Digital Divide

“Law, software fuel new ‘digital divide" article by Alec MacGillis, reminded me of a recent movie I saw, “Don’t Wait for a Superman”.  It addressed the problems of the achievement gaps in public school systems in inner cities.  As an educator, I would like to propose some questions. 

1.     Can a ‘digital divide’ fit all?

2.     Can the test-preparation software close the different achievement gaps?

3.     Should “No Child Left Behind” become a barrier to motivate talented students to move forward?

This article describes that inner city schools have been influenced by the business world and being amid a technology society.  They should invest in good teachers and students 

No matter how advanced the technological skills are developed, they won’t replace a teacher who nurtures individual students’ needs.  This personal attention will sustain their lifelong learning.   

Digital Equity

Should girls deserve the same opportunity for digital equity? 

I read the article,“Closing the Gender Gap” by Diane McGrath, which reminded me “The Female Brain”, written by Louann Brizendine, that I read in summer 2007.  I noticed that girls need to be encouraged to explore the digital or mathematics field, not becasue they are less intellegent.  Girls tend to have stronger desire to be informed; to be connected; and are more sensitive on physical spaces .  Nevertheless, that girls would do as well as boys in technologies and mathematics fields if they were given enriching and open learning activities.  I will keep re-enforcing that all children deserve the attention to develop their best learning skills in any way.

NPR story - Power Point use in the classroom

I have been using pp but now I also use Smart Board. 

I believe most teachers are using power  point in the classroom.  After reading the NPR story, I wanted to think beyond the program.  Technologies, like textbooks, are part of the tools or vehicles for us to facilitate our teaching.   We should not depend on the program, and forget students’ learning objectives.

In teaching Mandarin/Chinese, I insert pictures on power point.  I do not eliminate communication; on the contrary, I use pictures, like a painting to trigger students’ imagination.  It also invites students to raise dialogues to discuss the pictures. After the discussion and communication, I create a skit for them to use the language in a real situation. 

I also follow up with a project, to extend the classroom learning into a greater depth.  Sometimes, my guidance allows students to follow up with an oral or written homework.
I agree with Mr. Brown that we can develop deeper understanding on how to use it, such as importing sound, images, movies, or other programs into the power point.  I also design a pre-quiz and post-quiz to check their understanding. 

 

Personal Reflection on MD-400

I was very nervous, in the beginning, for the following reasons:

1)      Being my first course towards my MA Educational degree, I was nervous

2)      English is not my first language

3)      As a mature student, technology has become harder to learn

Nevertheless, I love this class so much for the reasons below:

a)      I learned so much new network technology. I heard about it a lot, now I am using it

b)      I created my own blog and I would like to use it as a platform to invite other colleagues to
         comment

c)       I designed a personal website which I started using for classes and in a conference.  It is practical and useful

d)      UDL contents remind me of the importance of pre-designing lessons and to reach out/fulfill each child’s need.  No child left behind

e)      Inquiry-based teaching and learning enriches a student-centered method

f)       Photoshop was a challenge.  I am still trying to become familiar with it

g)      I created a “Chinese Characters” digital story to introduce the most challenge part in learning this language.  I am so surprised to see that one of my students asked me if she could develop her own digital story.

I am glad that I started taking MA with the first class MD-400.  I am confidence that I will be doing fine with the rest of my journey.

URL for my website

Here is the URL for my website: https://sites.google.com/site/joannewuhavemeyer/

Have I used inquiry-based learning as a teacher?

In order for students, who are learning Chinese as a second language, to be able to survive in a situation, they have to learn “how did they know” and less on “what did they know”. 

In my early teaching, I focused on fun, interesting learning, and the hope that students would maintain their life-long learning.  Nevertheless, I found that they did not learn as much as I expected.  It clearly demonstrated that without decent assessments, we cannot measure results.  On the other hand, should we be concerned more with in-school success, or with equally important life-long learning?  In other words, without testing, I don’t really know if students learned or if they just mimicked me.  Therefore, this year, I give the same interesting activities with comprehensive formats to test, to check, to provide help and to adjust the teaching path. 

In the 21^st century, technology empowers the connection between local and world communities.  I use facebook, twitter and moodle to facilitate network by which teachers and students write to each other.  Now, I am learning that blogging and websites induct the learners to a real world in which second languages are spoken.  How cool it is!

After this reading, I will provide paintings or photos for students to ask and post questions and comments, so that others solve the problem by thinking critically. 

I should also guide or nurture students into modern life and to new ethical and practical issues.  Teaching a relevant context leads to broader understanding.

I have used inquiry-based learning for all levels in my Chinese classrooms.  When appropriate, I have used dialogues, music, TPR, games, drama, drawing, and role play. I have also created skits or situations for students to get around in real life.

I have not used historical thinking at this moment, because students’ Chinese  competency level is not high enough.

Inspiration concept map on UDL-Universal Design for Learning

I use three concept maps to analyze my understanding:

·      The power of digital media map

·      UDL and its three principles map

·      UDL implementation map

The power of digital media has four important aspects; versatile, transformable, to be marked and to be networked from one medium to another.  It enables educators to design lessons with different students’ background and learning capacities in a diverse classroom. 

UDL-a universal design to create structures that is access for all, including those with disabilities.  In order to be efficient, I know essential instructional goal to guild my students when to support and when to challenge them.  There are three principles to support recognize learning; to support strategic learning; and to support effective learning.  1. How to support recognize learning?  We need to recognize the barrier, provide multiple presentation and bottom-up nature of learning.  2. How to support strategic learning?  Using digital media programs, flexibility in presentation, express an apprenticeship and engagement options.  3. How to support effective learning?  Provide hyperlinks to overcome cognitive barriers and give appropriate challenges.

UDL Implementation provides students supports in any ways.  It also challenges teachers to become more flexible.  But how do we use UDL to develop systematic methods for the flexibility?  UDL has the Role of Applied Neuroscience; the Role of Digital Media and the New Role of Assistive Technology. 

The UDL challenges educators to rethink the nature of curriculum material and how we teach.  Again, we need to set clear goals with individualizing instruction with proper assessments.

After I read these two chapters, I am looking forward to reading more chapters about it.  

Digitally manipulated image use in the Chinese class

Photo shop is not an easy task for me.  It took me hours to figure out how to move around the images, add colors and type text.  I designed a travel experience by using the technique.  I brought myself into the picture to show my personal experience first.  Then, students can follow the pattern to retrieve their own travel experiences. 

First, I selected the landmark of Shanghai and added myself pointing to the landmark.  (The following examples explain are used in Chinese grammar patterns)

·         I went to Shanghai                              (Subject + verb + Object)

·         I 15^th went to Shanghai                       (Subject + time + verb + Object)

·         I have never been to Shanghai            (Subject + haven’t + verb + Object)

.   The Chinese sentence pattern has its sequential orders: 

Subject + Time + Place + Verb + Object

How did I digitally manipulate the image in this photo?

1.      Shanghai landmark:  I used lasso tool to move the Shanghai landmark photo to form a new image on this one.  Then, under Edit, I selected “free transform” to change the size  

2.      I used the same technique in #1 to add myself, from a personal photo, to stand next to the Shanghai landmark

3.      I highlighted the “Sentence pattern” and “Your turn” with yellow color, which I selected from the background color tool and painted it.  I also saved each one in a layer. 

4.      Each Subject, Person, Time, Places and Verbs has its own layer to manipulate easily

From this lesson, I learned that I can manipulate an image to represent a personal experience to bring into the classroom.  It definitely gets more attention than the regular image.  The more familiar I become with photoshop techniques, the more proficient my lessons will be in the future.

Reflection on "Teddy Bears Go Blogging"

Teddy Bears Go Blogging by Brenda Sherry, who is a teacher member of iEARN.  Sherry participated in a project of iEARN and decided to use blog instead e-mail to give her students to read and write in an interesting, relevant and cultural exchange through the Teddy Bear.
My reflections are the following:

1.      It is interesting application of current technology

2.      It is creative and well designed project

3.      It enables students to have primary input

4.      It is safe because the teacher retains control

5.      Parents can have access, therefore it assures them of the safety

6.      Borden the globalization aspects

7.      Facilitates cultural exchange

8.      It is friendly easy use blog

As a Chinese language teacher, this approach gives me much more insight about the blog and the knowing about iEARN project.  (I just became a teacher member of iEARN). 
An exchange student from Taiwan will attend my class, starting next Monday.  This is the first network (Convent of the Sacred Heart schools) exchange students from Asia.  I intend to facilitate this idea to start a conversation or discussion among students.  In effect, the visitor will be like a Teddy Bear to provide various information and cultural difference between two countries.

CT curriculum standrads

What standard am I going to using as a target of focus this semester?

I am a Chinese language teacher; I concentrate on world language discipline.  There are nine standards.  Some of the content standards are very similar to ACTFL's five C’s standards that are familiar to me.  I have embedded into my daily teaching plans. 
Today, I would like to use grades 9-12 on standard 2 “Communication Interpretive” as a target of focus this semester.  This is my fourth year teaching Upper School Chinese.  From my personal experience, students are not strong in communication interpretive skill to improve a better and deeper understanding of the language and the culture.  Therefore, I like to focus on providing spoken and written language such as: presentations, lectures, newspapers, native recordings, authentic poems, painting, and songs for students to have a higher skill to interpret variety of topics. 

How can I link activities for different learning styles to this standard?

1.      Research the background of an authentic Chinese poem.  Recite it with correct tones and gestures to interpret the authors feeling.

2.      Understand this poem and the main ideas and transform it into a painting

3.      Post the poem on voice thread or blog for others to comment

4.      Select culturally significant songs for students to understand the artwork, the background, and the appropriate social behavior.  Then, students can analyze a culture phenomenon

5.      Listen to current important news to understand the main idea, give your opinion of why it might be important to the people who hear it

6.      Use Flip or Wimba to record live conversation for students to interpret the main ideas and important details

7.      Total Physical Response, charades and information gap classroom activities for students to comprehend the meanings.

I truly believe that these linking activities will make learning Chinese effective and interesting.

Visual texts

1/18, Tuesday, the first class, my team read an article “The Ant and the Grasshopper".  It showed the difference between frivolous play and diligent work.  An ant works hard during the summer to prepare for the winter.  Grasshoppers just play.  We read and decided to give one snapshot to show the hard working ant stored the food, and had big smile when winter came.  The grasshopper just laid on the floor and died.

This learning standard is content standard 2: use visual texts to develop ideas, telling a story or/and an experience.  I felt excited about this content standard which I did not apply before.  I have been using the content standard 1: students identify the text (reading, writing, graphic, drawing, etc) and responded in a comprehensive writing.

To give individual student’s attention and fulfill assorted students’ needs in the same class, have been challenges. As a Chinese language teacher to teach American students, I strive to plan lessons for my stutdents with various content standards.  It attracts them to continue learning deeper and broader. 

Blog

This is my first time blogging.  It is fun, easy and cool.  I believe that I can connect blogging tech in my Chinese teaching.  I am looking forward to learning more tricks.