Megan+S.




 * __Portfolio Link__:**
 * Pleas visit this link to find my final portfolio:**


 * http://msmith25.weebly.com**

__Personal Use Project Blog Address__: Snippets of Technology

__Biography__ Hi! My name is Megan Smith. I live in Mount Kisco, NY but I grew up in a small town just outside Poughkeepsie, NY called Pleasant Valley. One of my favorite things to do as a child was go to the local library and pick out great books to read. I think that's part of the reason why I chose to pursue a literacy degree! I decided to upload this picture I took of the Louvre in Paris because I love to travel! If I couldn't travel, I would go crazy. I have learned so much from my travels and it has given me so much more knowledge of the world that I never would have gotten if I hadn't traveled. I graduated from Marist College with dual certification in special and general education, grades 1-6. I currently work in the Scarsdale Public Schools as a teacher aide. This past school year I worked in both third and fifth grade. Scarsdale is a school that is fortunate enough to have fantastic technological resources, so it was great to watch kids use GoogleDocs, iMovie, PowerPoint etc etc.. throughout the school year. I really believe that digital literacy is SO important these days and schools need to do all they can to promote this type of literacy!

__Life as a Tech User__ I am definitely addicted to technology. I got my first cell phone when I was in high school - I believe I was a freshman...maybe a sophomore. Not all of my friends had cell phones, but for some reason I just HAD to have one. Nowadays, the kids I work with in elementary school have cell phones and to their peers its weird if they haven't gotten one by 5th grade! It just baffles me how integrated technology has become in our lives. My family got a desktop computer in the 90s when I was in elementary school. My brother is 6 years older than I am, and he was really into computers and technology, so my parents were sort of bullied into buying it by my adolescent brother. I used the computer mostly for games - I had a mall shopping game and, of course, Oregon Trail. We also had a computer encyclopedia called Encarta that we used to help with assignments for school. The computer was a huge help as I moved through elementary school, middle school, high school, and of course college. I'm glad my parents jumped on the bandwagon and allowed us to use technology as much as they did.

One particular story I'd like to share with you happened fairly recently. My boyfriend is a Genius for Apple, and he always likes to keep me current with regard to my Apple products. He persuaded me to upgrade my iPhone to the iPhone 4S. He gave me a laundry list of reasons (most of which I didn't understand or, to be honest, care about) why I should upgrade and how it would make my life so much better. So, I upgraded. I cannot make Siri work for the life of me, and my battery life is WAY less than it was on my iPhone 4. I, of course, complained and complained to my boyfriend about my phone and eventually he had to give me a Siri tutorial, even though 'a four year old child can make Siri work' - that's a direct quote from my Genius, by the way! After a 15 minute lecture on how to properly talk to Siri in order for her to understand my instructions, I still can't make Siri work... and I am convinced she has a personal vendetta against me. So, moral of the story is, you can have a tech savvy person in your life, and be fairly competent yourself, but there will always be challenges to face in the tech world. I love my iPhone, I wouldn't use anything else, but I think for now I'll type out my own text messages and update my calendar myself and leave Siri out of it!

__NETS Goals/Personal Use Project__ After reading the NETS Standards for Teachers, I comprised a list of five goals that I hope to attain achievement of by the end of this semester. For my personal use project, I will be starting and maintaining a blog. In this blog, I will explore new technologies, methods, and tools that can be used to improve classroom usage of technology. Through this blog, I will attempt to achieve the following goals:


 * __Standard 1__:**Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
 * __Goal__:** Determine ways to provide students with ample opportunities to reflect upon their learning using digital tools that support both collaborative and individual reflection. Through the blog, I will experience first hand how to maintain a blog and facilitate personal reflection. Students can use blogs to share their own reflections and receive input from peers.


 * __Standard 2__:** Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
 * __Goal__:** Create opportunities for student choice with regard to summative assessments using technology in all subject areas. In my blog, I will attempt to include tools that teachers can use to help implement digital summative assessments and data collection.


 * __Standard 3__:** Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
 * __Goal__:** Become more confident in approaching unfamiliar technologies; use new tools or programs and demonstrate to students that collaboration with peers (i.e. computer teacher) will result in a richer appreciation, understanding, and use of technology. I will be keeping a blog and incorporating information found in books and on the internet. This is a first for me, and I will be embracing a new form of technology.


 * __Standard 4__:** Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
 * __Goal__:** Learn more about digital sharing laws and practices; understand intellectual property and determine ways to make students more aware of these legalities. I will be sure to highlight these digital sharing laws and practices in my blog, and try to find ways to make this aspect of technology interesting and meaningful to students.


 * __Standard 5__:** Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
 * __Goal__:** Become more involved with peers; communicate and collaborate with regard to sharing new ideas and methodologies that can improve student learning of content area information while improving students’ technological skills. When choosing my personal use project, I wanted something that would allow me the opportunity to communicate with my peers. Sharing ideas, especially ideas regarding technology, is so important. I believe creating and maintaining my technology blog will help me achieve this goal.

__Copyright Project__

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__Digital Literacy Statement__

Dear Parents/Guardians: As you all know, technology has become an integral part of our world. Will Richardson, a leading author on educational technology, once wrote, “Learning in this environment [the internet] is about being able to construct, develop, sustain, and participate in global networks that render time and place less and less relevant.” I feel as though this quote summarizes how important it is to publish and participate in an online world. It gives students a purpose for their work and allows them to interact with an audience in a unique way. My job is to make sure your child is prepared to enter a digital society. This letter aims to explain my beliefs regarding the implementation and significance of technologically connected classrooms. We all have an idea of what it means to be literate. To most, being literate means being able to read and write. However, I want to introduce a new concept to you – digital literacy. Children in today’s world are attuned to how technology works; some have even referred to this generation as ‘digital natives.’ Regardless of their skill at using technology, I need to hone my students’ skills and develop their digital knowledge. I do this to prepare them for the world they will enter as adults. In my classroom, my beliefs about digital literacy are, hopefully, very apparent. First and foremost, I always model myself as a technology user. I need to show my students that using technology is something that anyone can do. My students know it is okay to try new tools – even if the tools are unfamiliar or slightly overwhelming. I encourage my students to try new programs or tools, even if they are apprehensive. Technology is a big discussion point in my classroom. I facilitate conversations about our technology use quite frequently. They understand that they teach me more than I could ever teach them about technology, simply because they are of another, more digital, generation. I like to ensure that my students’ internet skills are well developed by the end of their time in my classroom. I try to integrate the internet into all areas of our curriculum. Three skills I focus a great deal on are: It is so important for students to learn how to use the internet properly. The skills they learn will benefit them in both professional and personal areas. Internet safety is a huge priority for me in my classroom. My students need to be aware of the dangers that can come with such impressive technology. I understand this is a topic that most cover at home with their children; however, I believe it is serious enough to merit time spent in school as well. The students in my class spend a good amount of time on the internet for various educational purposes; I need them to learn how to be safe, productive, and knowledgeable about their actions online. This ties well into another large portion of my technology integration: cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is not a new term, but the way we approach it in my classroom is fairly modern. We spend a lot of time creating and sharing our learning online; our discussions are no longer limited to our classroom walls. We have created an online personality of our class, and this has been phenomenally successful. Most of the time the audience is their classmates and myself; however, this unique learning platform has truly given a new voice to their work. Overall, I believe in digital literacy and the need to be technologically savvy in today’s world. As an educator, I believe it is my responsibility to turn my students into individuals who are comfortable and knowledgeable about technology, and how it can truly better the world in which we live.
 * Internet use skills
 * Internet safety
 * Using the internet to communicate with others

Sincerely,

Megan Smith

If you are interested in reading more about digital literacy, please see the following sources:

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 * Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants.


 * Bennett, Sue, Karl Maton and Lisa Kervin. The 'digital natives' debate: A critical review of the evidence. (2008). British Journal of Educational Technology, Vol 39 No 5.


 * Richardson, W. (2010). //Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms//. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.