Visual Literacy in My Classroom

How can visual literacy and the use of internet impact the teaching and learning process in the classroom?

Visual literacy is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and create information using digital technology that appeals to the visual and auditory human senses. Using the internet to create and present visual experiences for students can have a huge impact on the learning that occurs. Since a large majority of students are visual learners, gearing instruction toward the use of digital technology to achieve visualization enhances the over all learning that will happen. Teaching using the digital tools and internet that is available may be challenging at first, but it is fun and is worth the hard work when teachers see students learning.

What are some visual-thinking strategies you would like to use in your classroom?

I would like to implement the use of three-dimensional creation software programs into my upper level math classes. There are several available programs. I particularly like 3Diva. This program allows the student to create and present three-dimensional visuals that are interactive and editable. This program can be used by students in middle school through college level. Another strategy that I am encouraging with my students is digital communication via email with me and other students in the class. Digital communication allows students to pose questions whenever they arise and allows me to respond in a timely manner without the student having to meet with me face-to-face.

What role do you want the internet to play in your classroom?

Since the internet is part of most students’ everyday life, I believe that it should play a large role in my classroom. After teaching students to use the internet responsibly and safeguarding the computer access through district policy, I want the internet to be readily available to my students to use for research, production, presentation, communication, and other uses that will enhance learning. The video titled Classroom of the Future shows the classroom that I dream of having someday. Check out the video. I know you will love it!

TEC 538 - Module 2

Using a variety of instructional strategies in the classroom today is of great importance. Assuring that learners are truly learning information and are able to extrapolate the learned information in to real-life settings is the goal that I try to achieve while educating students today. Varied instructional strategies allows students in a classroom to have an opportunity to learn in his or her own learning style. Some learn by hearing, some by doing, some by seeing, and others require more than one strategy to grasp the objectives that are to be taught. Learning involves retention and understanding which can be achieved by linking a student's learning to the student's life experiences.
Technology can be integrated into lessons in different ways. When using teacher-centered instructional strategies such as presentations or demonstrations, technology can be used to enhance the presentation or demonstration by adding the visual and auditory aspects to what the teacher is already doing. This makes the information much more interesting to the learners, which, in turn, helps the learner to retain what is being taught. Integrating technology into student-centered instructional strategies is a simple task because 21st century learners are already using a lot of technology in everyday life. For example, learning games, simulations, and discussions can all be conducted online. Learners are already familiar with online activity so lessons that incorporate working online to learning will be of great value to these learners.
Teaching mathematics has always seemed to me to be a student-centered task. I choose to teach with a problem-based teaching/learning style or strategy. I present facts in short segments and then ask questions and present discovery opportunities to my students. I allow the students to ponder, research, and discover. Then I present a few more facts that shed a little light on the questions that my students have. I continue this cycle allowing students to use books, internet, graphing calculators, or other technology to come to a final conclusion. In the end, I review the presented information and recap what the students have discovered. An assignment is then usually given and the class ends with discussion.
I sincerely hope that students are gaining and retaining knowledge from the classes that I teach. I thoroughly enjoy teaching them and am eager to continue improving, learning and growing along with my 21st century students!

GCU TEC 538 Learning in the Digital Age

Hello class. I hope that everyone who reads my blog will also enjoy it.