Back to School Tech Use

Duh! This article makes sense! After using technology-video games, texting, etc- all summer, students are already in a technology-based mind-set. So, incorporating one or some of the free programs listed is a great idea!

My favorite suggestion is using podcasting as an introduction tool. Having students think about key points or clues about themselves, putting that information together in a logical sequence, and then have the rest of the class guess who the speaker is is a great way to not only break the ice, but introduce students to the use of the podcasting programs-iTunes, GarageBand, etc, before they need it for project later in the year.

I also like the Google Earth idea of marking where the students visited over the summer-great segway intogeography. However, those students whose families may not have the funds for certain trips may feel bad about what they did do over the summer. In these cases, article author Elaine Plybon suggests including where the student was born, may have gone to school, or other geographical information may give them enough to 'mark' on Google Earth. Here again, introducing students to technology early in the year, will allow them to access the technology more easily as the year goes on; say when marking where certain postcards have arrived from if 'Flat Stanely' was mailed to friends around the world or the country...

Early access makes the year go much more smoothly.

Math Gaming

Why has this not been implemented in more schools?!

Buffalo Public Schools, who is adding a gaming feature to their Math curriculum, is taking a step into the unknown. In the brief article, David Nagel mentions that the gaming component will be added for grades 3-12. Great idea! Kids even younger have started playing video games, and seniors as well continue playing when they head off to college.

I love the idea of math computer learning games, because students already have the mindset of a teamwork environment from other games, so why not incorporate it into the school environment.

I could see, however, that some students, who may love gaming at home with their friends, may still be intimidated by the added math component, simply because of the skills required. I would be interested to find out how the gaming is incorporated with the daily lessons and see how the students are applying learned concepts as they go along.

I was interviewing for a teaching position in Pennsylvania, and was asking about the school's current technology. My interviewee informed me that EVERY CLASSROOM HAS A SMART BOARD!!! I was amazed and excited to see that some schools are really grasping the technology available to them. I wasn't been lucky enough to have a SMART BOARD in my classroom for first two years of teaching, but know from experience and from knowledge learned in a graduate course, that these boards can REALLY increase classroom participation and greatly benefit the learning environment in the classroom.

Blackboard updated.

As a student at Albright College for a semester, I utilized Blackboard. It let me check my current grades, message other students in my course and the professor, and access course information needed for assignments, among other things.

Now, Blackboard is being integrated into the iPhone applications. As mentioned in the Blackboard Press Release, students at schools (both collegiate and K-12) are able to access their schools' Blackboard site from their iPhones. One student mentions a positive of this collaboration as being able to check the site like he checks his e-mails.

I agree with this student in that it is making life easier for students who first have an iPhone, and secondly use Blackboard with their school. When I was in college, I found myself checking my e-mail quite often soon after a test to see what my grade would be. Now, some students will be able to access this information from anywhere using their phones.

The other piece I find especially useful is that if a teacher shares a website or information during class that is located on Blackboard, students can easily get to that information now, no matter where they are. This would be particularly helpful if the student were studying somewhere without an internet connection.

Of course, if students do not own an iPhone, they will be unable to reach Blackboard unless on the computer. These students may see how helpful their friends' iPhones are and decide to purchase one also. Hopefully this currently Beta application will grow and allow users of other phones access in the near future.

EARTH HOUR!

Let's do it! March 28th, at 8:30 P.M. turn off the lights, the computer, the T.V., anything connected to the wall.

EARTH HOUR- This huge initiative is amazing. We all want the world to be around forever, but we need to take action in order for that to happen.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke about the message EARTH HOUR will send. I believe that not only those who don't participate will see the impact. The world will be united for that hour in demonstrating their support of non-other than our planet and how much we really do care about it. Though we continue our use of gas-powered cars and other atmospheric hazards, we know how harmful they are.

Personally, I can't wait to see what happens in a few days, when those around the world unite for the world.

Video Games in the Classroom

If you ask any student today what they're doing when they get home, the answer is usually watching t.v. or playing video games - after their homework is done of course. So, why not bring video games into the classroom and let children learn through play?

The Chatham Education Foundation (CEF) has been giving teachers grants for a variety of games they can use in their classrooms for more than a decade.

Teachers have been using video games to let students build Rome, explore different ecological problems as ecologists, role play in the rain forest, and much more. If a teacher can choose a topic and imagine a game, a video game can be created to achieve the teacher's goal. Of course, it takes time and money to create such games, one thing most teachers lack. As mentioned in The iGenteration, growing up digital, the CEF has been providing the money needed to create these games.

In the future, whether an extension of SecondLife or other video games are created, I can only see benefits for those teachers willing to bring video games into their classroom to enhance their students' learning.

3D Visualization

Nextspace, as described in Nextspace bring 3D visualization to the classroom, allows students the chance to 'work' potentially with any model in a 3D sense.

Nextspace is at work in New Zealand. In one after school program, students can work with physical aviation models as well as their 3D versions on the computer. Students can take what they see visually and put it to direct use on the models.

While Nextspace is currently in New Zealand, the potential for other countries is huge. For the United States, who longs to have higher educational standards, why not incorporate Nextspace 3D programs into not only VoTech schools, but public schools as well? All students can benefit from having 3D models of any kind. Imagine a fourth grader learning about static electricity and being able to manipulate an atom on the computer rather than trying to grasp such an abstract idea in their minds...