Tech Play 4

Content Objects

I chose to focus my tech play this week on Content Objects. The reason why I selected Content Objects over Information Technology is because I wanted to focus on application programs that are geared towards my content area.

The object tools that I worked with are listed below:

GCFLearnFree: The main function of this website allows drill, practice, and tutorials. GCF covers all types of contents, but specifically to my classroom my students would use it to access topics such as Microsoft Office programs and Adobe programs. I like this website because it is appealing to most of my students learning styles. There is a step-by-step layout of the functions of each program, as well as tutorial videos. Each section also has a practice part where students can open up that program and practice the skills they learned and then work on an activity. I like this program because I can use it to allow students who may be a little more advanced with the programs and then I can work one-on-one with those who are not as technologically advanced. This is a free program that doesn't have a better version if you pay for it. The downfall to this website is that if the internet is out, it is not accessible. Also, there have been instances where there were numbers outages with the website, but as I look back on my experience, the outages were during the website update.

Schoology: The main function of this website allows drill, practice, tutorials, and interactive assignments. This is a website that is completely interactive from the standpoint of the teacher, student, and other colleagues on campus and in the district. Students can access Schoology from a computer or from the app store. This program can be used for teachers to collaborate with their students. They can share extra websites to assist with their work; they can attach videos for assistance and guidance; they can create assignments for students to complete; they can create an open blog where all students can collaborate on a continuous feed; and many more features. Another amazing feature is that you can register your class with it's content and then an online area will appear and give you an unlimited amount of resources specific to the content. From there you can share with your students, respond to posts, etc... I feel like I am in one of those infomercials..."But wait, there is more!" Schoology also has a resource section. This section has an online storage for materials, I basically refer to it as "the cloud" to help my students understand how it works. It also has an apps section, this is one of my favorite parts of the program. Students can add apps (free or ones you pay for) to their resources. One of the apps is google drive, which is great for all levels at my school because our district has implemented the use of google drive across the board. The downfall to this website is if it is not provided by your district, you can loose out on some great opportunities. Some of these include the ability to link your grade book in schoology to your grade book with the district.

OnlineExpert: The main function of this program is geared towards practice, drill, instructional activities, and assessment. Online expert has some of the same feature as GCFLearnFree, but on a much more involved level. OnlineExpert does have the aspect of gearing towards my students and their learning styles, but also has an assessment measure. Each section starts out with a pre-test and ends with a post-test. This allows for me to see how much they learned. It also provides online crosswords and interactive assignments that keeps my students involved. Another AMAZING aspect of OnlineLearning is that each section is geared towards a industry certification. For example, my district is really pushing for our students to take industry certifications in the field they are studying. So my students could take exams through Certiport over subjects such as: Microsoft Suite and Adobe. This is so appealing because students can put this on their resume for college as well as their professional resume. The downside to this program is that if your district doesn't buy it for you, you will have to fork out some money for it.

Online Expert is probably my favorite because it has the most content rich information. One of my favorite aspects of the program is that I can see how much my students have learned because there is a  pre-test and post-test. This is crucial in my department of Career and Technology Education because we have been focusing on how far did your students grow? This is also one of my favorite of the three because I can catch every student despite their different learning styles. Students can watch tutorials to assist them, they can read directions step-by-step, and then it has what I refer to as the english version that has pictures in it's step-by-step model.

Online Expert supports learning by taking a Constructivist approach because the learning is interactive and student centered. Students can take responsibility for their own learning by the use of interactive assignments and projects. An affordance to this program is the different options to learning a section. You have 3 options to view the material: watch a video, read directions, and picture step-by-step. Students can also work with the designated program, let just use Microsoft PowerPoint, and the workspace on the program is the layout of PowerPoint. It gives you commands or tasks to help identify functions and the student has to perform. Online Expert also covers all parts of the TPAK model. Technology is integrated in the assimilated activities. The content is integrated because it incorporates TEKS assigned to my class as well as it is the most content rich program that offers the availability for my students to prepare for industry certifications. The pedagogical aspect is incorporated by allowing students the option of how they want to learn according to their learning style.

When looking at Online Expert and comparing it to the other two programs I reviewed at the top, GCFLearnFree is similar, but lacks the rigor that Online Expert offers. Schoology is a good program because it is very interactive, but Online Expert still out weights it because of the depth of the material and access to the specific programs we use in class. At the end of the day I would definitely incorporate Online Expert in my classroom because of the benefits it provides as well as Schoology. I say incorporate schoology because it has the option of being used at home, having more resources within the program, and allows communication with students in different forms (feedback, discussion boards, sending messages to class, online communities with other professionals.)

I have to say, as I look back on all that I have researched through tech plays, I have really learned a lot. Something that I need to keep in mind, as well as others, is to keep learning. Don't ever stop looking for new programs that could better suit your class, because everyday something new is available.