Thursday, April 8, 2010
Webquest, Google Earth, and Tech of the Week
As I have completed the last couple projects, I have really come to realize there are so many possibilities with English Language Arts that I had not considered before. The webquest was a really interesting activity as I had to basically do the project myself to make sure it would be something that my students could do. Adding that element to an assignment makes it all the more effective and engaging. I also think it makes the teacher-student connection stronger because everyone in the classroom has done the same work. My tech of the week was also really enjoyable, and I definitely see myself using Jing in my classroom. Screen capture software makes it possible to give students corrections on his or her paper in a more personal way, once again enhancing the teacher-student relationship. My Google Earth project proved to be the most challenging. While I see how Google Earth could be extremely useful in contextualizing novels or author's lives, the limited amount of projects created in relation to English Language Arts made my project that much more difficult. Overall, I am excited to culminate the semester with my final project and continue to learn the new and different ways in which technology can enhance my classroom.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Reflections on Webquest, Google Earth, and Tech of the Week
The past few weeks have given me a lot of ideas for using technology in my future classroom. Webquest was a very interesting project for me. It allowed for work to be done in a few subject areas rather than just one. My project used math skills, as well as social studies. I think it really gives students an opportunity to push themselves while seeing how the skills they learn in the classroom can work together in the real world. The only hesitation I have in using Webquest is that the activities seem to be geared more for older students, perhaps at the middle school and high school levels. Some of the material available to incorporate is a little too dense for elementary school. But there are certainly ways to make a Webquest activity more age appropriate. I think it is a great way to push critical thinking skills as well as allowing students to be independent in their work.
Having worked with Google Earth before during the Smart Board project, I enjoyed exploring the program in more depth this time around. I think that this is a great tool for giving students a chance to learn about the world around them, not only in a geographical sense, but also about culture and landmarks. Google Earth can provide basic information about places around the world if links are incorporated in the right way. It was actually enjoyable for me making the worksheet and learning about different places. I think Google Earth is an excellent tool for helping students relate one geographic location to another and be able to see actual satellite images of these places they are learning about. It gives them a deeper understanding than what they might get from a simple two-dimensional map in a textbook.
Tech of the week has continued to be very enlightening for me. I never knew that there were so many different tools out there that can really enhance lessons and be applicable to the school setting. I really like the iClicker. I have seen them used in classrooms in my observations so far and the students really seem to enjoy using them. It gives everyone an opportunity to be involved in a lesson or game, and that makes everything more exciting. I think Dipity is a great interactive tool for any age with virtually any subject area. It can really be beneficial in helping students organize thoughts, ideas, events, etc. The Java application provides interactive games as well that can present material in a new way that makes learning more enjoyable for students. I think my lessons will be able to reach the next level so I can engage my students much more easily than with a simple chalkboard and overhead projector.
Having worked with Google Earth before during the Smart Board project, I enjoyed exploring the program in more depth this time around. I think that this is a great tool for giving students a chance to learn about the world around them, not only in a geographical sense, but also about culture and landmarks. Google Earth can provide basic information about places around the world if links are incorporated in the right way. It was actually enjoyable for me making the worksheet and learning about different places. I think Google Earth is an excellent tool for helping students relate one geographic location to another and be able to see actual satellite images of these places they are learning about. It gives them a deeper understanding than what they might get from a simple two-dimensional map in a textbook.
Tech of the week has continued to be very enlightening for me. I never knew that there were so many different tools out there that can really enhance lessons and be applicable to the school setting. I really like the iClicker. I have seen them used in classrooms in my observations so far and the students really seem to enjoy using them. It gives everyone an opportunity to be involved in a lesson or game, and that makes everything more exciting. I think Dipity is a great interactive tool for any age with virtually any subject area. It can really be beneficial in helping students organize thoughts, ideas, events, etc. The Java application provides interactive games as well that can present material in a new way that makes learning more enjoyable for students. I think my lessons will be able to reach the next level so I can engage my students much more easily than with a simple chalkboard and overhead projector.
Webquest, Google Earth, and Tech of the Week
These past few weeks have really opened my eyes to all the technologies available to classroom teachers. Webquest, Google Earth, primary sources, jing, and iClicker are all sources I plan on using when I become a teacher. The webquest is particularly helpful becase it incorporates higher order thinking skills as well as requires students to become familiar with navigating the web. For my webquest, I had students creating a monument for an Egyptian pharaoh. I could have had them look at books to complete this project, but making it into a webquest made it so much more interactive. They were able to go on online tours, watch videos, and had immediate access to a wide range of information. I feel that my students would benefit greatly from webquests and plan on incorporating them into my insturction.
Google Earth really amazed me in terms of what it had to offer students. There is so much information available at students fingertips on Google Earth. This is both good and bad. It is good in the sense that there is a lot to explore and choose from when planning lessons, but it is bad because students may get lost, overwhelmed, and confused when working with Google Earth. That is why I think it is so important to create a recording to show students exactly where they will be going and what they will be doing. This eliminates confusion and provides clear direction to students.
Primary sources, jing, and iClickers are all excellent technologies that will be beneficial to me as a teacher. I liked primary sources because students get to work with real documents, letters, and sources that affected history. I believe that primary sources have the power to have a real affect on kids, especially in social studies. Jing is an excellent writing tool that I would most likely use if I taught older students. Elementary students typically do not submit papers electronically or type them out, but if they did I could see this tool being very beneficial. Finally, I liked iClickers because they have the ability to provide immediate feedback and encourage all students to participate. Too often students do not participate because they are embarrassed about not knowing the answer, but with this, no one has to know how others responded.
I am so glad to have learned about these technologies. It is so much easier incorporating technology into the classroom after you have a firm understanding of how they work. It is nice that I am getting this knowledge now as a pre-service teacher instead of having it all thrown at me my first year of teaching.
Google Earth really amazed me in terms of what it had to offer students. There is so much information available at students fingertips on Google Earth. This is both good and bad. It is good in the sense that there is a lot to explore and choose from when planning lessons, but it is bad because students may get lost, overwhelmed, and confused when working with Google Earth. That is why I think it is so important to create a recording to show students exactly where they will be going and what they will be doing. This eliminates confusion and provides clear direction to students.
Primary sources, jing, and iClickers are all excellent technologies that will be beneficial to me as a teacher. I liked primary sources because students get to work with real documents, letters, and sources that affected history. I believe that primary sources have the power to have a real affect on kids, especially in social studies. Jing is an excellent writing tool that I would most likely use if I taught older students. Elementary students typically do not submit papers electronically or type them out, but if they did I could see this tool being very beneficial. Finally, I liked iClickers because they have the ability to provide immediate feedback and encourage all students to participate. Too often students do not participate because they are embarrassed about not knowing the answer, but with this, no one has to know how others responded.
I am so glad to have learned about these technologies. It is so much easier incorporating technology into the classroom after you have a firm understanding of how they work. It is nice that I am getting this knowledge now as a pre-service teacher instead of having it all thrown at me my first year of teaching.
Latest Projects and Technologies of the Week
Since our last update via blogging as a class, we have accomplished a lot. Our two most recent projects were a WebQuest and a Google Earth activity. I really enjoyed the WebQuest because I was assigned data analysis. However, I'm horrible at math so I had to come up with something creative and fun-- for my sake. So I started thinking about current events that had to do with data. Then it hit me, the 2010 Census! So I began to work and came up with a pretty creative project that is suited for middle elementary students. I had them explore the U.S. Census' website for kids. Next, they had to gather information about the state of Illinois and a state of their choice. They first had to answer general questions about them then I had them look at numbers for amounts of toy stores, ice cream shops, theme parks, etc. Finally they graphed their findings in a bar graph. I also provided a website link that showed them step-by-step instructions of how to make a bar graph.
Our latest project, Google Earth was also interesting. I chose to have my students take a tour and gather information about the "Seven Wonders of the World". I liked this topic because each wonder is located in such a different place than the next. The tour I created went all over the world to show them how vast and different each place was. In the activity itself, I had YouTube videos linked to each question so they could actually see the wonder itself. I also linked Wikipedia pages to them as well so they could get a little bit of background information on each place. I had them conclude with an essay question that follows, "If you could nominate an eight wonder of the world, where would it be and why?" That way, students could pick a place they may have been or wished to go. It was a great social studies activity for the students.
Lastly, we have touched on a few technologies of the week. I really enjoyed iClicker and Jing. Each of those could definitely be used to make learning in the classroom more fun. I liked Jing because you could take really clear screen shots of anything you were doing. A student could use that technology for any sort of class or group project. I also liked the use of iClicker. It seems like a great way to get instant feedback on questions. I also like that it keeps information neatly stored for you (grading). I would love to have an iClicker station in my classroom one day. Overall I have really enjoyed all of the projects and technologies we have been working with lately, they have all proved themselves very useful and creative.
Our latest project, Google Earth was also interesting. I chose to have my students take a tour and gather information about the "Seven Wonders of the World". I liked this topic because each wonder is located in such a different place than the next. The tour I created went all over the world to show them how vast and different each place was. In the activity itself, I had YouTube videos linked to each question so they could actually see the wonder itself. I also linked Wikipedia pages to them as well so they could get a little bit of background information on each place. I had them conclude with an essay question that follows, "If you could nominate an eight wonder of the world, where would it be and why?" That way, students could pick a place they may have been or wished to go. It was a great social studies activity for the students.
Lastly, we have touched on a few technologies of the week. I really enjoyed iClicker and Jing. Each of those could definitely be used to make learning in the classroom more fun. I liked Jing because you could take really clear screen shots of anything you were doing. A student could use that technology for any sort of class or group project. I also liked the use of iClicker. It seems like a great way to get instant feedback on questions. I also like that it keeps information neatly stored for you (grading). I would love to have an iClicker station in my classroom one day. Overall I have really enjoyed all of the projects and technologies we have been working with lately, they have all proved themselves very useful and creative.
Projects and Technology of the Week
As many others have said, I have enjoyed working on the various projects we have completed and learning about new technologies through the Technology of the Week presentations. The WebQuest project was one of my favorites because it enables students to do research on the internet in a guided manner. This will be useful for them in their education because research is required to complete many assignments in school, and it is incredibly important for students to learn how to find accurate sources and use the information to create a specific product. The WebQuests are also an interesting and fun activity for students to do, and they are yet another way to include a variety of activities in the classroom to engage students.
The two recent Technology of the Week presentations, Jing and iClickers, also seem to be a great way to keep students engaged. Jing will be helpful in the classroom when students must collaborate on a project, or when teachers would like to add annotations to student work to give to them as feedback. IClickers would be helpful at any grade level to quickly assess students to determine which concepts they understand and which need more explanation.
The two recent Technology of the Week presentations, Jing and iClickers, also seem to be a great way to keep students engaged. Jing will be helpful in the classroom when students must collaborate on a project, or when teachers would like to add annotations to student work to give to them as feedback. IClickers would be helpful at any grade level to quickly assess students to determine which concepts they understand and which need more explanation.
Webquest, Google Earth, & Tech of the week
The google earth project that I just finished was something I found very interesting. I did not even know this existed and I think it's something that can be utilized in the classroom. I love that it's perfect for all ages, so every teacher can really use the benefits of it. I actually am using it right now for my history class and I find that it helps a lot with map assignments. Creating the actual tour is really easy and something that any teacher will be able to do. The other assignment we did in class was the web quest. One thing the education program at IWU stresses is that the future educators utilize as many resources as possible. I think the web quest is a great way to meet that. Being able to see other teachers lessons and ideas and collaborating with colleagues is so important. This helps educators find the best strategy for their particular classroom. I loved making the web quest because it gave me the experience of being in the teachers shoes.
As far as the technology of the week goes, I felt like Iclicker was is something that many more schools are using today. It's fast, efficient, and reliable. I love how the students can be engaged and the teacher can get feedback on how she the class is doing. Also, it's great that students don't have to feel ashamed by their answer and embarrassed since other students won't know who answered what. This is great for teachers to assess how they are teaching and how well their students are understanding.
As far as the technology of the week goes, I felt like Iclicker was is something that many more schools are using today. It's fast, efficient, and reliable. I love how the students can be engaged and the teacher can get feedback on how she the class is doing. Also, it's great that students don't have to feel ashamed by their answer and embarrassed since other students won't know who answered what. This is great for teachers to assess how they are teaching and how well their students are understanding.
Google Earth
Another way to use this is having my students doing a similar project to what we did. This program is defiantly a high school level material but it is manageable and usable with only a little instruction. Overall this is a very useful program and im sure it will not be the last time I use this program.
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