7th Blog – Smartboard Lessons

A Smartboard is basically a large touch screen that allows interaction with a computer video output.  The screen is large so the whole class can see it and interact with the computer directly on the large screen.  A Smartboard lesson can be extremely interactive with the students touching the board to move objects on the screen and writing their answers directly on the screen.  The instructor using the Smartboard can quickly jump from the Smartboard lesson to the Internet to show a video or display a map while using the Smartboard and then go back to their lesson.  The Smartboard is definitely an incredible tool to use to enhance teaching and learning. 

The technology to use the Smartboard was extremely easy to use.  The hardest part for me was to develop the lesson.  Once the lesson was developed, it was simple to incorporate the lesson into the Smartboard software. 

There are some pros and cons to installing the Smartboard in a classroom.  One pro for the Smartboard is that it allows the instructor and the students to interact with a computer in front of the whole class instead of behind a computer.  Another great feature of the Smartboard is that it allows one to write on the board and then convert the handwriting into text and save it to the file.  One con to the Smartboard would be the price of installing this application in all classrooms. 

I have not written lesson plans in the past; however, it appears that many lesson plans could incorporate the Smartboard into the teaching.  Many examples of Smartboard lessons were given on the Internet.  They were quite interactive and appeared to boost the learning experience.  

6th Blog – Educause Reading – Technology Survey

Week 6

The findings stated in this week’s Educause reading were not that surprising to me.  One study found that most schools (99%) and a vast majority of classrooms (87%) have Internet access yet these resources are rarely used effectively.  There is a lot of great technology available for education with a great deal of it being free, but the challenge comes in using the technology effectively in the classroom. 

One study found that only 38% of college students used the Internet for work in classes.  The college students are using the Internet mostly to communicate instead of using it for classroom work.  To me, this finding is in line with my thinking of Net Geners.  They are comfortable using the Internet to communicate with others and to quickly lookup information.  It still takes the instructor to find ways to incorporate technology into the classroom so that it adds value to the course.

Some questions I would incorporate into a survey of students regarding technology are:

How would you incorporate technology in a class and what kind of technology would you use?

What kind of technology used in a class did you find most helpful and effective to learning?

What kind of technology used in a class was least effective to learning?

There was one statement in the reading I found most interesting.  “The real impact of new technologies only becomes manifest when the ‘machine as a separate box needing elaborate maintenance and full attention’ fades into the background”.  This is so true for all technology – in the classroom, work place, and home.  Technology needs to be easy and simple to use or else it will just get pushed aside.

5th Blog – Graphic Organizers

Week 5

A graphic organizer is a way to communicate using visual symbols to express ideas and concepts and to convey meaning.  It depicts relationships between facts and allows for brainstorming.  It can help students and teachers visually see their ideas.  This is great tool for a visual learner. 

Students should be writing paragraphs and papers; using a graphic organizer can be a tremendous help for the students in writing those papers.  Students using a graphic organizer can brainstorm for an essay before actually writing the essay.  This will allow them to organize their thoughts in a logical manner before they begin the writing.  They will see their paper visually before actually beginning to write.  This allows for an easier writing process and less frustration on the students’ part.  Graphic organizers make the writing task less daunting.  I find it beneficial in writing my own papers.

Graphic organizers can be used to teach and understand a variety of different subjects.  They can be used to explain the relationships between different characters in a story, a way to display key issues of a war, and to understand the different sections of an orchestra and the different instruments in each section, such as the one we did in class.  It appears that the possibilities are endless for using graphic organizers.  

4th Blog – Social Bookmarking

Week 4

Social bookmarking is great!  Social bookmarking allows users to save Web sites as bookmarks on the Internet.  No longer will these bookmarks only reside on one computer.  The user is able to access their bookmarks on any computing device, such as their home computer, their work computer, an iPad, or a smartphone.  These bookmarks can be tagged with keywords in order to manage and search.  The bookmarks saved on a social bookmarking site can then be shared with other users.

Social bookmarking is a great tool for both students and teachers to organize their online Web information.  I quickly added the different education Web sites that we have been reviewing in class into my Diigo account.  Now I don’t have to worry about forgetting about these Web sites, and I will be able to access them anywhere.  I also installed the Diigo app on my iPad.  As I go on with the different education classes, Diigo will be an excellent tool to use to organize any Web sites for future reference.  I even added some sites on SQL, which is the programming language I use at work.  It will also be helpful to search other users’ Diigo sites for information and ideas on different topics for both work and school.

This week’s readings on graphic organizers were rather interesting.  I look forward to discussing it in class.  They are a graphical representation of information and problems.  These graphic organizers would be so helpful to a student who is a visual learner or a student with learning disabilities to be able to gain a clearer understanding of the material.  I remember using venn diagrams to start writing my essays for a class assignment.  It was very helpful in getting the paper started.

3b Blog – Microsoft Word/Excel vs Google Docs

Week 3

Google Docs is not as robust as Microsoft Office, but Google Docs does offer some advantages in a classroom setting that would make it my choice for a school district.  It is a free application that does not require licensing.  This offers a tremendous savings especially in this day of tight school budgets.  Students can use Google Docs at home on the Internet without having to buy their own version of Office.  With Google Docs, there are no compatibility issues with different versions such as one finds with Office 2003 and Office 2007. 

The real advantage to using Google Docs comes with cloud computing.  The students save their documents on the Internet.  They don’t have to worry about where they saved their documents.  They don’t have to worry about losing their documents if their hard drive crashes.  Their documents will always be available when they login to Google Docs.  Google Docs allows for collaboration.  Students can easily email their documents to others to work on projects together even if they are not in the same room.

It appears that cloud computing is the future of technology.  Collaboration and sharing are key elements of this future.  This can be seen with Google Docs and this week’s readings involving social bookmarking.  No longer are a person’s bookmarks stored on a computer only to be seen and used by that one person.  With social bookmarking, they are on the Web for others to see and use creating a virtual community of individuals with similar interests.   

3a Blog – Reflect on Excel

Excel is an excellent tool to help students collect and analyze data and to assist teachers with their lessons.  Here are five Excel activities that could be used in the classroom.

1. Excel can be used to track savings and expenses.  Students can be given an imaginary allowance with expenses.  It can be used to track their spending throughout a period of time to see if they are within budget.
2. Teachers could use Excel to create vocabulary words.  Enter the vocabulary words in one column and their definition in the other column.  Sort the vocabulary words column only to jumble the definitions.  Use it to test matching vocabulary words to their definitions.
3. Both teachers and students can use Excel to track grades.  The teacher could use Excel to track the grades of each of the students and then determine their final grade.  Students can use Excel to track their individual grades throughout the year.
4. Teachers can list the location of a cell, ask the students to find it, and then fill the cell with a certain color.  The cells are listed at random until a certain letter is created on the spreadsheet from the colored cells.
5. Students can be assigned to do research on different American presidents including their state and political party.  Students can compile a spreadsheet with each president listed and include their state and political party.  Analysis of the data using charts can then be made.
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2nd Blog – Language of Today’s Students

Week 2

Well, it turns out that I am a part of Generation X, born very early within the date range.  Most of what was written in the articles for this week’s readings is something that I can relate to.  However, since I am not a teacher working with the Net Generation I cannot comment on whether or not all that was written is totally accurate about the Net Generation and their education.  Therefore, the following is a brief contrast between the generalizations made of the Net Generation and me personally as part of Generation X.

1. The Net Generation has used the Web since the age of 11 or younger.  I did not surf the Web until around the age of 33.  That is a 22 year gap that is missing in my education.  Wow!  No wonder the Internet comes easier for them.
2. For the Net Generation, the Internet is a vehicle for interaction – a way to communicate with friends, participate in chat room discussions, and stream video along with a myriad of other activities.  This is what they want in a classroom setting as well.  My classroom setting consisted of lectures given by the teachers and the most interactive “technical” activity was having a student write on a chalkboard.  A huge difference in the educational experience.
3. When the Net Generation wants information, they expect it immediately and seek it themselves by using such things as WeatherBug for the day’s weather prediction instead of watching the local TV news and waiting for the weather to go on, getting their driving directions from MapQuest or a GPS instead of a paper road map, and sending messages to their friends immediately using their smart phone to text instead of calling them on their landline phone.  Even though I did not grow up with these Internet/technology tools, I have found that I totally want and rely on instant information.  When the electricity goes out because of a hurricane for example, the only thing I really missed and wanted back immediately was the Internet.

It is certainly clear that the Internet has permeated almost every facet of life today.  Since the Net Generation has grown up with computers, the Internet, and all sorts of convenient and instant forms of technology, they most certainly expect and demand these forms of technology in their classroom education.  Since most instructors have not grown up with this technology, it can be hard for them to incorporate it into their teaching.  Teachers need to be aware of the ways their students learn and interact.  Learning never ends, even for teachers.  Teachers have a lot of catching up to do.