Week 13

Teachers are designers from the very beginning. They have to create a learning environment they feel will best suit their students. Then they start creating their lesson plans and course content. You can even look at it as they mold their students. They are helping them create their own identity.

I really thought that the program Sketch up was great. Especially if you are teaching landscape or interior design class. It allows the student to create interior or exterior of a building or they can use it to design the landscape. This program really gives the student a more visual way of seeing their project.

Digital storytelling is a way for to students to use technology to create a story. The article gives instruction on the process of creating a digital story. How students create the story, film the video, and edit the pages. I tried this in my high school dual credit English class. The program just came out so it was more simple than what students can do now. I think it is a new innovative way of integrating technology in the classroom.

Visual Geometry With Geometric Supposer is one of the best-known visualization tools. It allows students to choose a primitive shape and construct it by defining points, segments, parallels or perpendiculars, bisectors, or angles. This is a really good way to help visual students understand math.

It is possible to learn from TV. It depends on what shows you watch if the information you learn is useful or not. I know I have learned a lot from watching the discovery channel, history channel, and other educational shows like that. Students need to be careful when hearing things on television. Some is true and some is not.

Jonasse D., Howland J., Marra R. M., & Crismond D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Chapter 3 blog

The book states there are ten principles. The three I feel that are most important are Discovery principle, Critical and Active learning principle, and the Identity principle. I really feel it is important that students explore and figure out things on their own. It gives them a lot of confidence and assurance when they do it on their own. Critical and Active learning is really important for students. You always want them thinking critical about your content area. Keep them interested and always thinking about different aspects of the topic. Identity principle is very important too. Students need to figure out themselves as individuals, and form their own opinions of different subjects. Wikis and other interactive programs are a great way to give every student a voice. Some shy students would probably feel more comfortable communicating online. 


Simulations are very affective in classrooms. It relates to the discovery principle chapter 3 talks about. If I did a simulation in my classroom, I would do something that with biology. I would let them dissect an animal, and locate important organs. It is really hands on, and instead of seeing a picture in a book it would be right in front of them. It would really help them understand the anatomy of the animal better.


The principles I learned in chapter three are really essential for classrooms today. I know I will be sure to use online activites, hands on activities, and critical thinking. I really want to make my students not have to learn something, but want to learn it. 


Jonassen, D. Howland, J. Marra, R. M. Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Merrill Prentice Hill.

Week 7

There are many different types of  writing activities that can be used in the classroom. One that stood out to me the most was the Writely program. It is a collaborative writing program that allows others to share documents with each other. That way others can read and critique each other. It also allows people to share documents in different formats. 

PowerPoints can be very distracting. In order to keep my audiences attention, I would just stick to one type of font and one size where it is readable. Also I would limit the uses of different transition effects and animation on the slides. Use calm colors like blue, white, or black. Try to avoid bright flashy colors for that can also be very distracting.  I think I can definitely avoid the potential pitfalls that I read in the book.

I think the writing activities and power points have become necessary in the classroom. Kids want to be entertained while being educated. If a teacher can involve these technologies in their lessons' then I highly recommend it. 

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R.M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Week 6 discussion

PDA stands for Personal Digital Assistant. It is basically like a mini hand held computer. It is very good at keeping you organized and doing tasks on the go.  It also can do graphs, word documents, and some Microsoft Office tools. It could help students write papers and other assignments in class that can't be hand written. 

Online survey tools can help us find out people's opinions. For instance in the classroom, the teacher can post an online survey on the classroom wiki and see how students liked the lesson and what all they have really learned. It can help critique a teacher's teaching technique. I think two good rules when using online survey tools would be ask questions that will help you find out all the information you want, and to make sure your questions are clear and easy to understand. 

I think PDA's are great. I have personally used one before, and it really did come in handy. When i start teaching I know I will use online survey tools to help make my lessons better for my students.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R.M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Spreadsheets

I think spreadsheets can be very helpful in the classrooms. Spreadsheets really have many uses to them. We learned the other day that you can create matching worksheets, web worksheets, time-lines, keep track of grades and do calculations for you. Spreadsheets are simple to use once you get use to them. They help keep everything organized and a great tool that every teacher should use. I will definitely be using spreadsheets in my classroom.

In the book it tells us there are three primary functions in using a spreadsheet. You use them for storing, calculating, and presenting information. There are a lot of advantages in using spreadsheets. I think the main ones would be how easy it is to use, how it does all the calculations for you, and how it keeps you organized. The easier a program is the faster the teachers can get their responsibilities done. The way it can do the calculation for you is just awesome! I know it is a pain to sit there and add each individual students' grades up then average them and enter it all in the computer. It is just so time consuming.

I think spreadsheets are really helpful to teachers. They could also help show facts to students. I personally think the time-lines are so fast and easy to make using a spreadsheet, and will come in handy when I start teaching.

Jonassen, D. H. (2008). Modeling with Technologies, Meaningful Learning With Technology, (Third Edition ed.).88-89, Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Discussion 3 blog posting

The Inspiration video showed four different programs that students can use to help brainstorm, and enhance the learning experience. The teacher could use the maps and diagrams in the classroom to help keep the students attention.It also allows students to still be creative but able to absorb the knowledge they learn from visualizing. Inspiration technology is a great visual aid that can be used in the classroom.

I personally love the diagram program. It is such a great visual tool, and helps break the subject down. It will help the students visually learn. Using maps is also a good way to help students link concepts and ideas to each other. I also think it would be a great group project for students to put together. I personally believe that group projects helps students expand their idea concepts. Using these programs will help organize and clearly present the ideas teachers are trying to teach the students.

I think any four of the different programs can help the students and be very useful in the classroom. It is a great visual aid tool, and it would help engage the students in the lesson.Our goal as a teacher should be to help each student learn to their bet abilities. Using technology programs like these can help tremendously.

Jonassen D., Howland J., Marra R. M., & Crismond D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

 

Inspiration Quick Tour website.

Discussion

This is one of the first times I have actually used a blog. I have read some blogs my friends have written though. I personally really like them. I think blogs could be used for a lot of different projects in the classroom. It is a good way to get kids to express their real thoughts about certain subjects. I know for some students it is hard for them to speak up in the classroom, so it would be easier for them to just type to express themselves. For example, an English classroom could use a blog as a journal activity. It would also be a good way to get discussions going over topics from assignments. In my content area I could use blogs to discuss controversial subjects such as the Big Bang Theory or evolution. That way there wouldn't be heated discussions in the classroom, and every student would be able to voice their opinion.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology  
                   (3rd ed., pp. 2-7). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.