Computers in the Classroom

While reading and aritcle out of the Naples Daily News I ran across one that talks about computers and technology in the collier county classrooms. In this article Tracy Miguel states that, "There is more than wireless computers in Collier public classrooms, such as the interactive whiteboard, called a Mimio XI plus, the video projector mounted in the classroom ceiling, the document camera, the audio system and a DVD/VCR player." To me this is pretty amazing. I have heard of the interactive white boards, but it was not to my knowledge that they are actually implementing them in the schools already. Later she goes on to talk about how students are constantly using computers throughout the day, not just in the computer lab but also in the classroom.

Today computers are much more accessable to students than they were even when I was in high school 2 years ago. We would make a trip to the computer lab maybe once a month, and today throught elementary, middle, and highschool the students are using the computer everyday all day long. Not only are they becoming more familiar with the computer, but also with other technological programs that are being implemented just as the whiteboard and video projector. Each year technology is becoming more and more significant for teachers and students, most of the time it is just really hard for older teachers to recognize their importance within the school.

To read the full article click here.

E-Books

This past week in class we are working on creating e-books. It is fun trying to figure out what children would be interested in reading. Then again it is difficult to actually create that kind of a book. One of the challenges to this was trying to figure out which story to use since we were limited to what we could write about. It was a long process of putting everything together and making is sound right although in the end it was fun to watch what was just created. This is a fun project for everyone, not only people who want to be teachers but anyone who knows or has children. You can show these to children at a young age, or even work with them to create their own e-book. By doing that you can help develop a childs creativity. It is just a good activity for anyone and it is really not that hard, just time consuming.

Podcasting

School are trying to figure out different ways to integrate technology into and outside of the classroom. In an article by Jennifer Jefferson she talks about FSU integrating podcasts into the curriculum. She discusses how students don't really read their text books and only take notes based on the teachers lectures. Their solution to this is to start podcasting and downloading audio files onto ipods and mp3 players. The article just very breifly discusses this topic of downloading audio files and creating podcasts.

Being a college student I am not sure how great of an idea this is. It would be very nice to not have to worry about reading but I think that it would also keep me from attending class. Many students would be ecstactic about this idea, but I think that it would have more of a negative affect on the grades. Overall this is an interesting way to integrate technology into the classroom and it could work but there are a lot of things that they need to think about before following through with it.

To read the article click Here.

Timing is Everything

One inquiry question that I had was How do you use movie maker, and how can that be integrated into the elementary classroom. While I was searching for an answer, I didn't find much on creating movies by using movie maker, but I didn't find an article that explains when and why we should show movies at different times. It never crossed my mind that students would be more perceptive to a movie if it is shown at certain times in the class.

Debra Drury writes in an aritcle her experiences with showing movies in the class and how the students reacted to them. She teaches science in upper elementary school. Originally she would show movies as and introduction to a unit. After observing the students reactions she noticed that they didn't ask questions or get involved with the video that was shown. Some watched it and others didn't really care. When she realized that this technique wasn't working she decided to change the order of the lesson. Instead of showing the movie at the beginning of the lesson to introduce it, she showed it at the end to summarize it. Just by moving the video to different times in the class there was a huge difference in responses. She began to notice that the student were more interactive and payed more attention when it was show at the end of the lesson.

It is amazing how it can be just the little things that change the reactions of students. Every time I thought about how I would integrate a movie into the classroom it never crossed my mind that the timing of the movie would make a difference.

To read the full text click Here.

Microsoft Programs

When I entered into this computers class I was hoping to learn more on how I can integrate the programs that most school already have into the classroom without being boring. Some teachers use Microsoft word for hand outs and create boring non interactive slideshows with Microsoft PowerPoint. These techniques can be effective, but after the children have seen them multiple times they can start to find them uninteresting and they will become less effective. After going through most of this class I have learned how to be more creative with these programs so that students don't loose interest.

While browsing the internet I found and article that further explains the ways that you can use Microsoft PowerPoint. Tomie Lawerence explains how to create interactive lessons, shows you what action buttons are and how to use them, how to hide slides, and set of a kiosk show. He states that, "Interactive lessons take the form of self-paced, student-controlled, individualized learning opportunities embedded with assessment events along the way. In practice, these lessons are offered to students who need individualized instruction, corrective instruction, additional practice, or topical enrichment activities." This article lets you know the importance of intergrating this kind of technology in the classroom. It shows you know how you can change a boring presentation into one that is more interactive and fun for both you and your children.

To read more of this article click Here.

Working With Children

This past assignment that we were working on in class was kind of fun. We discussed different e-books and had to go through and review five different ones. They are fun to watch and I think that kids would get a kick out of them. This past week as part of our assignment we had to actually find a kid and read two of the books to them. I am not around many kids so I got together with a child that my sister babysits. This little four year old boy was so cute. Him mom told him that I was coming to read to him and by the time I got there he had pulled out all of his books that he wanted me to read him. When I went to show him the e-books on the computer his reaction was so cute. He kept saying throught the two books, "This isn't a book." and "Where is the book." It is funny how some children and parents are not aware that they can access these different e-book on the computer for free through the library system. For the final stage of this assignment I am writing my experience which is basically what I am doing right now just in a more formal way. I just thought that it was a cool experience that I wanted to share with everybody.