Using Computer Games in the Classroom

Many teachers are using computer games in classrooms, and some parents think that "playing ont he computer" in school is a waste of time. Well, they can be if students are playing the wrong types of games on the computer, but teachers have done a good job of finding educational computer games for students. In playing computer games, students can "play", or learn, at their own pace; they are not tied to the pace of their peers or their teacher. Also, many students don't consider computer games as learning and therefore are more compelled to play these educational games.

I think that using educational computer games in the classroom is a good tool for learning. The students are more likely to pay attention to the computer because they are the ones that are controlling the game opposed to the teacher controlling the class. Although I think it is a good tool, I do not think that educational computer games should be used in excess; the games should be a supplement to the lesson at hand.

This video shows some tips and tricks to using games in the classroom. This type of game is different from a computer game, though. Nevertheless, using a game like the one in the video can help keep students engaged in the material.

Open Source Software and Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is taking away the mess of emails that are sent back and forth in order to collaborate on a certain idea. Google docs is an easy way to edit a document online, while the changes are being updated in real time- with the ability to allow others to edit the document as well. This cuts down the time you have to spend looking through emails trying to figure out which one is the most current and most updated. I think cloud computing is becoming more widespread, especially among companies.

Open source software is also a great tool. In my opinion, if I was planning on using a certain application everyday I would purchase the proprietary software, thus ensuring that the server will not be down, or crash at an inopportune time. Otherwise, I would recommend using the open source software. If a photo needs to be edited and you do not have Photoshop, the open source version of Photoshop will do the trick! This way, money is not being unnecessarily spent on programs that will not get much use out of.

In the field of education, this could help students, whose family cannot afford to buy Microsoft Office, complete assignments. I remember when I was in elementary school and I had to type up a paper to turn in, and my parent's computer was in the shop getting fixed. It was a hassle for my mom to find a friend that has a computer that I could use for this assignment. Open source software if also useful is students need to use a program, but only once or twice, so they do not need to buy the proprietary version of the software.

This article explains another way that open source software is useful in schools. James Gaskin writes about how, instead of updating software on computers in the schools, the schools turned to open source software to save money. This is a good idea in the aspect that it will save thousands of dollars by operating on the free versions of Microsoft Office and others. On the other hand, it would be a problem if the server of one of these programs was down while trying to have a class work within the program.

Distance and Virtual Education

Distance education is a type of education that is being more widely used these days. Distance education includes online teaching and learning, as seen in Florida Virtual School and other programs similar to FLVS. Universities are also offering online classes, and now a chance to get a degree completely online. Primary schools have now also started offering whole grade levels online.

There are pros and cons to this type of learning. One of the pros is that it is now easier for adults, with a job and/or children, to go back to school and complete or earn a degree. On the other hand, a con to primary schooling online is the argument that children need to interact with others to gain the social skills they will utilize for the rest of their lives.

As preparing to be a teacher, this is a huge concern for me. I will need to actively keep up with the new technology and new programs that come out for this distance learning. I could possibly teach one of these online classes and I need to have the skills to do so.

This video gives a little information about k12, which is an online learning curriculum. This video also explains how the learning is facilitated and some benefits of online education.

Technology Tools for Critical Thinking

As we already know, there are many free applications on the web that are very useful. Another example of one of these tools is Webspiration, the online version of Inspiration. This program helps organize ideas and thoughts for a paper, project, or just to stay focused on a topic. In Webspiration, you are able to create a concept-map, or a web-diagram. Once this has been done, you can then choose to make an "outline" of your concept map. This puts all of your information into, well, an outline format.

In education, this could be helpful to new writers. Young students sometimes struggle with making an outline for an essay. If they were to use this program, they could first create their web-diagram, then see how it translates into an outline. Then, from the outline, then can write their essay; this helps ideas stay organized throughout a paper.

This blog has some more information on Webspiration, it's features, and how Webspiration can be implemented in the classroom. Webspiration, and Inspiration, are really great tools that can help students get familiar with the outline format when writing essays and doing projects.

Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking is a great tool to use, especially in education. Social bookmarking is a way to save all of the web pages that you are interested in in one specific spot. Not only do programs, like Delicious, organize your favorite web pages in one place, but they also share your links with others! This is a great way to collaborate on sources to use for a group paper, expand others perspectives, and learn more yourself!

In schools, I can see Delicious being useful in the sense that the teacher can create a Delicious account for the class and post any relevant, clarifying information. Also, the students can contribute to the list of web pages by adding what they have found on their own. I think this would be a good way for students to get a better understanding of certain topics.

Click here to get a better understanding of Social Bookmarking and see what uses it serves.

Using Webspiration to show how social tools are useful in education

This is a web-diagram I created to explain how social tools can be useful in education. Each tool, 5 total, has an example that directly relates to how it can be used to assist students and teachers in- and outside the classroom.

Click here to view the web-diagram

Designing Instructional Media

Instructional media is an important tool for presenting information. Many people use PowerPoint to create their instructional media, in the form of a slide show. It is important that the media is easy to read and follow or you will lose your audience. It is not a good idea to have yellow text on a white background- it is hard to see. And it is also not a good idea to have words and sentences that are not aligned- they are hard to follow.

In teaching, instructional media is used all of the time. Most lectures have a supplemental PowerPoint so that students can both listen to the lecture and follow along on the screen. It is also used for visual representation of an idea.

Below, I have an example of a good, easy to read and follow page of text and also a bad, hard to read and follow page of text. As you can probably see, the first page is more appealing and would keep your attention for a longer period of time (which is the goal).

Technology

Technology is quickly growing. This video, used in class, points out some major eye-openers about how technology is going to shape the near, and far, future. It is important to keep up with the new technology since it is changing so often. Some people are scared of the changes that technology is bringing about, but it shouldn't be about being scared, just keeping up with it. Once you lag behind, I think it would be hard to catch up.

Especially in education, where the computers and technology stay updated, it is important to stay updated with them. It will not be uncommon for students to know more about the new technology than the teachers do- it is not uncommon now.

This video basically sates what I have written above. Interviews of parents show that the parents are sometimes overwhelmed by the amount of new technology that has emerged and are trying to keep up with it so that they:

1. Can relate to their children who use this technology, and

2. Stay up-to-date and aren't left out.

On a less serious note, this is a funny video I found on YouTube that relates to new technology.

Blogging

Blogging is kind of like a diary online. You are able to "publish" posts so that others can read them. A blog can be anywhere from your everyday life, to a trip you took across the country, to a music blog where you post your favorite songs of the week. Blogs are an easy way to share information with people and others are allowed to comment on it.

Blogging could be a good tool to use in the classroom. Instead of assigning a writing prompt and asking students to bring their paper to class, the students can post the paper to their own blog. Not only does this save paper but other students can them peer review them easy. Also, the papers are all located in the same spot for easy access.

The video below has a section in it where the creator of the video interviews teachers and asks how they use blogs. The responses they give are also good examples of how to use a blog in the classroom.

Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is a way to organize photos in a way that presents them as a story-line, or a short movie that tells a story. These can be made on iMovie, Animoto, PowerPoint, GoAnimate, and others.

Digital storytelling could make for a very good introduction for a lesson. Using a short movie, the students would be interested in how the lesson plays into the storyline. Rather than a plain, boring list of objectives for the lesson, this adds the attention-grabbing elements that students need.

This article tells how digital storytelling is beneficial to students. It mentions that videos can help students with a variety of learning styles by venturing out of the note-taking scheme.

Photoshop

Photoshop is a useful tool if you have a picture and want to add or delete something from it. For example, if you have a photo of a group of friends and accidentally captured a passerby, you can easily delete that person from the photo. Alternatively, if a friend missed out on a trip, you can Photoshop them into the photo, making it look like they were actually there.

You can also add different backgrounds to photos making it look like you were someplace really cool, like the moon :)

Photoshop is a cool tool to use. I don’t think I could use this much in the field of education, though. However, it is a lot of fun to play with. I could see Photoshop being useful for advertisement majors. In Photoshop, it is easy to add and delete components of images, as well as to edit the image itself. This could be a good marketing tool.

I chose this picture because I think it represents a good example of adding a background to a picture. I made this picture in Photoshop and it portrays me on the moon.

Podcasts in Teaching

This is a podcast that I made. As a teacher, I could use this for students who have questions about material. For example, in a math class I would teach a lesson, do some examples/classwork, and assign homework. Every night I would have a time where I would be checking my email and if the students have questions about the homework problems, they should email me.
After my time checking emails, I would create a podcast that answered all of the student's questions. This way, I would not be repeating solutions to the same questions for different students and this could give students a more thorough understanding of the material.

exampleEME - Amanda Sniscak

Copyrights: What can be copyrighted and what a copyright means

The video below describes what can be copyrighted. Some of the things he mentions are pretty surprising!

This video explains what exactly a copyright means and does (a little repetitive, but it's the truth!)