crayon and paper

In taking this class I learned about a lot of new technologies and about a lot of ways to incorporate them into my classroom in the future. I had never heard of a webquest before taking this class, and although I do not think that is the most interesting of ways to incorporate technology, it could be an entertaining way for students to research a certain topic. Podcast use in the classroom was one of the best uses of technology that I saw in this class. In addition to the podcasts being extremely cute and entertaining, they also provide students with opportunities to practice their writing and speaking skills (and to learn to use a new technology). Digital storytelling was another thing we learned about that I thought was  really unique. I could definitely see students loving this project. They might not enjoy writing out narratives, but they would definitely enjoy putting their digital story together.

Of all the technologies that we learned about in this class, I think I would most likely want to use podcasts and digital storytelling in my future classroom. These two things are extremely fun, and it will be easier to motivate students in writing something if they know that it will be published.  I also think that I would like to use computer and internet time not as just a reward for students who finish work early, but as a way to further enhance their learning. Students in my classroom will be able to play games to practice skills and research more advanced topics if they have already mastered something more easily than the rest of the class.

Since I am finished with my practicum experiences for this semester, I thought that I would comment about the lack of technology that I observed in elementary schools. It was quite disappointing, after learning about all the types of technology that can be implemented in the classroom, to see that barely any teachers used it. My practicum is in kindergarten, so that is not so difficult to see why my teacher would not be able to incorporate a lot of technology into lessons. Kindergarteners do not have the best motor skills, and it is probably more important to focus on teaching them basic skills using hand written forms anyway. But the only technology that I saw in the other grades that I observed (3rd and 5th) consisted of an elmo, which to me just seems like an updated blackboard. I wish I could have seen at least something else being incorporated into their lessons. I think a lot of the teachers just expect any sort of technology time for students to be when they go to the computer center once every six days.

In this class as well as the math curriculum and instruction class I was able to find several internet games that are also educational.

http://www.funbrain.com/math/index.html

This game can help students practice basic math skills (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) through playing a baseball game. It is definitely not a place to teach students any of these skills, but it gives them a lot of practice. This might also be a good way of getting some students that enjoy sports more excited about practicing their math skills. They might be motivated to play simply because it is a game and it involves sports.

http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/games/juggling_george/juggling_george.html

My three year old nephew actually showed me this game. This would be a good game to use in kindergarten when they are practicing counting skills. The man in the yellow hat tells you how many of which type of fruit to give curious george.  If you give him the correct amount, then he will juggle the fruits. My younger nephew loves this game, so I think other younger students would probably enjoy it as well. You are almost tricking them into learning and practicing their skills. The pbs kids website also has a lot of other educational games that would be appropriate for kindergarten and first grade.

 http://www.edutopia.org/change-attitude

I think the whole idea of this article, putting more technology into education to stimulate student interest, is a good one. But I think that some of the ways that they were using technology were still kind of bland. Using PRS systems in a history class to review might be a good idea for students who have trouble studying or learning the material, but I think for some students this would still be monotonous and over doing it (especially more gifted students). Students with higher ability levels might want to apply information they learned or think about it in a more abstract way than simply being quizzed on it.  Also, analyzing information about the physical abilities of cheerleaders might not be quite so engaging to students that have no interest in sports.

http://questgarden.com/47/00/3/070221124249/

This webquest called "Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall- You Will Find Me in the Mall" asks students to research the weather associated
with each season and then decide what the appropriate clothing would be for this weather. This webquestwould be good for my class of kindergarten or first graders, because it is fairly simple. The webquest even provides links to sites where the students could find the information. This webquest is a little bit reading intensive though, so some students might need help in reading directions and reading information on the sites. In order to implement this webquest the teacher will need computers and internet access for each group of students. They will also need materials to record and present their findings to the rest of the class. The webquest also suggests doing a fashion show for the different seasons where the students would model a piece of clothing for a particular season and explain why they might need it. I think this activity would not take more than 2 hours, because a group of students is assigned to each season. Presenting the material to their classmates might take some extra time though.

The first website I found that could be useful as an information source to an elementary teacher or student is at http://www.mbgnet.net/. This site provides information on the different biomes and ecosystems of the world. I think the information on this site would be appropriate for 3rd to 5th graders, because it involves a lot of terminology and reading. It is visually appealing and easy to use. You simply click on the biome or ecosystem you want to learn about. There are also lots of graphics that show what these places look like as well. The information is not too detailed, so it would be easy to read and understand for an older elementary school student. This site is also free and you do not have to sign up for anything in order to enter it.

The second website I found that could be a useful activity for elementary teachers and students is located at http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/age/index.html. This site allows you to enter in your birthday and determine how old you would be on different planets. It then goes to explain why you would be a different age on these planets. This site would be appropriate for any student, but it would be especially relevant to those that can read well and know the names of the different planets. The site is visually appealing. It has graphics of all the different planets. It does list pluto as a planet though, and I am pretty sure they decided that pluto is not a planet anymore. Some of the information at the bottom of the page is also a little advanced for elementary school students. And like the other website, this one is free and does not require a login.

I listened to three podcasts that were created by elementary school children and 6th graders, but I have to say that a group of first graders out did all of the other grades. The first graders’ podcast was on Radio Willow Web #28. Besides the fact that everything they said sounded incredibly cute, it also seemed that they put a lot of effort into what they were going to talk about. The children seemed to have done a lot of research to prepare for their podcast on fish. A few of the first graders were even better at public speaking than the sixth graders I listened to. They even had some better jokes. Although, I am not sure if they wrote the jokes or the teacher did. I think allowing the first graders to prepare and write their own podcast probably gave them a lot of practice in research, writing, reading, and public speaking. And I’m sure they had a lot of fun with it too.

For the most part, I believe myself to be self-taught when it comes to computers. My father is a computer geek, so he always had computers and computer games for me to fiddle around with when I was a child. Time spent on the computer allowed me to figure out all of the simple procedures one needs to know to use a computer efficiently.

In high school I took something like a computer technology course. In that class we learned the basics of microsoft office (which I already knew how to use), html, and java. I can honestly say that I do not remember much on html or java. But this is not a problem for me, because I do not care for web designing.

In elementary, middle, and high school, we did not do much with computers except for use microsoft word and powerpoint. Although, I vaguely remember in elementary school learning excel and learning how to animate things in some program.

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