Reflective Blog #2: Research in Educational Technology

Reflective Blog #2: Research in Educational Technology

Landauer, T., Lochbaum, K., & Dooley, S. (2009). A new formative assessment technology for reading and writing. Theory Into Practice, 48(1), 44-52. doi: 10.1080/00405840802577593

Thomas K. Landauer, Karen E. Lochbaum, and Scott Dooley lead the study of newer technologies behind aspects of reading comprehension and ability writing. These researchers assess how the WriteToLearn program. The article depicts two tables which illustrate the following components. The WriteToLearn program consists of two parts: Summary Street and Intelligent Essay Assessor (IEA). Summary Street assists students in improving writing styles, pinpointing any areas of weakness, and then submits feedback to the student. The student is able to resubmit material more than once. It “..helps build lasing ease in understanding and writing well and with pleasure.” IEA reviews writing samples for any potential errors in grammatical format. The authors note the reason for this study is to increase the likelihood of student participation in reading comprehension and writing, which sometimes can be a challenge. Two of the authors do not have teaching backgrounds; however, the study involves varying grade levels of students in order to achieve differentiating results applicable to a wide range of capabilities.

Reflective Blog #5

Mrs. Hossack's First Graders

http://teachers.saschina.org/ahossack/

Some of the general topics on this blog include classroom information, information about the teacher, and some interesting teaching moments with photographs. The color scheme for this particular blog is mostly blue. There are a number of gadgets including a calendar, a few personal ones from the teacher which help an outsider get to know her a little bit better, a map which tracks those that visit her blog from around the world, a categories and an archives page. I like that the teacher uses a number of pictures with examples throughout her blog. She also incorporates a number of relevant links on her page which tie all the information together.

Reflective Blog #4

The Greatest Middle School Blog in the World
http://moranmustangs.org/

This particular blog represents how a teacher delivers assignments and/or necessary information to her students. The teacher updates her site every week, adding information as necessary. The blog consists of a few videos, some pictures and black is the main color of the font. Gadgets include a section of links to students blogs, a live traffic feed, direct links on the top of the blog which aid in easy navigation, an archives list, and the most recent comments are also accessible. I like the straight-forward approach of the material on this blog. Students are able to hone in on the material/information quickly. I think this blog is a great model for a teacher looking to incorporate the use of a blog into their classroom.

Reflective Blog #3

So You Want to Teach?
http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/

Some of the general topics on this particular blog consist of situations that might come up in a classroom environment. This blogs cites resources for dealing with a classroom that is too noisy, ways in which to motivate students, and various commentaries by teachers about other issues as well. I like these specific links this blogger uses since they are readily available on the left side of the blog. The homepage of the blog uses graphics which catch your eye and each commentary has a picture to go with it. The only downside to the commentaries is that they have a wide range of variance. However, I think this is a great blog for new teachers to use. There is a social media gadget, a feelings tag, and an other readers' likes gadget list on the left hand side of the blog.

 Reflective Blog #2

Science Notebooking
http://www.sciencenotebooking.blogspot.com/

This blog describes some of the processes educators can go through if they are looking for grants to help fund potential science projects in their school and/or classroom. The creator of this blog incorporates material from Bill Nye videos to further expand on lessons she teaches in her own classroom. One of the things I like about this blog is the list of different activities on the right side of the page. There appears to be wide range of choices to pick from. Each aspect of the blog has a number of pictures, but aside from that the background color is mostly white. I think this is a great tool especially for teachers that are trying to make science more exciting for their students. Some of the gadgets on this site include a video clip, an about me section, a followers link, and a labels link just to name a few.

Reflective Blog #1:

Student Reflections on Night by Elie Wiesel 
http://nightwiesel.blogspot.com/

Some of the things I find interesting about this blog is the depth at which the information delves into. Night by Elie Wiesel describes the first hand account by the author in a concentration camp during World War II. Students studying this particular moment in time can use the study guides and/or participation boards on this blog to assist them in understanding WWII better. I like how things are simple to access, however, the last post to this particular blog dates back to 2009. It would be neat to see something newer on the blog for students to use in the future. The graphics on this page are simple, there are only a select number of colors, and there are only a few pictures on this blog as well. Gadgets on this page consist of an archives page and a previous posts page.