Great News! Today, all of my students in CS 302 Technology in Education successfully logged into their Chalk and Wire accounts. A big thank you must go out to Lauren Lewis, Technology Training Coordinator and Misti Smith, Technology Literacy Staff who both spent time this week entering student data and training the students on using the software. The students will begin by creating a web-based e-portfolio for this class that will include course assignments and reflections. That exercise will then give them practice for developing their Digital Teaching Portfolio which is a requirement for graduation from the department. Teaching portfolios have been increasing in importance since the early 1990’s and, until very recently, have been presented in a binder format with tabs and sheet protectors. Digital teaching portfolios contain much of the same content as traditional teaching portfolios but present these professional materials in a digital format using a combination of multimedia technologies such as video recordings. These digital teaching portfolios will contain a variety of materials or artifacts. These artifacts are pieces or collections of evidence that, taken together, help to demonstrate attainment of a standard, principle, or goal. Each artifact includes a rationale which is a reflective narrative about the authentic evidence that provides insight into what the educator learned as well as information about the educational context. Items that might be used in a teaching portfolio include a resume, philosophy of teaching statement, academic transcript, clearances, a rationale for inclusion of the “artifacts” selected, sample lesson and unit plans created, digital pictures of bulletin boards created, sample tests or alternative assessments created, university supervisor and cooperating teacher evaluations, honors and awards, behavior management plans created, a link to a classroom web page developed by the student, evidence of communication with parents, etc. This spring, upon graduation from Mount Aloysius College, our students will be on the cutting edge in terms of applying for teaching positions. The digital teaching portfolios are web-based which means that the students will still have access to their portfolios after graduation and will have the opportunity the make additions and changes to their portfolios. Additionally, when our students write cover letters to school districts, they will be able to include their digital portfolio secure URL in the letter for employers to refer to. Lastly, the digital portfolios cut down on paper/printer use and the students spend less money on expensive binders and boxes of sheet protectors- another way MAC is “going green”.

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CS 302 Technology in Education is one of my favorite courses to teach here at Mount Aloysius College. In the next few weeks, I will be posting information about our new Digital Teaching Portfolio Project but for this blog I wanted to write about all of the exciting teaching and learning activities that take place in this course. This semester I am teaching Technology in Education on Tuesdays in class and Thursdays on-line. Each week I meet with the students face to face in addition to creating an on-line assignment for the second class of the week. Blackboard is the course management system we are utilizing in this course and so far it has been working perfectly. During the first few weeks of the semester, the students have been involved in their readings of the course textbook, selected on-line resources, policy statements and ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) standards. Additionally, the students have already created a classroom newsletter, completed WebQuests, and have been engaged in classroom discussions focusing on such topics as types of digital media and computers, digital citizenship, netiquette, and classroom internet safety. Thursday, my students will be logging into and viewing a Webcast on “Making Sense of Fractions with New Math Tools in Kidspiration”. During the course of the semester, the students will also have the opportunity to develop a multimedia lesson presentation, an educational software evaluation, their digital teaching portfolio and learn about additional topics such as Smartboard technology, assistive technology, and using PDA’s, digital cameras, digital camcorders, virtual reality, digital microscopes, scanners, e-pals, electronic grade book software, virtual fieldtrips, and the amazon.com Kindle in the classroom. Based on my last group of student evaluations, most students considered their favorite course assignment to be the development of their own Teacher Web Page/Classroom Web Site. A classroom web page can include such things as a teacher profile, spelling lists, links to helpful web sites for parents and students, homework help, upcoming events such as field trips, breakfast and lunch menus, list of days for special classes, important school district dates, permission slips, classroom rules and procedures, virtual classroom tour, digital photos of children’s art work, or a school supply list. Next Time…Creating E-Portfolios/Digital Teaching Portfolios in Chalk and Wire.

Posted by Dr. Sara Rutledge at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We are now into our second week of the fall semester at Mount Aloysius College and it has been a busy start to the year. My favorite part of the back to school season is meeting all of my students. It is great to see my returning students and fun to have new fresh faces in my classes. There is so much excitement on the campus and so many activities for the students, faculty and staff to get involved in. My second favorite part of the back to school season is back to school shopping for my children and my MAC students. My students really love “The Teacher Basket” that I bring to class. For the past five years I have been bringing “The Teacher Basket” to class and at the end of every class, we draw a name from the class envelope and the student who is chosen picks a treat from the teacher supply basket. This fall the contents include treats such as: stickers, bulletin board/chalk board borders, plastic rulers, die-cut shapes and letters for bulletin boards, word strips, sentence strips, manuscript writing tablets, cursive writing tablets, note pads, teacher’s record keepers, teacher’s lesson plan books, educational sticker charts for desks, paper learning clocks, educational spinners, hall passes, star student pencils, kid scissors, school glue sticks, pencil sharpeners, pink erasers, flashcards, pencil boxes, and crayons. Who doesn’t love a new box of sharp Crayola crayons? The Teacher Basket always seems to be the great end to a three hour evening class!

Posted by Dr. Sara Rutledge at 10:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The end of the year is always a busy time here at Mount Aloysius College. The last few weeks have been full of excitement in our department with Student Teacher Mock Interviews, Student Teacher Portfolio Presentations, and the grading of culminating projects, papers and final exams in our undergraduate courses. Additionally, I observed an awesome student teacher last week who utilized the Smartboard technology in his classroom in a very creative way. It is exciting to see our students passing their Praxis exams and accepting teaching positions before they have even graduated. In relation to college-wide events, I enjoyed attending the Academic Honors and Pinning Ceremony on May 2nd and it was an absolute pleasure to mentor a student at the Undergraduate Research Symposium on April 22nd. I also had the honor of meeting many members of the Mount Aloysius College Board of Trustees at the Board Retreat on April 11th where many faculty and staff presented their Work Group Strategies, many of which will be reflected in the new MAC Strategic Plan. In the upcoming week we can all look forward to the Baccalaureate Liturgy, Brunch, and Commencement Ceremony. During the next few weeks I will be completing additional research on some great upcoming fall projects including a service learning project for SO 301: Multicultural Issues in Education and Society, the development of a hybrid course for the fall, the development of the Digital Teaching Portfolio Project in our department, and the creation of a Curriculum Resource Room for our Early Childhood and Elementary Education pre-service teachers. And, please remember, if you see faculty and staff walking around campus with little clicking pedometers, it is because many of us (including me) have decided to make a commitment to enjoy a more active lifestyle by participating in the 10,000 Step Challenge. This is a great program that has been started by our new Director of Human Resources, Tonia Gordon.

Have a great summer! Click, Click, Click…

Posted by Dr. Sara Rutledge at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These are photographs from our service learning project collaboration with the Pennsylvania Association for Individuals with Disabilities. Students in ED 320: Applied Learning Strategies for the Exceptional Learner worked with PAID and created puppet shows on individuals with disabilities and presented them to children. All of these wonderful puppet shows were performed in April.

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The spring semester is off to a great start here at Mount Aloysius College. In the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education, my students and I have been discussing ways of sharing aesthetic experiences with children. One of the experiences that has been revisited a number of times deals with taking children on field trips to community events such as plays, musical performances, art galleries, museums, puppet shows, and dance performances. I have been sharing information with my students on the importance of attending these types of cultural events (local, regional, state and national) with their students and how they can prepare for successful field trips. In ED 119, my students and I will be attending the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra’s performance of America: The Old, Wild West on Saturday, February 9, 2008 at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center in Johnstown, PA. The students will be listening to music by Williams, Copeland, Bernstein, Barry and Thomson. On February 5th we will be visiting the Southern Alleghenies Museum of American Art in Loretto, PA, where we will see exhibits from local artists such as Chuck Olson and view works of art in the Balcony Gallery from the museum’s permanent collection.

At Mount Aloysius College, we are using a web-based course management system called Blackboard which is designed to allow students and faculty to participate in classes delivered online or use online materials and activities to complement face-to-face teaching. I have been using Blackboard more extensively this semester, and it is running very smoothly thanks to the great help from the IT department here at the college. My students really appreciate being able to access course materials, my lecture notes, academic resources, Power Point presentations and handouts online. This week, I posted an assignment on Blackboard with a rubric attached and successfully had my students submit their assignments online. I can grade their assignments online and then post the grades. The students can find out how they did on the assignment right away. It means less paper for the students to print out - one step in the right direction of “going green�? for our environment. I can’t wait to use more aspects of Blackboard such as the discussion boards and virtual chat areas. In the fall semester, I will be teaching one of my courses as a “hybrid course�?, which means half of the instructional time will be in the traditional classroom and the other half will be online using Blackboard. I am really excited about working on that course over the summer months.

Posted by Dr. Sara Rutledge at 2:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)