronic conversations in the borm of bulletin bouards and network news, and the ability to transfer files from computer to computer and person to person.

The terms cyberspace refers to places where information is stored and virtual refers to objects in this artifical world.

As one reads on in the text a variety of learning activities are provided. Some support scientific experimentation projects for open-ended student directed research. Students learnng processes are deemed among the most complete intellectual activities that learners can pursue. Student roles include researchers, investigators, collaborators, communicators, and develop as higher order thinkers. While this process is working teachers attain the role of facilitaors or coaches prompting students to conside alternative ideas or views of looking at the world. Assessment questions are also provided in the text as useful tools for the teacher to again tocuch the higher order metacognitive skills of the students.

The pages of the text teaching about home pages on the web was very enlightening to me for resources to view, suchas the virtual schoolhouse at http://www.rocket.org/. Students are encuraged to create web pages of their ouwn. The text does give a warning. Student safety was discussed because of the preditory nature of some individuals roaming the world. Some of those safety tips are: students do not display their pictures and full identity, they keep their personal e-mail addresses personal by using only the teacher’s e-mail address, and have students and paretns report unusual contacts to their teachers. Creating wev pages can be a tremendous learning experience that is part of the constructionist approach to learning. Teacher assessment is done by evaluating the work analytically or holistically. Projects can range from arithmetic to zoology when comes to the number of topics that can be learned.

Basic skills can also be enriched as well. Reading, spelling, grammar, and writing are all needed when communicating on the Internet. The computer lab is a high tech location for learning.

Email: tjpetke@netzero.com