Case Study: 190-191 Questions 1 and 3

1.First of all, Miss Laramie only had one computer, which made the classroom seem less learner centered. The media specialist decides that Miss Laramie should use the one computer with the software to make lessons for all the students, and use the equipment to help all of her students at once.

3. Like Miss Laramie, I think I would too get new software and a laptop to make lesson plans for my students. This would help me efficiently make lessons to help all of my students at once and be able to address any problems the students were having.

Page 91: Questions 1-4

1. Chris is a new teacher, which means lesson plans and other expectations of teaching may need to be adjusted because of the new standards of teaching. It says that Chris need to focus on assessment, instruction, and student work. This means that Chris should have a area of concentration in the astronomy unit, use it to demonstrate what he wants, and have a project. He should make clear what expectation are demanded, so students know how much work they need to put in to be successful.

2. Since Chris has such a large class, he needs to think of ways where he can instruct the class and be effective. Chris also has to take in mind the five students who have disabilities. I feel Chris should explain the lesson, and then group of the classroom into sections, visiting each section and making sure the group of the class understands what is expected and understand the phases of the moon. Also, he should leave a time where students can approach him with questions.

3. Chris should definitely take advantage of the mobile laptop carts. This way, each of his students will be able to use a program to research and discover the phases of the moon in the astronomy unit. He can also take advantage of the science museum, and maybe schedule a tour on the astronomy unit so his class can be interested and learn something at the same time. I also suggest that Chris makes a diagram with his flashlight to represent the sun, so visual learners will be able to understand more completely.

4. Chris can measure learner knowledge by having a few quizzes to see where his students are at and how much they understand and how capable they are. After a section or a specific area of the astronomy was finished I would give a quiz over the section. Online teaching resources are available for teaching instruction and assessments. 

Case Study Page 66-69

1. The mathematics standards can help Miss Levitz plan the use of technology by finding out exactly what it is her students need to be learning. Miss Sumner says that Miss Levitz teaches her students well, and finds a way to connect with them, but cannot figure out which lesson will come next. By following the math standards, it ensures that the students will be learning their material in a proper order.

3. The NETS standards can help guide the next steps because it shows the proper order in which things can be learned. It shows what technology should be used and what technology students should know how to use. By combining these standards with the math standards, Miss Levitz can determine if the technology she is using to teach math is useful and corresponding to the NETS standards.

WISE Learning Environment Questions 1, 2, and 3.

1. WISE is an example of a constructivist learning tool because students are challenged to find the answers to problems with information they already know and information they acquire from experience when working with WISE. In WISE, students are given the chance to learn by exploring different theories and different evidence in order to determine which answer is most probable.

2. WISE helps students become actively engaged in their learning by giving students opportunities to record their thinking and do research to work on their project. WISE also gives all the information students will need for the project right on the site. It allows students to work at a pace that's comfortable for them and gives them the freedom to work on the project in the order that they choose.

3. Features of group work that are effective include the ability to choose a specialty. In a group, each student is able to choose one part of the project they want to work on, and each individual focuses on their own special part of the project. Afterwords, students are able to combine what they each learned and finish the project as a whole.

Page 34: Questions 1 & 2

1. These scenarios relate to the issue of learning environments because each teacher has to choose the proper method that will be most effective to the student's education. Teachers are faced with the decision to choose between different methods of educating, deciding between factors such as choosing activities that will be engaging and fun for the students or activities that are easier to plan and give the teacher time to work out a lesson. These scenarios show the importance of creating a learning environment that is balanced with both fun and engaging activities that are also easy to plan and effective. The scenarios also show teachers trying to create an atmosphere that is comfortable for students.

2. In Classroom 1, the software the teacher is trying to choose from deals with Construction of Knowledge. The students can use their existing knowledge to learn new information. Classroom 2 deals with individual differences in learning. Perhaps more students are more advanced at researching the internet effectively, while others need help finding good sites for research. In Classroom 3, the teacher deals with intrinsic motivation to learn. By creating a new program that will help students understand something deeper, by motivating them with something they will find more interesting than just a diagram in their textbooks. In Classroom 4, Individual differences in learning come into factor. Some students may enjoy using computers more than others, so the shortage of computers becomes a good thing. Their learning is all based on a preference, and if their preference is not using a computer, the other students who prefer to use them have the opportunity.