Theories of Critical Thinking-- Ashley Clingan

 

         Technology is essential in schools and classrooms in our world today. It can be used in a variety of ways, but it must be taught to be used safely and responsibly. Information literacy and digital literacy go hand-in-hand. Students must be taught how to navigate the internet safely and responsibly before they are taught how to find and evaluate information that they need. Information literacy skills are crucial for students to have in order for them to be successful later in life (Hobbs 2011).

         Bloom’s Taxonomy is something we are all familiar with. Bloom’s Taxonomy helps teachers understand how to help their students. We are able to develop instructional strategies based on student understanding. This applies to technology as well. As teachers, we should select the technology tools that are most relevant and appropriate for our students. Renee Hobbs said it best, “School librarians, teachers, and educational technology leaders can help shift the focus to emphasize how digital tools are used to promote critical thinking, creativity, and communication and collaboration skills.” (Hobbs 2011).

                Technology should be incorporated in the classroom, but it should be incorporated and utilized in the correct way. This applies to my current job as a kindergarten teacher in many ways. Even though my students are young and technology may be difficult for them to use, it is still necessary to teach them how to use technology to deepen their understanding and learn new things. Schools need to shift their focus to “deep learning”. Deep learning is described by Fullan and Langworthy as this, “(Deep learning) develops the learning, creating, and ‘doing’ dispositions that young people need to thrive now and in their futures. We will see that when teachers and students engage in deep learning, they partner with each other in more personal and transparent learning processes where high expectations are mutually negotiated and achieved through challenging deep learning tasks.” (Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. 2014).

 

References

 

 

Fullan, M. & Langworthy, M. (2014). A Rich Seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning. London: Pearson. Retrieved from        https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/global/Files/about-pearson/innovation/open-    ideas/ARichSeamEnglish.

Hobbs, R. (2011). Empowering learners with digital and media literacy. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 12-17. Retrieved from Academic     Search Premier database.

Huitt, W. (2011). Bloom et al.'s taxonomy of the cognitive domain. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta         State University. Retrieved from http://www.edpsychinteractive.org/topics/cognition/bloom.

Kuhn, M. S. (2008). Connecting depth and balance in class. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(1), 18-21. Retrieved from     Academic Search Premier database.

Rogers, E. M. (1963). The adoption process II. Journal of Cooperative Extension, 1(2), 69-75. Retrieved from     https://archives.joe.org/joe/1963summer/1963-2-a2.pdf.

AVL Demo

 I used a website that I found recently called Library Thing. It is a website where individuals put information about books into a huge database. I was working with our librarian looking at genres for new books and we used this website to see what certain books were being categorized as. It's a great resource for teachers! If a students is really into a particular book, this website gives recommendations for a next read. All around a very helpful website.

https://watch.screencastify.com/v/N7Uh0AX0UJcV0cv2qz2h

AVL Demonstration

https://www.loom.com/share/6cea480e2c5a4b7d964e47732f360558

    For my AVL demonstration I chose PBS Learning Media for students. You can easily access this resource through AVL. It is a great resource for grades Pre-K through 12. This resource offers a wide variety of videos, lessons, and assignments for any subject. One way that I implement this in my classroom is using the mathematics section and clicking on the real life math scenario videos so that the students see first hand how the math that they are learning is used in the real world.

AVL PBS LearningMedia Karlie Davis

https://youtu.be/fvN69N2V0-U

I chose to present on the PBS LearningMedia Resource. This Resource includes information for students in PreK through twelfth grade in several subject areas, including math, science, social studies, and more. The number of free resources this site hosts was terrific to me. There are videos, audio resources, lesson plans, interactive lessons, worksheets, and more. The videos included in this resource could be used to introduce a new topic in the classroom. Teachers can also create a free account to assign things to students using this resource. I plan to use the interactive lessons to have greater student engagement. 

Teacher Reference Center- Morgan Bible

The Teacher Reference Center is a database of 280 peer-reviewed journals covering a range of educational topics, including assessment, best practices, curriculum development, instructional media, literacy standards, and more. This is a resource that is targeted for teachers and educational leaders of all grade levels. TRC offers free information that can be used in educational research. In addition to journal articles, the TRC also includes indexes and abstracts for books, conference papers, educational magazines, and other resources relevant to the field of education. One thing I loved about this database is that it also includes video journals on a variety of education related topics. It is a useful resource for educators who are looking for current and reliable information on a variety of educational topics. I will be using this database in the future to aid in future educational research where I want reliable information to back up my thesis. I could also use this database to aid in providing teachers with targeted professional development.

https://youtu.be/iLrSBpZ2eJs

AVL Demonstration - Amber Works

 https://youtu.be/_EMG_mSRodw

The resource that I created my demonstration on is an Elementary Resource named Pebble Go. This is a resource that is targeted for teaching science to students in grades K-3. Pebble Go offers free information that can be shared with students on various different science topics. There are articles, vocabulary words, comprehension questions, videos, and much more. Aside from science instruction, Pebble Go also has a tremendous eBook collection for students to read online. There is also an option for the book to be read to the student which is a great asset for struggling readers. This site includes excellent materials and teaching ideas for science standards. I recently purchased a bundle from Teachers Pay Teachers on Landforms, so I was astounded when I realized what all Pebble Go had to offer for FREE! I will absolutely be using this database in the future to accompany science lessons.

David Shores - AVL Demo (Consumer Health Complete/EBSCO)

 https://youtu.be/xCR9RA0jiSc

The Consumer Health Complete or CHC is an extremely comprehensive database that contains consumer-based health content. The CHC is designed to support students' and/or patients' information needs and to assist with overall understanding of health-related topics and subjects. I believe this resource would be best utilized with a high school, college-aged group of students. I plan to utilize this resource in my current weight-training classes. Students will be required to search for a particular research article on the effects of creatine supplementation and resistance training and write a one-page paper, as their final for my class. 

AVL EBSCO Discovery Service

 https://youtu.be/xSQ9c1g3UDc

I used the EBSCO Discovery Service database for this project. This datatabase has a focus on articles and journals that could be used for resources. I typed in physical education in the search bar and it gave me many articles that came from multiple news outlets, scholoary journals, and more. The inteded age group for this would be High School age students, and an idea i had for this would be for my students to pick a physical activity of their choice, use this database and find three resources on it, then write a one page reflection on the activity. This could be used at the end of a free play team sports unit when we are discussing many different activities that could be played. 

AVL Pronunciator - Emily White

 

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c0fffYVat8T

The AVL website is a free resource to anyone in Alabama. It contains many types of databases covering various subjects. The database selected, Pronunciator, offers access to over 163 languages. The lessons, quizzes, drills, and vocabulary are generated for different age groups. This resource will be particularly helpful for foreign language teachers and their students. It is a tool that can provide assistance (tutoring) or enhancements. I can use this database when interacting with first time international students – hearing a familiar word/phrase might make the adjustment to life in the United States easier.

AVL- Alabama Mosiac

https://screencast-o-matic.com/u/afka/Alabama_Mosaic

I decided to research and learn more about Alabama Mosaic. This tool is found under the high school tab. Although, it is found under the high school tab I believe it is applicable to University study too. Alabama Mosaic is a historical digital database. It can be used for research papers or really anything that deals with the state of Alabama and it's history. I have found newspaper articles, pictures, postcards, and documents on the data base. Going forward I will be using the database for research papers and projects. I also thought about possibly creating some type of internet scavenger hunt. All in all, I really like the features this data base has and how it specifically deals with Alabama history. This a fantastic tool to use in our history classrooms.