Monitoring the Success of a Student

    I feel that technology needs to be integrated into education the same way that it is integrated in the students' lives. By integrating technology in education, we will enable our children to collaborate. There are many technology tools that allow children to connect with others. They can use these tools to work with others within their class or school. Connecting with other classes outside their schools will allow students to explore other cultures, widen their audience and learn from a different point of view.
    An idea to help integrate this process would be to have a laptop for each student. The laptops will remain at the school designated to a specific student for a school year. The grand idea is that the laptops would be able to be linked to my the master computer and I would be able to screen share. Screen share will allow my screen to show up on their laptop share. The students will be able to follow along with the lesson up close rather that be position to look at a board. Each student will have an equal view. The purpose of this process would be to monitor what students look at while doing an in class assignment. I can see where they are struggling. Monitoring the students screen will allow me to know if they are on task.  

Teaching arts in the classroom

    Teaching arts in the classroom is not about the grading its more about the process of thinking outside of the box. As teachers we want our students to think critical and visually analyze a image. In terms of grading we must monitor a teachers process as well as test the students knowledge on historical references to the project. Art is a difficult subject to define for number of reason but it does serve a purpose to help the students develop. The three major areas to focus on are sketch book drawing time, large group time, and art projects.

    As art educators we want to develop a teaching technique that will get the students engaged. The students should feel confident to go beyond their expectations. Implementing art activities will start by having the student sit down to work on their sketch books. Teachers at the beginning of the class should give time at the beginning of the class to work on their sketch books because it acts as an exercise. The purpose of the sketch book time is to experiment with different drawing materials. As a result students will try new ideas and techniques. Mix medium is a great way to promote diversity within a persons art work. The next stage would be to move students into a large group. The purpose of working in a large group is so that the students can bounce ideas off each other. Learning from on another will help boost interest. As they work together I would walk around and mediate their progress and discussions. The final stage would be to create an art project. The main objective for the art project is for the students to use the all knowledge from the lesson, sketch book time, and group discuss. Composing an art piece requires the student to work at home and think of ideas. Turning your ideas into a reality is truly an amazing experience.

   In conclusion, the sketch books will allow the students to develop and create conceptual designs. Large group discussions will allow students to compare and contrast their work with others. The art projects will promote the freedom of creativity. 

Technology & Pedagogy

     I choose this lesson plan because photography is a popular medium for students to take part in. Students have cameras on their phone take pictures of everything. This lesson is designed to help the students understand the basics of photography and develop a story. They say “A picture is worth a thousand words,” well in this case that means that each picture has a story to tell. My goal is to have students take a pictures and be able critically think about their image of chose.

    The curriculum goals, teaching strategies, and technologies used were aligned. After I broken down the lesson plan, I was able to put the goals in the appropriate locations. Vocabulary was the main lesson because I want the students to apply it when we discuss it in class. Asking the students questions with allow me to mediate their discussions. As a result students will able to analyze the qualities of a given photo.

    The technology listed is meant to support the instructional strategies. Photography is visual and I have to accommodate that using technologies such as a smart board or projector. In the first class I would have the students watch a video on Youtube. The video will show students different types of photography such as portraits, landscape, photojournalism, and etc. I want to make lessons diverse so that the student can choose which style they want to follow. The strategies for the goals would be the smart board to show a power point or video for visual representation. Each technology will help the students understand the concept of photography.

URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsmuWRDVohIYdHhScEZmYW5mY3RaQWxkVHM5Rk1IVXc&usp=drive_web#gid=0

Power Point Game Show

Since a majority of schools have smart boards integrated in the classrooms creating a power point game show will be a simple task. At the end of every chapter I would want to have a game show power point. The purpose of the game show is to get the students motivated to play a game and learn in the process. When I was in elementary I would always have to read a chapter then answer questions at the end, which was ultimately boring. In relation to my previous statement, if there was a type of fun exercise at the end of the chapter I would have retained more information intrinsically. I want my students to want to read a chapter or articles that I give out in class about photography. The review games would be shows similar to jeopardy, and the weakest link. Depending on the grade level, I would use photograph vocabulary cards to help any ESL or special needs student understand clearly. I want all my students to be on the same level of understanding. A visual presentation will help a large majority of my audience. When I talk about the history of photography, I will zoom up on a image and have the students work together to try to figure out the object or person. The goal for the game show is to have the students actively engaged in the exercise. What will end up happening is the students will want to read the chapters carefully and search for important information. The entire class will be treated as one big team, so that they all win together. Teamwork is a major element that I want my students to take with them outside the classroom. After the game, I will assign the students to create a digital story board about what they read in class. Developing a story requires creativity which I encourage my students to strive for. In regards to my previous statement, this will allow my students to experiment with new ideas.

Digital Photography: Tablets vs Dslr (digital single lens reflect) cameras

I believe tablets are slowing removing desktops in certain schools. In the urban school districts they are behind when it comes to updating computers based on the schools budget. Usually the academy schools that I substitute at have newer computers. Never the less tablets are becoming more affordable and popular. I own a tablet because it allows me to view my emails and pictures. The screen on my tablet is much bigger than my cellphone. In addition you can take pictures on the tablet as well. The picture quality is not the best, but the purpose of taking a picture is to capture the moment.


Tablets and I-pads have influenced photography in a major way because people love taking pictures and making videos. Pictures have always big a popular element to the world. An app called Instagram has been a major player is a technology world. Its a software that you can download on a tablet, I-pad, or phone. The purpose of the software is to take pictures and show it to the people who follow your account. Its a cool app because its simple and fun to use. You can add all this cool filters to your photos as well as make it black and white. People are really into taking pictures and its great for my content area because my students will come into my class with prior knowledge of digital photography.

I have always been a “technologically wiz kid.” I love learning about new technologies or software’s. There was a time when I did not know how to use a computer and my mother had to show me the ropes. I had trouble typing and at the time spell check was not invented yet. Over the years I learned how to type and eventually worked my way up in exploring the internet. Now I am able to help other people understand the computer world. Everyday computers change and so do humans.

I found that there are some advantages when owning a tablet. The number one reason it is light and works like a phone (only with a bigger screen). Secondly you are able to have one on one video chats.

The only down side is that a dslr camera gives you more control when taking a picture. Yes a tablet and I-pad has many capabilities but a dslr only focus' on one feature. Most profound pictures have a great depth of field. A depth of field refers to the range of distance that appears acceptably sharp. It varies depending on camera type, aperture and focusing distance.

History of Technology in Photography

History of Technology in Photography

     After watching the video “History of Educational Technology,” I noticed how school settings were designed to tech students how to be obedient. Teachers during the late 1800s did not implement discussions, which would mean students sat through hours of lectures. During the historical time period the chalk board was a key medium for visually demonstrations. Years later the television was created in 1910 by George Klein. My particular content area is photography, so television played a major influential role. As television became more popular among Americans television became integrated within classrooms. Around the year 1930s films were used in classrooms for educational purposes. It took roughly twenty years to have televisions within classrooms and it has proved to be very usefully within school settings. Thirty eight years later, the children television network workshop came into existence. Cartoon programs, such as seasame street created a fun educational process. It essentially became one of the most innovative and effective educational programs for children. Computers in the 1980s used virtual games to spark an interest for the students. According to Donna Howar, “It helps to organize information and extract information from that information...”
       One of the technologies that I believe to have the greatest impact is television. As a photography film and photographs go hand and hand. In relation to my previous statement I can teach my students about photography using clips from a movie or television show. The rules of photography still apply when filming. A major technique for photography is following the rule of thirds. The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have nine parts. You use the rule of thirds for composing your shot (picture). Now on the downside of using television can have a distracting side effect. Most of the time television provides other programs which are non educational, as a result if the student gets bored he or she will simply change the channel. In other words, students don't want to bring school home. According to the book rethinking technology in schools, it explained how progressive era “was a period of reform in the united states between 1890's and the 1920's that emphasized social justice and equality. It was also characterized by the belief that industry and technology could address many social problems.” Technology will always continue to grow because society demands it. Cellphones used to have one major purpose and now they have been integrated with camera capabilities. Digital Photography can now be done via cellphones. I use my camera and cellphone to produce photographs because the purpose is the capture the moment. I will not always have my dslr camera at hand, but my cellphone will provide me with a decent shot. Simple point and shoot digital cameras can give surprising quality when they have the right lenses. Cellphones are automatic in focus and exposure, they just have to be pointed at a subject. They have limited capabilities for controlling the image, although even very inexpensive cameras often have white balance controls. Some are exceptionally compact, are able to fit easily into a shirt pocket, making them ideal cameras to keep at hand.