About Me
Although I am officially a native Cheesehead, hailing from Wisconsin, I have been teaching for approximately ten years in Ecuador, Venezuela, and Bermuda in the public and private (international school) sectors. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. degree in Elementary Education and Spanish. My career experiences have been quite varied, ranging from classroom teaching in grades 1-3, middle school math and science, elementary music, and most recently 6-12 technology education. That position was a challenging and invigorating opportunity that rekindled my interest in technology-enhanced education. Although sometimes I feel it's a bit like a journey down the rabbit hole, there is such wonder and joy that comes from exploring, creating, and utilizing great technology in the classroom. I have embarked on the MET program to help quench this thirst for knowledge and to be equipped with a balanced repertoire of skills and resources to carry me through any teaching experience.
I am currently the teacher of a grades 3-6 (combined) classroom in a small all-boys school that has adopted the International Primary Curriculum. This program focuses heavily on project-based learning, personal learning goals, and global-mindedness. Many of the projects I have created for this class would be appropriate for this group of upper-elementary/middle school learners.
I am currently the teacher of a grades 3-6 (combined) classroom in a small all-boys school that has adopted the International Primary Curriculum. This program focuses heavily on project-based learning, personal learning goals, and global-mindedness. Many of the projects I have created for this class would be appropriate for this group of upper-elementary/middle school learners.
About This Course
Course Description:
This course required us to examine and explore technology integration strategies within K-12 networked computing environments. Content included an examination of technology integration techniques using various application tools, instructional software, productivity software, and the Internet. We also identified relative advantages for choosing technology integration strategies and resources for us to draw upon in developing our own technology integration activities.
Instructor: Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D.
Course Objectives: At the end of the course, we will be able to:
This course required us to examine and explore technology integration strategies within K-12 networked computing environments. Content included an examination of technology integration techniques using various application tools, instructional software, productivity software, and the Internet. We also identified relative advantages for choosing technology integration strategies and resources for us to draw upon in developing our own technology integration activities.
Instructor: Jackie Gerstein, Ed.D.
Course Objectives: At the end of the course, we will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of hardware function, installation, selection and maintenance by developing a networking/hardware lesson or conducting a field trip.
- Locate and evaluate current research on teaching and learning with technology and generate a personal rationale for using technology in education based on findings from research and practice.
- Define and identify instructional software types and uses.
- Identify and develop effective classroom activities using telecommunications tools and the Internet and will demonstrate this knowledge through reflective activities and the development of one or more web-based activities.
- Develop effective classroom activities using advanced features of database management systems and/or advanced spreadsheet software tools and demonstrate knowledge of this through the development of a database or spreadsheet supported lesson.
- Identify and classify adaptive assistive hardware and software for students and teachers and demonstrate this knowledge through reflective discussion activities.
- Identify and describe teaching and learning tasks as well as productivity uses for Internet-based tools.
- Identify and describe teaching and learning tasks with productivity software tools.
- Identify current issues in all content areas that will impact the selection and use of technology, describe key strategies for integrating technology into those content areas, and identify example software and Web resources required to carry out each integration strategy.