Chapter 7/ Alternate Blog Post

Chapter 7                            Alternative blog post

For this week, I have decided to discuss Operation Climate Control. This is a game created in the UK that allows students to learn about the effects of our everyday lives on our climate, and ways that we can reduce our negative impact on the world around us. What I really enjoyed about this game is that is does not simply tell students that we are negatively affecting our climate, it thoroughly describes what are the different reasons why things such as transportation, and energy affect the climate, and it allows students to decide what changes can be made to help reduce climate pollution. The purpose of the game is for students to decide on environmental policies in Europe, which would then impact their environment so they can see what the different effects are.

I would definitely use this game in a middle or high-school level science class. I would introduce this game before starting my lesson on transportation emissions and climate change. Ideally, each student would be given 20-30 minutes to create their own environment based on their current knowledge of the environment. The game allows students to create a password so that they can save their progress and access it later. After their first experience with this game, students would be taught about the different types of transportation, and the new technologies that are being used to reduce pollution such as electric cars, hybrids, etc. They will be able to refer to the information that they were exposed to in the game and use that to relate to the lesson that is being taught by the instructor. After the lesson, students should have a better understanding of the effects of transportation on climate control. I would then ask students to play the game again either in class or at home and compare their before and after environments. The objective would be for students to understand that through proper knowledge of pollution and new technologies that are being created, society can help reduce pollution.

This game not only keeps students engaged but it helps them learn a lesson that would not be as easy to explain without a visual aid. The game also provides links to different websites that explore other aspects of climate, including other games that students can use as a follow up to climate control. Students can also compare their environments with each other and vote on who was able to reduce the most amount of pollution. Another great feature of this game is that every action students take cost money, therefore, they cannot take the easy way out and just make every form of transportation extremely energy efficient. This causes the students to think about what they feel is most important, and what changes would have the greater impact while staying on budget, which is similar to the problems faced in today’s society.

I have begun a game of my own which can be accessed here. The password to access my game is fraga, I encourage you all to take a moment and create your own game, you will definitely get hooked!

 

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Teaching with Educational Websites

Focus Question: How might educational websites provide interactive and engaging learning experience for students?
Educational websites are a great way for students to learn in new and innovative ways. My favorite type of educational website is student-to-expert communication websites, these sites allow students to communicate with experts in the subject matter they are interested in. This “virtual” tutoring can help students stay engaged in their studies because they are getting first hand responses from experts in the field. For example, if a student were learning about space, and they had the opportunity to speak with someone from NASA, I believe they would construct creative questions to ask, and they would put in a greater effort to study the responses rather than reading facts from a textbook. Other educational websites allow students to explore different aspects of a subject matter. Through hands-on learning students stay more interested in what they are learning because it requires less effort to keep interest. For example Hands On Universe allows students to conduct scientific experiments using data from space telescopes. A student using this website would be much more interested in the data and information that they can physically see and manipulate versus a student that is reading data off of a page of text. The hands-on approach also helps students retain the information rather than just memorizing.

Tech Tool Link: The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc
This tech tool link if a virtual field trip of a cave in France. I found this tech tool link to be interesting, although I do not believe that virtual fieldtrips should replace actual fieldtrips. Through this website students can explore historic, geographic and archeological content of the cave and they can access all of the different paintings found within. What I enjoyed the most about this site was that many of the words in the text were highlighted and defined. This was helpful because it allows students of different ages to be able to use this website and learn more independently. The website is very thorough with its information and I believe that websites such as this one can definitely help students learn about different areas of the world that they would not normally have access to.

 

Chapter 6 introduced a lot of new technologies for both students and teachers that can benefit both parties use technology in the classroom more efficiently. The first part of the chapter provided information for teachers that I find to be a bit outdated, many people using the internet are very aware of how to add websites to favorites or bookmark important websites. This however, supports a topic that is brought up in the chapter which is that information is evolving at a very fast pace and textbooks are having a difficult time keeping up. With that being said, the chapter does provide many different websites that are used as social bookmarking; such as delicious which can help connect students and teachers, and allows teachers to share a vast amount of helpful websites with their students. The second half of this chapter introduced a large amount of educational websites that many teachers are adapting into their lesson plans because they are providing interactive ways for students to learn efficiently through technology. These websites are secure, safe, and reliable which is my most important concern when exposing students to the internet. One of the websites that I really enjoyed was Ask Dr. Math because it was very easy to navigate and provided simple and easy to understand answers to many math problems. They also allow students to send questions that may not be answered in the website which will then be answered by a math expert. This website can be used both in the classroom as a supplement for a lesson, or at home as a homework or study aid. Another great website for younger students was PBS kids which has a variety of educational games, videos, and blogs that are related to their characters and TV shows. This allows younger students to learn while using their favorite TV shows to maintain interest.    

Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

Focus Question: How can teachers respond to problems of plagiarism when students use online sources?

I believe this question helps us deal with one of the most important topics in the use of technology and learning. James McKenzie helps identify seven ways teachers can help students avoid plagiarism by providing them with skills that helps them create individual ideas through their research. This is based on the idea that teachers can construct projects that make it less likely for students to plagiarize based on the questions that are asked and the information that is required from them.

These skills are as follows:

·         Distinguish levels or types of research

·         Discourage “trivial pursuits”

·         Emphasize essential questions

·         Require and enable students to construct answers

·         Focus on information storage systems

·         Stress citation ethics

·         Assess progress throughout the entire research process

By asking students to research a topic and generate opinions or ideas on said topics allows students to express their understanding rather than merely copying facts off of the internet. The assignment presented in this chapter was a great example of a real life project created to avoid plagiarism.

Tech Tool Link: Flickr

I have often visited this site in the past both for personal use and for research and it has always provided great results for photo based searches. Flickr is a great tool that can be used for students that are looking for photographs of any category, and because they are uploaded by the public, it gives people access to a multitude of original images and ideas. Users that upload their images to flickr can choose to make them public or private, and their images are protected by copyright. This does not, however, completely protect their images from being stolen or used by other people. This is the main downfall to this site; people can take images off of the site and claim them as their own which is also considered a form of plagiarism. Other than this, I believe this site can be very useful to teachers and students when trying to find original content. In the past, my wife has used flickr to share pictures that she was using for her photography class. Her profile can be found here. This is another great way that this website can be used in schools. Students can create online photo portfolios that they can share with teachers and classmates through this website rather than making slideshows or presentations.

Chapter 5 included plenty of information that I feel should be shared with teachers, students and parents. Evaluating internet information is not only important in our education system, but also to protect the safety of our children at home. With how quickly technology is advancing, it is difficult to keep up with the dangers that can come with children that are unaware of potential threats, especially those brought upon by social networks. There is an unfortunate amount of predators that use false information and websites to lure children into bad situations. There is also a lot of inappropriate website that can be easily accessed by unattended children. Thankfully, there are many different way that are now available for parents to protect their home computers by blocking and controlling the websites that are visited by their children. Unfortunately, there are still many adults that are not fully aware of the dangers that can be brought upon by the internet. Another important reason that student need to be mindful of misinformation is because unlike textbooks, there is no clear way of reading something on the internet and knowing whether or not it is true. If a student is at home researching information from a website that is not trustworthy or outdated, they may learn facts that are untrue or inaccurate. This will cause a negative effect on the students understanding and knowledge of the topic, and may cause them confusion when trying to combine their research with what they are being taught in school. It is important that teachers aid their students in finding trustworthy websites along with exposing students to websites that are age appropriate. Although I have often struggled with including a work cited page in many of my past projects and assignments, I do believe that it is an effective way for students and teachers to explore the validity of what is on the internet. If a student provides a teacher with a link they have used in their research that the teacher finds to be providing misinformation, the teacher can ensure that other students are not using this site for their research and they can help the student determine why this website should not be trusted. Just by having access to the internet, students have an incredibly amount of knowledge at their fingertips, but through computer literacy we can ensure that students are accessing truthful and reliable links that will positively enhance their learning experience rather than causing confusion and misinformation.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Integrating Technology and Creating Change

Focus Question: What are “digital inequality” and the “participation gap”?

Digital inequality; otherwise known as the digital divide, is the relationship between a student’s financial situation at home and their knowledge of technology. It explains that students from low-income homes that may not be able to provide children with frequent and immediate access to technology may be less aware of how to use technology. Students that have a consistent presence of technology become more involved with how to use it. When student’s knowledge of technology falls behind, it becomes known as the participation gap. Students with less experience using technology are not as prepared as other students to adapt to technology used for learning.

Tech Tool: Edutopia www.edutopia.org

This week I explored the Edutopia tech tool link, and I found it to be very helpful and interesting. Edutopia is a website that shares ideas, stories, and tool to help teachers, schools, and communities to integrate technology with learning. The amount of information this website provides is phenomenal, they have thousands of videos, blogs and resources that can be easily accessed. I saw many videos that I found to be helpful but today I would like to share one in particular. It is about Jim Wilson, a teacher that is trying to go “high tech” and is working to conquer his fear of change to technology.

 

 

This chapter focused mainly on teacher-student understanding of technology and way that teachers can incorporate technology without having to have mastered it. Through a ‘learn as you go’ process teachers can learn from the students as the students are learning too. By integrating technology both inside and outside of the class room teachers are allowing technology to become a part of every ones daily experience. One of the topics that I will incorporate into my career as an instructor is the teacher mindset. This idea explains that technology must be used to enhance the lesson rather than making the lesson about technology. Because of how quickly technology is becoming a part of our everyday lives, it is common for teachers to forget that the curriculum, not the technology, comes first, and technology should only be used if it will improve the way a student can learn the material. One of the major topics covered in this chapter is that teachers should not see technology as a challenge. Although at first it may seem that there is a lot that needs to be learned, most of the teacher’s learning process can be simplified by slowly blending the technology into the classroom and using it hands on. Students are also great ways for teacher’s to learn about new technologies and ideas. Many teachers may be reluctant to use technology because there may not be enough computers available for all of the students, but this chapter shows us that even with just one computer in a class there are many way that each and every student can benefit from it. Through the use of systems such as the one/two/three time activities, students can be divided into groups that periodically rotate through “sections” of a classroom; one of which is the computer, thus giving each student a chance to work with technology. Another great idea is using a laptop and projector to teach digitally. Teachers can project their lessons onto the board and create ‘real- time’ notes depending on what questions of topics arise throughout each lesson. These notes can then be uploaded to an online site that can be accessed by all the students at any given time, therefore giving all students instant access to any changes that may have been made or any material that has been added. Teaching with technology makes learning easier, easier to understand, and allows all students the opportunity to succeed because they now have more tools available to them to help them learn and understand.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Developing Lessons with Technology

Focus Question: How can teachers evaluate and asses their students?

 Teachers can evaluate and asses their students by testing before, during and after teaching their lessons. Using technology can make it easier for teachers to evaluate their students multiple times throughout a lesson by making it simpler for students to take the test on a computer and making it easier for teachers to grade and asses the results of the exams. Standardized tests are currently the most common way that teachers can evaluate their students, and now with the help of technology they can compare students across the country to appropriately asses where the areas of concern may be and where their students fall within the rest of the district, state, and country. This information allows teachers to focus on the problem areas, or direct more attention to where their students are having a difficult time understanding.

Tech Tool Link: www.pbs.org/teachers

I chose to explore the PBS teachers tech tool link because I was interested in getting some ideas on different lesson plans and what options are available. I really enjoy sports and I would like to create lesson plans that allow the students to relate to the material they are learning. I found a lesson plan that uses the greatest hitters in the baseball hall of fame to teach eleventh grade students math by using the batting averages of the players to understand data analysis and statistics.

After spending some time on this website, I believe it is a very useful tool. Not only does this website provide free lesson plans but it also provides different activities for students both online and in class, and it also provides a discussion board so teachers can communicate with each other the effectiveness of the lesson plans and share new innovative ideas for using technology to teach. One of my interest is to possible become a physical education teacher and by searching the PBS website I found http://coachgrantsblog.blogspot.com/ a blog about a physical education teacher that is using technology to teach math, and science in his P.E. class.

 

This chapter provided a lot of useful information on how to use technology to aid the teacher in creating lesson plans that will be more effective in getting the information across to students in a way that will help them learn the information rather than memorizing the material. I was most intrigued by the electronic grading software which allows teachers grade in real- time, but also calculate student records automatically. I feel that being able to instantly show students their progress can motivate them to continue succeeding. Allowing students to have instant access to their grades can show them where they are making mistakes and whether or not they should seek further help in a timely manner rather than waiting for report cards or progress reports to arrive. This “instant gratification” allows teachers to help students before it becomes too late for a child to improve. Electronic grading software paired with online or computerized tests is creating a future for education where teachers will be able to efficiently assess students, gauge where their level of understanding is, and create lesson plans that are modified to focus on areas that need more attention while not spending unnecessary time covering areas that the students are already familiar with.