Digital Resources

I will continue to add links to my digital resources on this page as I complete them! 



  • Sample Lesson Plans (Coming soon!)
Reflecting on the Development of my Educational Technology Literacy

 Effective teachers model and apply the NETS·S as they design, implement, and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community. All teachers should meet the following standards and performance indicators.

  1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning
    and Creativity
    Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face
    and virtual environments.
    1. Promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
    2. Engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
    3. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
    4. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments


      Narrative: Several of the projects that I have worked on throughout this course applied to this particular standard. I created an American Revolution Webquest as part of this course. This is the first experience I have had using, creating, or viewing a Webquest. Students were to use the links I presented on the Webquest page to do research and create an autobiography of one historical figure from the American Revolution. When creating the Webquest, I made sure to carefully choose which websites I gave them links to. I did not want my Webquest links to lead to unreliable resources. This Webquest also allowed for an element of creativity because the students were able to present their autobiographies of their historical figures in many ways, such as podcasts, papers, plays, or any other ideas that they had pre-approved with me. I created this Webquest based upon Oregon State Standards and Beaverton School District Learning Targets. This form of technology allows the students to work independently while also allowing them to explore the Internet within the parameters of the Webquest.
      The podcast that I created with a partner also helped me fulfill this standard. Our podcast was on the activist Victoria Woodhull. By creating this podcast using GarageBand, I would now be able to teach my own students how to properly use Garageband. However, the cooperative and exploratory methods that we used to complete our podcast allowed us to learn more thouroughly about the program we were using. I believe that creating a collaborative project using technology would be very beneficial for students in fourth grade and above.
      Most of all, my experiences with these technologies have taught me that using technology in the classroom can not only be effective and fun, but also creative. Each project that my peers and I created were different, despite being given the exact same project assignments. My projects contained creative ideas that my peers hadn’t thought of, and the projects my peers did contained creative ideas that I hadn’t thought of. This sort of creative expression would add to my classroom environment.
      Exhibit 1: Webquest
      Exhibit 2: Podcast



  2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning
    Experiences and Assessments
    Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS·S.
    a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
  1. Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
  2. Customize and personalize learning activities
    to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
  3. Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching


    Narrative: Podcasts and Webquests are an effective learning experience for students. The Webquest that I created was developed to study certain historical figures from the American Revolution. However I feel that Webquests are great way for teachers to pursuer their own interests and curiosities, within reason. Webquests can be used for multiple subjects, and they are only limited by the imagination of the teacher. My Webquest also allowed students to create a presentation that worked best for their own learning and working styles. Likewise, podcasts can be used much in the same way. Podcasts can be done as individual or group projects, and can be done on a myriad of different subjects.
          During this course I also created an expressive arts lesson that I taught to my fifth grade students and video recorded. While the lesson itself did not require the students to use technology, I used a document camera during my lesson. The creation of the video also required me to use technology in the form of a video camera and iMovie. Because I have learned how to create a video using iMovie, I would be willing to use this program in my future classroom to allow students to work with several digital tools for one project. All the lesson plans I use, whether they involve technology or not, also include various forms of formative and summative assessments that align with the content standards.
    Exhibit 1: Webquest
    Exhibit 2: Podcast
    Exhibit 3: Project TEAM Video


3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning
Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
  1. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
  2. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
  3. Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats
  4. Model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning
    Narrative: We live in a digital age. As employees and teachers, we as professionals are expected to incorporate technology into our everyday lives. This course allowed me to learn about many different uses of technology from the perspectives of both a student and a teacher. Upon hearing that I would be required to create a professional website, I was quite concerned. I explored different programs to use for my website before I found one through trial and error that suited me.  In the end, I created website that I am quite proud of. I chose to also use my website as a professional blog, and I have found it to be quite useful for reflection purposes.
    After creating a professional website/blog, I realized that I wanted to create a classroom blog to communicate with my students and their families. I used the same program (Blogger) to create both my website/blog and my classroom blog. In my opinion, Blogger is a great tool. Creating my website/blog required some trial and error to fix layout issues, and present a professionally looking site. Designing my classroom blog was much quicker because I had taught myself much about Blogger while creating my website. My classroom blog has been quite successful with my students and their families. It is consistently checked, and my students are excited when I put up new blog posts. Eventually, I would like to have the students work collaboratively with me to create blog posts.
    Exhibit 1:Website

4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.
  1. Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
  2. Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
  3. Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use of technology and information
  4. Develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and collaboration tools


    Narrative: Several of the projects that I worked on throughout this term required the usage of proper citation. It is important for professionals and students to understand that information from technological sources must be cited just as physically sources must be cited. The Webquest and podcast that I created required the use of proper citations from reliable sources. When I created my Webquest, I chose to only use carefully selected, reliable links for my students to use for their research. This is an important aspect of the Webquest, and one that I would share with my students.
    Because many students use techonology at home and school on a daily basis, I believe that teaching responsible and safe Internet practices is valuable. As an example I would show the students my own website and classroom blog. I would show them how I used appropriate language, pictures that do not show student faces, and an overall professional look. After demonstrating this with my own projects, I would have the students create guidelines for how to safely use the Internet.
    Exhibit 1: Webquest
    Exhibit 2: Website


5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating
the effective use of digital tools and resources.
  1. Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
  2. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
  3. Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
  4. Contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self- renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community 


    Narrative: Taking this technology course has allowed me to improve my knowledge of technology in a very significant way. Technology is always changing, and new technologies will become available throughout my teaching career. The blogs and website I have created are constantly being added to. Since I am using my professional website blog for reflection, this can help improve the technology that I use and improve my techniques. I was unable to attend this year’s OTEN Conference due to illness, but it is something I would like to participate in during future years. I believe that going to these types of conferences will allow me to view different technologies from an educational standpoint. However, I did complete research on my own about effective technologies for classroom use. Overall, I plan to continue using technology in my personal life and as a teacher. Attending conferences and being open to new technologies or techniques will help me with this goal.
    Exhibit 1:Website
    Exhibit 2: Personal Research


    Final Reflection:  This educational technology course has allowed me to greatly expand my knowledge as a professional and as a student. My knowledge of programs such as GarageBand and iMovie has improved vastly, as I had never worked with these programs prior to this course. Now, I feel that I could use these programs in my own classroom due to my new knowledge gained from this course. This course has proved to me that while learning new technologies can seem overwhelming, students and professionals alike will benefit from creating a variety of technological projects.
    Due to what I have learned in this course, I believe that I could effectively use Webquests in my classroom or teach my students how to create their own podcasts. This class helped me realize that technology use in classrooms can be fun and creative, and showed me ways that I can create a positive environment using technology. Overall, I feel that my knowledge of technology has grown more than I could have imagined during only one course. I feel confident to use technology in my own classroom, and I now feel more open to learning how to use new types of technology. 

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