Technology+Core Content=Success

I came across a great article this week entitles "As I See It" by Mark A Evans.

The article begins with a thought provoking question. Dose your school district integrate technology in the core content areas rather than teach technology in a separate class or even with an entirely different activity? This question poses an important question.

Whatever the answer may be (according to district or implementation) technology is evident in school, however, is it being used wisely.

With the focus on the core content curriculum areas, teachers are not pulled in two separate directions, such as having to add a technology lesson), technology integration occurs in the classroom, rather than in a separate lab as extension activities, and students learn the skills needed to view a great deal of learning that occurs online and thourgh the use of digital resources.

The article focused on the recent phase by educators to merge technology application scope and sequence into the core content areas. The Education Technology dept which skills were subject specific, and then enhanced or in many cases created lessons from the core content areas to include the technological application standards. There were a few instances that this technology could not be incorporated into the curriculum. With this new system in effect, teachers have a great tool to teach with!

There are great benefits t this system. It allows students to learn to work using technology while focusing on the real business of learning the required standards in each of the core content areas and technology applications. This type of out of the box learning is the very thing that encourages students to learn in a fun and exiting way.

Geocaching!

I recently read an awesome article entitled "Finding Your Way: GPS and Geocaching", by Acacia Dixon. The article is interesting because it gives examples of fun ways for students to learn through technology.

Elementary students from Richmond County Schools recently used GPS technology and geocaching during their annual field trip to a zoo. During the summer, one of the teachers traveled to the zoo and marked the exact latitude, longitude, and altitude coordinates of various exhibits using a GPS unit. Teachers then created group not-books that included this waypoint for each group to rotate through as they completed observation sheets for collecting animal and habitat data.

The cool part about the project is that the students located their assigned exhibits using the GPS units. Teachers instructed students the basics of using the Garmin eTrex Legend GPS unit and on special vocabulary for geocaching and gave a review of latitude and longitude. For the actual field trip, a teacher trained in GPS use accompanied all seven groups. Each group had a digital camera, two eTrex Legends, observation data sheets, and a map of the zoo.

Technology always seems to be pushing the limits for children to learn in EVERY subject, making it fun and exiting to learn.

Science+Technology=Creativity&FUN

Students need the tools to make science interesting and FUN! One way of doing this is by incorporate fun media such as; Camera, (phone camera, everyone has one!), Microphones etc.

In there article, Jared Madar and Ben Smith (Pg. 30,L&L August 2009), they bring up great ideas about science and how to make teaching it and learning it fun for any class.

How do we engourage student to be creative and enovative with science? To make this happen, educators need to start following the..NETS.lAB lesson plans. There is so much creativity involved with using media tools to teach students.

By doing thins, it gives the students somthing to look forward to besides ONLY science...this gives them a change to be "hands on" learners. In my experience working with such lesson plans, i would highly recommend incorporating this with higher grade levels.

It would be ok to use this idea with a younger age group as well. However, be sure that you watch the equipment closely, it is easy for digital devices to get broke.

Incorporate these ideas into your science lesson plans and you are sure to have fun while teaching!

Are we there yet?

In her articel, "Are we there yet, changing trends in online learning and internet Use", Christine Greenhow states that " In just 15 years, internet connectivity in schools, homes, neighborhoods, and communities has spread far and wide. Since the mid 19901s, the percentage of public schools connected to the internet skyrocketed from 35% to 100%".

The question could be asked, " The physical connectivity is increasingly in place for expanding access to digital education opportunities, but how and how well different groups of people use this for learning purposes and under what conditions is still relativity under explored".

The articel brings a few great points....: Incorporate online technologies that student are already using.
-Allow tools and practices that encourage social relationshiop building to seed more productive and frequent academic exchanges.
-and last but not least....Improve the visibility of individual projects so all can see each other's work at any given time.

As boundaries between life online and offline dissolve, we can expect more variety in the types of online learning experiences people seek out or assemble for themselves. However, it will be a while before we gather all the research needed to understand the significance and impace of this for the field of education as it moves forward.

Technology Works with Special Education!

According to Dian Seabrook, One disability that you may find in the classroom is a visually impaired student they need several different gadgets so that they are able to learn just as anyone else. One way that they will be able to learn so that they are able to comprehend is a screen reader. A screen reader is a program that puts together sounds and pictures to help explain what is being presented on a computer screen. Braille translation devices which are used to translate screen words and putting it together into readable Braille.

There are also developmentally physically challenged students that have either autism, down syndrome, or even neurological impairments. Technology is invented to help them also learn they have an adaptive student’s desk which adjust to help them with their needs this device is used to assist children with neurological impairments.
In special ed classes their also might be normal children who just have problems with reading or speaking. But there are also technolgy toy that can assist them also. Such as Leap Frog Book that reads to the student and helps them sound out and pronounce words or even also touch toys that can help them learn math or even how to spell.

No matter what the disability may be there should always be some type of technology used to help assist the student. Teaching special education may be challenging but if you incorporate some of the technology gadgets in with the lessons I am sure the classroom will be a fun place for yourself and the students.

As a (possibly) future special Education teacher I think it is very imperative for me to be aware of some of these inventions so that I am able to help my children learn without feeling uncomfortable. I don’t want my students to think that the work I am providing to them is hard I want them to enjoy it and I think with these gadgets they will be able to. Also I want the student’s parents to feel comfortable in knowing that I am helping their children no matter of their circumstance. Technology is important everywhere and everyone should be exposed to it no matter of their race, disability or age.

Have Fun With Science!

“Digital Science Video Library”, by Camillia Gagliolo, is a brilliant article about the use of an iPod as a learning tool.

Visual Learning Company has recently launched a digital video library for integrated use of science videos in elementary and middle school classrooms. The new Digital Science Videos are formatted for use with iPods and other portable video players.

This wonderful technology lets students download more than one thousand video clips available in the H.264 digital format (a video compression technology that provides high quality video in small file format). The collection of science videos clearly explains basic scientific concepts while presenting vocabulary study with interactive learning activities, such as video quizzes.

The use of this technology in a classroom brings learning to life in a portable multi-media format. This technology tool would be great to use as a teaching device because the combination of video and graphics with extensive teacher guides and interactive learning activities presents a learning toolkit that reaches out to many different learning styles and preferences. The portability of the media makes it ideal for individualized instruction and small group reinforcement.

Got TPACK??

“You can have your hot tools and teach with them, too” is a tremendous article written by Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler.

In their article, Mishra and Koehler highlight the fact that we are now living in an age of cool technological tools. These tools include iphones, google earth, blogs, myspace, twitter, these are just a few technologies that are all around us. It is a privilege to have access to these wonderful tools, however, along with these tools come responsibility. How can we use these cool tools to teach our students? Repurposing these tools for educational purposes is not simple. According to Mishra and Koehler, if educators are to repurpose these tools and integrate them into their teaching, they require a certain king of knowledge called Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge or (TPACK).

Teaching isn’t a process of learning a couple of instructional techniques and applying them, according to Mishra, “It emerges from thinking deeply about the nature of a discipline in conjunction with strategies for helping students learn that discipline over time”. Teaching requires the transformation of content in ways that make learning and understanding the content easily accessible to students. The idea of creative repurposing technology is of great importance because most technologies that teachers use are not designed for educational purposes. In their article, Mishra and Koehler provide us with three examples of technology that can be repurposed for educational needs- Mircroblogging, visual search engines, and music Dj software. Mircroblogging allows students to share ideas using short messages of 140 words or less. However, it is up to the teacher to use (TPACK) and set up the Mircoblogging web site in a way that engages students and leads them to success!

I want to be the best teacher ever! After reading the article by Mishra and Koehler, I understand that technology will play a huge role in my ability to affectively teach my students. “Teachers need to develop a willingness to play with technologies and openness to building new experiences for students so that fun, cool tools can be educational.”