Technology Learning Standard 1 Artifact: E-Portfolio

This portfolio was chosen because I believe it reflects my ability to "use imaging devices such as scanners, digital cameras and video cameras with computer systems and software".  I have used digital cameras and scanners to document the work created for this portfolio.  The most important thing I have learned from my experiences with using electronic devices and software to upload images is that the format the picture is saved in determines its size and clarity.  For example, jpeg images are better for compressing and retaining the quality of "natural" images (of nature, people, etc.)but gif formatting is superior to jpeg for hand drawn images. 

Technology Learning Standard 2 Artifact: Make Me Wanna Holla: Fostering Literacy in the Hip Hop @ the Library

This artifact was chosen because it reflects my ability to use technology to collaborate with others to produce a product.  I collaborated with four other graduate students in a young adult literature class to create this website.  The class was on-line and did not provide a lot of opportunities for face-to-face interaction and we communicated ideas, offered suggestions/revisions and exchanged documents via email.  The most important thing learned from collaborating in an online environment is that the writing needs to be clear and effectively communicate the intended ideas, directions or needs as it relates to group.

Technology Learning Standard 3 Artifact: Boolean Searching Lesson Plan

This lesson was created/adapted for 7th and 8th grade students and was chosen because it reflects my ability to apply technology to support information literacy.  Students were instructed to find information about a chosen subject using Boolean operators to expand or narrow their search results.  The goal of this assignment was to get students to think critically about search terms when seeking information online.  What I learned from this experience is that the students needed a more concrete example to initial the thinking process.  In addition, the students needed more examples and a "goal' to help them through the process of finding information.  For example, the students were given the sample search of "dolphins" and asked to use the Boolean search terms to search for the animal NOT the football team.  While majority of the students understood the process I think that a structured search would have helped those students for whom the lesson wasn't clear.  When conducting this lesson in the future, I plan to incorporate a scavenger hunt type of activity in which students will need to use the Boolean operators to arrive at a designated webpage. 

Technology Learning Standard 4 Artifact(s): Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism/In-text Citations (Please see the attachment at the end of this page)

This artifact was chosen because I believe it reflects my understanding of the "social, ethical and human issues related to computing and technology". The objective of this lesson was to teach students how to avoid plagiarism by properly citing information found online and in other electronic resources. We discussed the ramifications (according to the school's policy) of engaging in unethical practices such as "copy and pasting" and purchasing papers from "papermill websites" as well as the trend toward using electronic plagiarism checkers such as "turnitin.com" to spot plagiarized material.