Emerging Technologies in the Classroom

There are so many new and emerging technologies that can be put to use in an educational setting to increase positive impact of student learning. On my Wiki Site: http://missfoy.pbwiki.com/, I have listed 3 new sites that I plan on implementing in my classroom curricula. These 3 new technologies are:

Skype: www.skype.com

Play a Piano: http://www.frontiernet.net/~imaging/play_a_piano.html

Virtual Frog Dissection: http://froggy.lbl.gov/virtual/

The first technology, Skype, allows users to use the internet to call other Skype users for free. Furthermore, for a small fee, calls can be made internationally, to cell phones, and to land lines.

Skype is a convenient and user-friendly technology that will have a large impact in my future teaching career. I see myself having guest speakers or conducting interviews via Skype and a webcam with people all around the world. I also think the Skype could successfully be used for students to interact with other students from around the world to increase their speaking abilities and to broaden multicultural perspectives.

Students' progress or objectives could be assessed through formatively by listen to them speak on Skype, and summatively by multicultural quizzes, writing assignments, comprehension questions, etc. . .

The second technology, of playing a virtual piano, allows users to have a piano play while they watch, or to virtually play along with the piano using the computer keyboard or mouse. A great additional feature to this is that players can see the waves that form as a result of striking various keys, and the sound they make.

This technology could be put to use in any classroom in many ways. The way I see using this site is as a reward system for things such as good behavior, turning in assignments on time, etc. .

Students enjoy and appreciate positive reinforcement, and by earning the right to use this website, they will know that they have met their specific objectives.

The third technology is a Virtual Frog Dissection site. This site allows users to see all parts of a frog from different angles and sides. Students can click on a part or organ of the frog, and it is highlighted, along with a brief description of its purpose and uses.

This technology of being able to dissect a frog online will save a lot of time, expense, politics, and queasy stomachs. Students will learn more than they would by dissecting a real frog because there won't be the distraction and chaos that usually results from younger students cutting open a real animal.

Students an demonstrate that they met objectives while using this technology the same way they would show that they met objectives using a real frog, through teacher-generated discussion, quizzes, or tests. However, another option to demonstrate positive impact on student learning might be the Frog Builder Game, where students virtually build a frog including all of its body parts.

Digital Technology Project Reflection

1. Discuss the impact your use of a resource like the TeacherWeb could have on your teaching style and on student learning. What are the strengths and weaknesses of using a resources like TeacherWeb?

I really liked using the TeacherWeb. Like anything else, it was stressful and frustrating learning how it worked, but once I got it figured out it was worth my time and effort.
The strength of teacher web is that it is fairly user friendly, and students of a broad age and ability range could navigate it fairly easily. I can't really think of any weaknesses pertaining to TeacherWeb. Perhaps when I begin to actually use it in my classroom, I will run into something that I perceive as a weakness.

2. Discuss the development of your wiki and webquest in terms of how you see a wiki, and your webquest, impacting student learning. Compare your work spent on the development of your wiki to the perceived benefits students might get out of completing lesson via your wiki webquest rather than a traditional class session.

So far, I'm not really crazy about the wiki. I can't really see the benefits of having the wiki and the TeacherWeb. To me, it seems like one more thing to maintain. I am glad, however, that I had the opportunity to explore and learn about the wiki. Eventually, when I feel more adept as using the wiki, I will learn of its unique features and benefits.
WebQuest has the capability to highly impact student learning. Using the computer is very motivating and exciting for children of all ages, which leads to greater focus and learning.
Creating the webquest on the wiki took little work, and will continue to get easier with time. It was well worth my time and effort to create it, and I think that it will definitely have a positive impact on student learning.

3. What would be one or two changes you would make to this project that would make it more engaging, meaningful, or more practical for your future classroom use?

One change that would have made this project more engaging, meaningful, and practical for my future classroom use would have been to narrow its focus and goal. It was difficult for me to learn something about all three things. I would have rather focused on one or two things in depth in order to become highly proficient and comfortable with them for my future personal and classroom use.

Engaging Students with Concept Mapping Activities

Concept mapping online is an innovative way to help students visually connect new learning with their prior knowledge, which will increase positive impact on student learning. I plan on using this convenient and effective tool in my own future classroom. The three innovative ways that I see myself using concept mapping in my classroom are as follows:

• Reading- Graphic organizers
• Math- color tiles and fact families to assist kinesthetic learners
• Science- animal classification and food chains

These three innovative ideas will be integrated into my teaching to increase positive impact on student learning as follows:

While reading a novel, I like to have the students organize the characters, plot, and other important features/characteristics using a graphic organizer. Having the availability to do this online will be much more intrinsically motivating for my 4th graders. My class thrives while performing any activity or task on the computer; therefore, the result is more effort put into a quality product and more learning taking plus.

For math, my students would learn best using concept mapping to perform operations and algorithms themselves, versus watching me do it on the overhead. If students had access to online manipulatives such as color tiles to have problems modeled, and then try to do them themselves, learning again would improve. As stated above, anything on the computer is a special treat to my class and the intrinsic motivation that develops as a result, has a very positive impact on my students' learning.

Using a concept map for science will also have a positive impact on student learning. For example, my students can easily use a concept map for animal classification or food web charts. Bringing fun and imaginative activities into learning science automatically leads to greater student involvement and attention, and eventually learning.

I feel that learning more about this type of concept mapping software to be able to put it to future use in my classroom would be well worth my time. My number one goal as an educator is to have a positive impact on my students and their learning, and I feel that by using concept mapping I can reach my goal in a fun and effective way.

Multiple Intellingences in the Classroom

After completing the learning styles project and exploring several learning style inventories, I have discovered that the multiple intellingence area that I have strength in is logical (reasoning and problem solving).
The core characteristics of the logical learning style are:

Linear Reasoning – seeking order and consistency in the world
Concrete Reasoning - breaking down systems into their components
Abstract Reasoning - using symbols that represent concrete ideas
Causal Relationships – identifying cause and effect within a system
Complex Operations – performing sophisticated algorithms

The core characteristic that best describe me and my learning style is linear reasoning. I like order and consistency in my world, as well as the world around me. I have a hard time working or concentrating when there is noise or messiness around me. In fact, before I can relax or work, my house and surroundings have to be neat and in order.

Students with the logical type of intelligence enjoy puzzles and testing theories. I find this to be very true, as I often perform crosswords or other puzzles to de-stress. Furthermore, students with logical intelligence tend to do the following in classroom settings:

Seek order
Reason scientifically
Identify relationships
Enjoy testing theories
Like completing puzzles
Excel at calculating numbers
Solving problems instinctively
Analyze abstract ideas
Manipulate functions
Perform these operations at a rapid rate

In order to support the logical intelligence in my classroom, I would do the following:

Create intrinsic and extrinsic order in my classroom
Present criteria at the beginning of an activity to provide structure
Offer open-ended problem solving tasks
Include convergent thinking activities in instruction
Promote experiments which test student hypotheses
Use syllogisms in language
Encourage classroom debate
Incorporate puzzles into learning centers
Set short term, achievable goals for the class
Allow students to participate in building assessment rubrics

The technologies that stimulate this type of intelligence:

Lecture
Cuisenaire rods
Unifix cubes
Tangrams
Measuring cups
Measuring scales
Ruler/yardstick
Slide rule
Graphing calculators
Spreadsheet
Search engine
Directory
FTP clients
Gophers
WebQuests
Problem solving tasks
Programming languages

Being aware of, and teaching to the various intelligence types in my instructional approaches could positively impact student learning in my classroom. For example, some people learn best by doing, some people learn best by hearing, some people learn best by seeing. It is vital to cater to the learning styles of each student, and not to assume that they will learn best the way that myself as the instructor learns best. I think it would be very beneficial to have my students take an age-appropriate test at the beginning of the year to access their learning styles, and to work hard to meet their needs.

Welcome to my teacher/school blog!

I'm sitting in my technology class here at WSU Spokane in late March. . .and looking out the window, it is snowing! UGH! I have about 2 more months until I graduate with my master's degree and teaching certificate. Well, even though this blog is part of my classwork, I had better resume listening to my professor!!

XOXO
Jerianne