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My Portfolio: Integrating What Matters


Maria Reid
Edu 352: Foundations in Educational Technology
Prof. K. Brady
February 01, 2017

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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is an overview of what I have learned as a student by providing
educational tools and steps that I have used upon completing each assignment. This paper will
cover my knowledge on how to use a tutorial page, discuss issues involving education and
technology and my reflection page of the overall course that I have studied.

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Weeks one and three assigments


Week one:
Here is my linkedin assignment
Linkin assignment:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-reid-3237a730?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Here is my flickr assignment
https://www.flickr.com/photos/151205414@N02/albums/72157679505664895
Week Three:
Weebly blog posts:
http://uncharteredplaces.weebly.com

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Getting Serious with Education and Technology


Its important to show and understand that we are not taking education and technology
seriously. We throw ourselves and our family into the world of technology without proper
internet etiquette which then leads to problems such as inappropriate photos, cyber-bullying, lack
of not wanting to focus in school, being obsessed with social media and much more. Because
technology seems to advance everyday and schools are implementing it in their courses as a way
to reach out and connect with their students. Also, so that they can become better learners in
school and in everyday life. It is important we understand how to properly use it to make it more
effective and to our advantage.

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According to "If we really were serious about educational Technology" the author lists 10
key components that could helps us properly use the internet and not just properly use it, but
provide safe ways of using it for our personal, professional and educational purposes. Here is a
few of what I have provided:

Showing students how to set their privacy settings and use groups in Facebook instead of
banning online social networks because they are 'dangerous and / or frivolous'.

Teach students to understand and contribute information rather than saying no to


Wikipedia.

Understand the true risk of students encountering online predators and make policy
accordingly instead of succumbing to scare tactics by media, politicians, law
enforcement, computer security vendors, and others;

These were just a few of the tips that could help us if we were to take technology and
education seriously (McLeod). However, upon further research, I found that in another article,
"The Importance of Educational Technology in Teaching", this article discusses the importance
of educational technology and the advantages it has for teachers and students. The article then
questions whether or not schools and teachers are even ready to use technology and if they are
really aware of its benefits. One issue that has arisen is the fact that there are "poor children who
rarely use technology as a learning tool. Today's children are coming into the world already
learning about technology before starting school so as to make it easier once they start" (Dr.
Stosic). Many authors suggest that we follow these five main areas:

Educational value of the program

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Its ability to engage children in learning

Ease of use

Interactivity between the children and programs

Possibility that software programs monitor the progress of the child

However, there is a down side to this that indicates a students failure to thrive at their
own pace and have insufficient activities may not make them very successful. Another issue
is that, children in the class who are not uniform in knowledge, never pay attention to those
who are not sufficiently mastered in the material and those who are above their average.
"This difference is hampered by teacher assessment work and how to transfer knowledge to
a group of children with different knowledge. The teacher chooses to keep an average to
good teaching where children with insufficient knowledge would not get the necessary
education they need to progress smoothly without unpleasant feelings of their ignorance, no
frustration and humiliation while for the most advanced children, teaching will be boring"
(Dr. Stosic).
The last article, I came across is called, "3 ways Educators can Bridge Education
Technology Gap", The three key factors are:
1. Up the tech savvy. Teachers and students should understand how technology works, why
it works and experience using it.
2. Have a dialogue. Initiate a conversation about learning technology is a good way to avoid
falling into the trap of thinking that every device is for every situation. Also, making sure

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teachers talk to their tech company providers and asking questions about using the tools so
that they may explain it later to their students and teach their students how to navigate
through the tools.
3. Get support. Closing the gap requires investments and infrastructure for teachers, schools
and students. For schools - they should have a high capacity, reliable broadband connectivity
for their internet. Second, schools, districts and teachers must fully understand the
technological devices and tools which means training should lasts for longer than a day. They
must be able to learn how to trouble shoot, have peer to peer support and an examination of
how technology actually works in the classroom with real students.

So in other words, if we are to make technology and education merge together and become
successful, then we must take the necessary steps to make sure we educate ourselves first
about how it all works so that we can reap the benefits of its uses later and improve our
learning.

For more information check out the following websites:


McLeod, S. (2016). If We Were really Serious about Educational Technology. Retrieved January
27, 2017, from http://bigthink.com/articles/if-we-were-really-serious-about-educationaltechnology
Stosic, L. (2015). The importance of Educational Technology in Teaching. International Journal
of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education, 03(01). Retrieved January 27,
2017, from http://ijcrsee.com/index.php/ijcrsee/article/view/166/316
Roepke, J. (2016, March 03). 3 Ways Educators can Bridge Education Technology Gap.
Retrieved January 27, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/3-ways-educators-canbridge-education-technology-gap
Andes, S. M. (2010, July 29). Getting Serious About Education: Why We Measure Students not

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Teachers. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from https://itif.org/publications/2010/07/29/gettingserious-about-education-why-can-we-measure-students-not-teachers


Catching on At Last: New Technology Poised to Disrupt America's Schools and Then The
World's. (2013, July 29). The Economist. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from
http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21580136-new-technology-poised-disrupt-americasschools-and-then-worlds-catching-last
Chicago and New York are the Contributors
Singh, R., & Means, B. (n.d.). Challenges and Strategies in Using Technology to Promote
Education Reform. Retrieved January 27, 2017, from
https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/approaches.html
Archived Information

My First Storybird Tutorial Assignment


Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Creating an account on storybird website
III. Start creating your story
a. Use my book as an example to guide students on how to create a story.
b. Show how to edit (check grammar and spelling before completing their assignment).
c. Show them how to publish their work
IV. Explain why I chose this specific tool

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My First Storybird Tutorial Assignment:


Madeline
Introduction. For this particular assignment, students will create a short story. It can be
adventurous, funny, or even positive and inspiring.

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Name of Tool. Students will web going on to a website called storybird.com to begin creating
their stories as young authors.
Below please follow the instructions to creating your story.
1. Type in storybird.com into your search engine.
2. Click on on sign up for free in the upper right hand corner.
3. Be sure to have a pen and paper and write down your password and user name for access
for later.
4. Click on student
5. Fillout the information and make sure to write your information down (as mentioned in
step 3).
6. After filling out the infomation click create account.
7. Next Ask your parents for permission have them help you to either upload a photo of
yourself or create an avatar character for your profile. (It will probably be safer to use an
avatar to safety purposes).
8. Next click upload and load your photo.
9. A box will appear asking for a school code just click I dont have one.
10. At the top left create.

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11. Click on any photo you want to use to start making your story.
12. Then click on blue tab on right that says use this art. A tab will come down. Click on
picture book.
13. Then scroll to the bottom and click on coverto create your cover page first before starting
your work.
14. Save your cover page which is the second save button not the one that says save and
exit. the other one that says save.
15. Then go to the far right click on the plus symbol and open a blank page.
16. Use photos on either the left or right to begin your first page.
17. Make sure you save often and save after every page.
18. You can drag photos to the center and create a whole page with just a picture and no
words to show what is going to happen next or what is happening now.
19. You can drag the photo to the left or right and create a text on either side.
20. Dependng on the size of the photo and where the author drew the photo, you can even
write a text at the bottom or at the top as well. Also, note that you can only write between
five and eight sentences per page because the space for the text box is limited when
writing your story. Be sure to think about what you want to say and if you can fit all the
information into that text box.

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21. At the bottom right is a double arrow icon if you roll the mouse over it, it says close
dock. You can use that to collapse the bottom part and see your work in full and to scroll
over and look at the photos on either the left or right page.
22. When you are done creating your story, go back and read each page and make an
necessary corrections to grammar, sentence structure and spelling. Be sure to save each
page when editing.
23. When you feel that it is done and you like what you have click save and exit.
24. A page will come up and show your work you can either save your work for later or click
the privacy buttom. It doesnt allow you to use the public selection unoess you pay to
have it upgraded.
25. To have your work viewed select the privacy one which is the second one then click
publish.
26. Scroll down and then there is a screen that shows your book. If you use the mouse to roll
over the screen the arrows will appear so you can click through each page and see your
work then invite others to view it.

Brief explanation as to why I chose this site. I chose this site because I want children to be more
involved in literature whether it is through story telling, poetry, or writing or reading. I wnat to
show that the world is filled with mystery. I then chose youtube to create a tutorial and make my

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assignment more appeal and to show a step - by - step process on how to begin the journey of
writing their story.

References
Storybird web page:
www.storybird.com
My Storybird assignment on the website:
https://storybird.com/books/999wzdzwy5/?token=dakqmyxwtt
Youtube: Tutorial for my assignment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4I-qQWVS98&spfreload=5

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Course Reflection
What I found to be the most valuable experience from this class was learning about the
different social media sites, trying them out and also discovering different learning tools used
with each site. What should change to me was the use for these sites they were still
complicated to follow even after going over the tutorial. Because my computer was a bit
different from everyone else, I had to pretty much play around with the site in order to

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navigate through it and figure it for myself. It wasnt too bad of a thing really because it
provided me an opportunity to explore the site as I figured things out. Even experimenting
with differnet layouts when it came to creating my own web page. If I ever became a teacher,
I will first go over specific sites that I plan to use in the class myself so that way I can help
others learn to use it successfully. As I mentioned one of the articles earlier suggested that
teachers should take more than one day to train and go over a site themselves before allowing
students to get on and become lost and confused. Also prior to teaching them about the site
go over safety rules first and etiquette so that they can be comfortable and aware of the
benefits of using the site as well as looking out for any predators or signs that there is trouble
and what to do.

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